Are your girlfriend and her Mum both going on the certificate of title as joint borrowers or tenants in common?

It’s easier if the answer is no. Your girlfriends Mum will need to provide a statutory declaration saying she is gifting the $100K towards the purchase, then providing your girlfriends record is clean she will have heaps of…[Read more]

Their defense is that if the owner was silly enough not to try to sell the property for more…[Read more]

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Mel
melanie@homeloanconnexion.com.au

I have a similar scenario so I’ll give this a go but really you need an accountant to verify this. I think it depends more on the trust structure – is it a unit trust, in which case don’t do it, or is it a discretionary trust with several beneficiaries in which case it may be okay, because at the end of the day the bank trying to get money…[Read more]

Hope that helps.

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Mel
melanie@homeloanconnexion.com.au

and

27/ Never have all your property tied up with one lender, shop around or better yet have a broker shop around for you

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Mel
melanie@homeloanconnexion.com.au

Four is actually very good at the…[Read more]

CBA only use 70% of rental income towards your servicing model, whereas many other lenders like Macquarie will take 80% of the rental income they have security over PLUS 100% of any other rental income you have from other IP’s and are often better for investors. Having said that CBA are quite generous in the portion of the net pay which they…[Read more]

One question – was the CBA max amount including any additional rental income to service the new debt, and if so how much?

Being a broker and knowing how many options there are to structure finances in cases like yours I cannot stress how important I think it would be for you to see both your accountant and your mortgage broker before…[Read more]

Again – accountant check needed.

Good luck!

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Mel
melanie@homeloanconnexion.com.au

Yes you can proceed with Tennants in Common but as a broker I don’t know any lender who would accept 25% of one duplex as security towards any other investing, and because it doesn’t appear that you’ll be receiving any income benefits from it in the form of rent, your serviceability for other loans is not improved either.

I really believe…[Read more]

I thought that Mr Gates was only giving his…[Read more]

I think Elves is on the right track – you have 16% equity in the property already and if the rental income can cover the debt on the remaining $250K then you can probably do it.

First thing I’d do is go to local real estate agents and ask them what kind of rent you could expect to receive pre & post a cosmetic makeover, and then get a broker…[Read more]

I have family living in Yatala and they bought several land parcels between there and the Gold Coast in 1985 and have watched it’s value go through the roof.…[Read more]

Equity is very powerful because it is classed as ‘genuine savings’ therefore gives you access to the best and cheapest loans around.

Be aware though that constantly pulling out equity to fund ‘lifestyle’ expenses eg holidays and expensive toys is a bit of a mugs game as you’ll pay a lot more back in interest over the long term, and…[Read more]

Try Remax at Annerley – Melinda Burns is their property manager, contactable on 3373 0023. They are a very professional outfit and have a long term and growing alliance with our company and they’ve been great to work with.

Tell them I sent you!

Cheers,

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Mel
melanie@homeloanconnexion.com.au

As I understand, the risks are basically the same as most other lenders in that if the borrowers cannot repay the loan then the bank can repossess the property and sell it within three months at whatever the market is willing to pay. This tends to bite on the high end of the residential and commercial property markets where the no.…[Read more]

I always like Simon Macks suggestions, but I think this one is particularly good for a number of reasons:

a) the apartment isn’t a cash cow but seems to be located in the right spot for you, and more importantly

b) any funds you draw against your IP loan for the purpose of buying a PPOR cannot be classed as part of your investment loan,…[Read more]

Yes you probably can by either:
a) refinancing your current place, drawing out the equity and using that to establish a new mortgage over a investment property, or
b) cross-securitising against your mortgage.

Option (b) is probably cheaper short term, but more inflexible and possibly not cheaper long term but it is the way that many…[Read more]

This is unfortunately fairly common in regional communities. The first thing I would be doing is find out who the approved valuers are for the lender that you are going with (brokers can do this for you if the bank is less than forthcoming) and get a second valuation because on the numbers you’ve provided this seems like a tough call.…[Read more]

A client and fellow formite is investing successfully in that area at the moment, email me if you’d like his contact details.

It has a lot going for it, but the usual concerns about good and bad areas and lack of capital growth from what I understand.

Happy investing!

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Mel
melanie@homeloanconnexion.com.au

For starters I would be going to see another financial planner – I know a few good ones in Brisbane, if you’d like their details email me at the address below.

For seconds neither shares nor property are homogenous markets ie plenty of people loose money on the stockmarket when the index’s are rising (eg NAB!) and plenty loose money on…[Read more]

If it is a business with a property then 70% LVR at about 7.5-8% should be attainable, but as UraneHan says, they’ll be quite nosey about the business’ financials.

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Mel
melanie@homeloanconnexion.com.au

Bank of Qld has some very good interest rates around 6.82% variable and around 6.89% fixed for three years.

