sounds premeditated to me. If the rent is unsustainable, did you do your due diligence effectively? Ie check what the market rent should be, current vacancies etc? Did you pay the selling agent to set up the lease? Were you relying on poor information?

The sooner you act, the better – probably need to go thru vcat asap to enforce your rights &…[Read more]

ACA or fair trading. A slow builder is often a sign of poor project management skills or financial issues.

Have they given you a program for construction or put it in the contract? Have they claimed extensions of time? Have you approved them?

also, knock back any offer below your asking price.

Yes you can appoint another agent after 10 weeks but terminate the current agent.

this is very typical of many agents, get you in on a high priceguide Then condition you down ‘because the market has changed’.

Unfortunately you are stuck with the agent for the term of the agreement unless you mutually agree to terminate but it may still cost you marketing & fees.

Unless you are desperate to sell, make the agent work for their…[Read more]

is it an appraisal by a real estate agent for a sale or a valuation by the bank to extend your loan? If it is an rea they will try to buy your listing by an inflated figure.

I'd also add, chat to a local real estate agent to get their idea as to what would add most value to the property – they are at the forefront and see many properties so would have a better idea than the architect/designer/builder/tiler etc (each has their own cart to push).Once you know what will sell, then tailor your refurb to be the most cost…[Read more]

A tender basically means that unlike at an auction you have a closing date and you only get one crack at putting in a price.The agent should provide you with a tender package ie all of the information regarding the property, you do your due diligence, work out how much you are going to pay and submit either a conforming or non-conforming tender. A…[Read more]

A val is very subjective and outcomes variable depending upon instructions. They are not shaman (REA’s) nor are they builders or spin doctors, they are there to determine ‘value’.

It is not simply the sum of what was paid & the cost of the works but a comparison of similar properties, what they have achieved in the market and whether the…[Read more]

If you are buying OTP or newly completed apartments, put it back on the vendor to provide these schedules as they m ayhave prepared a generic one for the complex already and individual ones for investors.

Stamp duty is calculated at market value.Your accountant is probably in the best position to advise whether reduced cgt would be payable if you sold below market to your son or whether you would pay cgt on the market value or if it could be seen to be defrauding the ATO in an effort to avoid paying cgt.If your son then onsells (at a great profit…[Read more]

From the flipside, the builder will only be able to give you a really rough figure (which noone can be held to) as there would be no drawings, no specification or council condtions. Unless the block is a difficult site (ie anything but square and flat), you would best get a rough guide to a new duplex/house price from one of the project builders…[Read more]

Generally, you make it a condition of the lease that the tenant must maintain the pool. You are required to provide the tools ie vacuum cleaner, brushes, net, test kit etc and some chemicals to get them started.If in doubt, get an agent to handle the first lease (get a copy from the agent so you know what additional clauses they have put into the…[Read more]

Yes Crest, banks don't  borrow from the reserve bank (long time since I did economics, we were only talking about implementation of the Campbell report, so I stand to be corrected). The reserve bank sends out its signals (based on the economic data available) and uses the sledge-hammer available (ie monetary policy) to effect a…[Read more]

if you want funds available for ‘justin’, it might be best achieved by a loc.

Just need to get something straight – do you intend using funds which are in an offset or other account to pay off your hecs debt (perfectly fine) or increase your debt on an ip to pay off the hecs debt (which would still remain non-deductible no matter how you package it)?

banks don’t have money of their own, it comes from various sources like deposits, shares sold/equity raising & borrowings from the money markets.

If a bank has a margin of 1% that would mean 25% or so above the 5% that the reserve bank has set as their rate.

try to avoid cross-collateralising the properties as you should have adequate equity to have a loc. Also establish a 100% offset account to reduce your interest and allow redraw freedom.

if you get a building or pest inspection, they are generally precluded from carrying out the work due to a conflict of interest. Using a builder to inspect & quote may not provide you the peace of mind for the pest/building inspection but only guide you on cost. There is no obligation to use any builder.

you could be lucky enough not to suffer a tax audit but then again you could. Is a spell for fraud seriously worth the risk?

Sorry, I misread the size of the build (2 townhouses not 2 x 2 townhouses). Sounds a bit rich for my liking (you're not going to make money if each t/h is going to cost $500k + land. Get the consultant to reengineer the price down to below $300k each (or some other figure which would work for you).