What are the pitfalls of owning an investment property?

• Choosing a property in a wrong location may mean you have difficulty in refinancing or realising a capital loss where you still have debt to pay.

• Letting the wrong tenant in that trashes the place and refuses to leave, which is why I recommend having an experienced property manager.

• If you are negatively geared and self-employed, you may have to fork out extra cash every month and get your losses back in your tax return at the end of the year

• If you are negatively geared and you lose your job, Centrelink will want you to divest out of your property especially if you have a lot of equity in there before they even contemplate giving you any assistance

• It may take a long time to sell a dud property

• Over capitalising on a property may not give you the rent you want