thanks for the tip.

Just out of curiosity, if you had issues such as this…who would mediate? is there a tribunal for this sort of thing ?

andrew

thanks for the replies.

GrossRealisation:
That was the perspective I was coming from. More bugged by the fact that the guy came up to us in the guise that he was “consulting” us about it. Consulting is not necessarily shoving a bill in my face and telling me how much to pay, particularly without getting additional quotes…but thats…[Read more]

thanks for the reply. I thought this would be the case, notwithstanding it had nothing to do with our property.

I suppose i was just querying it because I wasn’t sure what the implications were, given that it was a common line that terminated on his property before going out to the main street.

Our toilets etc flush perfectly, but…[Read more]

Birddogs bring you potential deals, but thats only the start of it. Every deal brought forward by a birddog is not necessarily a good deal.

You still have to do your due diligence…

andrew [cap]

Also, I wouldn’t be surprised if agents marked up properties by a few thousand as soon as they get a whiff of an aussie. I have been working on my kiwi accent and drinking my tui’s [cap]

I suppose the moral of the story is that if you put in an offer and think you are lowballing, you may not end up actually be…[Read more]

thanks for the replies. I think its clear that in even in NZ a stock standard ‘buy & hold’ cash positive properties are a lot rarer. Yes, yields are higher than in Australia, but so are interest rates.

RentMaster you mention that you either go for CG or CF+. Its interesting that even in some regional areas, CF+ properties are…[Read more]

has anyone had any trouble trying to get to the realenz.co.nz site over the last couple of days??

andrew.

I suppose what I am getting at here is more from the point of view of what happens to the two separate titles. Ie, when you subdivide, since the bank is registered as holding a mortgage over the original section, do they automatically come up on the titles for both of the properties?

You would think that they would otherwise the bank…[Read more]

thanks for the stats – much appreciated.

Also, one other quick one – how long did the whole process take to set up from start to finish ?

cheers,
andrew.[cap]

Yeah – I’m not too sure about that central management and control test that determines residency…

Even if the company is deemed to be nonresident, maybe it would be possible that as appontors, that you have ultimate control as well…need to ask about that one…

Just out of curiosity, how much does it cost to set up a trust/company in…[Read more]

thanks for your thoughts. The insurance tip is definately a good bargaining chip.

Just to clarify, when you say you are ‘covering the cost of the insurance’ for that period I presume you are talking about having the insurance in your own name, rather than simply reimbursing the vendor ?

cheers,
Andrew.

thanks for the insights. With regards to the financing – what did you have to do with the bank re running the subdivision past them ?

whats involved from that side ?

thanks
andrew.

The problem I am anticipating when asking for rentals is having them pick my aussie accent, then change tack and tell me nothing is vacant

thats just me being cynical…[cap]

Just out of curiosity, when is KA2 being run ?

Andrew.

Can someone clarify the reasoning behind this? I would have thought two dwellings on the one section would equate to less vacancy risk because there is…[Read more]

Given the discussion above, if there are a lack of tradies, wouldn’t that just point to a supply imbalance?

That just says higher prices/blank cheque jobs. If tradies are cheaper in NZ compared to Oz then I wouldn’t think that would last too long…

andrew.[cap]

andrew

Just to clarify, what sort of insurance would you need to cover you whilst you are in there presettlement ?

Are you just saying that you should bring forward the insurance so that you are covered for any time you have access to the property, not just after settlement ?

Thanks,
Andrew.

thanks for the response.

What exactly do you mean by a ‘dependent relative unit’ – is this like a granny flat type scenario ?

Basically I was wondering if it was possible to build something else on there and putting some more tenants in the second place…

andrew.

there is a driveway up the front of the property, that could potentially be a battleaxe setup, except I wouldn’t be subdividing anything, just putting another house in.

there is also a gate with rear lane entrance as well…

I wasn’t thinking about going up a storey…all single storey type stuff.

Not sure about the privacy…[Read more]

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]

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]

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.

Sorry – I am buying in NSW.

Cheers,
Andrew.[cap]

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]

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.

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]

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.

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]

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

Cheers,
Andrew.[cap]

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]

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]

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]

thanks Shaz!

Andrew.

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]

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]

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]

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.

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]

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.

I think I must have scared everyone away with scary tax talk

[blush2]

Just to clarify – are you saying NZ won’t consider anyone on less than 150k for NZ/yen loans specifically?

cheers,
andrew.

Who would you normally get to do your independent rental assessments? Just other agents in the area ?

Cheers,
Andrew.

First I have to admit my ignorance of the NZ tax laws so please correct me if anything is inaccurate.

I’ve been doing a course on australian tax law. One of the first things we looked at was the two concepts of Residency and Source.

Now if you were to set up an NZ type structure, it would presumably have a NZ resident trustee company.…[Read more]

if I did choose to borrow in Australia through a broker, will they lend to me in NZD or do I get a loan for AUD and then have to do the conversion myself?

Andrew.[cap]

As opposed to LVR?

Thanks,
Andrew.

What does the Finance Brokers Contract look like ? I have been looking at a few properties, and thought it would be a good idea to get some sort of application through to a preapproval stage before I made any offers etc.

There was never any mention about a contract with the broker as such, the only thing I remember is an authority…[Read more]

I’ve recently read 0to130 and I am getting through 1m in 1yr. I am currently thinking investing in the masterclass, but I have to say that I am still a beginner. Is the masterclass something I should look at going to at this stage of my investing career or are the classes generally pitched at a higher level ?

Thanks
Andrew.