I wouldn’t say it would be a huge factor, as the majority of properties pre/post ’85 have had works completed to them, which plays into the calculations. I’ve got properties build in the 60’s which have 5-6k depreciation in yr 1 because of renovations, whereas I also have late 80’s properties with limited depreciation at all.

Buy investments…[Read more]

Depreciation schedules cover the building itself, as well as the internal fixtures, fittings, improvements etc. This includes items which already existed at purchase, so long as the items are still depreciable by their age.

There’s a whole other bunch of other factors including low value pools etc, where you can writeoff a lot of depreciation…[Read more]

I’ve got quite a few clients who make use of buyers agents, with great success.

If you know a particular market like the back of your hand it may not be hugely necessary, but for those buying interstate they can be absolutely invaluable.

$10k is around the average fee being charged that I’ve seen.

RBA and the money markets seem to think otherwise at the moment.

Not only will some not allow a new valuation if it’s under x months, valuers will also struggle to attribute a higher value until it’s 6+ months from sale, even when there was clear under market purchasing.

The easiest way to get around this issue is to do significant renovations, then the valuer can attribute the value increase to the works completed.

Just be sure to make sure you factor in any holding costs INCLUDING strata fee’s when determining whether the property will be cashflow positive. I’ve seen many a property touted as CF+ when in reality it was reasonably negative.

Outer suburbs of Adelaide, rarely in Brisbane anymore, Tassie, regional NSW – common hunting grounds of the cash flow investor.

Not hugely normal, I do know a couple brokers who do charge a fee for service.

We’ve never charged any fee’s to clients in providing our services, nor intend to anytime in the future.

Capitalisation of interest can be OK with the ATO in certain situations, but not across the board. You’d want your accountant to be 110% happy with the structure before going down that pathway.

Yup not a chance of getting out of the Cert IV requirements unfortunately.

There’s plenty of intensive courses however to get it pushed through ASAP.

95%+LMI (most lenders 2% LMI capping to 97%, though you can go to 99.9% with a couple lenders) is the maximum. The only other ways to get around this are through family guarantees where you can get away with $0 deposit.

Generally 5% deposit is the absolute minimum deposit, but this does depend on the lender being used. You also need to be able to pay for the ancillary costs which include stamp duty, solicitors fee’s etc. LMI will be applicable (and will certainly be expensive) but this can be capitalised onto the loans in most cases.

FHOG can be counted towards…[Read more]

Commercial agreement, anything is negotiable.

Can be a fixed agreement for x amount per month, or a % of the upfront and trail – this can extend beyond the 2 years.

If setup right the aggregator can manage the split commissions and pay each party seperately, protecting all involved.

What’s more important than cost is having a good mentorship…[Read more]

If you’re entering the conversation questioning whether it’s a smart idea, I think you know the answer.

I’d give this one a pass if I were you.

Definitely wouldn’t say that purchase valuations go below purchase price very often, less than 1/100 times. Was this an OTP deal perhaps?

Depending on the lender, you can either roll over to another 5 year interest only term, refinance to another lender/internally to gain another 30 year term or revert to principle and interest. P&I loans are…[Read more]

Absolutely agree. 3/4 clients I come across with these existing portfolio loan arrangements have nasty x-coll setups, poor mixing of investment and non investment debt and or fixed rates in the mix!

I’d put the availability of offset accounts around 10 levels more important than LOC features – for the most part these loans aren’t needed when…[Read more]

Give the council a call regarding the situation, they would be able to give you a lot of information regarding the ability to subdivide the property, whether the rear property is council approved etc.

Be sure to make sure you can legally rent out both residences in it’s current format too, just because its currently being done doesn’t mean it’s legal. :)

The other question is what purchase price are you looking towards? It’s a lot easier to save for your first investment purchase at 200k than it is at 800k. Sometimes a cheaper purchase which may have the capacity to add value can help you leapfrog onto more properties at different price ranges in the future.

Charlie have you been still paying your tax obligations in the US over the last 12 years (global taxation)?

Wouldn’t be very nice to start up an investment portfolio in the US, only to have it seized.

You’re paying a higher rate for no realisable extra features. The rate difference can easily equate to over $1000 per annum in more interest charges. It’s just a Line of credit product

The Portfolio loan is toted generally as a product for cross collateralising your entire portfolio, they give it a pretty name to make the client feel like a…[Read more]