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November 7, 2003 - 5:05 am

Hi Wayne – your point about ‘antisnobbery’ made me smile. We have a 6 month old ute (bought new but paid cash) which I drive to work. Not really my choice of transport but we live on acreage and it’s very useful. I take rather a strange delight in parking next to a colleague who owns a flash Mercedes, is married to a lawyer and is rather ‘up herself’!

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November 5, 2003 - 8:05 am

Erika – I’m nervous now. When were you notified that you were up for your land tax bill? Is it a part of your tax return?

We’ve purchased our properties this year (all since March) and haven’t been notified as yet. Our accountant did ask if we’d been charged land tax but as yet, we haven’t. I would have expected houses to add to the land tax more than units. Why the other way around? Is the figure taken from the Council rates valuation?

Thanks
Shirley

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November 5, 2003 - 7:57 am

Similar experience in Townsville, NQ. We’ve recently had to drop the rent on a townhouse from $180 to $175 per week to attract a tenant.

However another one of our units has just been re-let for $150, up $10 on the previous lease so we’ve made up the loss on the first.

It’s a bit of a worry when properties are vacant for a couple of weeks. I guess it all comes down to risk-tolerance. Mine isn’t as good as my husbands – I’m too much of a worrier!

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November 3, 2003 - 5:30 am

Dino – what a lovely lesson for us all. Thanks for sharing your story. There are too many mean-spirited people in the world – let’s all be nice to others, and especially to the mean-spirited ones.

Special thanks to Bill for his offer to help anyone!

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November 2, 2003 - 5:50 am

We use the following system:

After settlement on a property, we prepared a detailed list with all the important info:
Contract signing date and amount
Settlement date
Vendor’s details
Bank, legal fees, stamp duty etc.
Source of funds balanced against costs of purchase

We keep a manilla folder for daily mail relating to properties. We use Excel spreadsheets for each property to record all income and expenses.

Also use a big calendar for noting when a/cs are due and a ring binder for each property where everything is kept (for when the Auditor comes knocking!)

Our accountant is very happy with what we provide as it makes his job easier.

I’ve also prepared a detailed list for our 3 adult children of all the important info including where our Wills are kept, our assets, personal banker, solicitor, accountant etc.

We regard our investing as a home business so it’s important to handle things professionally.

My 2 cents worth!

Cheers
Shirley
From sunny Townsville where it is currently 37 degrees and bl….dy hot!

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October 23, 2003 - 5:19 am

Dear Dino – try sourcing investment books through a library – it shouldn’t cost you anything!

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October 21, 2003 - 5:34 am

Can anyone advise when land tax applies in Qld and what the rates are or alternatively where I can go to find out? We have 6 rental properties but only two are houses with the remainder units.
Many thanks

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October 19, 2003 - 8:53 am

Dear Mel and Simon – many thanks for your advice. It just shows we shouldn’t take “so-called” experts’ advice at face value, although we should be able to do so.

We will be visiting our accountant again armed with the correct information!

Perhaps you can also help with another query. We recently travelled to another town over a weekend to purchase a duplex, inspected it only to find another agent had sold it that day. I’d kept faxes received from the real estate agent prior to visiting and accommodation[] receipts. Our accountant said we are unable to claim any travel/accommodation costs as the trip didn’t result in a purchase. Would you agree it’s not tax deductible?

Like others, I’m addicted to this forum. It’s so good to read of others who understand what we are trying to do and that everyone is so helpful!

Shirley

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October 17, 2003 - 12:30 am

Thought I’d pass on our ‘mortgagee sale’ experience. We recently purchased 13 acres of land with about 650 producing mango trees north of Ayr in Qld. A bank was mortgagee in possession and wanted $70k. The property had failed to sell at auction and had been on the market for ages – we offered $50k and the agent said the bank wouldn’t accept less than $60k. We said no but I had a feeling they’d come back which they did a few days later when they accepted our offer. With $10k of irrigation equipment included in the purchase price, a manager living on the property next door and a guaranteed return, it was a good buy and a diversification of our residential portfolio.

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September 26, 2003 - 1:24 am

Robert – I could give you what we pay in rates in Townsville on houses, duplexes and units and on land in the Burdekin and Mackay. What area of Qld are you looking at?
Shirley

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September 22, 2003 - 6:00 am

Our rental agent looks after everything but notifies us first and we have the final say on whether to proceed. If yours isn’t doing so, find another who offers a better service, especially if you aren’t in the same town as your rental properties.

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September 22, 2003 - 4:29 am

Steph – I’m sure your parents will be delighted, no matter what time of the day or night! Our daughter surprised us after 18 months overseas when she arrived in a taxi in front of the house. It was wonderful to see her again!

Enjoy your flight.

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September 19, 2003 - 3:51 am

Hi Teylu – we have a duplex and several units. I feel Duplexes are preferable as units involve Body Corporates fees. These fees are roughly the same as local government rates (at least where we are) – I really wonder why Body Corporate Admin fees are so high.

If you have a duplex you arrange building insurance yourself but I’d rather do that than pay Body Corporate fees – you feel like you’re more in control. Our duplex is pretty new and we haven’t had any maintenance problems.

The other benefit of a duplex is you own the land as well (or at least your bank does!).

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September 15, 2003 - 12:21 am

I’m not sure of the legality in Qld, but we were able to access a property prior to settlement. We had it repainted internally and some other minor works done. This meant we were able to get a tenant in very soon after settlement. If you’re sure of your finance and that the settlement will go ahead, ask the agent to seek permission from the vendor.

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September 12, 2003 - 1:17 am

As a price comparison, we recently had a small 3-bedroom house in Townsville repainted internally for $2,500. The price included cleaning the outside of the house and also painting guttering and edging outside. Thought it was a fairly good price at the time and we’re happy with the quality of the work. Suggest you get a few quotes/options.

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September 11, 2003 - 1:51 am

A quick comment on furnished vs. unfurnished: our rental agent advised not to furnish as her idea was that tenants who had their own furniture were less likely to move around as often.

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September 4, 2003 - 12:05 am

You all seem extremely young (my husband and I are on the wrong side of 50). We’ve bought and sold houses over the years (usually because of transfers) and have only really gone into property investment this year. We’ve probably reached our limit with 4 units, a duplex, a house, a small mango farm, a 5 acre block plus our PPOR – all in regional Qld. We own our PPOR plus the 5 acre block and we’ve borrowed for the rest. We both have full-time jobs – I’d be bored if I didn’t work.

I wish we’d read some of the great investment books when we were in our 20s – we’d be in a far better position!

My advice is to get started as soon as you can and hold on to property for as long as you can.