Introduction

When my wife and I bought a block of land in Western Australia way back in 2006 I wanted very much to share my experience in writing with others but I never quite found the time. We built our first home--our family home--on that block in the suburb of Wembley Downs and I opted to do much of the post-construction work myself so time was always at a premium and I never had much of it to spare.

 

We're building again but this time for investment purposes.

 

We're planning this second build as the first property in a portfolio so I'm documenting the journey for my own benefit because I find writing helps to internalise what I’ve learnt. I've also found there is a ton of information online and elsewhere all about the what, why, when, where, how, and who so I'm hoping to present a neutral, unbiased recounting of my own experiences for those who are interested.

 

I blogged about IT when I was working in the IT field, sharing my experiences with specific products and technologies, and was astounded at the positive feedback I received from the technology community in response to those posts. Frequent tags on those posts were "Things to Remember" and "How to" and I had as much fun writing them as I did working through the relevant problems. As was always the case with that blog, and will remain the case with this blog, I hope you find what I post to be interesting and useful--and if you believe something I've written is incorrect I'd very much like to hear your viewpoint and optionally start a conversation.

 

My aim is to keep my posts short and sweet and cover off bite-sized topics that are easy and quick to digest. This is hard for me. After receiving my first term essay, the Poetics professor in my first year English Lit undergraduate program labelled me "wordy and verbose" and I've been fighting against that judgement ever since! [Update: sorry]

 

I expect the content of this blog, despite being investment focused, will also intermingle with the story of my life, anecdotally, so I'll try and be kind to your weary eyes.

 

I suppose a disclaimer is also worth posting: I'm just a guy, I'm not an accountant, lawyer, solicitor, tax agent, mortgage broker, banker, financial adviser, insurance agent, land developer, builder, government agent, or anything else so I disclaim your application of anything I write here is to be applied at your own risk. What I write may be incorrect and you are best to seek your own professional advice (tax, legal, financial, and otherwise) before entering into contracts or spending your money. Your situation is unique to you and what I write here reflects my experience only. I'm learning too and expect to make many, many mistakes along the way.

 

 

Enjoy,

Michael