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 which have strong fundamentals – depreciation is just the icing on the cake.

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.

• This reply was modified 9 years, 10 months ago by  Corey Batt.

Catalyst wrote:

It depends on the bank. Some will not revalue under 6 months. They don’t believe it can change that much in that time. Uneducated that they are!!! One I did I bought for land value as it was fire damaged. We spent $25K on the reno and we could have sold it for at least $90K more than we paid for it.
I’ve not had to reval early as I had enough equity.

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.

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.

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.

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 the deposit, however you will still need to show the lender 5% GENUINE savings – this can be gotten around in some cases too.

TL;DR – depends on your specific circumstances, but 5% deposit + costs at an absolute minimum.

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.

Jamie Moore wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>DeanCollins wrote:</div>
so what exactly makes the St George Portfolio loan sub par?

Hiya

It’s a LOC that you a premium for – you can do the same thing with a standard IO loan.

Some people get into a big tangle using the portfolio loan. They think it provides ease – but they end up with a crossed up mess of properties.

Cheers

Jamie

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 there are products available which can provide the same flexibility, with more features at a lower cost.

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.

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 sophisticated investor. Much the same with AMP’s Global Limit loans, Macquarie Global borrowing limits etc.

The Portfolio loan package fee = $395 too, not $300.

A good way to flip this around – why is the portfolio loan superior to the standard variable advantage loans?

These products do have a place, but they’re used for very specific purposes such as debt recycling.