Hello.

How long have they been in your property?

An increase of 5%pa, which is what you are proposing, is pretty standard.

Cheers,
Art

‘Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.’ – Albert Einstein

Hello.

I concur with cnat on speaking to a broker – it generally won’t cost you anything (especially f you go to one of these places like Wizard or Mortgage Choice) and will give you a good idea of where you stand and what you need to do to move forward.

Without fully knowing your circumstances I would certainly suggest you look into getting rid…[Read more]

Hello.

I can’t say what you should do as only you can make that decision. I can, however, advise you to sit down and actually do the numbers – that is, work out exactly what each of these options will cost you to start out and to maintain over the long term. The bottom line may very well make your decision for you.

For example, when faced with a…[Read more]

Hi.

I’ve never been to one of their seminars but I have found that every piece of education I’ve invested in (be it books, seminars or online) has paid dividends. It might not be in the short or even medium term but at some stage that knowledge has come in very handy and has saved m money and time. And if you’re an investor it’s a tax…[Read more]

Hello.

Purchasing costs / closing costs:
Deposit (from $1000 to 20% of asking price?)
**Deposits can vary but typically are 5-10% of purchase**

Legal fees (getting solicitor) – $700 – $2,000?
**Budget on $2000 but it may be less. Make sure the fees include disbursements and GST**

Stamp Duty – roughly 3-5% of the final property pric…[Read more]

Hiyya.

I concur on the 5% closing costs. It can be a shade less than that but 5% is a good guide and won’t leave you with a massive hole in your budget come exchange.

There are a couple calculators floating around the ‘net to help you roughly work out closing costs. Take a look at this one for Stamp Duty and Fees:…[Read more]

Hola.

You should take a look in the Value Adding forum on this site. There are a couple strings in there re. building costs. One was started by me. You can find it here: <https://www.propertyinvesting.com/forum/topic/24626.html&gt;

Art

‘Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.’ – Albert Einstein

I second that. Get insurance at or prior to Exchange.

Art

‘Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.’ – Albert Einstein

Hello TK.

While not 100% on topic for you, the link below is to a forum string I started when looking at some student accom in Newcastle. Some of the replies may be of interest. Perhaps you could send a PM to some of the contributors.

<https://www.propertyinvesting.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=24571&gt;

Art

‘Great spirits have always encountered…[Read more]

Cheers for that Tony.

I’ve PMd you re future questions.

Thanks,
Art

‘Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.’ – Albert Einstein

Hello.

I’ve just been researching a distant suburb myself and have found the following to be useful:

1) Go to http://www.propertyvalue.com.au. You have to pay a fee for their in-depth research and figures but you can do a free postcode search which wil give you broad figures such as demographics, employment, home ownership and so on. It’s a decent…[Read more]

Thankyou 1HV.

Art

‘Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.’ – Albert Einstein

Hello Recherche.

I know it seems great to have property fully paid off but all investment wisdom I’ve read and discussed with IP friends points to maintaining managable levels of debt. After all, if a property is fully paid off there is less of your windall in your pocket and less tax breaks come June 30.

Personally I would pay down the debt to…[Read more]

Thanks Amanda.

I’m a new subscriber to API but hadn’t heard of that website. I’ll check it out now.

Cheers,
Art

‘Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.’ – Albert Einstein

Hi.

I’m no expert and from your post I’m not exactly suer what kind of development or subdivision you’re proposing but maybe this will spark some discussion…

If you already own the property why not just get a surveyer in, get some plans drawn up and costed and take them to the council? I’m sure it wouldn’t cost more than a couple thousand at…[Read more]

Hello.

I spoke to the council and they advised that the minute you take on multiple sub-leases it is classed as a boarding house. The only way to get around it is to have one lease for the whole place and I doubt anyone would be willing to take on a lease for $700 per week.

Cheers,
Art

‘Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition…[Read more]

Thanks, Elka.

As it turns out the place is not in the correct zoning for boarding house status so it would have to be let on a single lease or on illegal sub leases, neither of which seem proftable or sensible to me. Shame as it could otherwise have been a tidy earner. I suspect this is why the current owner/builder wants to unload it.

Thank you…[Read more]

Cheers Derek.

If and when you do manage to get hold of the broadsheet I’d love to take a look also.

Art