So largely it comes down to having everything ready to go, and then paying an hourly rate to the tradesperson who can get it done correctly for the cheapest price?Does this mean you do a lot of measuring yourself before starting out? Do you need some specialised knowledge yourself in order to do this right?

Well, I think its actually an incredibly complex topic, but some of my thoughts:- Prices on some things have definitely gone down. TVs being a prime example.- Just because a retailer can buy something cheaper, doesn't mean they're going to sell it cheaper, this comes down to competition.- Better exchange rates may be disguising inflation, in which…[Read more]

You don't need to cut tax. Tax just means you made money. Its not evil or anything. If you negative gear, it should be because you think the property is worth it in some way and any tax refunds is just handy to have, not the reason for the deal.

I like the voices, its basically an internet meme by now. Its the info which is important.

Oh yes, one more questions:7. Is there usually any issue removing (or moving) shedding/carports etc?

Hmm, my neighbor is a civil engineer I believe, I'll run it past him and see if he has any thoughts. If nothing else, hopefully he knows how the local council has tended to go on these things.

I think you're confused. I can't think of any reason why you'd set up a SMSF and then invest that money in commercial super funds. If nothing else, you're layering in an extra set of fees and charges.  One of the main reasons for setting up a SMSF is to get your money  out of the hands of commercial super funds.Do you just mean managed funds, or i…[Read more]

I've tried this a few times now, and so far have been unimpressed. First two or three properties came back "no valuations on this property" and then when I finally got one it liked it just gives a figure, then an estimated range that seems to be +/- 20% or so. No details on how/why it gets the valuation figure.I dunno, maybe somewhat useful if…[Read more]

Mine bark a lot, maybe that counts?

Not my area of expertise, but a couple of thoughts:1. Yes, people have done this as a living and built successful businesses out of it.2. It depends a lot on your location. It will only work in a market where there's profit. This sounds obvious, but some people seem to think all they need to do is renovate and they'll make money, but there are…[Read more]

Long settlement gives you a chance to do it all in one go.I.e., sell with 90 day settlement then find and buy a new one with settlement due on the same date. Also, even if that isn't your goal, it at least gives you more time before you need to be paying rent or whatnot while you're purchasing.I agree totally for what its worth. In today's market…[Read more]

From memory, he technically suggests setting up a new corporate trustee, on the basis that guarantees from the directorship of one corporation have no impact on the ability to borrow via another, however I'm going through a refinance atm and the lender definitely wants to know all about the liabilities of all the companies I'm a director of, and…[Read more]

To be blunt, you've had the property for 3 years, and you've only got $5,600ish in your offset account. That suggests a savings ability of less than $2,000 per year. Quite apart from what the banks/etc say, are you sure yourself that you can afford another IP?

No, I wouldn't have thought so. Rough figures from their online calculator shows we could borrow almost twice what I'm asking for the refinance (i.e., just off our personal incomes and debts). I guess this was just more wondering going forward whether I needed to take it into account when working things out.

What happens?Would you loan money to someone with a history of defaulting? Whats the additional margin you might want on your interest rates?I just find some amusement in the concept of a debt ceiling, where as soon as you approach it the automatic solution is to raise it some more.I do have more thoughts, but coffee must come first.

Yeah, its two different things, not one. 1. Serviceability (ability to pay back the loan), this takes into account incomes of everyone on the loan when determining whether the lender thinks you'll be able to service the loan.2. Liability. The whole "jointly and severably" liable thing basically means that if things do go bad, you can be fully…[Read more]

I think you'd be better served creating a new thread for your question ccpat, than responding to an unrelated topic with it.

naughtyj wrote:
Assume that the market goes nowhere for the next 5 years.  If that happens, then the house will still be worth $500,000 in 5 years.  The question he had for the presenter was this: Has the house lost value?He then went on to say that most people would say no.  They still have a house worth $500K and they've lost no money wh…[Read more]

Sorry, beneficiaries in the superannuation sense, so the trustees would be the trustees of the superannuation fund, not the executor of the will. So where you stated: " Also it includes a number of supperanuation/ and share investment accounts in which I am named the sole beneficiary in at least one I now but I will investigate the rest."  The…[Read more]

Make sure they're binding nominations as beneficiary. You can also make non-binding nominations, which are more along the lines of wishes than directions, the trustee can choose to ignore them if they choose (and the difference could just be a tick-box on a form). Also even binding nominations expire on some regular basis. I think its 3 years off…[Read more]