Forum Replies Created
Painting the house can sure save you cash, I have done it myself about 5-6 years ago, I also did doors (same colour). It was not really that hard, though the scotch tape is a pain if you leave it on for more than half a day or so, though a small tub of sample roof paint patches over the few small spots well.
We didn't do the roof though, and I imagine that would be a lot more painful… we used brushes and rollers, was pretty straight forward. Any time I need to patch a hole or touch up paint in the house now I am confident with it, easy to do, even repainted a terrible part of the bathroom on my previous house with ease.
Anything more than just a wall or at most a room I would never do again, I still hate the thought of painting all these years on, as it was a pain staking 3 days preping, painting, and cleaning up… we didn't worry about the carpet either as we replaced that at the same time, lucky as we did spill some timber varnish in one of the bedrooms (was used for the window sills).
When you do it every day, it is easy, but when you do it once off everything takes forever, nothing goes to plan, and accidents happen you just have to deal with (lucky mine were fixed with sample roof paint and new carpet). Redoing painting and carpet at the same time would have been a huge cost, so it was good to save some cash, but I think I will pay someone else next time.
Your bet is probably right Freckle, and this argument could go on, hence we have a legal system where it can be taken to court, but unless one side bows to the other, the court (usually) relies on onus of proof… at the end of the day unless you have the toy or crap dumped down the toilet (hopefully not IN your hand in this instance) it is going to be difficult to get them to pay.
As the OP stated it happened 12 months ago and again now, so what's not to say the builders blocked it initially, and whatever is blocking it keeps coming back as the plumber isn't clearing it properly (maybe a partially blocked or crushed pipe that is slowly backing up over time, or and endless possibility )… I have had more than a few of these discussions with my PMs and if they can't prove it was the tenant they usually just pass the bill onto me…
At the end of the day the tenant can just dig their heels in and refuse to pay it, and you would have to pay the bill first (as your agent called the tradie) and chase the tenant through legal channels… sometimes $100 just isn't worth the hassle and keeping a happy tenant if this is the only problem is a better option. If the OP wants to chase $100 then she has every right to try….I would just write it off on tax, if the tenants are that bad ask them to vacate at the end of the lease.
I agree with Terry, the toilet needs to be working… if it is simply blocked without cause, perhaps it is a building fault, the tenant can't be held responsible for that, its like saying the lights don't come on some times so the tenant has to pay to fix that because an electrician can't figure it out.
Unfortunately unless you can prove it was the tenant you are a bit out of luck.
I have a friend who lives in a brand new house, where the toilet always clogs up when his wife uses it.. though never happens to anyone else… perhaps she was just using too much toilet paper or a bit "clogged up" herself… the toilet was pretty small, though apparently nothing a plunger couldn't fix…
I would suggest notifying your agent that you want to be contacted if it happens again, and get a plumber who will investigate it properly and tell you what was wrong rather than doing a temporary patch up job (bare in mind a simple plunger to push the blockage through vs investigating the cause may cost more). Its unfortunate that a lot of tradies just want their call out fee and hours rate for 5 mins work and then bugger of quickly… when you do find a good one hold on to their number!
Someone above mentioned that a financial adviser just tries to sell you their product, I thought they were regulating this and changing the industry as of July this year? Is this the case or has this not changed yet?
To answer the OP original question:
Where to get Depreciation report?:
There are many you can use, I don't know most of them as the one I use works.
The one I use is Depreciator, I have a few DS from them and they are excellent: http://www.depreciator.com.au/
They charge around $650 and they will charge you $50 to update it when you make changes (this is cheap, and they actually did it for free for me as I am a repeat customer and my schedule was 10 years old).
To anyone who wants to say they are expensive or another is better, that is your opinion and you are entitled to it, but lets keep it simple for the OP. They may be a little more expensive but they work and they are easy to read, I really don't care as it is tax deductible and I can't be bothered shopping around to save a few $ on something I purchase once. I HIGHLY recommend them.
Depends on your contract, most are conditional on approval of finance, so if the bank isn't ready to pay down the loan, then your finance is not finalised and the contract cannot proceed, check with your conveyancer/solicitor to find out exactly, as they are the contract people.
