Hi, my partner and I bought our first IP this year so we are going to have our tax done professionally this year. The agent that sold us the house recommended his own tax accountant and we had an initial appt with him which he didn't charge us anything for – but just spoke generally for about 15min. He has now given us a fee estimate after I submitted our itemised receipts – excel summary and depreciation schedule: the estimate is $1200 incl both our returns and the setup work for calculating the cost base/capital gains stuff for our IP. He said next year it wouldn't be as expensive. He also said they charge $350 for the most basic returns. They specialise in IP tax.

What does everyone think of this? Is it reasonable since it's the first year – setup costs etc? I'm in Brisbane if anyone wants to recommend.

Hi Todd,
Personally I'd pay off your debt first starting with the highest rate (16.5%). But I'm no finance guru – to me it just seems like you'll get more bang for your buck by paying off that loan and therefore saving 16.5% – versus – if you put this money on a house instead you'd only be earning ~7-10%. So saving 16.5% seems better to me.

however it could be good to get your foot in the door with real estate.

With all that debt could you afford to service a mortgage as well?

Have you looked into the dhoas subsidy?

Hi Everyone,
I'm looking in the same area – forest lake/springfield lakes – which is better? i'm looking between the 400-500 mark.

Cheers,
Mel