I understand fully you’re frustration but I don’t sympathise. You are both in good positions with uni degrees and starting incomes of $40K. That’s more than a large percentage of the population will ever earn in any given year. Not sure what you do Paul, but Peter with your accounting qualifications you’re income will be up, up…[Read more]

You’re forgetting that the tax cuts actually reduce the amount of tax payable so you have more money in your pocket before any negative gearing kicks in. So although the tax deduction has been eroded because of the lower tax rates, the negatively geared investor actually has more money in there pocket to start with.

Here’s some…[Read more]

My reply may be a bit late but if you haven’t already painted the doors, go into your local Bunnings or paint store and tell them you want a roller for painting doors. Most of them stock very fine rollers specifically designed for this task. Sorry I can’t recall what they are called but the end result is excellent and much better than…[Read more]

I think it depends on what your investment strategy is. I am currently investing for high short term capital gains in the booming WA property market so I’m happy with my current returns of 4.3% and 3.7%. As I’m also in a high tax bracket, I get significant tax offsets which keeps the cash holding costs low despite the low yield. On a…[Read more]

Flatout

That was very inspiring. Seriously. In terms of goal setting and seeing a long term plan come to fruition.

I can only hope that our plans flows as smoothly as yours did.

Chris.R

Pleased to help…but no, it hasn’t been smooth sailing. We’ve had setbacks along the way including a…[Read more]

[thumbsup2] Flatout

Flatout

Another option is you could split the loan so you have a fixed component and a variable component. We’ve recently done this on our PPOR. Kinda like having a bet both ways.

Flatout

Can’t comment as a buyer as I’ve never made a cash offer. However, we sold our first IP to a cash offer. Initial offer was 88% of our asking but eventually sold for 96%. From a vendors point of view, the fact that the offer was cash wasn’t significant enough to induce us to sell a long way below asking. Had we been desperate for…[Read more]

As a Westralian, my comments and feeling on the market are based on what I am seeing and hearing everyday. The resources boom is having a major effect over here – virtually verywhere I look the level of activity is frenetic. And I’m not just talking residential housing…industrial and commercial buildings and new businesses are…[Read more]

Sound to me like your first step should be contact a broker and get them to run the numbers for you. You haven’t said whether or not you already have a home with some equity that you can use or whether this property would be your first purchase in which case you may be able to access the $14K first home owners grant. I think you’ll…[Read more]

I can understand why you’re confused. Our personal strategy at this point is for high CG’s in 2-3 years. The trade off is that we have negatively geared IP’s. One IP has increased in value by about 40% since offer date. I settled 2 months later so in 5 months I’m looking at a $60K net profit after selling fees and CGT. It’s only…[Read more]

If access is an issue then i would say yes. If the driveway is cracked, unsightly and generally letting the property down and a new driveway would add street appeal then possibly. However, if the driveway is on a par with the rest of the property standard wise then I doubt you’d get your money back. In this case I reckon you’d get…[Read more]

You can definitely put in subject to clauses in your offer. We recently did a subject to satisfactory roof inspection on a property, Offer was accepted but we pulled out due to unsatisfactory report. However, in your position with the unit needing such an extensive makeover, I’d be inclined to get the inspections done prior to…[Read more]

Are you familiar with Excel? If so this is an excellent tool for setting up your budget. About 18 months ago I set up a very detailed annual budget (FY not CY) setting out all our income & expenses including housekeeping, entertainment, fuel, start of school expenses, club memberships etc etc. Budget is set up on cashflow basis (eg.…[Read more]

Just guessing but I’d say your not from WA and/or have never travelled out to either of these two towns??? If you have, I’d suggest that you wouldn’t even be considering Laverton. Kambalda is better but only due to closer proximity to Kalgoorlie. There has been a lot of talk about Kambalda lately with big boost in mining activity…[Read more]

Firstly, congratulations to you and your wife. You are about to embark on the most wonderful, frightening, rewarding, frustrating, important role of your lives. It’s easy to say I know, but try not to let your financial situation take the joy out of it – everything will work out.

When my husband and I were expecting our 1st…[Read more]

Don’t get disheartened and stay on track. Eventually you will get there. Then if you’re serious about building your wealth through investing, you won’t ever fall into the kind of debt trap again. Sure you’ll have debt but it’ll be the kind that is wealth producing such as IP mortgages. I cringe when I look back at some of the cash…[Read more]

The thing that is hard for eastern staters to understand is that unlike most other states,…[Read more]

Have a close look at Coogee. This is a beachside suburb not far south of Fremantle. The proposed marina development has recently received approval and traditionally this kind of development has a positive impact on property prices. I’d love to get in that area myself but it’s a bit pricey for us. However, your $450K should will…[Read more]

I knew there are others out there like us so it was heartening to hear from you and also that your relationships eventually normalised. There is hope yet!

I honestly believe that a lot of the resentment from family and friends that successful people encounter along the way is not so much that these people don’t want us to be…[Read more]

If you buy up North and get good returns, you may be able to buy another IP in Perth as well depending upon the increased income wouldn’t you..kind of along SiS’s Offset Gearing.

Country WA property still looks interesting in many areas and possibly hit the peak in others, making the city still worth a look…[Read more]