I have bought land at Sanctuary Lakes, Melbourne and have settled in February. I am building a Metricon, 5 bedroom home and currently am at the preliminary stage with the construction side of it.
What would your general feeling be with regards to building an investment property in this area ? I will negative gear this property.
On the other hand, what would be your feel on Landlord Insurance – pretty much how much will the Landlord Insurance be and is this payable yearly/monthly?
Landlord insurance WITH tenant protection is essential. It will be $600ish per year. In my opinion, you should not be deciding whether or not to get this insurance. The default should be just to get it. Things can go horribly wrong without it. The insurance covers you for things like tenants failing to pay rent, malicious damage of property and/or furniture within it, and also theft. I have had to claim on such insurance and shudder to think of the bill had I not had it. FYI i use AAMI and they were fantastic.
I shall take out the Landlord insurance with tenant protection when the time arrives. As you have mentioned, it is actually essential to have the insurance in place, just in case tenant issues arises.
No worries. Be sure to get a Quantity Surveyor to produce a depreciation report for you. It will enable to claim a bunch of money back on your tax return – particularly since it is a new house . And of course, keep records of everything you spend (stamp duty included). It all becomes relevant at one point or another.. even if it is years to come if and when you sell, to reduce the capital gains tax bill.
Excellent feedback which I shall cherish and make use of in the future. I was unaware that one could claim quite alot when it comes to tax time wrt depreciation for a new home.
When would you recommend I get hold of a Quantity Surveyor to do the report for me, once the place is completely built? Any idea, whether there is a thumb rule for the percentage of capital gains tax one pay for in Australia?