[clintdbParticipant@clintdbJoin Date: 2004Post Count: 29]

November 26, 2004 - 10:56 pm

The only concern would be if the reduction in property values is followed by a reduction in rents or a difficulty in finding a tenant (maybe no one wants to live in that area any more, hence the decrease in property value).

In this situation your position would obviously be affected (but not until your current lease expires), otherwise, as the others have said, a decrease in property values is a book reduction only and will only have an affect if/when you want to sell.

Clint

[clintdbParticipant@clintdbJoin Date: 2004Post Count: 29]

November 26, 2004 - 7:59 am

The numbers alone look great.
Certainly +cf (assuming no extraordinary annual payments for whatever reason).

The one thing that may detract is the area they are in. For example; is it a mining town where the mining company pays large rents on behalf of it’s employees, but if the mine closes down….

That sort of thing.

If it’s a “normal” sort of town/city, I’d be jumping on them if I knew what I was doing with respect to the intracacies of Canadian investments.

Regards,
Clint

[clintdbParticipant@clintdbJoin Date: 2004Post Count: 29]

November 26, 2004 - 6:44 am

I’m not an expert, but I believe that Australian Self Managed Super Funds (SMSF’s) cannot “borrow” for the purposes of investing.

Therefore, you can’t buy an IP with the traditional deposit + loan arrangement – you have to go and buy the IP outright.

Hope you have enough money in your Super Fund for that one!

PS, could someone confirm the above for me. That is my understanding of the rules (my father has his own SMSF).
Are there any tricks around the “no borrowing” rule?

Regards,
Clint

[clintdbParticipant@clintdbJoin Date: 2004Post Count: 29]

November 25, 2004 - 12:30 pm

I think the last two posts (from Marc1 and resiwealth) are getting closer to what’s needed.

Some sort of common area (whether by search or by listing) where people can find generic information (“how do you calculate the 11 second rule?” for example) and then people swing into the forum itself and ask a more specific question which is then either answered or ignored depending on how people feel at the time.

BTW, I have question that I don’t think has been asked before….

In which suburbs do I find +cf properties? [wiseguy]

Clint

[clintdbParticipant@clintdbJoin Date: 2004Post Count: 29]

November 23, 2004 - 12:31 am

Hi Chris,

the first thing to consider is that you own the property, not the tenant. Therefore, it is for you to decide whether or not you want to make any improvements over and above it’s current state.

If the tenant won’t live there without the improvements they request, they can always go elsewhere.

However, it is quite possible that the improvements that your tenant has suggested will improve the value of your property both in CG terms as well as attractiveness to other tenants – think of it as the market (in this case your tenant) giving you some free advice about your property.

How you go about negtiations with your tenant is up to you. I remember a point from Steve M’s seminar in July where the Landlord went to the tenant and asked if there is anything that they would like done in return for a small increase in rent (eg, A/C unit, new fence). Often they would not mind as it improved their standard of living for a relatively small weekly amount.

Regards,
Clint

[clintdbParticipant@clintdbJoin Date: 2004Post Count: 29]

November 22, 2004 - 11:45 pm

For information about Development Applications and zoning laws you will need to refer to the specific local council.

Whilst there are general principles that apply across each state, the DA submission requirements differ from LGA (Local Goverment Authority) to LGA.

Again, each LGA will give you access to it’s current zoning policy. Many have this information on their websites, but you will have to go into the council offices for some of them.

Regards,
Clint

[clintdbParticipant@clintdbJoin Date: 2004Post Count: 29]

November 10, 2004 - 4:01 am

With regards to renting it out now or waiting for the “right time”, try this exercise;

1) Wait 2 months now, rent it out in January and then keep re-leasing every January.
RESULT: A definite 2 months of no rent.

2) Rent it out right now and then try to re-lease it next November. If you can, great. If you can’t, well just keep trying until the January period again.
RESULT: Possible 2 months of no rent. Possible 0 months of no rent.

All other things being equal, I’d go for the “possibility” of losing 2 months of rent rather than “definitely” losing it.

I think what Derek was getting at originally (and what I was in agreement with) was that if you are doing things that force you to go without rent for a while, try not to miss the Jan/Feb commencement of uni, otherwise it might stay vacant for another 6 months or a year (or the only applicants will be those people who get turfed out of their current places and are looking for somewhere else…. not the ideal tenant!).

I haven’t missed anything here have I guys?

Clint

[clintdbParticipant@clintdbJoin Date: 2004Post Count: 29]

November 9, 2004 - 12:13 pm

Hi padmaa23108,
I’m not going to answer your questions about whether to hold or sell as they are the sort of things I’m asking of myself right now. If I come up with an answer I’ll let you know though

With regards to renting to students;
1) Follow Derek’s advice – time your rental period.
2) Consider not trying to lease individual rooms. Advertise a “5 separate room residence with common facilites….” and let a group of friends lease the whole place and split it up amongst themselves. If they only have 4 people they may still take it on in the hope they’ll pick up a 5th early in the semester. In the meantime, it’s only 25% more to pay each. You get the picture. Let someone else worry about renting the last room rather than yourself
This theory does not work so well on larger groups (10 etc), but I remember from my own uni days (not that long ago) when friends of mine would rent out a whole house with 4-8 people contributing to the rent. I have a bunch of climbing friends in Brisbane who are still doing exactly that.
3) Students are not a lot different to other people. There are good ones and bad ones, good payers and bad payers. Just do you background checks as thoroughly as possible and maybe see if you can find out if their parents have some money to help out their little darlings if times get tough for them!

Regards,
Clint

[clintdbParticipant@clintdbJoin Date: 2004Post Count: 29]

July 10, 2004 - 5:43 am

In the interests of getting back onto something resembling the topic….

I looked at CBD carspaces around 2000/2001 (but bought a house to live in instead).

At the time, CBD spaces were around $70k – $100k (asking price – not sure what the final sales were) and were renting for a bit over the $100/week mark from memory.

Some on the city fringes seemed to have a lower entry point at the time yet still receievd similar rental.

One of the potential risks with the current CBD parking spaces is any legislation that may reduce cars in the CBD. I’m not saying that it will happen but if it does, who will need a car space?

On the positive side, people may be more willing to drive to a place like Ultimo, park and then walk into the city [smiling]

Clint