I haven't used RACV for IP insurance so I couldn't comment.  I've used AAMI and have had caused to make a very large claim and they were fantastic.Always have the landlord insurance with tenant protection.  Murphys Law says when you don't have it you'll wish you did.  A tenant can do an enormous amount of damage.  They can leave you holding the…[Read more]

Cool.Get yourself suitable building and contents insurance and also the tenant protection extra to cover you for malicious damage, failure to pay rent and so on.  I use AAMI for this.

ps why not grab yourself something in Blacktown with a big enough backyard for gee…. I dont know… a granny flat.  If you scour recent API mags you will see you don't have to go through much bother with council to whack one in the backyard and rent it separately.  Thanks!  More rent!  Love it!

Agreed.  Capital Growth is not a given.  It is a maybe.  Hopefully it will happen.Negative Gearing.  Hm… the government has done really well pushing that barrel.  Negative gearing is good they say.  They say this because they cannot afford to provide housing for all the people who cannot afford to buy their own homes.  They need investors for th…[Read more]

Alrightey.Firstly, if she has already paid some kind of bond, you can't ask her to top it up.  Sadly it doesn't work that way.  Eventually the bond held for a long term tenant looks so small it would struggle to buy a Mars Bar.Secondly.  I agree – don't subsidise people.  I'm happy to be flexible on perhaps 5 or 10 dollars per week to save mys…[Read more]

Just like nobody knows what numbers will come up in the tattslotto this weekend, nobody is truly certain what the global economy will do in the future.

SHales wrote:
I'll weigh in and say get your own equity to gamble with.  Leave Mum and Dad alone. 

I agree with this one million percent.  The stress of having their home sunk bank into debt would probably kill them. 

He's paid his personal loan off completely.There is still the matter of the PPOR which has an associated debt.Waydo – Richard is in QLD but you can do everything via phone/internet/fax these days.  I live in Victoria and he's currently handling a mortgage application for me from QLD.  We've never met in person and don't need to.  He knows his stu…[Read more]

It is a bad idea to pay off the loan.  Leave the cash in the offset account.  Here is why:Let's say you outgrow your house and want to move.  Let's say you want to convert your current PPOR into an IP and buy another house to act as your IP.  a) if you had left the cash in the offset, you simply withdraw it and go shopping.  you leave the bulk…[Read more]

True, but I figure I have spent so much in that store I've funded at least one of their employees' entire year's salary.  I think they could spare a plant or two.

Cool thanks Richard! 

Hi MarsmacHave you tried giving a few insurers a call to discuss the dilemma with them?  Be very clear about whether the villa is attached to or detached from the other dwellings, and be very clear about the fact it is a strata property and there are common parts.  I would personally insist on speaking to the underwriter.  In that regard, maybe ca…[Read more]

propertyboy wrote:
S41 says a landlord must not "require" as we are both agreeing to this, does that mean I can take 12 months rent in advance?

I would love to know the answer to this too.  Anyone?

I thought you said your dad did not sign it himself and was not there? If this is the case, first and foremost it is fraud and a visit to the police is in order.

Look at the rear pages of API magazine.  The capital gains performance of many inner Geelong suburbs have outperformed Camberwell over the past decade, and also offer almost double the rental yield.  The numbers have spoken.

Awesome!!

No, but I've certainly heard of it being done before. Perhaps in your unit development you could propose that in that area, it will be only driveways and parking areas anyway, and not built upon with dwellings.  That way if access was required by council for something or other, it wouldn't be a major big deal.

why not chat to council about buying the laneway?

Marie123 wrote:
CatalystThanks for that. Had thought of this option, only thing is we don't realise this profit until our 60s?

Um…. selling is not the only way to realise profit.  Refinance and/or leverage equity to use as deposit for yet another place is a means of realising your profit.  And you don't have to pay capital gains tax because y…[Read more]

EPI_Den wrote:
if you start at, say, $290k and go to the trouble of writing it, you might condition the vendor to receiving considerably less than the $330k they say they want.

Very interesting.  Very valid point.