Agree with Terry and Richard.

I have a line of credit on our house that I use for our 20% deposit and the closing costs.

I am not too keen to go to 90% or 95%, but I may be too conservative and I have a reasonable amount of equity in our PPoR.

That would be nice to have. I only know the good old hard slog.

Go on realestate.com.au or homehound.com.au

Look for average sale prices for 3BR houses and then for average rentals for 3BR houses.

If you find average yields of 6-8% I would look further, else move to the next postcode.

Hi Terry,

you got some good points there. But you seem to be strongly in the “never sell” corner. While this can certainly work, I think in the current property market you can often do better by selling off underperforming assets and look for better deals.

All this said, there is no advantage to sell a marginal property to replace with a…[Read more]

I do not know much about them, but hear you really have to set up a system and learn the basics. So if you only want to do a few, they are definetly not worth it. I believe that Steve and Dave made most of their money with wraps.

I also believe that they are illegal in SA.

I do not know much about them, but hear you really have to set up a system and learn the basics. So if you only want to do a few, they are definetly not worth it. I believe that Steve and Dave made most of their money with wraps.

I also believe that they are illegal in SA.

Terry,can you give us a source for the 6 year rule. I have never heard of it before and cannot find it on the ATO website on CGT.

Terry,can you give us a source for the 6 year rule. I have never heard of it before and cannot find it on the ATO website on CGT.

Another big problem could be the shared title. My understanding is that most councils are very reluctant to allow this on a rural property. You would need to do a lot of investigation.

I have heard of several ways that people manouvered around these rules. Some were successful, but all were illegal.

Why are you looking at such a big piece of…[Read more]

Marc, be careful.

Your first investigative trip is not tax deductible. Only trips after you purchased can get deducted. However you can claim the initial trip against the capital gain when you sell the property.

But this is really for the accountant to determine.

And a few hundred dollars initial investment can save you a lot of headaches,…[Read more]

How long is a piece of string?

Do you want to be a doctor or a lawyer?

I believe your question is too broad. There are lots of arguments for the different scenarios including your personal preferences.

In general you would probably be better off to aim for some quick capital gain to improve your equity position. But build and sell is only one…[Read more]

Hi Linda and Peach,

I must admit that I am not quite up to date with the NSW rules. But depending on how you word your get out clause, you may be able to buy yourself some time. I have five standard get out clauses (I normally only use one at a time):

Amount Offered: $ 220,000.00
Terms: $ 1,000.00 deposit and balance in 30 days.

Subject to…[Read more]

Sanjiv is right.

It was a lot easier to find cf+ properties about 7 years ago.

Nowadays it is pretty unlikely that you buy a cf+ property. But if you find a property yielding 6-8% you may be able to improve it enough to get your 10-11%.

The two main ways to improve a property is to subdived and/or renovate.

If it were easy, everybody would do…[Read more]

That was a great reply Linda.

Still I would recommend to everybody to put a ‘get out clause’ into the contract.

Even if it costs you .25% of the purchase price. On a $400,000.00 property that is $1,000.00. Really nothing if something bad shows up after you signed the contract and you realise that in spite of all your due dilligence you made a…[Read more]

There are several ways that you can approach this:

– You could just go to the council, ask for planning officer and tell him/her what you want to do. They will often get you a general idea what the zoning is and what are complying developments, etc.

– You could (and that would be my recommendation) look for a surveyor. They specialise in…[Read more]

Is your first IP cf+ or cf-? That will make a big difference in your ability to buy another one.

Steve McKnight always says that it is very difficult to own several cf- properties, as they drain your income.

The only thing holding you back on cf+ properties is your equity, and that should grow as you are constantly getting income and hopefully…[Read more]

In general I agree with the above comments. I believe that vyaw2003 is wrong about the tax deductibility. I think you can deduct it off the capital gain if you end up buying a house.

But that is really immaterial.

NEVER believe a real estate agent without cross checking all the facts. They are SELLER agents interesting to maximise the sales…[Read more]

Agent often tell you that you have to deposit 10% of the contract sum. This is actually not true and I (and several other people I know including Steve McKnight) have a $1,000.00 policy.

I try to always attach a cheque of $1,000.00 to the contract. If they do not accept the offer you have lost nothing, but they may understand that you are…[Read more]

I would not give up on it that quick. Do some research.

If you live reasonably close, go past at different times of the day and find out how noisy the expressway is.

Maybe you can think of ways to reduce the noise/view with a noise reduction fence (eg rendered straw bales).

Talk to the neighbours. See who is renting and who bought. How much…[Read more]

Good Article, but the main question is what are you after?

If you are after capital growth, this article may give you a good idea.

But if you are following Steve’s advise and look for cf+ properties, you have to find regional centres where you get better yield.

While you cannot find too many properties that follow the good old 11 second rule,…[Read more]

What do you mean with experience?

You can just inform the agent in writing that you want to terminate the contract because the building inspection highlighted structural problems. You do not even have to tell them what it is.

Do your numbers and make a decision.

Be it be the right one.