Hi Sushee We bought our first investment property last year, DH has done lots of research (10 years worth before we bit the bullet ) so I give him all the credit for anything I may write here !

What are you strategies to tide you over if your income drops?
DH says to make sure that you have paid enough off your own home mortgage so that if you hit hard times you can redraw on your mortgage to cover your living/investment property expenses (ideally you want to be able to live for 6-12 months without working if you have to). He also suggests having income protection through your superannuation fund in case you become sick/injured and cannot work.

Do you think this is the time to invest?
That's the million dollar question LOL! But long-term, DH says it's best to do it when you are in a position to afford it.

What other advice would you give a novice like me?
* Ideally, don't buy in a high-rise building as the value won't appreciate as much as something with more land. Building to land value should ideally be less than 50% - i.e: building worth $200K, land worth $400K - (land appreciates, buildings depreciate). If buying an apartment/flat, try to find one in a building 3 stories high or under.

* Go for scarcity (i.e beach front/art deco/near parkland, etc).

* Look at 100 houses before buying one.

* You should be able to judge the selling price of your property of interest within about 5% (so do lots of research and watch lots of auctions!)

* Get rental insurance (protects against malicious damage and rent defaults).

Is DH right to want to wait, or am I right to want to act now?
That's something you need to decide together . But it can't hurt to do lots of research now, that might help you make a decision.

Best of luck!