Hi Corinne,Have you resolved your insurance issue?I'm in a similar situation and was wondering how we went about yours?I got a quote from OAMPS Insurance brokers for $385 for Strata Unit Insurance. But the schedule of insurance cover mentions it as "Broadform Liability". I'm confused whether it covers my common area or not?Regards,Kumar

Thanks Barry & Scott for the information.We too had a "normal" real estate agent look at the place and he also suggested a price for the house and small value for getting the council approval.Seems better to find a commercial real estate agent and check out their views.Thanks once again.

Would agree with others, that you won't need pre-sales if its a 3 unit development. We are talking to couple of banks for a six unit development. Although me & my business partner meet the servicieability requirement for the develop & hold strategy, the bank was 'suggesting" we should get some pre-sales.We appreciated their advice, because they…[Read more]

Hi Terry,Thanks for your insightful comment.Its quite glaring, that I need to create the family trust and transfer our units into it as early as possible, to avoid the claw back, in the unfortunate event of me going bankrupt.Regards,B

Banker wrote:
………….New Trust is established. Balance Sheet of the Trust shows NIL assets and NIL DebtBeneficiaries lend the trust 200k 

Hi Banker,The assumption you have made is that beneficiaries lend the trust. Instead of lending, if the settlor/testator or beneficiary contributes to the capital (not sure of the legal term) of the…[Read more]

Wow! that makes me nervous.We are novice in the trade. Hence have to rely on people's expertise.Will post it in the forum, the results of our efforts to obtain invidual title. I guess its going to take 3-4 months to get the sub-division approved. Thanks for the help.

Hi Richard,I rang our Architect/draftsman to double check whether individual title will be issued before construction. He said definately "yes"..So it looks like its quite possible. Will only know the reality once we actually walk the path. So assuming we have individual titles for the six lots and the one existing house, is the idea of getting…[Read more]

Hi Richard,No..the bank didn't recommend this. Its just we are trying to put the puzzle together to resolve the challenge in financing.Isn't our going to be a Community title rather than Strata title. Since each house on property is independant and they have common area.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strata_title"Community title subdivisions are not…[Read more]

Hi Guys,We've got 2100 sq mtr block of land with an existing 5 bedroom house.Council has approved construction of six units on the block.Obviously we'll have issues with financing the construction.Our solution is to sub-divide the property and will seek refinance from three lenders for say 2 property each. That way they consider it as residential…[Read more]

Hi Ryan,I've got a 4.5 year old son.To get him started on his investment education, we've started playing "Monopoly". I let him play the way he wants it, but in the process he becomes aware of the role of bank, holding properties to get rent, auctioning the property to get cash etc.Its just a beginning…Will definately incorporate Mike's…[Read more]

basbog wrote:
Couldnot pm you, Ross @ TCB 08 83762299

Hi Barry,Thanks a lot for sharing the contact details. I called Ross and he was very helpful. He has arranged the insurance based on Shared Accomodation. In our case, since we have individual agreement with tenants for minimum 1 year, it wasn't difficult to obtain the normal insurance. I'm…[Read more]

basbog wrote:
 Bob The BuilderThe 1b normally covers up to 13 people and has regulations like fire escape door and door sets, interconnected smoke alarms, I have 11, lights that come on at the exits with the alarms. My council allowed 10  in my house based in size. Its a bit of work to set up but not to much, anything above 13 then it gets mor…[Read more]

DWolfe wrote:
Hi,Might be worth ringing an insurance broker who may have access to more info. Might save you the phone calls to each insurance co. Also might be worth ringing a local property manager or 2 and asking them if they know of anyone, if they hand management of something similar they may know.D

Hi Dwolfe,Thanks for the suggestion. …[Read more]

andlim wrote:
Hi,Just wondering how you would define a rooming house… if you have a house that has 7 rooms, and you get the 7  tenants to all sign the lease agreement would that be considered as a rooming house ?

Hi Andlim,As per the Council Regulations & Consumer Affairs Victoria (CAV), a house with 4 or more unrelated persons where indi…[Read more]

Hi Barry,I'm only an aspiring builder and will be commencing a six unit development at the back of this Rooming house. So honestly, I'm not aware of the regulations. But taking a hint from your comment, I looked up on google for Class 1b building and understood that its for small guesthouse, boarding house or similar housing.We recently complied…[Read more]

Hi,Me & my business partner bought a 5 bedroom house in Melbourne and converted it into rooming house. We are also converting the second lounge and the dining room into bedrooms, such that there will be 7 bedrooms.It is making our IP into +cash flow.Now the challenge is with the insurance. We are struggling to find an insurer who will insure a…[Read more]