SCA- subject to Council Approval

Why risk it for the sake of $50?Some contracts (housing comm) say you cannot delay settlement (for anything). The risk you take. You have paid $20-40,000 deposit. If something did happen you could be fighting for months to get your money back. I'd rather sleep at night.My bank lady told me the new policy is they need a copy of the insurance…[Read more]

After 5 years just ask to stay on interest only. I've never heard of anyone having a problem.5 years is a long time. You may have enough property by then to pay them down and retire.

When I buy a property I keep all paperwork in a folder (eg, contract, purchase details, lease agreement. I put yearly paperwork (for tax purposes) in a folder (one for each property). I also have a file for each property to keep electronic files.I have an overall spreadsheet detailing costs etc. Also one of my financial position now (property…[Read more]

As above plus- Make sure of your price both for purchase and reno and selling price? Add in extra for the reno (both time and money). Don't forget there is stamp duty, loan costs, solicitor costs (for both buying and selling), agent fees to sell. This adds at least $10,000. No use doing it unless there's a good margin in it. Is there a good…[Read more]

An accountant with a sense of humour. That might be a stretch. Just kidding. Do you need friends? I would have thought finding an accountant that knows his/her stuff and thus help you with your financial independence would be enough.What's your priority?  Or do you want ALL the things you listed. If so good luck to you.

xdrew that does sound inviting but hopefully people read it don't jump in thinking it's a too good t pass up offer. There are thousands of these properties in that area and more springing up every week. Seems developers everywhere there are buying old houses and knocking them down to build these things. Vacancy rates aren't that low either. Buy at…[Read more]

You can add a room, you can't add land.Depends how much extra land you're talking though? Enough to add a granny flat/develop?

xdrew- some valid points IF it is a serviced apartment. Not ALL studios are a bad investment. Yes they are small and finance is harder to get but ones near the city are in hot demand and if you choose a good one (not in giant complexes with pools) you can make some nice CG.It would not be my choice as a first investment though. To restrictive with…[Read more]

OK not much info. Are you living in it while renovating? I'll assume it's an investment property that you want to renovate ASAP to get tenants in (that's an area I know about).So the answer is the bathroom. It takes the longest. Start first and you'll still be doing it at the end.  My next reno is NOT having a new bathroom (just an…[Read more]

So are you looking for a mentor you can pay to teach you the ropes or a partnership (you mention partnering up)? If the second, what are you contributing to the partnership? If you are not working I'm assuming time?What have you done so far (if you don't mind me asking). Just wondering what the "next step" is for you.

annacm_88 wrote:
Thankyou so much for your reply! I thought that would be the case. Just another question, I have found a studio apartment in sydney for $145,000 with rent of $298 p/w if i could come up with the the money to buy this for example, could owning property help me at all when it comes to borrowing money?Thanks <br /=)” title=”>=)”…[Read more]

wblack wrote:
Finally….today we took the plunge and signed up to our first investment property! Thanks to everyone for their feedback on this discussion and other discussions we've posted, and for the forum overall…..the advice has been invaluable just to get us this far…

Congratulations.OK do tell. How did you overcome your fears? Did…[Read more]

It depends on the discount. If someone offers me 10% discount I'm not interested as I'll save more than that on tax. But having said that it's a long time to get that money back if using buy and hold method.

You can't compare your IP with a term deposit unless you paid 100% cash. You need to take gearing into account.Eg if your IP was worth $300K goes up by 6% that's a growth of of $18000. Assuming you put in 20% deposit plus legals and stamp duty (say$40K). If you invested that $40K instead at 6% you would make $2400)  Please give more figures if…[Read more]

The advantage could be that if you lock in at a too high rate you miss out on the low interest rates. The same goes for variable. If you don't lock in when rates are low you miss out on keeping the low interest rates for a longer period.You won't get a one or the other answer. When rates are low fix (if you can judge when low is). Some people like…[Read more]

You couldn't own it but if you wrote a letter to the body corp and presented your wishes at the AGM those in attendance could vote on it.

I wouldn't do it. Some people do not like stepping in a bath to shower. But then again if there was no bath then I would want one. I'm assuming there is a bath in the main bathroom so I would want a shower in the ensuite. That way everyone is covered.I think spa baths are old hat. Too much water.

Firstly if you are thinking about keeping it as an investment STOP paying off the loan. Put the money in an offset account so you can withdraw it to buy the new place.  If you rent out a place with no or little loan you will be paying extra tax and the money you borrow for your new home will not be tax deductible.

"My settlement agent obviously lodged our stamp duty proir to settlement"There is a time frame. You can't pay it the day before. Check WHEN it was due.Check the date you issued the bank cheque. Check the date your "agent:" received it. Check the date it was paid. Then you'll know if it was your fault or theirs.