Michael,by having the balance of your deposit in the offset account your loan is effectively reduced by by the amount sitting in the account, therefore you pay interest on a lower amount. For exampple if you have a loan for 210K and you ahve 20k sitting in your offset account you only pay imterest on 190k ie 210K-20K =190k loan amount. i hope this…[Read more]

Lina, If you are happy there and know the area then i can't see why it would be a bad investment, you at least have a feel for the area which you may not have if you are looking elxewhere to buy. if you do buy set your loan up with an offest account and have all of your income go into this account. if in the future you choose to buy elsewhere and…[Read more]

Todd, from your statement it appears that you are  not reducing the principal amount that you owe, so this extra money that you are paying on that loan is effectively doing nothing. You need to contact the loan provider and see whether the tems can be changed in some way to allow this extra money to reduce the rpincipal amount. If this is not…[Read more]

Todd,Make sure that any extra payments that you make on each debt goes towards reducing the principal amount rather than just being seen as your payments 'in advance'. Some loans do not reduce the principal when you make extra payments. if this is the case with any of your debts, check with the funds provider to see if this can be varied.if you…[Read more]

Be wary of getting a lower rate loan and then taking longer to pay it off, because in the long run you care going to pay way too much for depreciating objects. if you do consolidate all the debts into a lower rate loan then attack the debt as quickly as you can, paying the absolute maximum that you can afford to pay it off. Then if you can…[Read more]

Thanks Mike for the fast reply, you provide a great service,much appreciated.CheersSonya

HI Michael, welcome to the forum. I would suggest buying something in the lower end of the market like you have said, however don't aim to pay it off, get an IO loan and a 100% offset account. Have all of your income go into the offset account. This will allow you to reduce interest payments whilst also being able to accumulate more money as a…[Read more]

From the date that you put tenants into your PPOR it became an IP. this date shoudl be used to calculate things such as capital gains % if you sell as well as for taxation purposes, although you probably would not have a lot of deductions if you own the property outright. cheers Sonya

Hey,I would happily take your $1500 if you want to give it away. Surely if you have the borrowing capacity that is required to service an IP then you could find a reputable lender from the myriad of lenders on offer here in Australia?cheersSonya

I don' t want to be rude, but having been thru a divorce where I was a joint owner of the property yet still got done over I would be asking how long you have been with your boyfriend and how secure is the relationship? Unfortunately relationships do break down and if you are not legally noted as a joint owner of the property you may lose a large…[Read more]

Hi Rhys,Great name, my son is also called Rhys.Before you get started make sure that you have the best financial structure in place to enable you to have the most flexibility as well as making sure that you can get all appropriate tax deductions etc. As mentioned it is better to not pay off your present loan as such, instead have a 100% mortgage…[Read more]

Hi, not sure how increasing your own personal property and therefore loan would be of benefit in buying an investment property. Also selling and buying again means that you will 'lose' a lot of money in stamp duty costs, agents fees etc. if you are happy with your present house keep it and use the equity to buy an investment property. I think you…[Read more]

Hi Is it common practice to see the valuation when you buy a property, or have you sought a valuation after you bought to determine your equity? I have not seen valuations of properties that I have bought. I have only been told that valuation was favourable and thus loan was approved.The only valuation that I did see was for a property that was…[Read more]

Hi Bencross, I actually live in griffith and don't think the rental yield is that crash hot, however, if someone is thinking of buying here I would be happy to give you some inside info on the specific street/s you are looking at. I am also happy to inspect properties to let you know what i think of them before you go to the trouble and expense of…[Read more]

Hi Kat, What does your partner intend to do with his existing house? Will he rent it out and will the rent cover the costs associated with holding the property? Perhaps you can retain that property and rent somewhere else, where you want to live. Also if he does keep the property make sure that you the loans structured properly, ie having it as an…[Read more]

Hi I have found some bargains on ebay as well as at garage sales and op shops. Ebay allows you to look for specific items from home and if you are in a larger regional town or city you are likely to have a n umber of items within a short distance from your home or property. Also deceased estate auctions or garage sales may have a whole house full…[Read more]

That would probably be the best option to ensure that all the pros and cons can be taken into consideration. i think capial gains will be less because they have held the property for more than one year. Also if they sell directly to their grndamother then they could avoid paying about $13,000 or more in agents fees to a real estate agent. If they…[Read more]

This would be the best way to set it up. Check out the posts that QLD007 has made on this forum, he has covered this information heaps of times. i think you can search for posts by particular members. cheers Sonya

Hi Merc,Have you contributed equally to the purchase and payments for the property or did one of you put in more of a deposit and/or pay more money towards the loan repayments? When my brother and I purchased an investment property together we kept meticulous records regarding who paid what as far as deposits went as well as if there was any…[Read more]

Hi Blissy a redraw account and offset account are very different things. I know that both Richard and Terry have explained the difference between the two a n umber of times on this forum, so I won't attempt to. But if you check the other posts in the financing sections you will probably get all the info that you need.  Cheers Sonya