I now consider my super to be a moneypit.  I give them money, they lose it.  Fabulous arrangement.  I think the safest retirement plan is not have all your eggs in one basket.  ie perhaps have some in super, some in property, some in some other type of investment.  then if one of the pieces goes belly up, you have other pieces that are hope…[Read more]

I agree with danviv1.It is a weird decision to leave $30k in an offset account saving interest on a homeloan that has a lower interest rate than that of the personal loan for the cars.  I'd be pulling that $30k out, putting it straight onto the car loan, and then clearing the remaining $15k asap. 

Richard's userid on this forum is Qlds007.

Hi!Firstly about this personal loan for the car.  What is the interest rate on that compared to the homeloan interest rate?  In other words, would it be better to pull money out of the homeloan offset account, or redraw on the homeloan, to pay out the car?  If this is possible and the rate on the homeloan is cheaper, and there are not big pe…[Read more]

There have certainly been films made about health problems eventuating from living near those gigantic powerlines.  I've heard people comment that there have been "a lot of people living near them and their power lines that have come down with a case of cancer".  I don't know the costs associated with having above-ground power compared to b…[Read more]

How much would the capital gain be?  If it is less than or equal to the amount of stamp duty you have to pay to acquire the new PPOR, you'd want to be aware of that and decide if you really wanted to do it.

Of course you can offer 5%.  It's becoming pretty common these days, apparently.  When you are making your offer, you could indicate that you will require access to the property for the purpose of tradesmen measuring quoting etc prior to settlement, and that your offer is subject to that.  And after your offer is accepted, you could go into gr…[Read more]

Generally the gardening is the responsibility of the tenant.  However, tenants often simply don't bother.  If the garden is important for some reason, it might be best to up the rent by $10 a week and hire a gardener.

Perhaps put a copy of your offer in the post to the vendors.  If you have the section32 on the property (which the agent should have given you) you will know how to find them.

Have you looked into whether it would be cheaper to rent a "dream PPOR" ?

Either way, if you decide to place an offer on the land, I'd have a "subject to rezoning permission" or something to that effect attached to it.

It depends whether it is more important to you to be on a certain "side" of the city, or to be close to the city.  For instance, you can get a 3br house in Heidelberg West or Footscray in your price bracket.

IP

Hi BennoThat's a great help – thankyou for your reply   Do you know much about the activity in Newcomb, Whittington, Corio and Norlane?

Have you tried ringing the local council building and planning department and asking which surveyors they like working with?  That'd be a great recommendation.  Also you can get onto the council website and view recent approvals.  Which surveyors are marked on the successful ones, and which surveyors are on the unsuccessful ones?

Are you looking for an  investment, or something to live in yourself?

It would be rather annoying to offer top whack only to find you were not competing with anyone, and could've offered much less.  Rereading my post, I meant to write "subject to there being other offers…"  (not "NO other offers")

Why don't you give Wyndham Council building & planning department a call and ask for some guidance.  You really must be very careful – you will have to pay stamp duty to purchase the land, and you will want to be very sure that you will be able to do what you hope with the land (you will want to ensure there are no sewer pipes that you cannot…[Read more]

Where are you located?  (or more specifically, where is the property located?)

No worries.  Be sure to get a Quantity Surveyor to produce a depreciation report for you.  It will enable to claim a bunch of money back on your tax return – particularly since it is a new house .  And of course, keep records of everything you spend (stamp duty included).  It all becomes relevant at one point or another.. even if it is years to…[Read more]