A little more cautious than stock market advisors Jon.

Gav,as the inlaw is 'disposing of her asset' will she be captured by any asset test for the pension ie adjusting her asset base in order to get/increase a pension?

As you said Mat, they are all feel good shows but point to how spending sub $10k (generally) on smoke and mirrors can boost sales prices. If a property presents poorly then it may (but not always) hold down the sales price conversely a cheap & nasty reno can do the same.

Any work undertaken before you are getting income (rent) will be capitalised as you have bought the property in a dilapidated state.Receipts will form the basis of the claim (for depreciation or expenditure) however a QS can determine which is which.

tammy wrote:
hmmm…. so the $2100 I paid to have my trust set up with corporate trustee was at the expensive end?Bugger!!!!

Well, as long as it wasn't as expensive as not having set it up then no.

Either visit the Lands Dept in the state (eg http://www.lands.nsw.gov.au) or contact one of title search providers with the appropriate details, pay the fee and within an hour most searches should be back to you (provided that they are already in electronic form).

Why not just purchase in a discretionary trust?

RR, I am a strong believer that a professional background which is gained by well rounded training and through structured learning as opposed to a short 'ends justifies the means' sales course will provide you with the financial nouse and understanding that you seek.  Short courses & in-house agency based training may give you glimpses into p…[Read more]

Contrary to Terry's comments, valuers are highly sought after and there is a vast shortage of qualified valuers. Why restrict yourself to residential (you are only limited until you get suitable experience in each field) eg commercial, specialist retail valuer, special property (eg telco, leasehold, marinas, natural resources, plant and machinery…[Read more]

Check the health of your loan – ie do you have a loan offset facility? If so, park the $40k in the offset to reduce the interest payable and repayments will have more effect against the principal it this is a P+I loan. You may then be able to redraw this money for other purposes.If you don't have an offset, it may be worth refinancing to achieve t…[Read more]

Rabbitohs, I take on board your conservative stance and have calculated the loan as P+I. (just check my numbers here)Additional loan – $240k+6% (ie 106% of cost) = $254.4k @ say 8.5% P+I = monthly repayment of $2,050 pcm (approx).Existing loan – refinance or take repayments down to the minimum/a figure you would be comfortable with repaying.Annual…[Read more]

I'm with you Jon. All agents who are engaged by the vendor work for the vendor and are by definition 'sellers agents'. Any attempt to make out that this is something new is just clever marketing by someone who would otherwise be just another consultant.

Stupid as it may sound, why isn't the agent charging 4 and 5 week months? ie $800 and $1000 that way you will make up your precious $26. You scored a 5%+ review, why complain about peanuts? Maybe you can educate your PM for the next tenant.

Terryw wrote:
you may need a realestate agents licence to charge a fee for the introduction of a property

Is that the same for selling through a wrap contract?

Terry, if onselling a property via an option would require a DFT licence (buyers agent) why wouldn't selling a wrap?

Milly wrote:
"Can't pay this week cos teh dog has vet bills".  er so you can afford a dog but cant afford to pay for the roof over your head.

Can you still get "companion animals allowance" when you are on benefits?

Sorry Richard, I didn't realise that a wrap contract permitted the registration of a caveat – as I did not believe the documenation created an equitable interest in the land (this lifting wraps a little above where I hold them, still not very high though).

JM – a valuer is not always concerned about the amount that a building is worth – eg you may be more interested in replacement cost if it is a val for insurance purposes hence you are only considering the improvements not the land but generally when using summation you are considering 'the sum of the parts' which includes the building & other…[Read more]

As the property is going to be an 'IP', you may need mortgagee consent to let the premises which generally means they will have to view & approve the 'lease'. As there is no  lease and no caveat with a wrap, you could always try to run under the bank's radar by not seeking mortagee consent.

RP Data has a NZ site and provides the same service (at a price).