Hi Bungee,
I can recommend Nick Moustacas of Strategic Wealth Management. He is VERY experienced in many aspects of investing as well as accounting, as you will find out. He is not in Sydney’s North-West though (he is in Hurstville).

To call him and check him out, Phone:(02) 9580 3353

Benny

Hi AB,
Do you want to expand on “MPI” for those of us who don’t know what you are referring to? Sounds like some kind of Insurance, but…. is it a “Multiple Property Insurance?”

Benny

Hi Karen and June,
It is a big subject – try this link as a starter:-
https://www.propertyinvesting.com/topic/4410491-the-big-picture-for-new-readers-especially/#post-4697974

That post also has another link that expands on the subject – once you have read all of these, you may have a pretty good idea of what is going on, and you may not need to search much more. But you will still face an uphill battle to “uncross” if selling one. Good luck,

Benny

Hi TraceanDave,

+1 for the above two posts !!

Watch out for ANY company who wants to know how much Equity you have in your own home – and watch how quickly they snub you if you have none, or little.

See, they NEED you to have equity so they can sell you an OVER-priced property yet still be paid by you (indirectly). And by providing your financial advice, and your legal team, they can snow you all the way into an over-priced piece of property that won’t gain Equity for 10 years or more.

Beware of ANY company who doesn’t want you to provide your own legals and finance. As Knightm said, they are up to their necks in a conflict of interest – and your interests are what suffer in that circumstance.

By the way, I don’t know the group you asked about – but “Buyer beware” with all such groups. Especially if :-
1. They cold call you.
2. They want to help “put your kids through school”
3. They offer you “financial advice”, which just so happens to involve selling you a new property IN ANOTHER STATE !! (It helps, as you might think a new 4Bd, 2Ba property in the Gold Coast is a “steal” at $450k (based on your knowledge of Melbourne or Sydney prices). In reality, it is probably $50k too much for that market !!! Guess who pays THAT?
4. They want to know you have heaps of Equity in your own home. If you don’t, you’ll be dropped like a hot spud.
5. They have “all you need” – accountant, finance broker, lawyer – and they can sign you up, send you on to each one, and have you “dressed like a Xmas turkey ready for dinner” in just a couple of hours. That then gives you YEARS left over to regret the decision.
6. There will be a “rental guarantee” (all paid for by YOU!!)
7. Ask for comparable properties/values, and you won’t see other RE agents’ sales – just their own.
8. Suggest you use your own financiers/legal team and watch what happens. That doesn’t fit with THEIR plans.
9. If they offer you a “FREE flight” anywhere, RUN and don’t look back.

Regards,
Benny

PS There may be some GOOD companies that might do one or two of the above – but they WON’T be offering to “do it all for you” on the financial/legal side of things. Also, most good companies don’t “cold call”, and they certainly don’t offer their financiers/lawyers to you to complete the deal.

So if the company called you to offer a path to wealth, the alarm bells should already be deafening !!

Hi Sean,
Well, as one who tends to be a bit cautious myself, I would tend to side with the Building Inspector (whom you employed to make you aware of any problems, yes?). Now if he says “Get it checked”, and I were the buyer, I would start to consider my options.

The current owners have said that they will not pay for Structural Engineer Inspection as they have a 25 year warranty from the builders and they are suggesting that they will talk to the builders and if need be will get it fixed. However, I’m confused whether to invest in such property as I don’t want to take unnecessary risks in case it is one .

The sellers should take it up with their Builder then – and if they won’t/don’t, then I would certainly be walking. To my mind, there are too many good homes for sale that DON’T need underpinning. And if the sellers aren’t wanting to get things settled, then I think they have just bought their own house back for their asking Price !!!

;)

Benny

Hi all,

I was able to get a Back Issue from here late last year :-
http://www.yourinvestmentpropertymag.com.au/magazine/

See the “Back Issues” section.

I note that the magazine from that date (Dec2013) doesn’t show for me now – maybe they are restricting me from getting another copy? I can’t think they have “run out” of electronic copies…

Or, could there be other reasons why it is no longer there?

Benny

Hi AB,

Try Corey himself. I’m sure he will do an outstanding job for you. If you are looking at changing Banks, that is an ideal time to sort this kind of stuff out. Corey knows it chapter and verse, and will surely show you your options, and why one way is better than other ways. That’s what good MBs do.

If not Corey, there are a number of other good MBs on here – choose one whose posts seem to suit you – their writing style, their helpfulness, their advice to others… Pick one and make contact. Getting a good team behind you is one of the major items when investing.

Benny

He didn’t tell us that we had to use our current lender for the equity loan but I guess it kinda became an assumed thing.

It seems you have an existing mortgage on your home, right? If so, then you won’t be getting an extra equity loan from another lender (that is getting into 2nd Mortgages and such complexities). But I personally kept my IP loans with another Bank – just to put an extra level of protection between my investments and my own home.

A good Mortgage Broker can give you chapter and verse on all of that stuff. It is always sensible to get a plan in place when starting investing (BEFORE starting investing). And knowing your finances (or having a trusted team member who looks after all that) is mandatory for the best results.

I’d say pick a Mortgage Broker, ask a heap of questions, and just see how well they guide you. If they don’t, cut them loose and try again. The best ones are teachers too – and you learn heaps from them (all to the good!!)

Good luck,
Benny

Hi Shaun,
Seems to me thay are already stata titled. I think you are wanting “community title” (?) – but the obvious questions would be – is there any gain in changing back? Is it even allowed?

A Council will want to be paid for – garbage collection, provision of water, sewerage, and a host of other things for 3 units whether you group them as one or have them as 3 strata’ed units. Don’t they all need these things, and won’t Council need to provide 3 of everything even if all grouped under one title?

A call to your Council would likely be a good start methinks,

Benny