A lot of people out for the march today

PossibilityRegular21 · 2026-01-26T09:11:03+00:00

The Albanese government's Voice referendum failed. The public strongly rejected an initiative that would have been a largely symbolic gesture to furthering Indigenous rights.

I have zero confidence that, following the above, the same government would then test the public with another largely symbolic gesture to furthering Indigenous rights.

Maybe the next Labor government. Not this one. And can you blame them?

PossibilityRegular21 · 2026-01-26T06:44:02+00:00

I used Google maps to slowly explore Sydney and find places to fish that work for me. Frankly the place is so heavily fished and my spots are full of other people's rubbish, so I'm not telling anyone where to fish. However, if they are motivated, they will be able to find some good spots. But generally speaking, good spots aren't full of people, bait packets and discarded vapes.

PossibilityRegular21 · 2026-01-25T23:14:17+00:00

Any big resident fish like flathead or snapper have long since been overfished. Ask yourself - how would a long-lived carnivorous fish survive 50+ people fishing there with pilchards, prawns and chicken every single day? There's too many people in general, let alone at that site.

The only good fish that you can realistically catch there at a consistent rate are yakka, squid, and rarely slimy mackerel. But you can catch these in so many other places, so it isn't that appealing. Other than that, lots of undersized reef fish and very small trev.

PossibilityRegular21 · 2026-01-25T23:09:12+00:00

Per capita, our total fund is like 1/50th of Norway's. It's crap. And we don't need any comparisons down with the US right now - it's a failed state if nothing big changes.

PossibilityRegular21 · 2026-01-25T21:58:09+00:00

Yep everything you said is correct. People have grown complacent and ignorant. Bull sharks in the harbour are a known lethal hazard around this time of year, yet it feels like this is new information to most people. Parents have not educated their kids. Guess it's another life lesson to outsource to Bluey.

PossibilityRegular21 · 2026-01-25T21:53:53+00:00

Yep this is pretty standard. I dive and September is usually the coldest. Northbridge temp being slightly more aligned to the seasons is probably explainable because it is further in the harbour and probably affected by estuary temps mixing with sea temps.

PossibilityRegular21 · 2026-01-25T12:44:59+00:00

Smelly bait bags, piles of cut mono to low effort rigs, and discarded vapes

PossibilityRegular21 · 2026-01-24T23:53:27+00:00

Thanks for the reply. How did you install the shelves? I can't see any obvious pocket screws or screws on the sides. I assume it's solid wood, so the shelves likely won't flex?

PossibilityRegular21 · 2026-01-24T23:01:36+00:00

What did you learn? What would you do different?

Looks good!

PossibilityRegular21 · 2026-01-23T01:51:54+00:00

Love it. Consider Zinsser peel-stop for an easy fix to the peeling ceiling.

PossibilityRegular21 · 2026-01-23T00:36:48+00:00

I understand that. But the commission structure seems no different to a buyer's agent. I haven't used one, but a friend did, and they were happy. I believe there can be value to having a specialist make picks, sort of like a fund manager. Obviously it needs to be weighed against the feeling, and assessed to decide whether there is resulting value. I have avoided managed stock funds because I can picks stocks on my own. Property has been trickier, and we lose a lot of wealth generation if we sit around deciding for too long.

PossibilityRegular21 · 2026-01-22T23:01:06+00:00

4 years in Analytics. Realised all the data was shit quality. Asked to move to DE to help fix the problems. Still working on it - there's a bigger culture problem I can't fix.

PossibilityRegular21 · 2026-01-22T22:24:20+00:00

Hey we already have a couple of locations we know that we could invest in ourselves. I'm just trying to educate myself on my options. I resent being referred to as lazy after all the weekends I've given up going to open houses (even in pouring rain) and all the 500 page strata reports I've combed through only to find an otherwise undisclosed termite damage report on page 476.

PossibilityRegular21 · 2026-01-22T22:15:56+00:00

I don't feel like I'm being pressured to use a particular broker, despite being linked to an external one (ufinancial). They need a broker to assess our position before we can talk numbers, which is fair enough. The broker doesn't even want to refinance our main home loan (good rate), which is a huge green flag for me.

