Ryan – I gave them NO evidence at all of my income, except signed a stat decl that I can afford to make the payments. I Borrowed under my Disct Trust.  

But I do have a history with the Rams guy/office —- I  got knocked back last year (not by Rams) by LMI Insurer for Rams as I did not disclose some of my other properties. They (LMI Insurer) locked me out for 6 mths before I could re-apply. Once I did, 24 hours approved.

Retired 4 yrs ago on property, but have kept my business operating (as a property investing company) with ABN number, but they did not ask for that either.

I have just put in another re-fi application today with them but I have stipulated that I want valuation be done first before I go any further with them. They have had CRAPPPPP valuations in the past for me.
 

I have always had problems with RAMS valuations. That's the downfall with them, however atleast they are still doing Low-doc loans.

I had the same situation — half way through the lease they asked if they could have a dog. I thought no problems, but then they had a cat and another dog 2 mths later. Then they asked if I could pay for a gate which the tenant would put up. Costs me $480 (bunnings special) and they put it up. They did a great job. They told me that the pets are never inside the house, until one day I had to drop something off and I knocked on the door. No one was home but the air cond was on and all the pets were sitting inside in air cond comfort. It was bloody hot outside.

2 mths after I paid for the gate they damn well bought there own home and moved out. This is when I realized the problem. They got the carpets professionally cleaned, however the day after it STUNK of dog/cat – pet smell. I rang the tenant and she still claimed the pets did not go inside, but man it did stink in the house. The place could not be rented as everyone kept saying it stinks of cats & dog. I tried everything until 1 month still no tenants, I replaced the 10 month old carpets. I now wish I charged more rent from the initial inquiry and asked for an additional 1 week bond. Maybe this may of changed there minds. 

If it's in a unit block and you give them permission, but the Body Corporate has a no pet policy you are bound to get into trouble with this situation. 

Goodluck with it.
 

Yep, drop the rent. You could say that you were just lucky with the $390pw that you were getting. I had a property rented out in Sydney for $1,000pw for 2 years. After they moved out, I thought and so did all the r/e agents the rental boom was on so we put up for  $1,200pw, after 3 months of it being vacant I ended up renting it for $900pw. Damn, that one hurt!

How long has it been actually vacant for now? I read confusing information with your post.

I'm of a different opinion. Do all your sums $$$ first. I have been an investor for over 25 years (12 IP) and have always lived in my investment properties but for the past 3 years I have been renting. I now live in a waterfont home worth (when I moved in) approx $1mil and I pay $510pw. Since the GFC it's now worth approx $890K. If I purchased this home 3 yrs ago and paid interest on a $1mil loan to the bank, you do the sums — it was much cheaper for me to rent. Keep in mind the owner of this place has to pay  body corp fees -$60pw, Land Tax- worse if he has it in a Company or Trust, council rates, replaced hot water system, replaced air cond, replaced dishwasher etc etc.   Instead, I ended up buying  2 x IP in the past 3 yrs.

If you buy the property in a Trust or Company you just wiped out the biggest tax advantage —- CGT.If you put this in your own name ITS TAX FREE, no CGT when and if you sell.   

I have friends who for the past 10 years retired to the Gold Coast and moved 4-5 times buying and selling there PPOR making $100K – $150K profit everytime and not pay one cent in TAX. They are still retired and selling there current home for over $2mil.

I remember when living in one of my IP I was paying over $5,000pm interest, plus land tax ($9K pa), body corp fees (over $10K pa), council & water rates etc, etc and I spoke to my neighbour who happened to be renting and paying $520pw for exactly the same apartment next door. I woke up to myself that day and rented my place out for a whopping $980pw and moved next door.

I now realize why my accountant said to me one day

Just another angle on things!

I had a painter go in and completely repaint the whole place. Insurance won't pay for the complete re-paint, they will only pay for the damage caused. Remember, they paid me $18,550 from a $20,000 claim. They paid me  2 weeks rent loss of $1900 for the time it took to fix it up. Not bad at all. And the best thing was that the whole place got a mini-makeover and had 2 x tenants fighting over it to rent it. The rent went up $30pw after the make-over.

My previous tenant was paying me $425pw and guess what —- they bought there own house because of the Govt doubling the FHOG. I'm now getting $420pw. I think allot of young renters bought there own places leaving a huge gap in the rental market. However, my properties in NSW are renting back to back and increasing 5-10% each time. No such luck in QLD though! 

Just out of interest, who's the insurance Company?
I recently had a claim last year on my rental property in NSW, I'm insured with EBM Insurance. The damage came to approx $20,000 including 2 x weeks loss of rent for fixing the place up, new carpets, new locks, replace a very expensive murphy fold down bed, fix damage to walls, replace torn blinds etc, etc. Even replacing my missing phone and lamp shade was claimed. The insurance Company gave me a chq for $13,550 plus the Rental Bond of $3,800 which was withheld by me. $1200 was taken out  for the excess $400 x 3. I was very happy with this.  No arguments at all with them during the process except when they wanted to buy me a replacement murphy bed off ebay for $990. The original bed was $5,400 (bloody expensive beds). I argued that I want my ferrari type of bed replaced with the same, not a damn toyota. All was good. My tenant was on a periodic lease as he did not send back the new lease. Also, I managed the property myself. One most important facts about landlords insurance is that if you make a claim the insurance Company pays you, they actually pursue your tenant. So having the forwarding address or in my case a copy of his Driver's liscense is very important for the insurance claim.