It depends upon your intentions – are you buying to resell once built or buy & hold? A project home will be much cheaper than a one off design, more streamlined process thru council & building phase.As for a land/house package vs land/project home – this is purely up to you. If you are happy with the location of l/h packages available fine,…[Read more]

Are you buying or selling? The instructions will be different.

Eco Builder wrote:
Some builders choose to save money by not laying plastic under the slab in the garage/carports. If this is the case with your property, you may find issues with rising damp, and may have issues getting certification

This is not 'a cost saving measure' but it is not a requirement for a non-habitable room. Likewise, external…[Read more]

Puts a new spin on 'sheeet wall'

I need some clarity here, is the insurance company paying out for an injury or are you paying your premium?Recently I received an insurance payout for damaged plant, the payment was exclusive of gst. Their expaination was your accountant will know what to do.

Do you know anything abouth Fiji's legal system, the stability of the government and the number of coups that have happened in the last 20 or so years?If you think Indian students have it hard in Oz, look at Fiji.

Just get your future IPs set up the way you need to – consult your accountant and solicitor to tailor a solution to your requirements.

In my latest electricity bill I noticed that electric hot water units will be phased out from 2012 for existing dwellings. The only exceptions will be where gas is not available. That means the price of electric units will probably rise once they  become scarce.

Get another couple of years experience under your belt then move in to commercial RE, it is ever only 5 days per week, very little overtime but has big highs and bigger lows.

Gats, every REA is a seller's advocate ie you appoint an agent to perform the duties of listing and selling your property. It is not a prerequisite to use the same company which manages your property to do the sales work (although often it is more convenient rather than having an uncooperative agent not arranging access for opens).If necessary,…[Read more]

What are your expectations? Brick/fibro? 600 m2+? Close to trans/amenities?

One word of warning, a laundry has usually not been built to meet the requirements of a 'habitable room' – ie it may have lower head height, poor ventilation, waterproofing etc so without major work may not comply with the building code requirements for a bedroom etc.

As with any purchase of land/house package or land and spec house, if you buy and hold it will take several years for the property to commence appreciating (the first few years it will depreciate taking up the developer's margin, site development costs etc).

Hi Bat, not sure on the tax/gifting situation (whether you mean Aust or Swedish), however with the appliances you will need to ensure that your appliances can run on 240V 10 amp 50 cycles/sec AC power with neutral/earth/active (not all countries are compatible).Transporting furniture should be no problems.

Rates of return on commercial property vary widely ie I'd be expecting around 12-13%+ net for rural industrial property whereas it would be slightly less for retail (9-10%+) and somewhere inbetween for office space.You will need to pay some consideration to the size of the property (nett lettable area) and hence the net rent $/m2. If the rate…[Read more]

A couple of things to consider, selling the property will affect the asset test for your parent's pension. Renting the property out will directly affect their pension (however they may be getting more income) and also be able to take advantage of the 6 yr rule for the PPOR. It may be a pertinent time to see a) Centrelink b) a financial planner c)…[Read more]

You can only claim losses (ie negative gearing) on income producing property. Vacant land is not income producing so you will not be able to offset the losses against your income until you sell the block.Look at a couple of cheap units or townhouses

ryan mclean wrote:
It is a complicated question because you are talking about complicated business structures. The way I understand it is this (could be right or wrong I don't know): – When you buy a McDonalds franchise (usually over $1million) you are often responsible for buying the real estate which that franchise is on.

Wrong, Micky D buys…[Read more]

Gary, although unlikely in the short term with interest rates rising, however if the economy tanks, interest rates drop, the recession that we didn't have hits & you need to exit the loan (possibly for a cheaper loan), what exit fees will be charged ie not just early break fees but 'loss of interest' etc?

Yes, if the tenant is paying a net lease, they either pay or reimburse the outgoings. A semi-gross lease allows partial recovery eg: rates & taxes over a base year etc.