Hey Glauco,

I definitely recommend a broker. A bank manager will only recommend his products, and if none of them are suitable for you, it’s too bad. A good broker will do all the leg work for you to find and compare appropriate products that work for you. The key is finding a good broker. like any industry, there are outstanding players and…[Read more]

Hi smartmoney,

Sorry if I’m replying twice – my earlier reply didn’t come up for about 10 minutes, and I wasn’t sure if I stuffed it up.

Anyway, Davo70 is right – you need to live in the property within 12 months after settlement.

But the FHOG Act doesn’t require you to live in the property for any minimum period. All you need to do is to…[Read more]

Sorry Leigh,

One more thing – it probably won’t work with very large deals.

Like I said, if the value of the company is over $1 million (I think that applies to most States and Territories), and the company is over the land-rich threshold (between 60% to 80% depending on which State or Territory), stamp duty will effectively be assessed as if…[Read more]

Hello

In WA, the “land rich” threshold is coming down to 60%, because the government needs to find more money to fund their budget blowout.

But I think that the value threshold is still $1 million. That means that Leigh’s idea may work for properties that are cheaper than that.

However, Nessie’s made a really good point about the risk of…[Read more]

Hi benson,

I haven’t heard of the “investor club”, but I’ve heard of other property investment clubs and groups, and have even been to many of their seminars.

I found the seminars quite useful, because I learnt various bits and pieces here and there at different seminars. But I had to take it all with a pinch of salt sometimes, especially when…[Read more]

Hey AD,

I bought an apartment in South Perth for $120,000 just over a year ago. Lived in it while I renovated it for the last 12 months (I definitely DON’T recommend this to anyone!! I went without a toilet bowl for a week, because the toilet tiler could only make it 3 days after he was meant to come in to do the job) But it all paid off when…[Read more]

Hi Tas,

I think that for every boom, there’s got to be a bust. How big a bust and when it happens are the things that’re impossible to predict.

I think that even if interest rates remain unchanged, there may still be a risk to the housing market. That’s because US rates are being cut, and may go even lower. This means the Aussie dollar will…[Read more]

Hi Harry,

I found myself in a worse situation to yours. Had a good job, but absolutely zero cash in the bank and lots of debt, including a car loan that was more than what my car was worth!!

Thanks to my mortgage broker mate, I went and borrowed money from one of those “Non-conforming” lenders, because none of the banks wanted to know me. They…[Read more]

Hi Rogue,

I don’t know what others think about it, but I found the Rich Dad book on property investing (written by Dolf de Roos) to be really useful. I didn’t necessarily agree with everything he said, but one tip I thought was really good was the 100:5:2 rule (if I remember it correctly) – for every 100 properties you look at, you only find 5…[Read more]

Hi getting there,

I think wilandel is right.

I know that in WA, there’s a concessional stamp duty rate that applies if you’re buying a PPOR for $185,000 or less. And if you’re buying your first home, you also get an additional $500 rebate (this is separate from the FHOG).

Sohuld be worth checking if there’s anything like this in the State you…[Read more]