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I think it varies from state to state.
I'm based in Victoria & I remember discussing this issue with our owners corporation management, they said that in extreme cases the owners corporation can take the non-paying owner to court if need be. If a non-paying owners sells and there are arrears on the owners corporation fees, the owners corporation management also have the right to claim arrears out of the proceeds of the sale.
As Wake already mentioned, if there are only a small number of apartments / units, there may be a problem with the cashflow for the owners corporation manager and bills due may not get paid.
Hi Propertymistro,
Choosing between the two will depend on some specific aspects of your property, such as the orientation of the building (which side faces north, and how much space there is on the roof) and whether anything will block direct sunlight at any time of the year to that aspect of the roof. If you get quotes from companies for possible installation, they have tools called SunEyes that can give you an accurate idea of how much solar radiation your property is exposed to. Make sure they use this tool.
On a general note, general thinking is that solar hot water (or a heat pump in the Northern part of the country) will give you better 'bang for your buck' than solar panels. Also, if the property currently has electric storage heating (one of the bad things of the moment) you have a better chance of getting a rebate to help with the cost. You can check here to see what rebates are available in your state http://www.livinggreener.gov.au/
As far as loans go, the governments Green Loans is winding up and doesn't actually offer interest free loans anymore. However, a few credit unions offer low-interest loans and Bendigo Bank offers what they call Generation Green loans for certain home and motor improvements at lower than normal personal rates.
If you do get something installed, Origin would not be a bad choice. I know a few people working for them and they're a lot better than some of the cowboys out there. They have a reputation to consider!
Hi Alex,
When we started investing, my wife wasn't too interested in it and most of the work was down to me. That wasn't a problem for me because I enjoy the crunching the numbers and learning how to invest, whether it be property, shares or whatever.
Around three years ago, in the run-up to my wife's birthday, I asked her what she wanted; she told me she didn't want to work for anyone else anymore – she hated her job. Given that she was in her mid-thirties and I'd just turned 40 at the time we didn't have the means to retire.
What I did was buy her a couple of things for her birthday; a lottery ticket and Robert Kiyosaki's book 'Retire Young, Retire Rich', which to me sounded like what she wanted to do. I told her that the lottery ticket may get you rich, but reading the book will be a better way of getting to your goal. She read it, and now she's 100% involved in getting to the goal. If anything, she's keener than I am!
Hi Number 8,
Don't worry too much about being controversial, if everyone were the same life would be very boring, wouldn't it?
Regarding your views on financial planners, I generally agree with what you say. Most financial planners are generally misnamed, they're financial salespeople. They have products to sell, and they'll try and sell you one. Whether it's suitable for you, or is the best of it's type on the market, is pretty irrelevant. All they have is the products supplied by their affiliated company/bank. They also have sales targets to meet.
There are some financial advisors out there that are independent, but generally they're smaller firms or individuals, so may be more difficult to track down. I've dealt with one in Melbourne, so if you're in the area let me know and I'd be happy to pass on his contact details.
If you want a genuinely independent financial advisor, ask yourself one question. 'How much are you willing to pay for the advice?'. In my view, this is the root cause of the problem when it comes to the current system of financial advice.
Most people want advice, but are unwilling to pay for it. All the bigger companies know this, and this is why the bigger conmpanies get away with the commission-based business model that they run. If people are unwilling to pay for the advice, how do you think that the independent financial advisor make his living? By definition, he can't take commisions from the companies offering the product (or should hand it over to his client) because that would involve a potential conflict of interest. A truly independent advisor has to work in the best interests of his client.Hi Intrigue,
Good decision to stick around, I think. You'll learn a lot by looking at the postings of some of the people who write on here.
Reading your post, it sounds like you're just starting the journey into investment. If I may say so, you've already made a good start by asking yourself some of the fundamental questions all investors should ask, ideally before they start the journey, namely ;
'what type of investor do I want to be'? This may be decided by the amount of time you have on your hands, being a passive investor means it doesn't take a lot of time but investments may take a long time ot have their desired effect. if you want to move things along you may want to become more active, buy older places and renovate to add value or start developing. Obviously, this depends on your comfort level i.e. would you feel OK managing or doing a renovate. The fact that you've bought land suggests that you feel OK with this.
It sounds like you've already got an idea as to where you want to get to, but you should also ask yourself how long you want to get there. Would you want to do it in 5 years, 10 years, 20 years?
You should also have to decide how you want to structure yourself i.e. will you hold all the properties in your own name, hold them in a trust, or in a company. There are advantages and disadvantages to both, find some good literature, take some good advice and work out which one is best for you.These are pretty fundamental questions, and there's no right or wrong answer. It will depend on what you want to do, how you want to do it and how comfortable you feel with the possibilities. If you make these decisions early on, it should start you off on the right foot.
Good luck
the cost was (from the top of my head) approx $2,500. This was for a 2 bedroom unit, and included Staged Homes delivering and setting up the furniture, and collecting it after the auction.