As a broker and ink & paper conservationist I LUV low docs, but they require a lot more homework than your average loan. Beware that there are big variations in level of flexibility, acceptable security (many won’t do PPOR’s),…[Read more]

Some loan stats I got recently which show whats happened recently:

Average over 2003 – 9% of all loans were fixed
December 2003 – 15% of all loans were fixed

I was surprised that fixed loans are such a small portion of the total, but it’s consistent with my client base’s activities. Even though it appears there was a bit of a panic in…[Read more]

I know the lady who is running this programme and I have to say she is the real deal – an experienced and very successful property investor. Compared to what other educators are offering I think it’d be money very well spent.

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Mel
melanie@homeloanconnexion.com.au

Mel
melanie@homeloanconnexion.com.au

I think Mr T is clever enough to personally keep out of trouble but the domino effect for the banks of some of these large complexes are that if they are devaluing due to large no.’s being sold simultaneously and hence cheaply then their security is devalued and any investors or unit trust groups…[Read more]

Some lenders will want to see that you will have >70% equity in your PPOR at age 65, but provided you have sufficient superannuation funds or possibly verifiable income from the property (never tested that one myself) then you may be able to waive this requirement.

Good luck – my partner and I dream of owning a little orchard…[Read more]

Absolutely you can pay him and claim it as an expense – just make sure you have a record eg an internet BPAY record, cash receipt etc as no evidence doesn’t wash with the taxman.

Have a fab Xmas,

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Mel
melanie@homeloanconnexion.com.au

As a borker, I think your example shows why it is important to go to a broker in the first place!

Kay – regarding financial institution – which one? Several of the larger Credit Unions flirt with broker introduced loans so I’m guessing it’s one of them.

Like any profession there are good and bad operators but I personally think it’s a…[Read more]

From what I’ve seen valuers are human and WILL value a house higher if it looks well cared for without half-done repair jobs everywhere – unless it’s in the middle of a SHORT renovation period of course. Bad/messy tenants are the worst. Valuers are pitching the price at what they think it would sell for in less than 3 months.

Having a bare…[Read more]

I wish I did know how to help, but have you tried any of the big groups like Community Aid Abroad or AusAid to see whether they could direct you?

Good luck & Merry Christmas!

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Mel
melanie@homeloanconnexion.com.au

I’d start ringing around to commercial real estate agents too eg Ray White Commercial, Frank Knight etc as this won’t be a straight residential property and most RE Agents won’t attempt to sell it.

Lending as a residential purchase will be tricky too – St George may do it along with a few others but all at fairly low LVR’s.

Good…[Read more]

Agree with Simon – lenders are all different, but for a quick check I would get onto the CBA and Westpac web sites and add 70% of gross rental income to your other income in the input screens. These two banks have fairly lenient servicing criteria and this will at least show you whether you are in the ballgame or not.

Also – get thee to…[Read more]

Welcome aboard Rodders – that was a crack-up, in a twisted cynical kind of way! Sounds like you’re in the right place and I’m sure can answer heaps of questions about all the other stuff that goes with investing.

SMTM – where do you live? I know someone in SE QLD who would be able to advise…[Read more]

This sounds like a very do-able proposition.

Some advise from another broker for straight buy and hold option (although I like some of the suggestions above too!) – find a lender who would look at this deal, I know a few but they are rare, then pay approx $750 to get their approved valuers to do a valuation before proceeding with anything…[Read more]

If you’re about to encounter problems eg due to an unexpected pregnancy, pending job loss etc it pays to…[Read more]

I have to agree with Kay’s comments – I’m sure a lot of the investors on this site have grabbed opportunities like this when they’ve found them.

As for sales data – http://www.homepriceguide.com.au gives you this info for a fee and it’s generally 2-3 months slow to be posted, or just use local knowledge starting with neighbours and RE Agents for…[Read more]

If you got FHOG with the purchase of your PPOR because you intended it to be your PPOR and it was for a while, then you moved out and rented yourself and converted the PPOR into an IP it is fine as far as I know. You should establish the first PPOR for at least a few months before jumping out though.

Sounds like a good plan given the rent…[Read more]

I still think Brisbane will continue rising around the 10% pa mark for the next few years, mind you I also agree with his comments about median house price being a false indicator of actual price movements given that FHO’s have dropped from almost 25% of the market 2 years…[Read more]

Another tip for this process. If you move into the new PPOR when you first buy it and do ANY improvements at all eg paint job, change flooring etc then get it revalued just prior to renting it out as any capital gain you get from the improvements would be CGT free should you chose to sell down the track.

Now I’m…[Read more]

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Mel
melanie@homeloanconnexion.com.au

Would also really appreciate a copy if that’s okay – thanks!

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Mel
melanie@homeloanconnexion.com.au

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Mel
melanie@homeloanconnexion.com.au

My tip -…[Read more]