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  • Profile photo of bennidobennido
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    @bennido
    Join Date: 2004
    Post Count: 195
    July 28, 2008 - 1:43 pm

    No good accountants out west ?? lol … :)

    Profile photo of bennidobennido
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    @bennido
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    June 23, 2008 - 2:29 pm

    Anyone know of a good accountant on the west side of Melbourne ?
    Even somewhere around the city is good too.

    Kew, Mt Waverley, etc is kind of far. Thanks !

    Profile photo of bennidobennido
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    @bennido
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    September 19, 2007 - 12:20 pm
    Qlds007 wrote:
    The other product which will be withdrawn or amended is the Pro packages as at 0.7- 0.9% below SVR there is no money to be made.

    Crap ! I hope you're wrong ! The pro packs have been great for me ! .. :(

    Profile photo of bennidobennido
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    @bennido
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    September 18, 2007 - 3:58 pm

    To allow me to sleep at night, I try to stay around 80% LVR for my entire ppty portfolio.

    It's sometimes lower, sometimes higher but 80% is the compromise I feel comfortable with. It allows for significant growth w/o overextending myself.

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    @bennido
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    September 18, 2007 - 3:55 pm

    I would like to add a possibly related question … how much does it cost to knock down a really old house and prepare the land ready for construction ?

    Profile photo of bennidobennido
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    @bennido
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    September 18, 2007 - 3:54 pm
    devo76 wrote:
    As all would agree. Positive cashflow cannot be found easily today with most properties needing renos to achieve anything close to positive cashflow.Or you have to look in remote areas.
    Now if we see a housing slump like the US with possible 30% to 40% drop in house prices(god i hope not).Does this mean coupled with rent increases that we might see positive cashflow properties return to better areas and easily found in realestate mags with no renos required.
    What are your thoughts

    I hope the ppty market drops by 30%-40% as it will be great for us +ve geared investors (this is a +ve geared ppty investment site after all).

    With all the -ve geared investors being forced to sell up, we should be able to get ppty cheap and hopefully +ve geared with some luck as well !

    Profile photo of bennidobennido
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    @bennido
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    September 18, 2007 - 3:50 pm
    Caroll wrote:
    Hi I'm just beginning – Can someone tell me where to look for the auctions passed in? Thanks

    In Melbourne, they publish the auction results in the papers including those passed in.

    Profile photo of bennidobennido
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    September 18, 2007 - 3:49 pm
    v8ghia wrote:
    Hi Beaniemonster. Along those lines, any thoughts on the following as far as the actual areas and from a property investing view?
    COLAC
    STAWELL
    ARARAT
    HAMILTON
    MARYBOROUGH

    Cheers.

    PS Won't tell you what best forgotton part of rural Vic I spent most of my childhood in – scarred me for life..

    I have a few IPs in the Horsham / Ararat area bought over the past 4 years. All are +ve geared as I bought them (so no reno work needed on my part) and almost 100% rented out since I bought them.

    Capital growth is not flash at about only 5% per year approx. But I bought them to have some income generating assets so that's fine for me.

    Profile photo of bennidobennido
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    September 18, 2007 - 3:40 pm
    CN wrote:
    Why are the corner blocks cheaper? Seems like noone really likes the corner blocks, i guess when resell later on there wont be much capital growth?

    Yes, they are generally less popular especially in newer estates.

    Some of the negatives are …

    – Feeling of less privacy / security (i.e. "exposed")
    – Generally along a road
    – Much more nature strip to take landscape / maintain
    – Less people to share fencing costs with
    – Regarded as bad "feng shui"

    Of course, there are people who don't mind the above in return for slightly lower prices.

    Profile photo of bennidobennido
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    September 15, 2007 - 8:43 am

    Thanks Rudolph .. I think I'll get an inspection as recommended just for the peace of mind.

    Can anyone recommend a good building inspector that can service the Williamstown area ?

    Thanks !

    Profile photo of bennidobennido
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    September 7, 2007 - 12:52 pm

    Richard,

    Yeah, I just got the bad news a couple of days ago so I am planning my next steps. I've always dealt with Westpac (contrary to popular advice) so all my loans are with them. Call me lazy but its just convenient. :)

    I guess this is as good a time to start looking at another vendor. Can you recommend a good mortgage broker in Melbourme ? I was thinking of trying out one of the big ones like Mortgage Choice but since you have inside information, I would appreciate your advice very much. Thanks !

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    September 7, 2007 - 6:33 am

    Yes, I have a first hand recent experience with this. Having made 3 IP purchases in the past 3.5 years, I am a bit low in cash / equity savings.

    However, I came across another property that I wanted to buy. Struggling to muster up about 5% deposit, I need to have mortgage insurance.

    I have relative good income and quite comfortable with the loan repayments (i.e. about 25% of NETT income provided all 4 IPs are rented out). Even with the bank (Westpac) being more than happy to lend me the money,  the Mortgage Insurer still rejected the loan application on the basis that I had too much debt.

    I reckon the subprime mess in the US is starting to ruffle the feathers of the executives at the Mortgage insurance companies.

