A young meetup sounds great but in reality it may be the blind leading the blind.

Do you want to hang with the guys or learn about property investing? 

 Surely its better to meet with other investors (regardless of age) with like minded goals. I have been to meetups where some people haven't bought yet and others have multiple properties and…[Read more]

It doesn't matter where you live. Its what you  own as your PPOR. You claim 1 residence as your PPOR. If you buy an investment property you can continue to claim the first as your PPOR. If you move into the investment property you can change that to your PPOR if you want. 
You can rent it out for up to 6 years and not have to pay CGT. After that…[Read more]

Hi you can't use the 6 year rule in your situation. In order to qualify to use the 6 year rule you have to have lived in it from settlement. So it won't make any difference whether you move into it then rent it. But you can claim one as your PPOR so you will avoid land tax. 
If you rent out your existing PPOR though (assuming you moved into it…[Read more]

Are you going to tell us how to do it or is that your way of asking someone to help you!   

Hi, a few questions.
 What are your long term goals? 

Why would you rent? Can you rent for more cheaply than you can in your PPOR? If so that can save money. 

You need to crunch some numbers with each option. 
If you want to build a portfolio, selling at the beginning may not be the best option. BUT it depends on the property. Can you get enough…[Read more]

Hi Sebastian. Why not attend one of the Sydney meetups? We had a great one at Baulkham Hills last week. Both new and experienced investors. Informal chatting about investing and whatever comes up. 
Check out she Somersoft forum. Meetups are listed there. 

Its a great way to network and meet like minded people. 

You are liable for the rent until the lease expires (so 12 months). The RE agent should advertise for a new tenant (at the same rent) and you pay until the new tenant moves in. They can also charge you advertising and change over costs.

If you google The Investors club there is a myriad of info on them.  

They have loyal members who seem to be happy with the club. They offer commissions to those in the club to recruit new buyers. I don't like that.
Maybe go to a meeting and see what you think. I signed a thing at a property show and get Emails. I was going to go to a meetup out…[Read more]

You still claim it as your PPOR if you are not intending to buy another place to live in during that time.  Important to make sure your accountant knows about the 6yr rule if you sell. If they are not property savvy they may not.

Yes, up to a year ago I was buying properties under market value in western Sydney that had been sitting there with no buyers.  Dark night. I haven't even bothered going as it's just crazy out there. Might go to an auction just out of interest. I'd be interested to see who is actually buying this stuff at those prices. No one I know that invests…[Read more]

Hi.
If you move in straight away you can after that move out for a period of 6 years and rent it without paying CGT. It's commonly called the 6yr rule (look it up).
The proviso is that you don't buy another property and claim that as your principal place of residence (PPOR).

If you rent it first then move in and then back out again you can't use…[Read more]

You can borrow up to 80% of the value of the property without paying LMI (Lenders mortgage insurance).

If the new property is valued at $200,000 you can borrow $160,000 on that property.
OK property 1 is valued at $400,000 and has a loan of $300,000.  You can borrow up to 80% of the value of $400,000 which is $320,000. So you can borrow another…[Read more]

If you buy it as tenants in common her share automatically goes to you.  ASSUMING your siblings don't contest it.  She can say it in her will that she leaves it to you. But still a risk. What are the siblings like?
We don't have inheritance tax in Australia (ATM).

Why do you want to put it in half your mum's name? This will also affect her…[Read more]

You can transfer % but I think if it is done as a tax avoidance strategy you may have difficulty.

I don't think you will be too positive (not including depreciation).

You need to deduct interest,  insurance, body corp, water, council rates, maintenance, property manager fees.

Add that up and see if it's higher than the net rent.

You then halve…[Read more]

Sydney is definitely hot at the moment.

People ARE paying more than valuations. But having said that it does take a while for valuation companies to come up to speed. On a whole though I wouldn't say Sydney is overpriced. We have been due for some decent growth.

I believe interest rates will be low for a while but they can't stay low. THIS is…[Read more]

I wouldn't worry about the 3rd child. That's easily explained. Just write everything down in case you need to present it at court. If you are moving out why are they worried about that (unless they are just trying to scare you out of complaining.
Tribunals tend to side with the tenant so if you have everything detailed and show how reasonable they…[Read more]

You don't have to as far as legalities go. I had one tenant ask and I changed one but said they'd have to pay for the other. It had a security screen so they didn't worry.

Depending on what types of locks you have though you could buy a new tumbler set and change them. Keep the existing ones and if you need to change them again or in another…[Read more]

Is it a waste of his time?   He gets paid good money to do seminars.  I could think of a lot of other things he could do to waste time.

Hi do you mean you had 3 inspections? You are only allowed 4 a year. Sounds like overkill to me.

Sounds like a terrible property with landlords and an agent that don't care. Did you not notice the problems before you moved in? I'm a bit wary when people make promises to fix things after you've signed. If they intended to fix them they would have…[Read more]

I'd ask to see it in writing where it says if they make a mistake they can ask for money after the fact.

A friend of mine noticed a small mistake once and the solicitor said too bad, too late.