Hi Wally,

Whichever way you go (IP of PPOR) you will need to get a deposit behind you. The days of no/very low deposit home loans are a distant past at the moment.

Typically you'll need approximately 10% of purchase price – this allows 5% for purchasing costs and 5% for deposit. The lending market constantly changes so a broker will be able to…[Read more]

DWolfe wrote:

Firstly I'd say, if you are going to invest in property, don't do it when you are on holiday. The rose coloured glasses are on, the time frame is too short to really come to grips with the area, the systems etc. You'll want to be on holiday!

Heed this comment on so many levels.

Not worth it.

Hi Parmalukes,

I use an insurance broker and she does all of the running around for me. Might be worth getting a broker onto the job – will save you time.

Hi Dielle,

Congratulations on making serious inroads into your existing mortgage – a great effort which has put you in a terrific position to stat investing.

You have so much to learn and there is no need to make hasty decisions. Sit back and spend some time learning the fundamentals of property investment. At this stage you do not need to know…[Read more]

As per Jamie's comments – your logic is spot on.

Just make sure you can get a place with a $260K loan (mentioned in your post) that suits your needs and is in a reasonable location. There are some locations in Australia at the moment where renting is cheaper than buying (not sure if your preferred locations are on that list)

Andy 66 wrote:
  I've got a full time tenant in there.  I'm heading down there on the weekend,

As the saying goes, "such is life".  Some famous bushranger came up with that one.

I am not familiar with these types of investments so take what I say with a grain of salt.

Speak to the tenant and explain the situation and see if they are…[Read more]

Some WA country towns with diminishing populations ran similar programs 10 – 15 years ago. The intent was to attract people who could add value to the town in return for them getting a cheap property. Some of the early programs were reasonably successful, others not so. Preference was given to tradies who could help local farmers, towns folk and…[Read more]

Certainly pay down your own home at the moment. This debt gets no assistance from the tenant or tax department and by getting it out of t he way as quickly as possible then your cash flow will improve as you'll have no home loan repayments to meet.

Is this a USA property?

Given you could invest up to $3K on a heat pump it would be worth having extensive and assertive conversation with PM to see if tenant is prepared to sign a lease (do they exist in US?) I would like some certainty of tenancy before I spent that much money.

ING passing on the full 0.25 basis points effective from 12th Oct.

Source http://www.rebonline.com.au/breaking-news/5562-bank-passes-on-full-rate-cut

Be interesting to see what the others do.

patted03 wrote:
Probably not likely for me with a low tax bracket and low investment options to begin with. 

Negatively gearing is a strategy more suited to higher income earners for two reasons; they generally have higher disposable income to support the shortfall and secondly they are taxed at a higher rate and therefore any deductions they…[Read more]

Hi Patted,

The tax process is pretty simple really.

Assume the property runs at a loss (negatively geared)

Assume you earn $80K
Your Rental income is $10K/annum
Your rental expenses are $20K/annum

Taxable income is now 80K + 10K – 20K = 70K

You will then be taxed as if you are earning $70K and not $80K

Assume the property makes a profit…[Read more]

Had to steal your thunder one day

Seems the ANZ decision to break away from the RBA's first Tuesday of the month announcements has given the other banks more time to keep rates at existing levels for longer.

Competition would be a good thing. Oh for other big players in the market.   

And, as if we needed a study to tell us what we all knew about rate fluctuations read…

Hi Patch,

I understand affordability constraints are an issue for you and that is why you are looking at a unit.

The one problem with most units is that you are hamstrung by the level of improvements you can make to the unit and become dependent upon the general market moving.

You may wish to consider a property that you can add value to. Maybe…[Read more]

Interest only loans are commonly used in Australia by property investors – there are also a growing number of homeowners using interest only loans too.

We tend to use Interest only loans as the monthly interest bill is deductible and in the early years a properties rent return is generally at its lowest point. In effect you are paying the least…[Read more]

Have you considered an interest only with offset account option?

If you are committed to your aim of owning the properties outright and using the timelines you have mention I would take my loans for a 30 year period but make payments as if it were a 20 year loan. This means you can reduce your monthly repays if you fall on harder times.

@Richard.

Have seen another economist suggest we'll get a full 1% drop in rates over the next 12 months. Well we have had 0.25 so it will be interesting to see what transpires.

What is that joke – send two economists into a room with the same set of figures and you'll end up with three different opinions.

I did an RPData search and there is no record of a Mr/Mrs Freckle owning property in Aus.

Of course it is a remote possibility that Freckle is not 'Freckle's' real name.

insanowayno wrote:
Saw on the news or similar last night that low doc loans are popping up again, an elderly couple on $23k annually was offered a loan for $850k with a $7k/moth repayment lol

Peter Switzer was commenting on them coming back through some dodgy brokers fudging numbers to get high loans through…. and some banks offering 97%…[Read more]