    Profile photo of bennidobennido
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    @bennido
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    July 19, 2007 - 1:49 pm
    oneiricer wrote:
    I was trying to imply that it is not 'sustainable' which is to say, there is an extent to which you can depreciate properties, correct?

    the idea is by the time you reach that "extent", you would have paid down enough of the mortgage or rents would have gone up by then resulting in the property being CF+ all on its own w/o depreciation .. :)

    Profile photo of bennidobennido
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    @bennido
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    July 18, 2007 - 1:09 pm
    DraconisV wrote:
    I wish I bought one of them, then I would be officially a property investor.Give me 2 and a half years and I will be jumping in and soaring higher and higher.
     
    I'm so excited about my future, I don't know how people can keep on living their day-to-day if they have no dreams or desires.
    You've got to dream a little, then wake up and tackle the world with your team of professionals by your side.

    Chris.

    Don't worry mate .. as long as you are motivated, have a clear plan and persevere, you'll get there … :)

    I have to say reading Rich Dad, Poor Dad and Steve's first book really changed my life .. and like Steve, my best advice for beginners is to start small ! .. my 1st 3 investments were all under $100K in regional towns … :)

    Profile photo of bennidobennido
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    July 17, 2007 - 1:22 pm
    bennido wrote:

    There are CF+ places in regional areas that will be CF+ without doing anything. Just go to realestate.com.au and do some research.

    Here are some quick examples I found without much effort at all. If you can bargain down the purchase price they're even better deals.

    http://www.realestate.com.au/cgi-bin/rsearch?a=o&id=104070062&f=0&p=30&t=res&ty=&fmt=&header=&c=97690981&s=vic&snf=ras&tm=1184248514

    http://www.realestate.com.au/cgi-bin/rsearch?a=o&id=104092600&f=0&p=30&t=res&ty=&fmt=&header=&c=97690981&s=vic&snf=ras&tm=1184248514

    LOL .. just realised one of them got sold today ! .. :D

    Wonder if it was bought by someone in this forum .. c'mon own up ! .. I deserve a "bird dog" commission … a lunch maybe ?? .. heehee

    Profile photo of bennidobennido
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    @bennido
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    July 17, 2007 - 1:17 pm
    Shane Law wrote:
    Thank you Bennido for providing examples for us new to this investing!!

    However when I look at the first property and apply the "11 second solution" that Steve McNight advocates it does not fit into this category. Am I missing something?

    No prob mate. And those were only some examples that I got off the net after doing 10 minutes worth of searches.
    No doubt that once you hit the pavement and start talking to agents, you will find more.

    And yes, it doesn't fit into the 11 sec solution but even Steve admits the rule is no longer very relevant.

    In short, you can still get very good return +ve CF properties without doing anything much other than good research and bargaining skills. :)

    I value my time a lot and I hate doing any manual work, so I look for solutions if possible.

    Using myself as an example, I own 5 investment properties valued at around $800K bought over the past 4 yrs, all are +ve CF and I did NOTHING to any of them. Not even a fresh coat of paint !

    Profile photo of bennidobennido
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    July 13, 2007 - 1:21 pm
    Stuart Wemyss wrote:
    Can I shamelessly plug one of my articles in API on this very topic???

    See http://www.prosolution.com.au/articles/x-sec.pdf 

    Good article, but your point about valuation costs is not really accurate … the sector is so competitive now and banks (at least the major ones) will pay for the valuations .. :)

    Profile photo of bennidobennido
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    July 13, 2007 - 1:15 pm
    L.A Aussie wrote:
    There was a case in the courts a couple of years ago between the ATO and a guy who capitalised the interest on his investment loan while paying down the PPoR loan.
    I think the ATO denied his tax claim, he sued the ATO and it went to court. Correct me if I'm wrong if someone can remember this case.
    The ATO lost the case for the time being, but the message was that it may not be a rule in the future, so it may not be a good idea to take the risk.
    Besides; I think it's a bit "robbing Peter to pay Paul" anyway – you are making a bigger loss through the increased neg gearing which would cancel out a lot  or some of the gain you make in decreasing the PPoR loan.

    You're right .. the ATO initially lost the case .. but they appealed and they won. Case closed.

    So its definitely illegal to do that now .. so don't even try it !

    Profile photo of bennidobennido
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    July 12, 2007 - 1:58 pm

    There are CF+ places in regional areas that will be CF+ without doing anything. Just go to realestate.com.au and do some research.

    Here are some quick examples I found without much effort at all. If you can bargain down the purchase price they're even better deals.

    http://www.realestate.com.au/cgi-bin/rsearch?a=o&id=104070062&f=0&p=30&t=res&ty=&fmt=&header=&c=97690981&s=vic&snf=ras&tm=1184248514

    http://www.realestate.com.au/cgi-bin/rsearch?a=o&id=104092600&f=0&p=30&t=res&ty=&fmt=&header=&c=97690981&s=vic&snf=ras&tm=1184248514

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    June 29, 2007 - 2:06 pm

    No, its not a normal thing. Could it be a pro-rated amount for council rates, water service, etc already paid up by the seller ?

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