Forum Replies Created
G'day AMitchell.
Yes, Australian Legal & Finance are Buyer's Agents and please feel free to checkout our new website!
Kind regards,YES!
I hope this has been of benefit to you.
Kind regards,Hi Jas.
The answer to that question depends on the structure of the family trust and whether the properties in the family trust were purchased under your name. If your name is not on any of the Title's of the properties owned in the family tust then I would suggest you would still be entitled to the First Home Owners Grant as it can be argued that you have not purchased property before. Please take what I have written with caution as I do not know the specific structure of your Family Unit Trust nor do I know how your trust purchased the properties.
May I suggest you simply fill in the FHOG application and answer the questions truthfully and let the Govt tell you whether you qualify or not.
I hope this has been of benefit to you.
Kind regards,PS: The figures stack up nicely and you know the Investment Property modicum: "It is always best to own the worst house in the best street".
I hope this has been of benefit to you.
Kind regards,G'day OB 1
It sounds like you are wanting to do an 'Option to Buy' agreement young paddo-wun!
Option Agreements are great when drafted correctly, for both the Vendor and Purchaser, however, the biggest hurdle one usually faces with Option Agreements is finding a Vendor who not only undersatnds how they work but, more importantly, wants to utilise one. May I suggest that you can do all the figures and interest rate calculations you like but if the vendor isn't interested in an Option Agreement then it isn't worth pursuing. Ask the venor first and then work it all out.
I hope this has been of benefit to you.
KInd regards,Hi PropertyBee.
Looks like I misunderstood!
You have placed a 'Letter of Offer' to the Vendor via the Real Estate Agent. If that is the case then THERE IS NO CONTRACT.
What you have done is simply put a letter of offer to the Vendor without it being contractually binding on you or the vendor. Once the vendor accepts your "Letter of Offer' THEN a formal 'Contract for Sale of Residential Property' is drawn up by the real estate agent along with the necessary Lands and Title, EPA, etc declarations in a Form 7 (SA) , Form 3 (VIC), and so on – usually supplied by a Lawyer or Conveyancer.
Let me be clear: If you have simply submitted a 'Letter of Offer' to the Vendor you are NOT contractually bound to that offer. If you have indeed signed a 'Contract for Sale of Residential Property' then you are still NOT contractually bound as you have not paid a deposit and therefore have not met consideration under Australian Contract Law. Either way, there is NO CONTRACT and you are obliged to nothing. If you are still unsure then you MUST contact a lawyer or feel free to drop me a line. I am happy to help and it won't cost you anything but your time.
I hope this has been of help to you.
Kind regards,Hi Propertybee.
Contract Law 1.01 "a contract is not binding until consideration has taken place." What is consideration? It is defined at law when money (SUCH AS A DEPOSIT) is paid to the Vendor (seller) in consideartion of the purchasers offer. A contract will NEVER be binding on you the purchaser until, at the very least, you have paid a deposit and met the legal requirements of meeting consideration under Contarct Law. Should you have any further concerns or need further information or reassurance, please feel free to email me at my address below.
I hope this has been of benefit to you.
Kind regards,Hi Kris.
Be VERY CAREFUL with asbestos. It is not considered dangerous as long as it is intact however, should the outside cladding be damaged in anyway leading t the possible release of asbestos particals then you as the owner are up for some significant liabilty issues and expenditure.
To safely remove asbestos it is a mansatory requirement to have the entire building encased in a palstic bubble and ALL workers must wear full body protective suits with independent breathing apparatus. The average cost to have esbestos removed from a typical residential property starts at around $20,000 and can take months to clean up. As i've said, as long as it remains structurally sound you are ok but, should there be even the slightest deteriation or damage you will be in a world of legal and fiscal hurt.
My personal opinion: do NOT touch unless the price is so cheap that you can factor in an asbestos clean up and still be in front.
I hope this has been of benefit to you.
Kind regards,Hi Propertybee
'Cooling off' is a legal right all purchasers have in Australia to retract a contractual offer to purchase real estate without the penalty of losing our deposit. The 'cooling off' period allowed does vary from state to state (QLD 5 clear business days, Vic 3 business days, SA 2 business days, and so on). What you have to understand in relation to your building/pest inspection is that, usually it is not a requirement to have it done during 'cooling off' but, rather, the inspection is made a 'subject to' condition of the sale. In other words, the purchaser agrees to purchase said property 'subject to a satisfactory building/pest inspection, finance, sale and/or settlement of an existing property', and so on. Putting into perspective your present situation of having signed a contract to purchase without making it 'subject to a satisfactory building/pest inspection' means, that if you have the inspection done on say the last day of 'cooling off' and you are rushed to accept the report, once 'cooling off' has expired you (and there are no other conditions to the sale/purchase) are then stuck with the property.
