It’s quite nice that you returned to let us know how you’re going now after originally posting this thread :) Good on you !

Keep in mind that this is in a building with many apartments and many different owners. It is quite unlikely that at the end of the contract, every owner will vote to not renew the contract. Be careful in assuming the use of the property will become normal residential at the end of the contract. Many a person has been stung by this assumption.

Never mind about the price. It’s not a great investment proposition. Just looking at the holding costs quoted in the ad, it is cashflow negative even if you bought the place without a mortgage.

38067-31611-3604-5922 = – $3070 per annum. That’s a loss of $3070 per annum, even if you bought the property for cash without the burden of mortgage repayments.

This is dodginess at its finest. Selling something overpriced so the pricetag gets recorded as a “precedent” for all and sundry to see and use as a benchmark for current prices in the area, and refunding a portion to make it all fine with the purchaser after the fact. However it’s mortgage fraud, pure and simple.

Wow ouch. You’re happy to lose that much per week? That is a decent amount to be out of pocket every week. Also it will be worse if you were suddenly not working and had no income to gear against. Also it’ll make getting your subsequent investment properties much harder because your ability to service the loan with your available income will…[Read more]

There is such a thing as your happy number. A number which means your portfolio is neutrally geared or close enough, or it is a bit positively geared or whatever. Or the cashflow position allows you to sleep at night without the fear of the interest rate doubling on you.

Sometimes it is a good thing to say “you know what, I’m happy with that.…[Read more]

It might help to understand the motivation… or lack thereof… behind the property manager’s approach.

Firstly, if the property manager is an employee, they are more than likely on a fixed salary. No extra cashola if the landlords are happy or if the rentals are achieving higher rents. It is MUCH easier to rent things out cheap. Less open…[Read more]

This is a great thread. A dilemma that is not uncommon, so I think it will be re-read by plenty of folks sifting for answers in the future. Great straight-to-the-point answers from Terry also :)

Also if you subdivide first your council rates are likely to go up by a decent amount as you’ll have two titles.

This belongs in the finance forum. Admins any chance of shifting it?

Hi Dean

(There’s a few characters missing from words in your post that makes it tough to read first/second time around – might be worth editing.)

Regarding the rental issue matter – no property is immune from possible rental issues, not even capital growth properties.

You are correct that there is a necessity to incorporate inflation into…[Read more]

Just to put some clarity around the capital growth versus cashflow debate.

Head to the supermarket tomorrow and suggest that you’ll pay for your groceries with forecasted capital growth. See how that goes. I suspect you’ll leave without the groceries. This should help make he bank’s position clearer in why they too are uncomfortable with…[Read more]

Yes that’s a very good idea :)

The reality is it makes it cheaper up front to get into the market, but over the long term you’d pay more in the annual land tax than you would have in stamp duty.

On reflection I think it would make more sense under the “Property Investing” section.

Hm, say you were to get caught for fraudulent claiming of FHOG.

Thanks folks! :)

I find that people are so busy focusing on how to get themselves out of the workforce in the next 5 years that they overlook the obvious pot of untapped money in their super. It is quarantined money that is quite often whittling downwards in balance that can so easily be resurrected into a SMSF and used to acquire property. Yes it is true that…[Read more]