Hi hwd007,

Do you live in/by the same area? If so, go in and see somebody face to face. If the agent is ‘out’, ask to speak to the manager or most senior person. Have you seen the actual lease agreement? Are you sure the lease has been signed and the condition report done? You should by now have a copy of both. Ask to check your tenants…[Read more]

Hi.

You dont mention if you have asked the college themselves as they should be aware of any student loan services such as PELS. Failing that ring one of the unis and ask them, or go in and collect their information on student loans – so you know what is available and see if you are eligible for the particular course your daughter wishes to do.…[Read more]

Hi uncivilised (interesting moniker!)

I bought my property with termites in the tree, PPOR, subject to them finding the nest and treating it, however the nest as Westan says can be 100s metres away. The area I live in is high risk for termites and have had many friends with major problems, all which seemingly get fixed. It has made me less…[Read more]

Thanks everyone,
My original intention in buying the property was to hopefully make around $60,000 which would knock the last bit off my home mortgage. It is at that point now, and as I have a ‘capital gains tax loss’ to offset the 50% tax there shouldnt be much if at all to pay out. The area however has just been fully revamped by council to the…[Read more]

Excellent posts Westan, and thankyou. I was interested to hear different thoughts on the subject as I find media manipulation of the market quite fascinating. I have taken your replies on board but would like to know your opinion on one thing. Does your buy and hold strategy also relate to negative geared property (bought well before I ever picked…[Read more]

Hi. also the whole town seems to be for sale, in which case…who would rent your property?[]

Hi…I know I am repeating myself yet again but the optimum time for kids (for women) is early twenties and you guys cant do it without us. However in my line of work I come across couples with fertility problems every day and the percentages are rising fast – nearly all these couples are in their thirties so as I have said before, what good is…[Read more]

Hi NkZadar,

I don’t quite understand your question but as soon as our property went unconditional I listed it with the real estate agent, they put it on the net and a couple put down a holding deposit on it of one weeks rent so that they could rent it as soon as possible, and in actual fact they picked up the keys literally 5 minutes after…[Read more]

Hi. Also check carefully about ‘gifting’ the extra on top of the purchase price. I bought a property off my father – at market price – and we received a letter from the tax department asking us to prove that the property had been sold at the genuine price and that if not, we would be liable to pay tax. Cant remember all the details now as the…[Read more]

Hi Purple Kiss,

I dont actually know the answer but ask him to back up his statements. Who takes the bookings for the holiday rental and ask to see the books.
Ask if there is any paperwork relating to previous bookings.

If christmas is a peak season are there bookings for now, what was last year like, what is the down season, what plan do they…[Read more]

Thankyou thankyou Derynaka,

That sounds as if it could be the problem. i didnt realise the tape was even there until it bubbles up in the bathroom after painting. It makes sense what you are saying.

I did have ask at bunnings and at bristol but mostly they are quite young guys who don’t have a depth of experience at the small problems. They said…[Read more]

Hi.

http://www.australiarealty.com.au

Hi. Exactly my point in my previous post (somewhere). Has the rental population increased by 50%? Who is going to rent all these properties? I would be quite hesitant to enter the market on these regional towns for that fact alone…

and no, I dont consider this a negative approach but part of that due diligence. Just hope some of us wont get…[Read more]

Hi. Cant seem to find it right now, but I thought I had read that the 12 months for CGT was taken from the day of exchange of contracts, not settlement. Is this correct??? It makes quite a difference if you have a long settlement if this is the case.

Sunshine[]

ooops, just found it in the tax guide. “Under CGT provisions, if you buy a property,…[Read more]

Hi. When looking on the net, make sure you check the ‘sold’ site as well. It was interesting to see relatively cheap properties at Mount Murgon, then I checked the ‘sold’ properties and nearly the whole town must have sold! I would so love to know if all thses properties have been bought by investors because they are cheap, and if so, who is going…[Read more]

Hi Alf,

You are right about the six year period, but that is only if you elect to keep the property as your main residence. You can move out for up to six years and the property will maintain its CGT exempt status. You can then move back in, establish residency, and then move back out to extend for another six years.

Sunshine

Hi C2,

You missed my point re age of parents. Im not referring to the age gap and parenting styles but in view of planning family and investments it is important to look at the fact that putting children off to late thirties,early forties which is common now, you may miss the boat alltogether.

IVF (now very commonplace) costs a small fortune,…[Read more]

Hi Bill,

Thanks for the lesson. Think I will make up a file called ‘the bill file’![]

Hi Bec and Luke,
There is a good little guide called ‘Taxation pocket guide for Australian investors’ by Jimmy Prince which retails for around $19.99. You can find everything on the ATO site of course but I found this book great for a quick reference, clear and easy and full of tips.

Capital gains will be liable at 100% of gain on property held…[Read more]

Hi. I was surprised by Hueys reply. 15 years is waaaay too long.
The numbers of infertile couples has increased markedly in the last decade (this is my field of work) and one of the reasons for this is that we are having our kids way after the peak fertility time for women – which is early twenties.
It is possible to do both with having the right…[Read more]