if you rent out the house you may find the first home buyers grant will no longer apply and you will have to pay it back. I remember a news story of a service man who was posted overseas and rented the house out and got into trouble with the first home grant. Would be a good idea to check if this condition exists .

Have you tried liquid magnet made by advil located at 121 cecil street, South Melbourne vic 3205 phone nymber 9693 0500. I bought it at a hardware shop and it seemed to take a lot of oil out of concrete. Acid
could cause concrete to be pitted as lime will dissolve from concrete with an acid.

I have purchased property on 30 days. Make sure you have landlord insurance. I use CGU myself . Why I am mentioning this is that a bank may not lend you the money until you have the investment insured and some insurance companies won’t insure until you have occupancy. Also you should be talking with a property manager about getting a tenant as…[Read more]

Planning and goal setting are important. If you can project a picture of the future where you can afford more things without any problem due to investing in property this may help your cause.

Dazzling, Try not to be to hard on your partner. It is human nature to spend 110% of your income on instant gratification. To invest in property requires a long term outlook. Maybe you could work out the figures on what the depreciating assets you own will be worth in 5 or 10 years time. Maybe a graph would work better than just figures and then…[Read more]

If you had spare cash and invested it in a normal account the interest would be taxed and then inflation would also erode your investment. If you stick it in an offset account you have an advantage of being able to draw on the money if needed , where as if you reduce the loan you might find it a hassle to get a redraw.
Offset accounts are mainly…[Read more]

Having done some research shared housing is not covered under section 530 of the Victorian residential tenacy act 1997 it was repealed in july 1998. Try researching the tenacy union victoria web site for possible information.
Also talk with the local council town planner on likely requirements and laws with shared housing.

Check on fire regulations.
Contact the local town planner of the council and discuss your shared housing plan. They may steer you in the right direction.

From memory it is on the saphire coast in NSW. Merimbula is close to it. Just over the Victoria border. I have heard that it is famous for its game fishing. Bega is an inland town near it famous for its cheese. SEE…[Read more]

Don’t fall for the mistake of not putting up the rent for a few years as the tenant will realise in 3 years time that they are on a good deal. While other properties have higher rents they pay less and they will soon realise that it will cost them more to find another dearer rental.
My own experience was that my tenant let the property run down…[Read more]

If you use positive gearing you can afford an infinite number of properties. If you take a certain amount of money out of your bank account automatically for investment you will find a way of making do with what is left over.

Byronet,
The term Dog comes from a corporate portfolio matrix developed by Boston Consulting Group in the early 1970’s.
A dog refers to an investment that will not produce the required investment outcome you are looking for like capital gain or income.

References
Robbins, S, 2000, Management, published by Prentice Hall 2000, 2nd edition.

Booms and busts are also controlled by demand and suppy. As the price of property increases less demand by buyers occurs. If the supply of sellers is greater than the demand of buyers then the market will adjust to reach equilibrium. This adjustment occurs via the price. When inflation rises RBA tries to control it by increasing the interest rate…[Read more]

This is general financial advice and you should seek advice from a licenced financial advisor who knows your situation.
Shares are more likely to change price up or down due to their high liquidity.
Banks will not loan you as much money against shares as opposed to property.
Property can go down or the price can stagnate in between boom…[Read more]

I forgot to add that the flues are made of asbestos which also requires an approved asbestos removal company to dispose of.

I have two housing commission built houses in Victoria and have had to replace both hot water services. This is due to the Vic Government mandating the removal of inside gas hot water services in bathrooms. If buying a house with an instantaneous gas hot water service inside the house it might pay to check the state gas regulations. This law…[Read more]

Make sure the property is attractive to tenants.
It could have a horrible color scheme or may not match the target tenant market. Tenants might look for houses with built in wardrobes that may be missing in each bedroom. Carpets may be worn or tenants may not like carpets. I had a property in another area that had a horrible colour scheme but I…[Read more]

Get independant advice. Independant valuation, solicitor and building inspections. Before buying property you are not familiar with.

Try looking in the local real estate windows for rentals listed and work out what price similair houses cost to buy in area. Then work out yield by dividing annual rent/ house price * 100
Look also for rental advertisements in local papers for rental prices.
Or ask real estate agent for rental listings ie pretend to be an interested renter.

If you have spare cash lying around you could put it in an offset account linked to your home loan as it will reduce your interest while giving you a ready on call liquid cash reserve when needed.