Forum Replies Created
Hi, we’re moving to Phoenix in April but have numbers of contacts over there and could put you onto some realtor friends of ours. Private Post me if you’d like us to make contact on your behalf.
Jessica, as well as CGT there will be GST payable on the sale of the new properties. To offset that if you are registered for GST you can claim back all GST on payments made. You'll need to speak to your accountant about all this.
Be prepared for lots of stretching on your investing journey!We’re Aussies and have just completed and sold our first “fix & flip” and let me say our rehab was not half hearted. A new roof, an addition (room) totally rebuilt, new doors and windows, new wiring and plumbing, new kitchen and bathrooms, new flooring throughout, new stucco (rendering) swimming pool restored, resurfaced, in short not much was not renewed and sold within 3-4 weeks of advertising. Of course it sold for much more than we paid for it but we spent almost as much again to have the place rehabbed! The purchaser is very happy as are we!
Mick
Mark, we have a couple of different Trusts and they work really well for us. Before you get too far into it realise that in NSW and Victoria Trusts don’t have any Land Tax thresholds so IP’s owned by Trusts automatically incur land tax bills unless it is a Corporate Trust. Yhis is something we discovered after receiving our first $2.5k land tax bill. Thankfully the property performs so well that the Land Tax doesn’t affect the property too badly but I’d much rather have the now close to $3k in my pocket! QLD and WA do have thresholds for Trusts.
Annual costs are basically tax preparation associated only unless it is a Corporate Trust with the small $212 ASIC fee.
Definitely speak to your accountant to get things set up correctly if you go down the Trust path.
MickSteve’s USA Power Pack contains some great information in regard to taxation but as always you need to discuss this with your accountant. Forget it being U.S. income, it’s just Foreign income and your accountant should be able to clarify this for you.
Again, check with your accountant as they are the tax experts! Trusts do not pay tax but all profits need to be distributed each year to the Trust’s beneficiaries and then they are liable for income tax on the amounts received. Put simply, any money given to the beneficiaries by the Trust is added to your income and then taxable at the applicable rate.
Of course any loan repayments are not taxable. We’ve had Trusts since 2004.Mick
I believe we will see an interest rate drop next month of at least .25% and another the month after. The RBA will finally see they have been living in lala land and maybe even Julia and Wayne will see our economy, the real economy (not resources) is in a very bad way. This being the case, over time people will feel freer to spend and things may finally begin to turn over the longer term.
I do pity all those self funded retirees out there at the moment as they are taking a huge hit with the stock market as it is at present. Yes, as everyone knows that to will come back over time but that could be way too long a time for these poor people.
What will happen to property? I’m with Steve in believing this will eventually begin to turn. I believe the entry level will be the first to do so when rates drop and some of those renters and couples living with family feel prices are pretty low, rates are cheap and savings are close enough for them to enter the market. Watch for some Government first home buyers incentives to stimulate the building industry and prop up jobs and maybe even the carbon tax to be delayed or dumped.I’m of the opinion the RBA raised rates too much too quickly. Remember pre GFC when the rest of the world were reducing rates our RB increased them again by .25%! I do agree it does leave us room to move if another crisis occurs but will our crisis, if one occurs, be because of all the uncertainty at home? Every month is the same, economists putting fear of doom and gloom into home owners that rates will go up, banks increase rates more than the RBA, the carbon tax, will the Govt go the distance, what are fuel prices doing, you need a personal loan to buy a banana and I could go on. Until certainty returns I’m afraid not much will change and our economy will continue to slide. Confidence needs to replace pessimism and that confidence needs to come in the reporting of how well things are rather than how bad. When they report 25% of economists predict a rate increase, why not report 75% predict they will stay the same or fall. 9.8% unemployment in the USA, why not 90.2% employment!
I work for a church and just yesterday I received an email from our electricity broker informing us our annual power bill will increase by $7,750 next year and $8,500 in 2015 because of the carbon tax, based on the Govt’s released figures. Stuff like that doesn’t encourage spending but rather what we’re seeing at present, put money away because it’s going to be needed. I think we won’t see any increases for some time and I agree with Steve, if there is a move it will be down because the RBA overcooked the increases and caused a massive slow down. Take the resources sector out of our economy and we’re a basket case like most of the rest of the developed world, but then where we have uncertainty we also have opportunity and I’m grateful for that.Joe, how many units are in your block. If you have 3 and there are only 6 in the block you may be a quorum and you can threaten to change Strata managers. It’s unheard of to be charged for too many complaints, they get paid to manage the property already. Check Fair Trading in your State for Strata rules as you may be pleasantly surprised. Don’t be bullied by Strata Managers.
