Just on the suburb by suburb thing.
In mid 02 I sold a house in Sydney. It was an unusual house in a small suburb of pretty standard houses. It sold for $1m.
Now, not alot of houses in that suburb get sold – just enough for statistical purposes I’d say. Most of them in 02 would have been priced around $5-600K.
I remember reading the SMH spring…[Read more]

Sigh. Maybe we’re misunderstanding eachother, Foundation. I’ve read other posts by you and you’re alot more cluey than me.
I have said a couple of times that the 42% fall in value of that St Clair property was an exception.
By that I mean not all properties have fallen in value by 42%.
I keep reading and rereading the things you cut and paste and…[Read more]

Oh dear, not the St Clair property again. Talk about a beat-up.
It was overpriced to start with and then got thoroughly trashed by whoever was living there.
Buy let’s not let that get in the way of the story.
Even better, let’s ramp it up and factor in transaction costs. Then we can say that the loss on that property was over 50%!
But why stop…[Read more]

My brother owned a wholesale/retail outlet in Port Douglas. He had a chip machine and they used to make good money supplying other retailers and restaurants with fresh cut chips (much better than frozen ones). I think he had a guy who just operated the chip machine.
Sometimes with a business it’s surprising where the money comes from.
I knew…[Read more]

Hmmm. Sure, factor in interest, renos, stamp duty etc and lots of properties in lots of markets are sold at a loss – especially if the sale is forced. But I can’t find anything there that tells me the 42% drop in sale price on that property is not an isolated case? Would there have been others? Of course. But that 42% is not the average. It’s one…[Read more]

Ah yes, at times it’s hard getting much help out of Deppro after you’ve got your Schedule.
Let’s assume the Assets were acquired before May 10 this year, when the DV rate changed.
And let’s assume we’re talking about Assets worth over $1,000 – otherwise you’ll no doubt have them in the Low Value Pool.
So it’s a piece or carpet worth $2,000. And…[Read more]

In the telling and retelling of the story about that 42% drop on that Sydney property, people are forgetting that the original story stated that the place needed $40K of ‘essential repairs’. Can you picture it? We’d be talking carpets beyond cleaning, walls and doors with holes in them, kitchen beyond repair etc etc. That property had been well…[Read more]

The neighbour of an IP of mine (NSW) recently did a big reno. Before he did anything, he went into my place and did a detailed photo survey of the property. I assumed this was standard procedure.
Scott

Tax Depreciation Schedules
Australia wide service
1300 660033
scott@depreciator.com.au
http://www.depreciator.com.au

If you were to rent a flat on a permanent basis away from your primary residence so you could be close to work during the week, would this be tax deductable?

I know someone doing this. His accountant said it’s fine.
Scott

Tax Depreciation Schedules
Australia wide service
1300 660033
scott@depreciator.com.au
http://www.depreciator.com.au

Gee, this one could end in tears.
Presumably you went into this with the intention of making a profit?
It’s going to be tough to work out an equitable split with the house half built. I would finish it, get a couple of valuations, and give your brother the option to buy you out.
What will be the CGT implications if you ‘sell’ your half of the…[Read more]

Depending on where you live, Guardian Partners is another good one. They have an office at Bella Vista (Hills district). Coastymike used to post on this forum and still does on Somersoft.
scott

Tax Depreciation Schedules
Australia wide service
1300 660033
scott@depreciator.com.au
http://www.depreciator.com.au

If your property manager is sending monthly statements to the accountant and then the accountant is copying them and sending them to you, I can imagine how the hours are mounting up.
Like Elka, I get nothing sent to my accountant. At the end of the year, I e-mail him a Word document that has every incoming and every outgoing I can think of.
For…[Read more]

You’d be wise going through council. All it takes is a disgruntled neighbour to dob you in and you may have to pull it all down.
Scott

Tax Depreciation Schedules
Australia wide service
1300 660033
scott@depreciator.com.au
http://www.depreciator.com.au

Happy to have a chat about rough depreciation estimates for cash flow projections.
If you happen to have photos, that makes things a bit more accurate.
Scott – 1300 66 00 33

Tax Depreciation Schedules
Australia wide service
1300 660033
scott@depreciator.com.au
http://www.depreciator.com.au

5.6sqm is pretty tiny. I’m presuming both rooms have built-ins?
Seems to me that you think the rooms are pretty small. Future buyers and renters will no doubt have the same misgivings.
Internal bathrooms can be fine (but not ideal) if the exhasut fan works okay. They still get a bit clammy if there is more than one person using them i.e. if there…[Read more]

They can also have very high cleaning/laundry charges that aren’t in the sales documentation. These charges can be as high as 20% of the gross rent.
Scott

Tax Depreciation Schedules
Australia wide service
1300 660033
scott@depreciator.com.au
http://www.depreciator.com.au

I did. It was an off-the-plan unit purchase. Went up in value about 30% before settlement, but that was because the market went up i.e. I didn’t do anything particularly clever – just rode the wave.
Cameron Bird have been around for a fair while – always a good sign.
Their research seems pretty thorough.
I’d say they’d be better than some…[Read more]

I think that sort of configuration is fine for couples – and neat ones at that. Families tend to generate a fair bit of laundry and sometimes it’s good to have a room where the mess can be hidden.
If the laundry is going to be in another room, the bathroom would be more appropriate.
Scott

Tax Depreciation Schedules
Australia wide service
1300…[Read more]

Not very subtle, though.

Tax Depreciation Schedules
Australia wide service
1300 660033
scott@depreciator.com.au
http://www.depreciator.com.au

I’m always surprised that people selling a home/unit that may of the type to interest investors don’t consider getting a Tax Depreciation Schedule. I reckon being able to show an investor what sort of tax break they would get could be a reasonable selling point – especially if they’re evaluating a few properties.
Scott

Tax Depreciation…[Read more]