Doing this you obviously have to pay their fee and also may be ask to pay a higher price.

If they get the bin out every week, I would suggest that you either try to be around when the bin goes out, or I stick a letter on top of the bin.

I would even…[Read more]

They have brochures for tenants with their rights and obligations as well as one for landlords.

I would go to great length to get them out as quickly as possible. Do not be afraid that they might not pay any more rent. They use this as a carrot. I believe that is one disadvantage of…[Read more]

I have not looked into the mining towns yet, as I am wary of the tenants.

– Lots of single blokes with nothing to do after hours and plenty of money for booze => damaged property
– Many mining jobs are very well paid but often boring and repetitive. Coupled with lack of females this can lead to frustration and anger =>…[Read more]

Also if you see a property, you can just ask the REA about the…[Read more]

I normally staple a $1,000 cheque to my offer with a clause stating that banking of the cheque constitutes as acceptance of my offer. You should never lose your deposit if no contract gets signed.

Offering the cheque is used as a carrot to…[Read more]

-Letting Fee (normally charged on top of the management fee)
-PM often also charge extra for postage, advertising, inspections, etc.
-Emergency Service Levy
-Vacancy Rate (allow 2-6 weeks per year)
– Rise in interest costs (consider the effect of 2% rate increases)

In regards to the tax Steve warns to include that in…[Read more]

welcome to the forum.

Another point to consider.

Don’t look in the bottom 20% in whatever market you are looking.

Because it is often all that people can afford for their first property, there is more competition and often less value for money.

You will often also attract more difficult tenants.

There are several considerations…[Read more]

welcome to the forum.

There are a lot of questions and very little information. How much income do you have? Do you have any savings? Are you looking for an investment property or for a PPoR? Just because the market rises is not a good enough reason to sell. What is your thinking/strategy?

Here are some general recommendations:
-…[Read more]

welcome to the forum. Hopefully we can help you.

Generally you seem to have the right approach to things.

To answer your questions:
1. When you look for a place, you can probably select houses that other ‘reno’ people would shy away from because of the cost. I am especially thinking places with salt damp. Your father being a…[Read more]

Next time you plan a reno before you put in an offer I strongly recommend that you pick up the yellow…[Read more]

Elaborating on Richards comment. Talk to a good accountant as well as to a good MB.

And do not forget that 100% loan does not mean you do not need any money. You still have to come up with the closing costs of about 5-6%.

I believe that Pete is correct that the bank hardly ever loses. For a start they normally only have 80% of the house value mortgaged (anything above is handled by the MI).

But I am pretty sure that they cannot make a profit on the sale. In other words if they receive more money from the sale than was owed to them, they have…[Read more]

However everybody that gets a building inspection done will probably know about it.

As you said that you…[Read more]

can you please let me know where you have heard/read off the 6 year rule.

I cannot find anything about it on the ATO website. My understanding it that you have to prorata the rental time.

One further point on your initial post SK.

Many people think that 100% loans mean that they do no need any deposit. That is wrong. You still have to come up with the closing costs (about 5-6%) which include stamp duty on purchase and loan, loan application fee, building inspection, building valuation (normally paid…[Read more]

– I believe the mining industry will be the fastest growing industry for the next 1-2 decades, so the prices may not settle in a hurry.

– While the market is probably not moving up a lot in the near future, I think you want to have a clearer reason to sell than just to be debt free…[Read more]

It does not really say much. It may help to settle on a general area to investigate further.

I like to do a whole set of numbers to determine if the property makes me a profit. But I also love to crunch numbers. I also know of people who have done very well doing some basic figures on…[Read more]

I have a line of credit on our house that I use for our 20% deposit and the closing costs.

I am not too keen to go to 90% or 95%, but I may be too conservative and I have a reasonable amount of equity in our PPoR.

Go on realestate.com.au or homehound.com.au

Look for average sale prices for 3BR houses and then for average rentals for 3BR houses.

If you find average yields of 6-8% I would look further, else move to the next postcode.

you got some good points there. But you seem to be strongly in the “never sell” corner. While this can certainly work, I think in the current property market you can often do better by selling off underperforming assets and look for better deals.

All this said, there is no advantage to sell a marginal property to replace with a…[Read more]

I also believe that they are illegal in SA.

I also believe that they are illegal in SA.

I have heard of several ways that people manouvered around these rules. Some were successful, but all were illegal.

