Have a chat to your broker, you may be able to free up some equity in your house (if you're lucky but you are already over 80% – you may need LMI).You may seek to refinance on the basis that the existing house is only slightly neg geared (and not a drain on your income) and you are already paying rent. Consider what the broker says.Any interest on…[Read more]

Take on board what Duckster has said however this is a commercial lease and you will need to acquaint yourself with the lease especially: the obligations of the Lessor and Lessee, the indemnities provided by the lessee in the lease, the requirements placed on the lessee for the provision of insurances, compliance with council/state regulations…[Read more]

Generally yes (unless the tenant vacates prior to the lease expiry and has to pay to find a replacement).

1 – yes as the reason you are withdrawing the funds is not for investment but for private use.2 – put the money into an offset account not into the loan, that way you will not be redrawing on your loan but utilising any spare capital available to you. If you then get the property revalued and draw down this equity for your own use, this too would…[Read more]

The letting agent cannot act on the owner's behalf until the owner has signed an agency agreement (for leasing the property). If the agent doesn't have one, they cannot get paid their letting commission BUT can also be investigated by fair trading for not having an agency agreement in place.If on the other hand, there is a valid agency agreement,…[Read more]

The same question has been asked several times including only a couple of days ago. Do a search of this site.

Take your dishwasher with you.

Know how much you can afford, how much you estimate the property is worth and stick to it.

I was under the impression (obviously wrongly) that it was the agent's duty to act in the best interest of the owner. How could the agent have been acting in the vendor's interest if he was able to offload the property to someone else on the same day? How long was the agent working on his own deal instead of the vendor's deal? My heart bleeds for…[Read more]

Rent Master see http://www.rentmaster.co.nz for a free trial.

The price you paid sounds like it reflected (or grossly over reflected) the condition of the property. As Linar points out, there is little you can do after you have signed the contract other than to ensure that what you have contracted to buy is delivered eg that the curtains as inspected are still in the house, that the stove is still in the…[Read more]

A bit more info – a conjunctional sale, lease??

There are many questions that you need to ask when considering this type of investment:Does the unit have an exclusive management arrangement (ie can you do bookings separately  in addition to the managers)?Do you get a set amount of usage or can you use it as often as you like?Can you withdraw the property from the 'pool'?What fee do you pay on…[Read more]

If you declare the income, then you may be able to claim your expenses but you may also be open to cgt.

Considering the lack of supply and very soft yields (reflecting the level of risk) there are some good investments to be had provided you have suitably structured finance. Balance sheets have been corrected (although there are still another 2 years of corrections to wash through the val system) thus returning towards the long-term averages for…[Read more]

Seek out an independent financial planner as direct property may only be part of a balanced solution.SNM

Logic, as well as the stats, would dictate that there is some price relativity between the cost of a unit/town house/villa and house prices in an area. About time someone was using self promotion oops, an official statement, to make people realise this .

There is no set amount that you can raise the rent either as a % or fixed amount. How much will the tenant bear before you lose them and then are up for a replacement (ie advert, agent fees/comms/lease prep as well as lost rent)?By law you must give 60 days written notice of a rent increase, this will limit you to 6 per year. Tenant can always…[Read more]

They build all over the state and have Sydney offices.

Unless it there is a transfer because of a breakup of a relationship you will probably be hit by SD & CGT (only the selling partner on their portion). If you have both lived in the property from the start or this has been the only ppor of your partner during that period, he could qualify for an exemption from cgt (6 year rule). There are many more…[Read more]