From what the original poster wrote – it looks like they believe it wasn’t a wise decision for them to buy a negatively geared property which is eating into their cash flow each week – instead of buying a cashflow property which would increase their cash flow each week. (which could then be redirected into more investments).

Why not have your cake and eat it?

You could otherwise sell the investment property into another structure (ie a trust), which would allow you to make use of the profit funds to pay down your PPOR.

More effective debt scenario in terms of balancing non-deductible vs deductible debt in your favour.

You will pay stamp duty on the purchase, but…[Read more]

Or save up and pay cash for the holiday!

If you draw from a line of credit which is also used for investment uses – the purpose of funds will be polluted and cause a nightmare for your accountant to work out from a tax perspective.

If you have to borrow for the holiday – it’s best this is from a separate line of credit/loan account used solely…[Read more]

And to afford the occasional good one themselves – they need to do a good job and help their clients buy suitable properties for a long while to build up their income/savings. ;)

You can always assume the worst in society – but we didn’t get this far as a people without people doing the right thing for the most part.

Always be careful opening up random excel sheets etc from sources that you don’t know about either. Not saying this file is necessarily dodgy, but it’s good practice to be careful with these types of docs.

It looks like your existing properties are slightly below 80% LVR. How are you paying for the deposit for the new purchase? If you’re looking at releasing equity it will be dependent on the current lender whether they will allow this as there has been a large number now denying the ability to release equity above 80% LVR.

Based on this scenario…[Read more]

350k budget in Melbourne? I’d still be aiming for a freestanding house – which would for the most part limit the options to the outer Western suburbs/Geelong. These areas are seeing huge interest for this very reason – affordability. I wouldn’t touch any apartments with a 10 foot pole even though there are plenty of options in that price range -…[Read more]

I think you’re over thinking it a little bit. It’s all fairly simple – just look at what properties are on the market/recent sales and compare any property you’re considering against those. Yes you’ll have to factor in the minor differences of the factors, but this is relatively minor.

If you try to come up with some abstract ‘intrinsic value’…[Read more]

An average yield for a commercial property in a suburb isn’t exactly going to be accurate – rental averages will vary widely dependent on type of property, size etc.

Commercial property is benchmarked on $/sqm – if you look at the listings available this should give you a good indication. Likewise speaking with a commercial property manager they…[Read more]

You’ll find a lot of these figures will be able to still be accessed from most property data sources like Pricefinder, though not to the same degree as residential property. Otherwise RPData/Corelogic.

I’ve seen this done by a few agents already using Facebook live stream etc. Fairly simple and it would give a huge benefit to those having to bid remotely via a proxy bidder.

Draw out all available to 80% LVR and then store the funds so nil interest charge until used.

Then for the subsequent purchase purchase at whatever the most appropriate LVR (80%, 88%+LMI) etc and then you’re set.

It’s best to draw out the equity while you can, as serviceability decreases with each purchase you may otherwise find yourself with…[Read more]

We had a house a while ago which had a converted garage to bedroom (it was actually a display home years ago and that was the office).

To make it fit in, they had run a row of bricks at the bottom and top to make it a proper large window – i prefer this aesthetically to just putting wall to wall glass which is an obvious conversion which will…[Read more]

The key is understanding that cheap doesn’t equal good. Insurance profitability vs likelihood of making claims – so if they’re offering cheaper premiums where are they making the money?

There are still good cost effective options out there – but the number 1 thing you should be looking at is what you’re actually getting for your money in terms of the PDS.

There’s no one right answer and it’s a blend of financial choices vs emotional.

A couple years ago it was a no brainer with rentvesting allowing you to grow far quicker – however with the multiple ongoing changes to lending requirements it’s now becoming a very attractive proposition to buy a PPOR first. By doing so in many cases you can:

*grow…[Read more]

It’s completely normal. The valuation for a purchase is completed with a contract of sale – generally signed with exception to NSW etc.

They’re not going to do a pre-auction valuation, there’s no point to it. You’ll find mortgage manager products are generally pretty restrictive too in these regards.

Is this for a pre-approval, or for a purchase?

It may mean you need to work with another lender who uses a different insurer and remove yourself from the application, dependent on servicing and policy.

Otherwise there are non-LMI options if need be – it’s just a balance of the overall deal which is the best pathway to go down.

Speak with a…[Read more]

Simple- consistent rollback of planning laws which will increase supply creating greater affordability, but also increase the quality of stock options available. (not having to cram yourself into an apartment/small block – but can live on larger blocks of land etc.

Look at Houston for an example of how this can work.

When we bought our last PPOR – it was in a bushfire zone whilst there was significant bushfires burning a hundred km’s away. Even though it was contained all insurers had a blacklist of writing insurance for those few days in SA so we had to wait patiently hoping no freak issue would emerge.

I hear a lot of people say lines about waiting for the next budget, next RBA update, next report – and five years later they still have no properties and waiting for x to happen.

In the end there will be some form of uncertainty in life – that’s part of the risk on taking any action. If it’s a good investment and you believe it will do well,…[Read more]