If you have an unconditional contract ( I have never had one without finance condition so not sure how this would work) then usually there is a default rate you must pay for every day past the contract date, I am not sure what this is but it is massive and can be in the thousands depending on how long it takes…
Finally if the bank has allowed the contract to go unconditional, meaning they have approved the loan and then pulled back, I would be looking to them for compensation due to any cost you incur. ( I had this on the first house I bought, it was my solicitors mistake, and they ended up wearing the default costs)
again, check with your conveyancer/solicitor to find out exactly… this is what you are paying them for, its like hiring a professional to make sure your house is built correctly and going down the pub to ask a tradie how it should be done, check with the professional first and then check here if you don't get what you are after, or don't agree with what they say… I say this because you are currently paying someone to give you legal and contractual advice, whereas most others here are not, and do not want to pay for it if they can get a suitable answer here.
Yup MJM I feel your pain,
I made this same mistake, and now cannot access the collateral in our property. As we are wanting to organize finance quickly for our new home we have cross collateralised (gasp!) our old PPOR now IP to reduce what we need to pay as a deposit for our new PPOR. I know this cross collaterlising is often seen as a dirty word, but our old property is in a good area which will continue to grow (it actually is atm) and we are looking at buying in Brisbane which we hope will grow also. At the end of the day the IP is of little risk and it is giving us better borrowing power without the LMI and I anticipate (bad word in this climate I know) that both properties will have an LVR of 80% or less each in the next 12 months anyway.
Yeah I agree with Terry, it is all to do with the wording of the contract.
Generally the spa would have to be specifically mention as included in the contract (usually listed items are on the first page ir two these include dishwashers and any other non -standard item), if it was not, then the vendor has the right to pull it out all together as they didn't include it in the first place.
Without reading the contract (and being a solicitor) it is hard to speculate on this.
We have done an immediate change on PMs, so we have had to pay out the old one for 90 days, the new one is not charging us for 90 days so there is not commission atm anyway.
My concern is if an insurance company would frown upon this and if the ATO would as well, but if there is no issue I will jsut let the tenant decide which they would prefer.
Sounds like its well overdue for schools to teach "life skills" so people can learn some basics of life, we have plenty of "smart people" with no street sense and it's really bad to see someone ripped off because they didn't know any better
Oh, thanks for the heads up on that, I will have to speak to a knowledgeable accountant about this, though as I have the monies in my offset account, the amount of interest incurred each month has not changed, and I have had some monies (DHOAS subsidy) still going into the loan (from the type of home loan it is the subsidy has to go into the home loan).
I have not yet done my tax as I have been lazy this year and am going to do it very soon, a bad think I know but I have had everything everywhere this year, and am just getting on top of all my paperwork. So whichever accountant I use will end up loving me when I tell them this stuff :p
Again thank you for the advice, as it is best to know now and try to rectify it than later when the ATO come down at the worst possible moment.
Thanks for the advice Richard, this is why I like to ask questions and keep up with these things as not being in this profession I can miss things like that. When I originally took out the loan it was a feature of the loan, they no doubt would have sent me something about the changes I just probably missed it.
I will have to look into what is best for my situation, however I will still consider transferring the loan – through a new application etc – as it is a special NAB home loan for ADF personnel which must be P&I, its also a package so I think they don't charge any of their fees (I figure there will be a few others though) – I will still be entitled to this after I leave the ADF, and I figure the best loan to be P&I would be my PPOR, and to have all my other mortgages as IO.
I guess what I am really asking is, is there anyway I can access the the extra money I paid into the PPOR loan, whilst not screwing with what I can claim on tax (ie. If i were to sell the house tomorrow, take the cash and buy a new PPOR and then buy the property back with a new loan, the new loan would be 100% tax deductible, but if I take the money I put into my PPOR loan out now I am renting it to someone, I can't claim it on tax, and can't use it for a new PPOR without selling my old one).
Hi Scott,
I feel for you and your family, as it would not be a nice situation to be in, but that being said I think you need to look at the reality of it. You are living in a house work twice that of an outer suburbs property in most cities, and you only owe 60% LVR. I really don't want to sound rude, but the reality of it is you are living beyond your means in a rich suburb that you can't afford.
