Renting’s a super choice
From: By Caroline Adam
October 09, 2005

RENTING a home and investing the rest of your money in superannuation makes better financial sense than pursuing the great Australian dream, an industry analyst says.

IBISWorld chairman Phillip Ruthven said that over time, people had been “hoodwinked” into believing that buying a…[Read more]

Imagine if you owned a managed fuunds that had invested in such leading compaines as AMP, NAB or in a high growth company called oneTel (which was backed by the 2 richest Australians).
In fact I had a friend that had invested in AMP and NAB.

He probably hasn’t lost money (Oas he had other shares), but rather he hasn’t made any money and when you…[Read more]

leapfrog, about the cost issue. Find out if it’s just okay to have the docs explained by a solicitor, rather than having to obtain a certificate of independant legal advice (which in some States are almost impossible to get), etc. I did this with the NAB and they were quite happy (so it cost me only $110).

Hellman

Guide to CGT: ceasing to be a resident
http://www.ato.gov.au/individuals/content.asp?doc=/content/57252.htm&page=11#P612_59893

Hellman

Bankwest offer the best int. rate on savings at the moment, which is 6%.

Hellman

I think Gross is trying to run a competition between the mentors deals and his deal… (and he or us will be comparing the deals to see wether the mentoring is worth it?)….

Well thats what I reckon… I think.

Hellman

I agree with Derek, I’m just telling you what I would do with $250K.

Hellman

Well there are really two options in my opinon, you can either invest in or if you think you can beat the return invest yourself.

I would invest all the money, earn 12% and retire in 5yrs (for those 5yrs you would not be able to touch the money). You would be then on an income of $47K and if you decided to continue to work you would be on $92K.

Hellman

Hay I’ll have a go too. But I’m not being metored…

Also it’s a tad unfair… since u are at a quite advanced level of investing…

But interesting to see what deals these people find.

Hellman

Here is the latest on Rowena Wallace:
(from http://www.smh.com.au)

“Pat the Rat is in danger of becoming Pat the Rap, as the Gold Logie winner Rowena Wallace faces a possible jail term after being charged with multiple counts of social security fraud.

Wallace, best known for her role as the nefarious Pat in the TV soap Sons and Daughters, has been…[Read more]

Why not invest in Japan RE? I’ve herd you can find +CF deals quite easier there than in Aust.

Hellman

One of my friends worked for free for his brother in law (he is an electrician). When he went for a loan (self employed – didn’t have the two yrs. of figures, but didn’t have enough of deposit for a full doc) he got his brother in law to issue him payslips, and started to get paid by his brother in law, servicability increased enough to get him…[Read more]

I would always inc. a lounge that can be made into a bed and have it made up as a bedroom if selling (4 bedrooms usually sell for more than 3Bdr houses). For a up market/student(perhaps) rental you can always set up a home theatre, which could increase yields.

hellman

Keep the bedrooms carpeted. Most people pefer carpeted bedrooms and floorboards for the other rooms. Also if your bathroom is close to the bedrooms see if you can carpet that path / hall area too, as most people dislike walking on polished floors when wet (slippage and can be cold).

Hellman

Pre-nups aren’t really worth the paper they are written on. They only last for prob. 2yrs maximum (of course thats up to the court), also if your spouse didn’t see an independant solicitor they are torn up too.

But the real problem is if your situation changes. For example if your partner sells their unit to have extra $$$ (and spends it), your…[Read more]

I tend to agree with brahms with this one. Defaults on your CRA are taken seriously, defaults over $1,000.00 are taken very seriously!

Price in Syd (and other cities) tend to double in 7yrs (from memory, but it sounds about right). Rural areas tend to double every 10-13yrs (roughly). Check out the http://www.abs.gov.au

As for explaining equity to them:

Say that they own a house worth $300K. Lets say they have a mortgage of $150K on the property. Now banks will lend them 80% of…[Read more]

1. Can anyone tell me where I can find information such as vacancy rates, auction clearance rates and other sites useful for ‘due dilegence’ work?

>Usually RE agents can give you good information, as well as data providers (RP data and others) and finally A.B.S (http://www.abs.gov.au). As a side note when you focus on a particular area you…[Read more]

Your probably not going to like this answer but I suggest you get Steve McKnight’s 2nd book.

These days +CF properties are made not bought (though you can still pick +CF properties up, but as you said it’s very hard to find and usually the areas aren’t great).

Learning how to create CF+ will probably also increase your returns as well as you…[Read more]

Try Steve McKnights 2nd book, as there he goes into how to “find” opportunities and create +CF.

Hellman