If any real estate agent or vendor tells you that you must obtain a building/pest inspection during 'cooling off' tell them to go and jump. ALWAYS make the sale of a property subject to a satisfactory inspection or it truly becomes caveat emptor (buyer beware).
I can't recommend a good building/pest inspector but I am sure someone else in the forum will help you there.
I hope this has been of benefit to you.
Kind regards,.G'day Dan and welcome to our Forum.
I am sure the community will appreciate your continued input.Quick addition to last post.
Have you considered Adelaide's southern suburbs?
The SA Govt is now widening the Southern Expressway (making it 2 way), the train line is now being extended all the way to Seaford and there are huge levels of expenditure on infrastructure down south. Port Noarlunga is presently the single fastest growing area in Adelaide at around 11% and, for example, you can buy brand new 4 bedroom H&L in say Seaford that is 2-3 minutes from the cleanest beaches in Australia (Port Noarlunga Beach was voted the cleanest beach in all of Australia for 2010) for under $350K. I buy my Adelaide IP's in the south so I practice what I preach. At the very least, do your due diligence and feasability study on Adealide's south as well because property is moving again down there and the Onkaparinga Council estimates an influx of at 20,000+ more new residents over the next 10 years.
I hope this was also of benefit to you.Hi AMitchell.
Adelaide's complexity and demographics are changing fast. We have just recently had our $700 Million Northen Expressway, that takes you from slightly north of Gepps Cross (off Pt Wakefield Rd) out to the Barossa. People no longer need to travel up Main North Rd to get to areas like Gawler, Willaston and beyond. There are also 'fringe' suburbs of Elizabeth (Playford Council) and Salisbury (Salisbury Council) that are now adjacent to the Expressway. Areas such as Virginia, Two Wells and so on now represent excellent buying as Adelaidians haven't had time to get used to the idea that it is now quicker from Adelaide Cbd to say Gawler up the Northern Expressway than it is from CBD to Elizabeth (travelling Main North Rd). May I suggest you avail yourself of a map that shows the Northern Expressway and research some of the suburbs in Playford and Salisbury Councils that are adjacent to the Expressway? Also, I have lived over 21 years in Adelaides northern suburbs and would avoid Davoren Park like the plague – it's ok if you're into buying low end ex-SA Housing Trust duplex's but it's another to invest into 4 bedroom H&L. Davy Park just has a terrible name and stigma for alot of Sth Aussie's.
I hope this has been of benefit to you,G'day Bythebay.
You have the trifecta with affordabilty, location and great tenants – don't let go of that one in Corio! I used to live in Hoppers Crossing and Werribee and 30 years ago Werribee was a Shire and my collegues thought I lived in the boondocks! I bought my first block of land in Hoppers for $4000 in 1979 and my first H&L for $34,000 in 1982. Werribee is now a city and suburb of Melbourne and is still only 20 minutes via the Westagate Freeway to Melb CBD. Corio is not much further out than Werribee and with all the points you have raised about its location and affordability means that as Melbourne continues to grow west and suburbs like Lara and Little River get swallowed up, Corio is next on that list. You are going to do well if you maintain a 'buy and hold' philososphy.
Kind regards,Ok Stringray, I read about your Housing Price Crash on the link and I was suitably unimpressed how lacking the article was in fundamental economics – something I have a undergraduate degree in. I have read, heard and been dictated to this kind of dribble through the 80's when I had an 18.4% mortgage. I heard it from these armchair experts in the 90's through the recession this country had to have. I heard it from the uneducated who said Australia's economy is doomed because the rest of the world fell into an economic heap. I bet my Grandfather heard this same during WW1, the Great Depression and WW2. I bet my father heard it when there weren't enough men to do jobs needed in this country post WW2 when so many young Aussie men paid the ultimate sacrifice. Yeah, the doomsters and soothsayers will always look for that big soapbox to grandstand their uneducated, uninformed attempt to justify their mediocrity. This is Australia and here, we 'give it go' and articles like that 'be damned'.