I am currently looking to buy a property for me and my wife and our bub on the way, presently my wife is employed, I am employed and we have 3 IPs, so our chances of getting a property are good. We could probably get a new loan for 6-700k, and get a nice Brisbane home on the outskirts of the inner suburbs for around 600-800k. Once my wife stops working, however,, and if I have issues through my employment future, we will go belly up in no time. Instead I am looking for a reasonable outer suburb home for around 350-450k, this means if we have unforeseeable issues we will be protected for some time, and we can choose to sell an IP or our home with plenty of time to spare.
It is a sad reality, but what happens if interest rates rise to 12% again like 2008, how will your cash flow be then, and what will you use to pay your rent and where will you live? I would suggest selling the house for a reasonable amount, don't try to firesale it, and get something more modest in an outer suburb with the left over cash.
Again I am sorry to hear about your predicament, I wish that would never happen to anyone, but you need to do a reality check on your finances and what you can really afford, versus what you think you can afford.
Hi Lisa,
As other have said first and foremost, if you can't afford it or don't see it ever going up whilst you own it, then get rid of it, you wouldn't keep a car that ran through $200 of fuel and oils a week when it should be using $50.
But, true investing is for the long term, anyone who says they buy and sell properties are not investors they are speculators, sure someone who buys with an open end to sell is an investor, but buying and saying you are going to sell in 3 years for a profit is just speculating. Sure some people can read the market well, but no one is 100% accurate. My point is, eventually property prices with rise again, this could be 6 months or 6 years.
If you sold the property today and it went up by 50-100% in 6 months time would you care? How about if it would go up by 50-100% in the next 6 years, would you sell it or hold it? Unless you want to sell it to invest in a property that is more likely to go up (perhaps you found a good value property that is undervalued closer to the city in a blue chip area that is certain to rise by 75-200% when your other property would only rise by 50-100%) I would suggest you take the same action for 6 years as you would for 6 months.
Finally, you might want to see a financial expert who is good with IPs, . Make sure you are looking at your losses from an investors point of view, if you have a principle and interest loan (P&I), then the principle is not a loss, you should look at taking out an interest only loan(IO) which could save you thousands of dollars up front that you don't have to pay today, and check you have a competitive interest rate. Also make sure you have a depreciation schedule and are claiming correctly as this can help with offsetting your loses substantially as well. Get in touch with someone like Richard (QLD007) in the above post who runs this type of business in Brisbane, perhaps they can help.
One last bit of advice, you said "If I sell the house for the same figure I purchased it at", ask your self honestly is it worth that now, if you even attempt to sell it for more than it is worth you will fail before you begin. A REA will want to get you the best price, but if you push for more they will reluctantly list it at that, but do little to sell it as it is overpriced. Make sure you detach the emotions of it and sell appropriately. If it were me I would hold it until the market is on the up, property is the flavour of the month and get the best price I can, or hold it forever.
John
For starters you are saying that you want to transfer a property which in reality is owned by the bank to her, no bank is going to let that happen without discharging the mortgage first. Just like when you sell a car, as long as there is a loan, the banks hold the item as security, that is the difference between a secured and unsecured loan – the item must remain in the name of the borrower, as your wife is not bound by the contract between you and the bank, you signed it not her. You can only sell, dispose of, gift the item after the loan is paid off.
You say that it is your PPOR? If you still live in it, why not re-mortgaging the property and purchasing another, it is your PPOR after all, I would suggest finding out if there is any time limit on when you could move to a new property after taking out the mortgage or if you would be able to move the day after the loan is settled.
Finally, I am new to QLD, so I am not 100% sure on the actually rules, but in NSW if your spouse, (wife/husband or de facto – meaning you have live in a relationship for more than 6 months) has owned property before, neither of you are eligible for the stamp duty exemption. (Plus remember there is a minimum period of time you have to live in the property after settlement). Even if you satisfied the stamp duty exemption, you have to live in it, making it your PPOR, meaning you can take out a loan for against the property and use it to purchase another property, which you can then live in later, and (as far as I am aware) leave the loan on the current property as tax deductible when you leave.
If I am mistaken someone let me know please, as this is how I understand it.
