Think of a line of credit as a great big credit card i.e THE BANK'S money – you have a limit, secured against your property, and you need to pay x% of the outstanding debt each month. An offset account is YOUR money in a savings account. Say you have a mortgage of $100,000 and a balance of $10,000 in your offset account. You only pay interest on…[Read more]

ummester, Established suburbs where the average LVR is a bit more reasonable seem to be holding up well enough to cover at least the amounts owing. So the lender may in fact have lost equity, but at least they're not coming out still owing money. Some suburbs have basically been written off the financing map, but I'm talking mortgage belt, lower…[Read more]

I could be wrong here, but AFAIK the only way you can claim the interest the trust is paying (kind of) is if you borrow money to purchase units in a unit trust. The trust would then use the capital you have given it to purchase the property. Because the money you borrowed is for investment purposes (you've invested in the trust) you can then claim…[Read more]

Terryw wrote:

yarpos wrote:

Terryw wrote:
Some people need protecting from themselves. I had a friend who was bored with her rental property and having to cover the shortfall each month so she just stopped paying the loan. She just thought the bank would take it and sell it for her!!

   creative thinker….how did that work out for h…[Read more]

newbi2 wrote:
Im sorry, but I am am firm believer in teaching one to look after ones own a%$e. The type of finance product doesnt matter, at the end of the day it is the banks job to make money, it is the consumers to look out for their finances. There is always fine print in life and the sooner we teach kids to start reading it the better. Then…[Read more]

I honestly think the most important aspect here is consumer education i.e the consumer needs to be educated to budget for 3 or 4% extra percent on top of their minimum payment. The consumer needs to be educated that the reason the banks are so happy to capitalise your mortgage insurance and your establishment fees etc (so that a 95% LVR becomes…[Read more]

Thanks Guys, Yeah, went the conservative route. Our goal is passive income as opposed to outright capital growth so country towns serve that purpose fairly well. The idea from here will probably be to pay it off then use it as collateral towards a second one worth a little more and so on… Baby steps for now…

Thanks Guys, I appreciate the advice. Looks like most are generally in favour of having the property managed. I'm a debt collector, so have problem at all asking for money but the legislation point is a good one as is the time factor. Thanks again!

Grew up there actually… It's predominantly an old commission area. The area north of southern rd, between the creek and waterdale road was the olympic village for the 56 games. Unfortunately now, it's a loooooong way from it's former glory… If I were you I'd be sticking to the area bound by bell street, southern rd / murray rd, oriel rd and…[Read more]

Thanks Richard, Appreciate that. Life / TPD / Income protection insurances are definitely on the cards already, so that wouldn't have complicated things too much  As for the discounts, will definitely shop around for a decent broker – thanks for the tip. Thanks again.

Scott No Mates wrote:

imugli wrote:
This may sound completely out there, but have you considered leaseholding the land? Someone who may want to build but doesn't have the cash for the land up front may purchase a leasehold on the property and develop it. The leasehold could be over say 10 or 20 years. Then make part of your contract that if…[Read more]

This may sound completely out there, but have you considered leaseholding the land? Someone who may want to build but doesn't have the cash for the land up front may purchase a leasehold on the property and develop it. The leasehold could be over say 10 or 20 years. Then make part of your contract that if they wish to sell, you get first right of…[Read more]

Is your wife not working a short term thing? Can you cut back on your lifestyle somewhere? If so… How about trying the hard and fast rules first… Contact your institution. Can you refinance? Can you reduce or put a stop to payments for a couple of months until your wife is back in work? Most institutions will be able to do something if you're…[Read more]

I suppose for me it depends on your desired outcome is? Is it to get as much capital growth as possible while copping a cash loss each year, or is your priority the cashflow from a CF+ property… For mine, I'm about to start down the lower risk, CF+ route…

AFAIK You can only claim interest deductions if it's for investment purposes, HOWEVER (and I stand to be corrected) you could possibly LEASE the vehicle in the company name and claim THAT as an expense, though I'm sure there'd have to be some clause stating that you had to prove it's for business purposes… Anyone with a bit more…[Read more]

When you say "My Property" are you talking about your PPoR that you have the equity in already, or a prospective purchase? If you're talking aboput a prospective purchase, I believe institutions use a number of factors in determining the Max LVR – including location (by Post Code) and size of property. I.e they'd be less likely to lend 80% on a…[Read more]

I'm personally looking at getting in to the market, albeit using high deposits in rural areas to make my properties CF+ – it's a low growth option but low risk as well…

Thanks Terry. Good to know I'm on the right track in all this