Why are you looking at such a big piece of…[Read more]

Your first investigative trip is not tax deductible. Only trips after you purchased can get deducted. However you can claim the initial trip against the capital gain when you sell the property.

But this is really for the accountant to determine.

And a few hundred dollars initial investment can save you a lot of headaches,…[Read more]

Do you want to be a doctor or a lawyer?

I believe your question is too broad. There are lots of arguments for the different scenarios including your personal preferences.

In general you would probably be better off to aim for some quick capital gain to improve your equity position. But build and sell is only one…[Read more]

I must admit that I am not quite up to date with the NSW rules. But depending on how you word your get out clause, you may be able to buy yourself some time. I have five standard get out clauses (I normally only use one at a time):

Amount Offered: $ 220,000.00
Terms: $ 1,000.00 deposit and balance in 30 days.

Subject to…[Read more]

It was a lot easier to find cf+ properties about 7 years ago.

Nowadays it is pretty unlikely that you buy a cf+ property. But if you find a property yielding 6-8% you may be able to improve it enough to get your 10-11%.

The two main ways to improve a property is to subdived and/or renovate.

If it were easy, everybody would do…[Read more]

Still I would recommend to everybody to put a ‘get out clause’ into the contract.

Even if it costs you .25% of the purchase price. On a $400,000.00 property that is $1,000.00. Really nothing if something bad shows up after you signed the contract and you realise that in spite of all your due dilligence you made a…[Read more]

– You could just go to the council, ask for planning officer and tell him/her what you want to do. They will often get you a general idea what the zoning is and what are complying developments, etc.

– You could (and that would be my recommendation) look for a surveyor. They specialise in…[Read more]

Steve McKnight always says that it is very difficult to own several cf- properties, as they drain your income.

The only thing holding you back on cf+ properties is your equity, and that should grow as you are constantly getting income and hopefully…[Read more]

But that is really immaterial.

NEVER believe a real estate agent without cross checking all the facts. They are SELLER agents interesting to maximise the sales…[Read more]

I try to always attach a cheque of $1,000.00 to the contract. If they do not accept the offer you have lost nothing, but they may understand that you are…[Read more]

If you live reasonably close, go past at different times of the day and find out how noisy the expressway is.

Maybe you can think of ways to reduce the noise/view with a noise reduction fence (eg rendered straw bales).

Talk to the neighbours. See who is renting and who bought. How much…[Read more]

If you are after capital growth, this article may give you a good idea.

But if you are following Steve’s advise and look for cf+ properties, you have to find regional centres where you get better yield.

While you cannot find too many properties that follow the good old 11 second rule,…[Read more]

You can just inform the agent in writing that you want to terminate the contract because the building inspection highlighted structural problems. You do not even have to tell them what it is.

Do your numbers and make a decision.

Be it be the right one.

Half the roofing companies…[Read more]

I would certainly advise you to read Steve McKnight’s latest book (0-260 properties in 7 years) and probably his 2nd as well (1mio in properties in one year)

In both he describes people who were exactly in your position and decided to sell. I know it is not very anti this forum where everybody encourages to use the equity in…[Read more]

NOT ENOUGH DUE DILIGENCE

I guess that comprises a whole lot of issues.
– Build your foundation (reading and posting in this forum is a good start).
– Build your investment team (accountant, mortgage broker, valuer, building inspector, land broker, real estate agent?, surveyor?, property manager, trades people,…[Read more]

I do not know if you have to sell off your investment properties to achieve that (you did not give the value and loans on those).

There may be other ways to achieve that. How long would it take to pay off your home loan if you refinanced and had all income paying off…[Read more]

If yes, I think you have to make a decision. Do you still think the property is a good buy as per offer? If not I would either offer a price that is attractive to you or pull out. If you think the price is good, you can still try to negotiate…[Read more]

Another upside is that they are probably very willing to give you some starting capital if they see that their investment is making more money.

And the money really does…[Read more]

If you look on your posts, there is a small rubbish bin in the grey bar under your name. It allows you to delete the post.

Check out the ATO website:
http://www.ato.gov.au/individuals/content.asp?doc=/content/36878.htm&pc=001/002/026/016/003&mnu=9278&mfp=001/002&st=&cy=1

It states there:
To obtain full exemption from capital gains tax:

* the dwelling must have been your home for the whole period you owned it
*…[Read more]