Mayuran and Qlds007…..thanks for your help. The figure of $526.50 for a period of 1 year is also what I had worked out before I put up my original post.
What I was hoping to be able to work out was how much time might be saved on my sister's mortgage by having my money sitting there and then what the implications for her are when I withdraw my money one day. I've only found one calculator belonging to AMP which will work out what the savings are on a mortgage when there's money sitting in an offset account, but it doesn't have the flexibility to put in the variables that fit our situation. I thought it would be near impossible to find an online calculator which will help us see the difference between taking up the arrangement we've come to, and keeping the status quo on her loan. I was hoping someone on this forum might've known where I could find a tool like that.
Thanks again for your responses. <br /:)” title=”>:)” class=”bbcode_smiley” /> Charlie
Why don't you ask your tenants whether this would appeal to them? As a tenant, I would be happy if my landlord approached me with something like this as our electricity bills have been increasing significantly over the years. Not sure about the solar credits as it's an IP. Perhaps this is why my landlord hasn't installed some here!? A 20% rise in rent seems to be a bit steep though.
Dear Angel, I'm so sorry to be reading about your loss. Your faith in God is your strength. I will pray for you through this tough time. Love in Christ, Charlie
I grew up in Lake Macquarie, but I know that Mayfield and Islington have bad reputations. Islington is a bit of a red light district. Warner's Bay around Lake Macquarie is very popular! Two of my sisters live there.
Thanks both streamlineinvesting and Terryw for your comments. it's all food for thought. I have an awful lot of research to do! I'm certainly not going to rush into anything without a clear view of the financial position I may put us in.
I really value hearing everyone's views. At the end of the day….it all comes down to how much risk I'm willing to take and how much cash I have to put up. Can't buy what I can't afford right?
From reading it seems you cannot afford to buy in your area, you do not want to move, so you will have to continue paying rent. I know a lot of people are a bit turned off by rural areas because I guess they see less oppurtunity or growth in there, which I guess is a fair assumption, but provided you purchase in a steady rural town that has some sort of population growth over the years, or at least something to keep people there, I would imagine you would be fine, at least not lose out on an investment. For example Tamworth amd Armidale has universities. Bear in mind a lot of people are suggesting that Sydney prices will take a correction in the next couple years so there may not be much growth in the Sydney market either.
I am also looking into rural NSW for some positively geared property. Just something that can pay itself off with hardly any input from me and in 15 years or so, it is completely owned (I prefer to have a property paid outright rather than just always the bank owning it), without me having to put forward a dollar of my own money apart from the initial deposit.
Below is an example of something you could easily do.
Property for $130,000, with your deposit loan of about $95,000. Interest only that would be $555 a month in interest (7% IR). Currently receiving $210 a week in rent, $910 a month. So a gross profit of $355 a month. If you put it all towards paying down the interest and principal, would take around 15 years to pay it off, as I said before, without really putting much of your own money into it.
Down the line you could always renovate, add rooms, sub-divide (was a decent amount of land), to increase some equity and then hopefully be able to purchase your PPOR in your desired area.
This is the sort of thing my accountant was suggesting…getting something that is self-sustaining. He said that when we do eventually go to buy our own home, the banks will have more regard to us already having some property and able to service a loan rather than having invested in shares etc… Not sure how true this is, but it kinda makes some sense.
JM – we're renting in Berowra. Family support is both in Lake Macquarie and the Nth Beaches. We're about 1/2 way from both. Your suggestion would be good (and we probably would have done it by now) if it wasn't for my stepchildren who come over every other weekend and 1/2 the school holidays. We still need to account for their presence in our home as well. Currently we have 2 children in one bedroom and 3 children in the other bedroom. By court order, neither he or his ex-wife are allowed to move any further away from each other which restricts our movements. This will be the case for about the next 10 years.
Qlds007 – I haven't heard of such an arrangement before, but it's something I'd definitely love to investigate. How would one go about finding an investor though? I'd love to stay in the Berowra area for the time we're in Sydney.
Hi guys, Well….not a very encouraging read for me so far!!!!
Jamie…the median house price where I'm living is $630 000. A bank wouldn't lend us this amount anyway and the repayments would be more than double our current rent. I'm not going to move out to Western Sydney where we could afford to buy just to say "we've bought our own place" when getting to work would be extremely difficult for me and we would be further away from family support. Our quality of life would substantially decrease.
Hassassin…I think my accountant has suggested it because in his professional experience, he's seen people do best out of a property portfolio. Even in the hard times, people still need a place to live!
Such a tough decision to be making. I want to do the right thing by my kids and try to do SOMETHING that will benefit them in the future too. I'm pretty frightened of screwing it up though and leaving ourselves in a worse position.