The US is a very big market and trends are very different in different areas. Upstate New York, where a lot of people on this forum are currently looking, has had very little growth over a long period of time. Other markets have been booming.

cmhall,

If the Sydney property was a ppor you can keep the CGT free status for around 5 years (don’t hold me to this, check with an accountant). So it is quite possible you will not have to pay CGT.

Regards
Alistair

Leanne,

There are a few that post on this forum. I have had some dealings with one of them, Nigel Kibel, who posts here. He’s very knowledgeable and you could definately do worse than have a chat with him. I have also heard good things about Hunter House Hunters.

Regards
Alistair

“The Australian Government restricts investment in property. That is the purpose of the Foreign Investment Review Board.”

Your quote

“The Australian Government restricts investment in property. That is the purpose of the Foreign Investment Review Board.”

This statement is factually incorrect, see the following taken from the FIRB web site.

“The foreign investment policy provides for Government scrutiny of many proposed foreign purchases of Australian businesses and properties. The Government has the power under the Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Act 1975 (the Act) to block proposals that are determined to be contrary to the national interest. The Act also provides legislative backing for ensuring compliance with the policy.”

Rob, your posts are generally show you to be well informed, but your comments on this subject do not. I suggest you go read a book on macro economics.

Hi Anna,

The process goes basically like this. You need to get a survey of the site done, which gives details of the size and elevation of the site, as well as the positioning of surrounding buildings (especially windows) and private open space, trees etc. This info is then used by your draftsperson/architect to come up with a concept design, which is compatible with the regulations in the planning scheme and sympathetic with the surrounds.

You then take the concept to the local council for a pre-application meeting, to ascertain their thoughts on the design. Council may ask for changes or may not. They may also say that they will not support the development under any circumstances, but if the design is sensible this is not likely. Depending on feedback from the council you may choose to alter the design.

Once you have either made the council officer happy, or bent as far as you are prepared to go, you order town planning drawings to be produced and an application to be drawn up.

Once these are submitted to council, they may ask for further information. Once this is provided they will order advertising of the proposal, which includes the large yellow signs you see around the place and probably letters to surrounding residents informing them of the proposed development.

If there are objections council may order a mediation meeting, you can then try to satisfy these people by making concessions or ignore them, your choice.

The planning department will produce a report with a recommendation as to whether council should support the proposal. In some cases this constitutes the decision, but most of the time the proposal then goes to a council meeting. At the meeting there is an opportunity for the developer and any objectors to make a statement(s). Council then makes a decision. In most cases the councillors follow the recommendation of their officers, but not always.

If you are knocked back, or there are conditions placed on your permit that you don’t like, you can then appeal to VCAT. If the decision is favourable to you, objectors are also able to appeal and take the case to VCAT.

I f you would like some more detail PM me you email address and I will send you a power point presentation that we have produced to explain the process.

Regards
Alistair

Hi Anna,

Zoning refers to what the land may be used for eg resedential, comercial, industrial etc. The meaning of the quote that you read was most probably “It is zoned resedential and is large enough to fit 6 units acording to the planning scheme”

This does not guarentee that you will get permission to put 6 units on the site, its also not necessarily correct as real estate agents are not town planners.

If you have to go through the planning process, be aware that it takes time and costs money, and also there are no guarentees that you will succeed. Having said this, you can create significant value by going through the planning process, just be careful and get good advice.

Regards
Alistair

Matt,

You can probably get similar returns from quality property in NZ, I’d sggest that market as a better one than mining towns.

Regards
Alistair

You do need 3% genuine savings to access the lowest rate 100% loans.

PPOR = Principle Place of Residence

OSS,

Why do you need to widen the driveway? I can understand you need extra parking, but this has little to do with the width of the existing driveway.

In any case, you should seek professional advice on this from an architect/draftsman that has good knowledge of town planning issues or else a town planning consultant. Definately don’t just accept the advice of a council officer.

Regards
Alistair