As for the auction itself, things didn't go well for various reasons that were unconnected with the Staged Homes setup. It's very, very, complicated…………
Just found this information from the NSW Land & Property Management Authority;
Community titles
The community titles legislation was designed to fill the vacuum between conventional methods of subdivision and strata subdivision to enable shared property to be created within conventional subdivisions.
The Registrar General's Directions for Community Schemes is a practical to assist with the preparation of plans for community schemes for lodgment at LPMA. Also see Approved Community Plan forms
In addition to extending the concept of the shared use of common facilities to subdivisions, which might consist of no more than vacant blocks of land, the community title also provides for:
- the development of planned communities of any type where the use of some land is shared
- the development of non-staged "stand-alone" schemes or schemes comprising several stages that can be developed over an unlimited time frame
- projects ranging in size from small groups of houses clustered around common open space to large communities with shared roadways and facilities based on commercial, sporting or agricultural features
- common areas within a community development owned and managed by an association comprising all lot owners
- association owned common areas, referred to as "Association Property", the association is agent for its members in shares proportional to the member's unit entitlement, based on site values, which will determine voting rights and contributions to maintenance levies
the promotion of theme or mixed use developments - flexibility in the management and administrative arrangements operating for schemes set out to a specific theme or containing separate areas for residential, commercial, recreational and industrial uses. This necessary degree of flexibility is achieved by providing for a multi-tiered management concept and by permitting a management statement to be prepared for each scheme setting out the rules and procedures relating to the administration of and participation in the scheme
- an effective means of subdivision for medium density housing and can also facilitate the construction of major resort developments in New South Wales
It seems to very particular to NSW, so anyone from there may have more practical experience of this. I would suspect that, given the similarity to strata titling, there would be extra costs to cover the shared properties, and extra responsibilities (similar to body corporate fees). There may also be financial constraints if these types of properties are considered to be more difficult to buy & sell than a standard property.
We recently used Staged Homes, and were very happy with their service. Katrina Maes, the lady in charge, did a great job of selecting furniture and the layout to complement the best aspects of the property we were selling.
We specifically asked the RE agent doing the open inspections to keep an ear open for any comments on the layout, and he only heard good comments.
for the sake of disclosure, I should also point out that Staged Homes do have a connection with Steve, and that this post and the comments I've posted are in no way influenced by that connection.
Whilst we're on the subject of bank horror stories…….
We were supposed to complete on the sale of a property last Friday. Our solicitors received a call from our bank (one of the big four, begins with A) 24 hours before completion to tell us that they can't find the title deed, therefore the title cannot be transferred, and completion cannot go ahead as planned.
We're still waiting to hear back from them…….
Hi Jess,
we considered doing some renos from afar, but found that the main problem we had was being able to work out how much the renovation would cost before making an offer on a place. Normally, we take the reno cost into account before making an offer and this includes quite detailed pricing to try and avoid (or at least minimise) any cost blowouts. We didn't find anyone who could do this accurately (and to our standards) on our behalf in the areas we were interested in.
If you're comfortable with being able to do the costing sight unseen, this wouldn't be a problem but if you may need to find someone to trust who can do this on your behalf in the area you're looking at.
I may have also answered the second half of your question there too. Find someone you can trust to so the work, if it's someone unknown maybe give them a trial project and discuss your requirements with them beforehand. Also, set up a specific day and time every week (i.e. every Monday at 9am, a phone call for 15 minutes) for things like project updates etc. My wife has the same problems, and she lays down the law from day one to make people know who's in charge! A proficient person shouldn't have too much of a problem with this, if anyone does have a problem there may be a reason why….
PS good luck with the 3 year plan, we're into year 2 of our 5 year plan!
I've got an earlier version, the Renovation Toolbox (bought a couple of years ago, before the 'Complete' bit came out). If I understand correctly, what I bought makes up part of the 'Complete' system, and my part is very comprehensive! It's a series of spreadsheets that allows you to cost your renovation, and it covers everything you could possibly think of.
We've used it a few times, and if you complete it accurately (without guessing the costs, go and do the research!) it helps you cost out all the reno, it helped us work out how we had to spend, which helped us work out how much we were willing to spend on the property in the first place.
The full system may cost around $1300, but if you use it well it should help spare you from cost blowouts costing far more than that, in my opinion
Yeah, looks like you hit a rock!
I suspect it's the credit card enquiries, that many enquiries makes it look like someone's shuffling thier debt from one card to another to take advantage of the low interest periods on newly transferred debt. However, knowing this now this doesn't help you out of this particular hole…..
As someone's already mentioned, write to the company and explain all the enquiries, and any cards or loans that you actually took on. Be completely honest with them, if they find out you missed anything, they'll be doubly suspicious! If they don't budge find a finance house that doesn't use that LMI company (my understanding is that there are only two companies offering LMI in Australia, please feel free to correct that anyone…..), if you're using a broker they should know who else to go with.
Finally, if the worst comes to the worst, drop the LVR from 90% to 80% and take out the LMI company. Obviously, you won't get as much equity out but you'll still be able to access some of it.
