Advice for buying an investment property and renting it out?

we are wanting to start a joint investment portfolio and are looking to spend upto $100K aud on Tasmania's west coast to buy and fix up a place and then rent it out to one of the local miners but are looking for advice as to what we do if there is a problem and even some general advice......this is dead genuine and as such please only give genuine answers.

thanks very much
Mitch and Laura

Make sure you research your rights and responsibilities. There should be a local government website that will cover your rights and responsibilities as a landlord. In Canada there is a Landlord and Tenant Advisory Board which is accessible thru the net, phone or fax and are available free of charge to both landlords and tenants for information as well as settling disputes. Read as much information as you can but nothing beats getting a good tenant. Do credit checks, if possible, on all tenants. Make sure you check their references. See how long they've been employed, how long they were at their last address, etc. Good luck!

If Tasmania is far from where you live, I strongly advise against it. You will have a hell of a job maintaining it and doing the repairs etc that a difficult tenant might demand.

Buy a property in your street, or invest it on the stock market. Not many people realize is that over the long term, the stock market has done better than property.