Today’s success tip comes from Chris Gray.

Financially retired at the age of 31, today Chris is a multi-millionaire, and capital growth property investor. He is also a self-confessed lifestyle junkie.

What do you look for when you’re ’shopping for property’?

Ultimately, I am looking for suburbs that will have high long-term capital growth. That means there has to be a lot of employment in the area from lots of different types of industries, plenty of leisure and recreation for the people that live there and good transport links. However there are other things I look for such as:

* Aspect - I always look at light and heat. I check that the main living areas are facing North. No matter how great the property is, if it is not well lit I am turned-off immediately.

* Rent consideration - Receiving rent for your property is very important because it is the rent that will pay the mortgage. As a general rule, the more capital growth you want for wealth appreciation, the less rent you’ll get. It’s a fine line to find the right balance. I’d rather 10% growth and between four and 5% rent, than 10% rent and four to 5% growth.

* Median price - I recommend buying property around the median price so you’ll always have a tenant, there will be lots of comparisons if you want to get the bank to refinance it and there will be lots of interest if you do want to sell.

* Not pristine - I don’t want to buy property that is perfect because the seller will charge a premium if everything’s already done. I look for places that are livable to rent out straight away but may need some work, such as new carpet or a new kitchen. If you have an eye for improvements you can create additional equity, which is the difference between what you pay and what you can make it worth.

* Equal-size bedrooms - If you’re letting out a two-bedroom apartment to two single people you need two equal size double bedrooms.

* Built-in wardrobes - People don’t want to cart around a wardrobe. I check for built-ins or space to potentially add one to the room.

* Toilets, bathroom and en-suite - An additional toilet is always useful, toilets that are separate from bathrooms are good, so is having one bathroom and an en-suite off the main bedroom.

* Lock-up garage - People who can afford $400-plus rent don’t want to park their car in the street. Some people won’t look at your property if it doesn’t have a garage.

Until next time,

Allan Poole