ummester wrote:
its really very simple.Being that the house you can buy and rent are essentially the same quality and value:If the interest on the loan can be locked in for less than what the rent cost you PA – you should buy. If the interest is more than the rent – you should rent and save.You either have to pay a LL or a bank. You pay the one…[Read more]

NonnieE wrote:
Hi Matt,The lease expires in July and he is paying a good rent for the area.Nonnie

That's when he's actually paying it.There's so much stock on the market atthe moment, I'm not sure I would bother with the hassles of this property.

Instead of LVR, do you mean servicibility? Your income will only service so much debt, so you will be limited in the amout of properties you can purchase. If you bought at $350k, interest only, your total monthly repayments would be about $3500 (including your current loan) Your gross income is about $5100 a month, plus rent. There is no way to…[Read more]

Hi Sue,The problem with selling and buying something else is that he costs of selling and buying are high. You would be up for agents fees, perhaps CGT on the sale, and stamp dutyu on the new purchase. If it was my property, I would keep it and look to purchasae another property. I wouldn't sell. Well done on your purchase, it sounds like it is…[Read more]

muw009 wrote:
Thank you for everyone.BTW I got message from my accountant said that I can apply magin scheme.It is because when we purchase the block, the seller didn't apply margin scheme for this.I'm really confuse about the margin scheme….

This is a prime example of why people should see their accountant BEFORE signing the contract, or…[Read more]

I've used this website before: http://www.sqmresearch.com.au/ . It costs you about $50 for a full suburb report, but it was well worth it for our purchase. The suburb report shows all price changes and when the advertised price changed.

Hi Susannah,If the property is in your name only, and the borrowed funds are used solely to purchase the investment property, then you can claim all the interest in your name. There would be no deduction for your hubby.

finance2011 wrote:
 Hi, I have a question:Lets say we  actually live in a property as your principal residence from the first date of possession . Then due to work change, you go to another city/state and buy another property and live in that one. During this time, you leave the first property and rent it for up to 6 years. Is this property [Read more]

As Luke said, you can claim for travel to and from a property you own, but you can't claim for travel to a property you might buy in the future.

ummester wrote:
1. Some cities – Melbourne, Sydney, Canberra – do not have 200k units, your pushing to find them at 300k.2. Affordable has been factually qualified outside Australia as being 4x the average income or less. Of course, we are different, so our affordability levels must also be:).

 Average income is about $57,000. Four times this,…[Read more]

Wynyard wrote:
What would a family, with two toddlers, who have lived in inner city Melbourne most of their lives, built up social networks, jobs and a life (it was affordable to rent until the last five years) do on a $40,000 household income? I did some rough maths on rental properties of $300-$350pw, and there's nothing left each week, even…[Read more]

There is a difference between 'overvalued' (a matter of opinion) and 'affordable' (a matter of fact).Someone earning the average wage can afford a $200k – $250k unit / house in the outer suburbs of most capital cities. They may not WANT to, and that's their choice, but affordable housing is available if you really want to find it.

ummester wrote:
say a 500k car = a 10mil house, where are the houses that equal 5k and under cars?Oh, and BTW, the difference between a 500k and 5k is proved by the qulaity of the vehicle. How does that work with housing? You can get a 5k car within 30km of a city:) And cars depreciate with age – as houses should.I agree that land value should…[Read more]

ummester wrote:
The difference is there are no houses down under that have prices equating to budget cars.

Really?? None at all? I'd beg to differ.

fWord wrote:
The result: masses of people who cannot afford a house. This does not mean that all houses are unaffordable. It merely means that property that is located in a desirable location become too expensive for most to be able to buy.

But isn't this the same for any consumer item? I'd like to buy a Ferrari 458, but  I can't afford one.…[Read more]

I personally wouldn't buy an Adelaide CBD apartment, because of the capital growth concerns and the lack of a carpark. For $300k you could buy a nice 2 bedroom apartment in the inner East (Norwood, Dulwich etc) with a carpark which will rent really easily. It also will cost you a lot less than $600 per quarter for the body corporate fees. The rent…[Read more]

MattyH wrote:
Also I remember reading stamp duty for an IP can be written of over several years. Is this correct? 

Hi Matt, No, stamp duty is not deductible, it is added to the purchase price of the house. So your cost base for CGT purposes includes the cost of the house, plus stamp duty, transfer fees, canveyancers fees etc. You may be…[Read more]

For our first loan, we went straight to the bank. We got a reasonable deal and we were happy enough to go with who we were banking with. For PPOR no. 2, we have gone with a broker, (after first dealing with our bank) and I'm glad we did. Firstly, my wife and I are both self employed, so the information the bank was after was detailed to say the…[Read more]

Yeah they mean basically the same thing. I just wanted to use that Chris Rock quote.

Do people want to be rich or wealthy? Chris Rock talks about being 'wealthy' – as opposed to rich – as being able to pass down wealth to future generations. His quote: "Shaq is rich. The white man who signs his cheques is wealthy!".