I generally look at 2 sorts of buildings: Vacant buildings (10-30 yrs old) or Vacant Buildings 30 yrs +The first – basic tidy up, new lights/tearoom, paint, cleaning, Fire safety certificate, strip out partitions & refurb office space, steamclean floor/walls. Good, easy rentals.The second, require a little more time however are suited to demo &…[Read more]

Playa Chicken wrote:
Anthony, what are your investing rules?Steve's 1% rule is great, but what is YOUR rule?  What are your investing goals?  Defining these will help you know if buying this is a good deal or not.Do some goal setting, decide what you're looking for and then go hunting, because when you run across it you will know, because it wil…[Read more]

It depends upon whether the house & any other structures can remain when the rest of the development is built ie if they have to be demolished then the house etc would be treated as a cost not an asset to the developer as they must spend monney to demolish.How many units are there in the proposal and  how much are unit sites  selling for 7km out o…[Read more]

The process in NSW is Properties are first valued by a panel valuer, then tenders are called from rea. Marketing strategy is agreed. Then the properties are put on the market.If you want to know what is coming up for sale, become best mates with a panel valuer (if they will divulge their current jobs) or the agents in the area which you are…[Read more]

In NSW there is a special category called SEPP5 Housing for the Disabled or over 55's. There is a whole raft of requirements with regard to building these dwellings however if you find a suitable site you can basically build them anywhere ie does not need to be zoned for medium density.The downside is that they are more expensive to build and more…[Read more]

As pointed out above, there is a threshold for land tax in each state and it is independent of every other state. That way, you can spread your risk over each state and have the benefit of the threshold in each state. The threshold in NSW is about $370k, this is usually above the price of the land content of a median priced house or unit. In NSW…[Read more]

Wayne, you may be required to do a short course to get your owner builder licence so you may need to investigate this. As you point out, you can do one project as an owner-builder. If you are capable, it may pay to start doing your Cert IV in building whilst you are doing your first project, that way, you will have your licence by the time you…[Read more]

Not  being critical of your comments lifex, however I too have been involved in numerous commercial decontaminations. There is some logic which does apply (occasionally) eg external work removing ac sheet and of course removal of lino tiles. The construction of a negative pressure chamber is not feasible for removal of small quanitites or for…[Read more]

Linar wrote:
Contrary to popular belief that the agent MUST present ALL offers to the vendor, if the vendors have said that they don't want to be presented with offers under $XXX then the agent does not need to present offers under $XXX. 

The agent may not have mentioned that the vendor has already knocked  back offers above the offer that y…[Read more]

If the director has very few assets then you won't have a claim to much. If on the other hand, they have a house, car etc then you may have to get in asap to make a claim on their assets.

It is the latter – funds which sit in your offset account equate to having a reduced outstanding loan principal. The reason that lenders do not quote how much you save in interest is that the amount varies greatly within the month ie between payday and taking out/paying for expenses.

A very wide question james – most builders will carry out your required range of works (however you will need to spoon feed them your scope to see if they fall within your budget).Some things that you will need to consider are: stamp duty & legals (add to purchase cost), time on market & settlement period, selling costs (agent & legals). All of…[Read more]

lifeX wrote:
   Similar diseases will probably soon appear for fibreglass insulation products.

LifeX – fibreglass and asbestos are two completely different types of fibre, fg is a man-made fibre (glass), breaks across its length ie gets shorter and the size of the fibre is much greater than asbestos and breaks down/gets absorbed into the body w…[Read more]

If they intend to leave at the end of the term, they are required to give the agent 21 days notice (from memory, but check the lease). The agent should be proactive however it usually pays to give them a prod. As the tenants are building their house, leaving is a given, the timing is dependent upon the building being finished, so holding over may…[Read more]

I have had an instance where the original val was very optimistic. We asked for a review, it was completely thorough including an independent review by a second valuer and the director of resi valuations for the company. I had extensive discussions regarding the rationale in order to satisfy myself of the sufficiency of the revision (decrease by…[Read more]

You may need to get a da purely for storage of the house – I have previously been hit for requiring a DA when I was dumping fill on some land.Speak to the Town Planner & get a feel for whether they will require a letter or a formal application.

Divide by $90k (as this is what you are putting into the investment).

Change your PM, there should be no difficulty in emailing the statement (most PM software has this capability).

You can't go past Campbell Parade at Bondi either. Although I did pass up a site on the NSW Central coast (heritage listed, waterfront reserve, termite infested, nestled between a train line & the pacific hwy).

The other thing to consider is that a kitchen is not a habitable room ie ceiling height requirements, ventilation, natural lighting etc may not match what is required for a bedroom/living room or other habitable room (you may need to put in a bigger window or opening window etc to comply with the BCA.