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Try this link: http://www.macquarie.com.au/retail/acrobat/tech_iw_smsf_checklist_200801.pdf I hope it helps
I agree with everything you guys are saying – from a purely property investment perspective. What I am trying to say is that as an investor you need the right people around you who are specialists in their area (eg: Accountant – tax implications). Not everyone invests solely in property – many people have other investments. I for example have a mix of mgd funds, shares and property with property is the majority of my investments. Now for my non property investments, I wouldn't expect a broker to be able to give me financial advice on the stock market, just as I wouldn't expect a financial planner to be able to structure a loan for me.
Personally I'm all for having a planner to assist with other aspects of investing. At the end of the day why not have your cake and eat it too by diversifying across a number of investment opportunities? And by having the right people for the job on board.I tend to disagree and believe financial planners have a place in your world. (I work in the financial services world, dealing with financial advisers, as well as being one myself)
A good financial planner will take into account your particular circumstances and needs to give you a comphrensive plan for retirement. A good financial planner's goal is to move you through the wealth accumulation phase to being financially independant with a good passive income, that doesn't require you to draw down on capital to fund. A mortgage broker assists you with getting the best loans to suit your requirements at the time of purchase of a property – I haven't met one that considers your long term financial goals as part of that process – just as a financial planner wouldn't be able to assist you in getting the best rate/ loan structure to purchase property investments. Both have an important part to play in your financial strategy.
Yes, some don't like direct property investing, but all you have to do is go and set up initial consultations with different advisers (this is free) and discuss what your goals are and what they do with their clients – you'll find an adviser that suits your purposes. If not I look after the NSW adviser market and can give you a few names.
At the end of the day the whole reason you are investing, whether it be property, shares or managed funds, is that you want to be financially independant and it makes sense that you surround yourself with experts in their relevant areas (Brokers, Accoutnants,Solicitors, Financial Advisers).Up until recently I have purchased investment properties in QLD. In my experience up here all searches were done prior to the contract going unconditional.
Recently I purchased an investment property in Sydney and the solicitor "recommended" to me that their procedures were to do any searches after the contract went unconditional and if there were problems we could negotiate further.
I insisted the searches be done prior to the contract becoming unconditional as I didn't want the hassle of trying to renegotiate or get out of a contract due to issues that may come up on the searches.
My preference is too pay for the searches before going unconditional – better to spend a few hundred dollars and find out the problem rather than buying a property that isn't going to suit your needsHi
Log onto RPDATA and buy a report on the house you are interested in. Although at $60 a pop you will want to be sure that it is something you really want. The report gives you the owners details, sales info on the property, and sales within the immediate vincinity of the house.
Hi
When we installed our kitchen we went to a kitchen cabinet making comany. We provided them with our sizes of each cabinet and door + benchtop in the colours we liked (Marble Laminex bench top and wood grain doors, std whiteboard cupboards with wood grain covers) They supplied the kitchen as a flat pack which we put together and installed (my partner is a builder by trade). Including stainless steel appliances the whole kitchen cost about $4000. The benchtop was about $1200 – the benchtop is about 3m all up. We got quoted by a kitchen company $15,000 installed for this kitchen so I would suggest finding a similar company your area if you don't mind doing a bit of work yourself as you can save alot of cash.
Alternatively friends of ours just had their kitchen painted by professional kitchen painters and it looks awesome for a little bit of cash.We purchased 3 investment properties over the space of 3 years with the sole focus of getting a cashflow positive return and getting a quick capital gain to pay off our primary residence and get rid of non deductible debt. We sold 2 this year and are debt free except for the 3rd investment property which we will keep – we have freed up some cashflow and are now looking to purchase further investment properties to now replace our incomes.
I drive a 1992 Pulsar Q and it is great for the little driving I do (to and from the train station). My partner drives a 1997 Toyota Landcruiser Ute that he bought as a repairable write off for $8K, spent $2K fixing and registering it and then promptly insured it for $26K.
I actually work for an investment bank (am a qualified planner) and sell/introduce our products (mgd funds, cash, listed stocks, alt assets etc) to financial planners. A few points to note about planners are
1. They are only trained in offering advice on mgd funds, shares, property trusts etc etc etc. They have no formal training in physical property and giving advice as to where you should or shouldn't be purchasing. They can provide you with an analysis on how the property has performed based on your rental return and outgoings etc – but that is something I'm sure you can do yourself.
2. In my opinon a good investor doesn't hold all of his/her "eggs in the one basket", which should be the philosophy of any decent financial planner out there – having a mix of investments ensures that as different assets go up and down (and yes that includes property – trusts and direct) your overall portfolio's returns are balanced and you don't suffer from any significant falls in the value of your portfolio – unless all the asset classes head south at the same time which is very rare. Also a big plus in having a diversified portfolio is that some of these investments are liquid – you can access your cash at any time if required.
3. A financial adviser is governed by very strict laws governed by ASIC to ensure that they only offer advice that is relevant to your situation and they should do a fact find to work out what your objectives are and then provide you with a Stmt of Advice to show what they are recommending, you will need to agree and sign that you understand what you are being offered. Like any industry there are the dodgy advisers and it pays to shop around. The industry is slowly moving to a Fee for Service structure – however sometimes this can be more expensive than a straight commission – it pays to do your sums.
4. Finally – Financial Advisers are there to provide you financial advice on investments and assist you with your journey to retirement – the sooner the better and the earlier we become financially independant the sooner we retire. It is up to you to find a financial planner you are happy with, can trust and who can confidently help you acheive your goals. Just like direct property investing, taking an active interest in all areas that you are invested in and working with your business partners (Adviser, Accountant etc) will only help you in attaining your goals