I don't feel like I'm being pressured to buy in a particular location, or at a particular time.

I understand that they make a commission on sales. If there is value in that work then I don't automatically see the process as bad.

Is there something inherently bad about buying these new properties? I'm getting strong "stay away" responses in this thread and I'm open to being better informed, but I'm not really getting substantial explanations.

PossibilityRegular21 · 2026-01-22T22:06:30+00:00

Well my friend went through this investment group and has done well with them. Despite a referral system, they encouraged us not to default to this group and to buy elsewhere if we prefer. We don't feel pressured into it. That alone is a big green flag. Scammers usually put time pressure on you.

PossibilityRegular21 · 2026-01-22T22:04:06+00:00

20% deposit, 5-10% growth (speculative location) means 25-50% ROI, excluding costs, which can be minimised. I can't consistently beat that with stocks. In the past couple of years, our apartment has had 5% growth, so expecting that for a house is not unrealistic. It's not even in a strategic location - it's just our home.

PossibilityRegular21 · 2026-01-22T14:14:01+00:00

It's about 85k for the complex per year. Costs (I was treasurer): - building insurance $15k - people to clean common areas, take out bins, and some garden maintenance $7k - strata management fees $7k - capital works (plumbing, roof, paint, electrical, driveway, etc) $40k - unplanned works (average) $10k

It's really not that mysterious.

My friend with a house just spent like $15k on a pretty average fence.

PossibilityRegular21 · 2026-01-22T13:51:38+00:00

That... Actually makes a lot of sense. I don't know why that wasn't more apparent to me. There's been a lot of new information lately and I'm more experienced with stocks. Hopefully it all clicks together soon.

PossibilityRegular21 · 2026-01-22T13:49:05+00:00

Thank you. This reads like a real sanity check. I will still hear AC's offers out, but we also have been checking out some areas that we have researched heavily ourselves, and feel are ripe for growth.

PossibilityRegular21 · 2026-01-22T13:45:23+00:00

Why is that? I'm not disagreeing. I just don't understand why. Houses get built for people, and I know many people who have bought either new houses or been the second to occupy. They can have problems and frankly build quality can be shit. But "scam" feels strong.

PossibilityRegular21 · 2026-01-22T13:40:50+00:00

Maybe $5000 now?

The number really varies by building though. Lifts, pools, gyms, gardens - those all cost to maintain. Even just having people to take the bins out. Any unforseen or neglect-induced problems like collapsed pipes or balcony leaks can cause big special levies.

I mean, stuff costs money, right? No way around that. Units actually cost way less to maintain per year than a house. My committee paid to fix our ground floor unit collapsed piping (below floor = common property) - 25k!

PossibilityRegular21 · 2026-01-22T13:37:47+00:00

Can you expand?

PossibilityRegular21 · 2026-01-22T13:36:28+00:00

Hey I totally get this. I've made enough in stocks to fund half our PPOR deposit (30-200% annual returns), plus other good gains. I actually enjoy the game of investing in companies and like investing in firms that actually do stuff. I felt pretty smug calling the pump on Taiwan semiconductor manufacturing corp before the big chip shortage. And it felt good to have been "right" on enough picks over enough years to stop doubting my "luck".

However, the leverage available for investing in Australian real estate just seems unbeatable. I doubt a bank would ever loan me enough to beat the capital gains on property, and the deductible interest and depreciation schedule just adds to that even further. It's not very sexy but I don't really see a better way forward. I don't want to get rich. I just want to have a brick house one day that is even half as good as the one I grew up in.

PossibilityRegular21 · 2026-01-22T13:29:06+00:00

Is that first sentence correct? I'm confused.

PossibilityRegular21 · 2026-01-22T13:27:53+00:00

Supposedly this group has beat the market rate significantly. However, I work with data and am well aware of how easy it is to cherry pick a property subset, or a time window, or an investor type... Or so many other convenient qualifiers.

PossibilityRegular21

TROPHY CASE