Forum Replies Created
giddo
You might find that because they have had to excavate as part of the building process that installing building retaining walls to maintain stable soil structure on neighbouring properties is part part of the council approval requirements. If this is the case then they should pay, but an agreement between you two can share this cost if this makes things easier and quicker for you
Cheers
JohnHi Milly
To fix the problem of the smoke alarm going beeping when the battery gets low you need to make sure the battery is changed annually (if you dont already do this) A good time to do it is when daylight saviings ends because this is when the weather starts getting colder and the battery will start lose charge quicker.
It is worrying that your tenants would rather bash the smoke alarm of rather than change the battery. I am a proffesional firefighter and I see smoke alarms as being essential in all homes, like seat belts in cars.
I might be a good idea to give the tenants some information about smoke alarms. you should be able to get this from your local fire station or from their web site. A starting point for you here is http://www.nswfb.nsw.gov.au
Keep those smoke alarms maitained[biggrin]
Cheers
JohnI would agree that his would attract the attention of the tax office because the purpose of the arangement is to avoid tax not really for investment. think very carefully about this seek proffesional advise.Enjoy your home and concentrate your investments on other houses. That is my point view on this mattr any way
Cheers
JohnI might be getting into this good bad suburb discussion a bit late but I will tell my side anyway. Macquarie fields has been mentioned a bit so I will talk about this area because it is where I work in an emergency services capacity so I get to know different parts of this area well. Also what I will say is about Mac’fields but could be applied to any similar area.
Firstly the riots in Macquarie Fields involved a very small part of the suburb and a small part of the housing commission area.
There are parts of Macquarie Fields where I would live as there are in the whole campbelltown area.The housing commission areas are undergoing changes where, eventually, housing commission places wont be put together in one big enclave but will be spread out.
There are areas of Campbelltown and the Macarthur district that are quite “upper Class”. Macquarie Links, Blair Athol, Harrington Park, Glen Alpine to name just a few.
As I alluded to earlier this is an area “under transition”. With the transition of the housing commision areas and the constriction of the M7 Motorway with the development of industrial areas and future land releases in the area the future will very likely be different for this area.
I guess I will finish by saying dont judge a suburb or area soley on the media or other peoples opinions, have a look at the area get to know it. Dont just consider the area now but think about the future (this is where your investment happens)
Due diligence will separtate the good from the bad not rumour and innuendo.That is all for now.
Stay HappyJohn
If the place has termites in it then I would seriously consider if it is really worth buying and compounded with the state of the bathroom you should think carefully about how much this place is really worth.
As has already been said you have to be careful about trying to write capital improvements off as repairs this will ring alarm bells in the ATO.
I would consider this place carefully and ask yourself seriously can you find a place that is better value.Cheers
John[smiling]Hi Martine
The main deductions that are likely to make it +ve (after tax) are non cash deductions on construction costs and fittings. There might not be a lot you can claim in costruction costs because of the age of the building but there may be some if there has been some recent renovations. For fittings you maybe surprised how much you can claim. To get a clearer professional picture of what is possible talk to your accountant. If you do buy the place then get a quantity survey to maximise your non cash deductions.
Good luck hope it works out.[cap]
John
We are in the Southern Highlands in NSW. About 1 hour south of Sydney along the Hume Hwy
Hi Vyvyen,
I am propably coming in a bit late on this point but dont feel embarrassed about making a low offer. You have the right to make whatever offer you like. On my first house i made an offer of $70K on a place listed at $92K. They knocked back $70K but 3 months later we came to an agreement at $75K we had to start somewhere and so do you. Go for it.
John