It's funny that he states that we are so different over here, there is one reason for that, in a suburb in OZ we might have 50 houses up for rent in a month and 200 people who want to rent them, if you don't pay on time your out the door (obviously this has to be more than once or twice). Agents are able to chase a late payment as one maybe two rents may do it… occasionally.
In the US they more likely have 200 houses for rent with 50 people wanting to rent them.
It is a bit silly that they would ring constantly and try to get the money paid immediately, it is a different country and things work differently… not a hard concept, as long as the rent is being paid each month then that is really all that matters… Really a case of doing your due diligence before just making a purchase, these people probably jsut up and bought the property on a whim from a company that specialises in this type of thing and just picked a place that looked nice from a web site.
Terryw wrote:No. These are essentially worthless.
OSR may also insist on a valuation for stamp duty purposes.
Not to mention that an agents valuation can often be optimistic and more than a real valuation, they may quote at 10-20k above what a real value is, meaning you pay more CGT..
Most first homeowners who buy a cheapie, are often paying the same price for a suburb close to a CBD, that they would pay for an outer suburb property. You look at all the new developments around Brisbane, (Northlakes, Burpengary, Springfield Lakes, Ormeau – not really Brisbane but a lot of Brisbane workers commute from here, even Ipswich) You can get a 3-4bed 2 bath single/double garage for around $350-450k, though some people would rather buy a run down old queenslander half the distance and do "make shift renos" (dodgy touch-ups that don't really work anyway).
By making it cost 7k more with out the FHOG and 15k less for these newer suburbs, and with a lot of builders offering an additon $10k rebate atm, that means you will be $32k better off to buy in these outer areas, they are trying to push people into these areas, as the building industry isn't getting the pace they need atm and the government wants new houses not transfers of existing houses, as it doesn't help expand.
I cannot say for certain, but I would guess that the value after you moved out is the portion that would go toward CGT, check with an accountant or wait for a response from someone who knows for certain.
Remember to add other items to reduce the CG, a good tax accountant when it comes time to pay your dues will be important, costs such as capital improvements (installing a new room or garden extra garage etc) all go towards that, as well as stamp duty and any other costs that are not tax deductible (building/pest reports etc) these all lower the amount of CGT payable, of course they would have to be apportioned to the % of time lived and time rented. A true capital gain is only what you have actually made on the property after everything you have spend on the place. Again spending extra cash on a knowledgeable accountant verse a $50 tax guy at your local Westfields will pay dividends here (not saying you use these type of people but just pointing it out).
I had an aircon install in my IP in Sydney in Jan 2010, and I don't see how costs would have gone up too much.
I bought the air con myself from Bing Lee for about $900-$1000 on sale it was a Kelvinator 6.5kw I believe, (not inverter – inverter units are more expensive save electricity in how they operate, I didn't care much as i wasn't paying the elec bill, and 99% of tenants wouldn't make a distinction between the two when choosing a house to rent) appropriate enough for the area anyway. It then cost me $550 including GST to install it, I am guessing this price would not have changed too much, though I rang a few installers myself and their quotes ranged from $550 – $800.
The other cost involved is the length of piping from the indoor unit to the outdoor unit, usually the include around 3m in their install cost (all quotes I received said the same), this is enough for the units to be against the same wall, outside unit on the ground, inside unit on the wall where you would expect it to be. This is about $50-$70 a metre, I cannot remember exactly, though replacement shouldn't need this nor drilling etc, so the time they save on this should cover labour on removal of the old unit.
Remember most PM and REA look after a lot of properties, and some of them just do the bare minimum, so if you want to save some money, I would suggest organising it yourself, contacting installers in the area to get quotes, and if you live close by maybe even picking up a unit on special from a retailer if it is cheaper (just make sure the size is appropriate to the room as if the unit is too small for the room and breaks down that is your fault and won't be covered by warranty). Once you get the best price get them to contact your PM and go from there, your property manager has other problems to attend to and spending a whole day getting detailed quotes is not in their interest, they will just shoot off emails and wait for replies.
Edit: When I bought my unit from Bing Lee they gave me a list (3-4 pages about 40-50 people) of all licensed installers in the area, they don't recommend any, but they were able to offer a list, if you ring retailers in that area they may have lists they can email you if you can't find any on line.