We have just been doing a dual occupancy with this problem. The hydraulic engineer has designed a 17,600 lt tank system to deal with the water. It is costing around $15k to install. It was a bit of a process to get council approval but we did eventually get it.
Mick
Some interesting thoughts! Having just arrived back from 7 weeks in the USA and doing some property deals it is obvious that nothing is impossible. Most American home owners would not believe the bubble could burst up until the day it did. We asked people about this!
The major differences between us and the USA are the resources boom (I thank God for it everyday) and the madness of loans that people could walk away from with such ease (USA). Also, generally speaking, Aussie wages are higher than Americans, as is our cost of living. Petrol for one is $3 a gallon compared to our $5.20+, electricity is 10cents a kw compared to our 20cents, etc. Our housing prices are simply a reflection again of our cost of living. Can this cost of living continue as we become more and more a global community? Hmm!
In saying this, I certainly don’t believe our bubble is about to burst! Our banking system isn’t about to fall over, our population continues to increase, we don’t have enough building going on and our resource boom keeps going from strength to strength. We don’t just sell to China, they are simply our biggest customers. India, Korea, Japan and so many other countries need and want our resources, unless of course some silly government taxes them out of competitiveness and gives the competition a leg up.We've a couple of properties in Dysart and one which has an inground pool is becoming vacant this week. BMA won't take leases on properties with pools so we've booked in to fill it in this weekend as it becomes vacant. Hopefully we can rent it out fairly quickly and possibly to BMA.
Here's hoping!Shel, your question re +geared compared to -geared and tax is simple. Do you invest to make money or lose it? If you lose you can save tax, if you make $ you will pay tax after deductions which can be many. To not want +geared property is craziness!
Wow, $7,400 for a deposit bond sounds incredibly expensive. We've used them numerous times in NSW and they were only hundreds of $ not 000's! Shop around and get some prices first and then make your decision, that's my advice!
The late settlement is not that uncommon these days. Request to speak to whoever is the most senior person or at the top and refuse to speak to anyone else. Threaten to move banks and demand they pay the penalty. We've had this happen before and didn't have a problem getting them to pay it. It was another bank but I'm sure the Big 4 are all pretty much the same. Make sure you complain about the swearing, ask people their names and ask them to spell it so they will realise you are writing it down. Keep records of dates and times called and always refer to who and when you've spoken recently. Sometimes a written letter can make a big difference also. Be sure you keep your cool on the phone but be firm.
You'll win so don't give up!
What do you mean by there is no Body Corporate in place, is there a Strata Manager and Strata fees to pay or not? Normally in Strata situations, a big part of the Strata fees are building insurance as the buildings are joined together, sinking fund covers things that were and/or get damaged in common areas, repainting of exterior doors, facias, replacement of gutters, even broken windows.
Don't know if this helps but not sure of your question.Mick
Interesting Badger, last time I'll bother on this topic as it is meaningless. Keep knocking and we'll just keep on successfully investing and making the $'s.
The saying is certainly true, "ignorance is bliss!"To any unsuspecting readers of the thread, do yourself a favour and get educated if you want to succeed purposefully rather than depend on luck.
Happy and successful investing.
Badger,
I wonder if you went to school and if you did, what for? If you have kids do you send them to school and if so, what for? To do a trade or become a professional, education is always part of the process. If all we need do is count on dumb luck we may as well take a loan of a couple of hundered thousand dollars and buy lotto tickets or go to the Casino because we're counting on luck!
Let me state clearly, I made some money with property using just luck when the market was bouyant and prices were increasing by the day but in more recent times it has been the education that I've invested in that has served me to make some good dollars. What would you call a property that was positive cashflow for the 18 months we had it and then made us a capital gain of $180K? It certainly wasn't a dud which was losing us money and this was only done in the last 2.5 years, a time when much of the property market was not doing very well at all.
The strategies we use are just some of the strategies we've learned at seminars that have educated "mugs" like me and have cost us almost nothing compared to the $ we've made from the deals we've had. Yea, I'm sure there are many who've been to seminars and have done nothing but I believe this has more to do with many people being risk adverse rather than not getting anything descent for their $'s.
By the way, I'm with Quickchic and Alani and would still love to hear your story unless of course you've not really done anything and you're just into knocking people who've done something. Ah, tall poppy syndrome, the great Australian pass time!
Good luck Badger, it sounds like you're going to need it, in the meantime, I have more research to do due to the many great deals around that I can see because the education I've had has helped open my eyes!
Good advice Alistair. The RESULTS program is all about education so a person can go out and do their own deals anywhere and have someone you can bounce these deals off before committing. It's a great program that I'd recommend to anyone!
Did the course a few years ago but have done no options deals. At the time part of the process involved access to RPData which was too pricey and way beyond us. We have since gained access to it for NSW but use it for our property purchases, not options.