Anyway Stingray, you sell up and one day you'll be sitting down with your grandkids, with all the hindsight you can handle, telling them how you made one of lifes biggest decisions based on lack of emperical evidence but solely on hype and emotion – the things good, intelligent investors leave out of their decision making..Well said Jamie and it's great advice!
Kind regards,Hi Sofia.
Why do you want to manage all these properties?
Are you and your family aware of the relevant licenses which may be applicable in your state?
Do understand how the Residential Tenancies Tribunal in your state functions?
How often can you do inspections?
How far behind in rent can the tenant be before you can commence recovery and evictionproceedings?
How much notice in writing must you give the tenant before you can enter the property to effect emergency repairs? What are deemed emergency repairs under your state's tenancy legislation and Consumer Affairs code?
I could ask you alot more questions but suffice to say you absolutely must understand your rights as a landlord, managing agent as well as the rights of the tenant. Are you and your family aware that should you pay to have a property manager take care of your properties that these fees are fully tax deductible as an expense against your investment property?
Please do yourself a favor and investigate the cost and benefit of hiring a certified and legally capable property manager before taking this on yourself.
I hope this hasn't seemed to harsh and has been of benefit to you.
Kind regards,G'day Gordie.
There are potentially huge opportunities for the Australian Investor into the US property market but, as we in the legal profession say, "caveat emptor" or "buyer beware".
If you read my few points above you will see some of the key advantages in the US but it is also frought with danger. If you are interested in learning more I have some very informative and thorough PDF articles from Australian Property Investor over the last 6 months that independently explains almost everything an Aussie needs to know, as well as interviews from actual Aussie Investors who had both good and bad experiences. I like them because they present a balanced and unbiased assessment of the US property market for the Aussie Investor.
You MUST do your homework on this Gordie but, if you have and you know you can buy 3-4 bedroomed H&L for under $80,000 AU with strong rental returns in excess of 15-20% to cover costs and just one countries tax obligations …. mmmm, it starts to look real good!
I hope this has been of benefit to you?Kind regards,
Hi again Steve.
The best advice I can give you, based on what you have said in this forum, is to not talk to your Accountant about your investment aspirations. Accountants are mostly glorified number crunchers and most are not qualified to give comprehensive levels of investment advice and maintain a fiduciary duty of care to the clients. Case in point, an existing client of mine lives in Bunbury WA. In 2000 his Accountant 'advised' him to sell as he was getting virtually no deductions. My client owned this IP freehold and it was worth around $63000. He followed his Accountant's advice and sold in 2002 for $153,000 and was delighted. The couple who bought it sold it in 2003 for around $246,000. This same property today is worth $680,000! You see Steve, the Accountant could only see the tax implications and was not qualified to give investment advice – he couldn't factor in the resource boom that was hitting WA and therefore didn't consider current and future growth.
Please, talk to someone who knows and understands investing in property and will factor in all the necessary contingencies so YOU can make a decision based upon ALL the facts and how they relate to you.
I hope this has been of benefit to you.
Kind regards,Hi Judi.
Let us not forget the reality of what has transpired in the US economy – the single greatest balloon burst since the Great Depression. The US economy is going to do what it has always done after every great economic depression and recession it has had- they will drag the economy from bear to bull again and the value of their real estate, the amount of available jobs, and rental returns will again return to pre GFC levels in the not too distant future. NEVER before have Australain investors been in such an enviable position of $1 for $1 buying power; US property values dropping across coast to coast to unheard of levels of low purchase price; rentals remain high and strong in the wake of mortgage foreclosers and job losses as many Americans now cannot afford to buy but still must rent. Yes, property management is very different to Oz and things such as LLC's( Limited Liability Companies) but I say if you have one, you can afford to keep it, then hold it because you don't want to look back in a few years commenting on how wonderful hindsight is and if only you didn't ……..
Kind regards,G'day Steve.
Have you explored NOT selling your current PPOR and doing the figures on borrowing against your equity, holding on to your PPOR and get continued capital growth, then when you turn it into your IP you can start writing off your costs against your tax through variation and depreciation?
Unfortunately, my experience is too many people dive into selling a property before exploring their options to hold and using that equity to expand their IP portfolio.
Kind regards,
