Gday

a few kiwis I’ve been talking to keep raving on about kiwi fish and chups. whats so special about them ??

Anyone recommend any places to go try when I am over there soon ?

Andrew.[cap]

Hi there,

thanks for all the replies – these replies have been extremely helpful.

Basically I was just trying to guage what sort of standing the actual offers that I make are. I have got the buyer beware templates and I guess I just assumed that because it is written it is more ‘binding’ in a sense.

I will be sure to add those recommendations…[Read more]

Hi there,

thanks for the reply.

What I am trying to avoid is throwing money into inspections without having secured the property.

From what your saying, it seems that an offer is not much really. Even if I put all these subject to clauses in…

I suppose the only way would be to put the clauses into the actual contract itself…

Andrew.

Hi Shaz,

Sorry – I am buying in NSW.

Cheers,
Andrew.[cap]

Hi Steve,

I suppose the first thing is to congratulate you on your savings. Well done on being so diligent.

The next thing is that $800k in cash sitting idle is never good.

How old are you ? When are you looking to retire? How is your super? Do you have any other assets, have you ever bought property ?

If you have never bought property, maybe…[Read more]

Hi Crj,

thanks for your comments. I guess I am just a little wary about having too many ‘subject tos’ At this stage it would be subject to finance, pest & building inspections, and council building certificates.

I suppose I just dont want too many subject to’s that may make my offer less attractive and reduce my negotiating position.

Andrew.

Hi there,

thanks for the replies. I’ve checked the KPI magazine site and it seems that you can only order back issues or sign up for a full subscription. I guess they dont do one offs since that would stop ppl from subscribing I guess…

Shar – I guess if they have it all the way in baulkham hills they should have it in some of the bigger…[Read more]

Hi All

I just stumbled upon a great website run by the federal government.

It basically contains a log of all disasters for a region – and it is searchable.

Maybe good to see if the area you are buying in is flood/bushfire/storm prone etc etc.

http://www.ema.gov.au/ema/emadisasters.nsf/webpages/HomePage?OpenDocument

Cheers,
Andrew.

Hi Westan,

So fixed rates being below variable is rare in NZ?

I would have thought with the US’s deficit the size that it is, and the fact that it has increased rates 6 (or is that 7 now?) times in a row, and with the RBA being so “hawkish” as the media put it that there would be upward pressure on rates.

If thats the case you would expect more…[Read more]

Hi Surfer,

Pardon my ignorance, I have heard of LAQC a few times on the forums – what does it actually stand for ?

Cheers,
Andrew.[cap]

GP,

Sorry I forgot to mention that generally, any Australian accountant worth his salt would ensure that everything is distributed.

From what I know so far, everything is normally distributed to a ‘bucket company’ which can then be taxed at the corporate rate, so that 99A doesn’t apply.

In that case, technically its been distributed out of the…[Read more]

Terry

Interesting idea. I’m not sure if I understand how this works. If you make a distribtion from one trust to the other, then certainly that is income to the beneficiary trust ?

So basically what your saying is you just shift the funds from one trust to the other back and forth each year ?

I dunno why Part IVA wouldn’t catch this…its kind…[Read more]

GreatPig

Just to add in a few things…

Again, just taking a stab in the dark here, but I would assume that Aussie trust laws are similar to NZ trust laws. Apparently trust laws all originated from English estate laws.

So I would assume that they both have a similar structure – someone correct me if I am wrong. In Australia, if net income is…[Read more]

Little bastards…

thanks Shaz!

Andrew.

Mark,

Thanks for the encouragement!

Like others have said in the forums..the trust structure is more about asset protection than avoiding capital gains.

Even if you managed to dodge CGT via a weird/wacky/”creative” arrangement, the commissioner always has Part IVA up his sleeve.

For anyone who doesn’t know, Part IVA is the anti avoidance…[Read more]

Shar,

Seeing as I am studying for an tax exam, I’ve looked up my text. Here is a bit of a quote from the legislation/guide I have in front of me:

“A trust estate is a “resident trust estate” if:
(a) a trustee was a resident at any time during the year of income; or

(b) the central management and control of the trust estate was located in…[Read more]

Hi Shar,

Firstly, I am by no means a fully qualified accountant, all I have is a few weeks of intensive study in Australian Tax Law.

My understanding of trusts in general for asset protection is that you have a corporate trustee. I’m not sure what happens when you have individuals as both trustees & beneficiaries…things may start to get messy…[Read more]

Hi Guys,

I’ve heard the term ‘borer treatment’ a few times in conversations.

I’m pretty sure someone mentioned that there were no termites in NZ either.

So is this just a regular pest/insect/cockroach treament ?

Cheers,
Andrew.

Hi Matthew,

I guess because I am yet to make my first purchase, I’d like to actually see the place I was buying for myself.

It sounds as if physically being there really isn’t necessary. I guess you just need to build up contacts with R/E agents/property managers/building inspectors… to make up for it instead.

thanks for your comments…[Read more]

Joe,

Congrats. I think one of the hardest things is taking action and making the initial step.

Do you plan on seeing the property for yourself ?

Andrew.