For the most part don’t mix financial decisions with emotional decisions. You would be better off finding a good quality positive geared investment and then just rent a holiday property when needed. The upshot of this besides from a better clean cut investment is you can always rent a new location – variety is the spice of life. :)

Yes they still exist, whether they’re of value is another question. Once you tick over 90%, LMI rises exponentially. It gets to the point for every reduction in $1 of deposit, you’re paying $1 in extra LMI – not a very good return on investment. 88-90% is ideal for investing, as it balances the ability to leverage as much as possible, whilst keeping costs constrained as much as practical. I’ve written about LMI for investors and the balance of what LVR to choose here: http://www.precisionfunding.com.au/lmi-friend-or-foe/

Hey @storeybuilder – that article looks familiar. ;)

In terms of releasing equity out post renovation – you can either release to 80% and pay no LMI or release to 90% and pay LMI. Keep in mind however that any LMI already paid is credited into this mix, so you may find you’re paying minimal LMI to release significant equity funds.

In terms of borrowing capacity it comes down to income vs outgoings – generally this strategy will *slow* the decrease in borrowing capacity as effective rental return is higher from renovated properties, but it isn’t never ending. Using this strategy carefully whilst keeping personal debt to a minimum and yields strong will allow an investor to maximise their capacity as much as possible.

Very unlikely – especially if pre-existing. Insurance is a for profit business, they’re not going to put a policy with a payout for something likely to happen in the future. ;)

Exactly Richard – I’ve put through three applications this week for Lease doc/Lo Doc – at sub 5.5% rates, no exactly ‘high’ rates considering it’s commercial lending.

SPG pushes house and land packages + developments if I remember correctly – not a fully independent traditional buyers agency, as they receive revenue from builders/developers for pushing their stock.

If you’re looking for an independent buyers agent who is a serious property investor themselves I’d suggest having a chat with David Mews from REvaluate http://www.adelaideba.com.au/

I worked with David for a number of years and seen the residential commercial and development deals he’s sourced for himself and his clients – he actively doesn’t take commissions/kickbacks from other parties which you’ll see some other firms base their entire business model on.

As Terry has said – there’s usually broad definitions in the trusts which count children, grand children, extended family etc.

Originalsinner wrote:

I take the valuations of net based research tools with a grain of salt. Don’t know what algorithms they use, but they’re definitely inaccurate on some I’ve looked at. They are useful for sold prices and dates though.

They’re definitely not always accurate 100% of the time, but can still play a valueable role in getting an understanding of a properties value – so much so that they’re used by a lot of lenders to value properties for lending. (Residex and RPData in particular).

We use Residex in the business a lot for both our research and for clients want further data in their property searches – I think it’s worth it’s weight in gold.

Having more than one loan with the same lender isn’t necessarily an issue and can indeed give cost benefits of scale in being able to negotiate rates lower. This still does need to be done from the perspective of focussing on your long term borrowing potential however – as centralising all of your lending to one bank is a fast way to run out of borrowing capacity and lock out your ability to access equity. Using multiple lenders as you grow your portfolio can allow you to extend your capacity through leveraging the policy of each lender to you advantage, I actually wrote an article about this recently: http://www.precisionfunding.com.au/diversified-lending-structure/

I’d suggest having a chat with an investment focussed mortgage broker than directly with a bank – as they will be able to look at the greater picture for you and give you the best loan options available in the whole loan market, instead of just what the one lender provides.

Ripehouse has a lot of the capability you’re looking for – I’ve found it quite useful.