Hi Marcus,
Thanks for sharing that tip. We're thinking of self-managing and was looking at exactly the same hurdle (i.e how to find your tenant).
Hi Steve,
Lots of interesting points in a well thought-out pice. A couple of extra facts to add into the mix;
1. You mention that they spent more than they earned (from taxes and revenue) and this alludes to one of the major points differentiating the Greece situation with other countries. Greece has a chronic tax evasion and corruption problem. According to this Bloomberg report (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=apSz28ifLL9U) 95% of Greeks declare an annual income of less than 30,000 Euros a year (just over $40,000 per year), and tax evasion and corruption is estimated to cost the country 5Bn Euros per year. Over recent years, to get the revenue the government increased taxes to try and recoup the revenue, which only encouraged those paying their taxes to stop paying them! If the government can actually sort this problem out, they'll go a long way to getting back on track.
2. Other countries in trouble, such as Ireland and more recently Spain, have taken their medicine and cut costs in things like civil servants pay. People aren't happy about this, but realise that this has to be done. For example, the Irish budget at the end of 2009 included cuts of 5Bn Euro (thier Prime Minister took a 20% pay cut!) and they're forecasting a deficit until 2014. Pay was cut, benefits were cut and investment in infrastructure was delayed. I imagine that people were not happy but there was no rioting in the streets of Dublin. People most likely realised that it had to be done.
Finally, if you're thinking of investing, speaking as a person who still has family in the UK in my opinion the currency differential between the Aussie and GBP / Euros would be a good starting point!
fitzydarling,
A great piece of advice. The reason my wife and I got our investing strategies together and pulled our fingers out was because a couple of close friends died way too young (both in their mid-30s/early 40-s) in 2008 and It made us look at what we were doing with our lives. As I've heard repeatedly, look for the 'why' in doing what you're doing and you'll get over the rough patches when they hit you. Our 'why' is to be able to spend time with the people we care about.
Interesting to read all the comments, both positive & not so positive…..
A few thoughts;
The Tax Liens were, I thought, pretty well explained. Most of the issues bought up by Magbof were covered in either the keynote or workshop. If fact, they emphasised that the purpose was not to get to own the property, and to select liens that you would expect to be paid out. As other people have commented, do the due diligence……
Sales pitches – yep, there were sales pitches but as Steve said more than once, people have found a system that works for them, and want to make some money out of it. If I found such a system, I'd most likely do the same. You're not obliged to actually buy anything.
Dean and Elise Parker strike a chord with me whenever I hear them talk. I have an IT background and what they've done is systemise renos to a frightening degree (maybe it takes another IT guy to realise this!). You'll never guarantee that you can make money doing a reno, but they've got the tools to minimise the risk of everything you control as much as possible (product endorsement warning! I have the earlier version of their tools, and it rocks!). Elise' workshop on how they organised themselves was a great benefit.
Aussie Rob. I must admit, I snuck out into the CBD and had a long lunch break when he was on. I'd heard him speak before….My investing background's in shares and I think a good of good technical analysis books would be a better investment.
The highlights with Steve's conferences are the 'left field' people he finds, with no obvious connection to property, and gets to present. Ron White was great (most attendees will long remember tomatoes, clocks, telephone etc. for a long time), and Peter Koulizos couldn't be accused of hyping himself (well, I have this book……. was about the limit of his product promotion)
Finally, you may not like or be interested in everything that's presented, but isn't that part of the learning process? Learning what you don't want to do, as wel as what you do want to do?I'd noticed the amended page too, and emailled Emy at PI to ask about the ticket numbers. She said not to worry, just turn up at the registration and they'll issue everything to you there.
There's a few postings from people with conference tickets spare, have a look around. I know that some people pull out at the last minute and Steve's people may be able to get buyers and sellers together (that's how I got my first conference ticket, if memory serves). It may be worth giving them a call, but be patient with them: They're going to be busy at the moment, some type of conference thing happening…….
The conference has some 'keynote' speakers who speak to the whole conference, with three or four workshops per day on different subjects (some of the workshops are repeated so if you can't make one session you'll have another chance later).
As to the number of people attending, it's in the hundreds! I'm not sure exactly, but the last couple of years I'd guess that 400-500 people were there. I've been to the venue before, and it's a big audotorium, just like being back at Uni.
Wow, glad to hear that there's going to be so many people heading to Melbourne for the conference.
I live in Melbourne and this'll be the third conference in a row I've been to. Steve has promised that he'll be taking it around the country (Sydney was last year, and I think that Brisbane / Adelaide will be next year, but don't quote me on that). Just to answer a few of the questions in this thread;
You can't video or record any of the talks, but pen & paper is fine.
If you're coming down from Brisbane, it will be cold!
The range of topics discussed means that there'll be something for you, but maybe something that you're not too interested in.
There's a little bit of a sell for the speakers, but they're not hard sells and you'll learn something from all the speakers.
Peter Daniels was at the conference last year and was a hoot. The guy just loves gold (who doesn't)…..If anyone attending has any questions, feel free to ask and I'll try and reply.
