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We’ve all seen on the TV news people of ALL nationalities and income groups physically attack the media. The media are often there with cameras at times where people are under stress – crime scenes, riots, court cases, funerals etc.
Think back to the Macquaries Fields riots in Sydney where the police and the media were attacked. What was the predominant nationality of the rioters?
I can’t see the government kicking in for rent. A property manager will clear this up for us.
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http://www.depreciator.com.auPhew.
Thanks Pete.
I love Hobart – it’s my favourite city in Australia. And it costs bugger-all to fly there with Virgin. It’s worth going even for a weekend.
Next time I’m there I’m going to spend a week exploring the waterways around Hobart. I’d forgotten till I went up Mt Wellington on Friday morning how amazing they are.
Scott
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http://www.depreciator.com.auThey’ve got an agent in Northbridge, Sydney. Give him a call Draheim and let us know what he says.
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http://www.depreciator.com.auMy experience of this is pretty minimal, but…..
I do know underpinning can be a very expensive exercise, especially if a whole slab is tilting. And if the sub soil has problems, as an ex swamp would.
Underpinning will stop further sinking, but raising the house to where it was would be really tough – particularly with a slab construction.
I have seen houses with brick foundations sinking that have been jacked up places after underpinning has stabilised things. This naturally requires good access under the property.
Failing that, further sinking is prevented and then gaps etc filled. But 25mm gaps are pretty big.
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http://www.depreciator.com.auI recall there were rumblings a while ago about the council in Byron thinking about some sort of special levy on home owners who rented their homes out during the summer holidays. This may have been just a rumour.
If this did in fact happen (and there would be huge opposition to it), it would increase demand on genuine rental properties.
I think one challenge for investors in Byron is whether they go for a full time tenant, or furnish the place and hope for a year’s income over the summer holidays.
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http://www.depreciator.com.auA thick skin?
Scott
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http://www.depreciator.com.auI’m back – been in Brisbane.
Francis, estimating construction cost is something that only people with certain qualifications can do. Quantity Surveyors are at the top of the heap, but estimators and some builders can do it, too. Agents, accountants etc can’t.
I’m assuming you do need the construction cost estimated? If it’s just the fixtures and fittings, you can estimate them yourself.
If you can tell me where the property is and how old it is I will be able to give more assistance.
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http://www.depreciator.com.auDazzling,
I always use architects. I use them because they are ‘out of the box’ and come up with ideas I would never have thought of. I’ve seen too many renovations that I can tell were cobbled together by people taking pictures from magazines and ideas from TV shows. They lack a unifying theme.
A good architect will take a thorough brief and quiz you on how you live and what you like to do etc. We had an architect do a PPOR reno in the early 90s and he spent hours quizzing us. It took a month to agree on the design before any council plans were drawn up. I paid the architect a fee for this conceptual stage.
Don’t be put off by people who say: ‘Architects are too expensive.’ The answer to this is to decide on a total project budget and tell the architect that their fee comes out of this total. (Understate the actual budget by 5% to allow for inevitable cost over runs.)
For an architect designed reno, $2K per sqm seems pretty reasonable.
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http://www.depreciator.com.auWatch the cleaning/laundry costs on holiday apartments. They can be a killer.
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http://www.depreciator.com.auDutchess,
It seems like you’re sailing pretty close to the wind. I’m not sure whether I would have broached this in a public forum – you never know who could be reading and a forum alias is no protection.
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http://www.depreciator.com.auHi Adrian,
Lamentably, there is no set format for depreciation schedules.
Our reports set out in tables the depreciation able to be claimed every year for the next 20 years.
Send me an e-mail and I’ll send you a sample of one of our schedules.
BMT, Washington Brown and us are fairly similar in price and adherence to best practice guidelines.
There are some cheap operators out there putting together pretty ordinary schedules. The vast majority of investors only buy one investment property, so these companies don’t seek repeat business. They get jobs on price, invariably disappoint, and assume you’ll never contact them again.
Feel free to call me and I’ll let you know what you should expect as a minimum from the author of your reports.
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http://www.depreciator.com.auMy kids will get plenty of financial education and a heap of ongoing unsolicited advice. They’ll probably get some assistance with a deposit at a below market interest rate. And I’ll no doubt give them a hand with some painting.
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http://www.depreciator.com.auIt sort of depends on what your plans are.
If you just want to rent it out again, you should be guided by your property manager. There is no point spending $20K tarting it up and only getting another $10 per week in rent.
But you may want to sell? Or you may want to get the place revalued so you can use the equity?
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http://www.depreciator.com.auI’m never rude – I’ve had too many crap jobs in my time.
I tell them that I have already had my quota of unsolicited calls for the day and I can’t talk to them. That usually ends it quickly and amicably.
And if I’m cooking, eating, playing with kids etc, I just don’t answer the phone. Easy.
Scott
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http://www.depreciator.com.auThis is my favourite bit:
Mr Ruthven said he was impressed by the number of young people who were choosing to rent a home rather than buy one, because they did not want to spend the next 10 years struggling to enjoy life.I know plenty of young people who choose to rent rather than buy – some rent from me. I have news for Mr Ruthven, though, they are not investing their surplus cash. They’re spending it on cars, holidays, clothes etc.
Scott
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http://www.depreciator.com.auThe value of commissioning a schedule on an older property is sometimes questionable.
If it’s, say, a 70s property with no carpet and a rundown original kitchen, there won’t be a huge amount you can depreciate.
You can self assess the value of items such as stove, curtains, ceiling fans.
Send me an e-mail if you like with a description of the properties and I’ll let you know whether it’s worth getting a schedule done.
Don’t forget, that if a previous owner renovated the property after Feb 92, you can depreciate the renovation costs. (That’s when you’ll need a site visit.)
When you say ‘update an existing schedule’, I’m not sure what you mean. If the schedule is wrong, or if you have made changes to the property, then yes it can be updated.
We naturally have people in Adelaide and we get to Kalgoorlie every few months.
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http://www.depreciator.com.auYou’ll find plenty of caravan parks here:
http://www.kenbuckley.com.au/main/park.html
Scott
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http://www.depreciator.com.auWith a new building, the actual building costs should be available from the builder – unless he has disappeared. The ATO prefer actual costs to be used, as oppsed to estimates.
If efforts are made to obtain the actual building costs and there is no luck, an estimate can be made. The most qualified person to do this would be a QS. Estimators are also okay, as are some builders.
The values of fixtures and fittings don’t require particular expertise to estimate.
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http://www.depreciator.com.auFactoring in depreciation makes sense, but even I still like properties to stack up without tax deductions.
And it’s only depreciation claimed on the building itself that has an impact on CGT calculations i.e. fixtures and fittings don’t come into it. And in many cases, that’s where there is more depreciation in the first 4 years or so.
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http://www.depreciator.com.auOf course there is a risk that you will seen as patronising if you sling a tenant some choccies at christmas.
I had a tenant in a block of flats last year who loved gardening. The area outside her flat looked fantastic – lots of flowers. I started giving her (via my PM) a monthly voucher to a local garden centre so she could tackle the rest of the garden. She loved it. The other tenants loved it. I loved it because my PM was contacted by people wanting to move in there next time a flat became available. And it was easy to edge the rents up.
Think creatively.
ScottTax Depreciation Schedules
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http://www.depreciator.com.au
