But, there are ways to improve your situation.Talk to your tax adviser about capitalising interest on your IP loan – which will free up cash to pay down the home loan. Also look at borrowing to pay all expenses of the investment loan – such as insurance, rates, repairs etc.

noYou will be borrowing to pay private expenses.

And don't forget the fittings

You will have to check, there was short period where you could clam 4%, it is around 1985 to 1987 where it then changes to 2.5% for 40 years. Prior to that it is nil.Best to get  a quantity suveryor in.

If it was built after 1987 you can claim depreciation for up to 40 years.

Land tax varies from state to state.In NSW the main residence is exempt, and then there is a tax free threshold of about $370,000 per person. THis is just based on the land value, not including the building – so you may be exempt if your land is in NSW.

i too would borrow the full amount. Otherwise if you needed your cash for personal expenses it would not be available without rebborrowing it and the interest would not be deductible.

Firstly, no stamp duty concessions as Richard mention.Secondly there may be less asset protection than normally under a trust, especially in the early years, as transactions can be reversed under the bankruptcy act in certain circumstances. So make sure you get advice from a solicitor before you do this.Thirdly, are you sure your property will…[Read more]

nope, but i was able to get a client more of a discount than when they approached the general loans section of ANZ.

GOMI beleive bank staff do get commissions – for both loans, insurance and other products. With some banks sometimes clients can get larger discounts going direct, other times brokers can get them larger discounts

Hi 8Well, its not entirely his fault. He rang up the bank he was already with to make some general enquiries and they ask his name etc to just pull up his details. They then issue a number so that if they did later try to go to a broker the bank will say they were approached first.

That's why good brokers need to charge a small upfront fee – otherwise they end up doing all the work and then the client goes straight to the bank!An old client and friend did it to me this week. Countless phone calls, and then he says he just rang up the bank direct and asks if he can send me their email and explain it to him. He sends it across…[Read more]

To that I would ask:- do you think these would be good investments>?- Do you think there will be growth in values?- allowing for 10% deposit and 4% costs could you even afford one?- Did you realise that there may be higher deposit requirements for some regional areas?- Did you factor in extended vacanies and cost of repairs – what happens if the…[Read more]

Sorry Goldie. Not meaning to be negative but realistic.You will need around 10% deposit for a property, and then costs such as stamp duty etc – best to allow 4 to 5%. Your existing property as at 90% LVR too, which is very high.

Why sell at all? – maybe for tax reasons?I would suggest you sit down with some paper or a spreadsheet and work out the financial position of all scenarios. Then factor in the non financial considerations and then decide.

HiYou don't really have much equity at the moment, so best to keep saving and to keep reading.You wouldn't want to use cash for your investment as this cash could be going onto your home loan to reduce your interest – which isn't deductible. Also best not to use redraw and it complicates things – the interest on the money redrawn should be…[Read more]

Gary78 wrote:

Terryw wrote:
Just ask all those who took out loans with RAMS or GE. I think they assumed something similar.

Am I wrong in believing the reason they are currently in a bad position is that the exit fees on those loans are outlandishly expensive? Won't this scenario be removed with the legislation being brought in on July 1? …[Read more]

Just ask all those who took out loans with RAMS or GE. I think they assumed something similar.

It could be a significant savings, but you are assuming:- rates remain the same- your loan runs full termWhat if you:- want an offset account- want an increase- want to fix down the track- exit after x years- refinance after x years because they cannot lend you any more

I agree with banker. Having worked as a broker for 9 years I also would never use anyone but a bank, and never a mortgage manager.