Hi Jamie

50 vacant rentals sounds like a lot. What population is that spanning? Or perhaps I should ask what is the vacancy rate?

We place our clients into properties in areas with high tenant demand (vacancy rates below 1.5%).

May I ask why the budget is $100k? Plenty of ways around such constraints.

Further to what leaderscorp says, yes, "some documents" are processed for you.  As to whether absolutely everything is handled for you is dependant upon the agreement with the BA.  Generally it's just the acquisition that would be handled.  Nothing to do with arranging building and pest, property management, or anything that involves dealing with the council.  I choose to handle the lot, but it's not the norm.

Hi Jay

Following on from what Jamie said, like in any professional, quality will vary, as will what's included in the service.

There are all sorts of reasons people might use a Buyer's Agent.  The reasons include:

– Lack of confidence in negotiating

– Lack of time to conduct due diligence on suburbs and properties

– The desire to purchase in an area that is geographically far from your home and the realization it makes more sense to pay someone else to go shopping for you in lieu of forking out loads of petrol money or flight cost money, and large chunks of your spare time

– The realization that Buyer's Agents tend to hear about deals before they hit the market

The key is to determine what your goals are and ensure that whoever is doing the hunting for you – whether it be you or a Buyer's Agent – is working within those parameters.  If you are struggling a bit on determining what your goals/strategy should be, you'd be looking to ensure that professionals you hire are able to see the path that needs to be trodden for you and talk to you about proposed strategies before staring the hunt for properties.

Hope this helps!

Attached dwellings are dwellings that share a wall.  So it is saying that if your land is 600m2 or more, you could build say a duplex.

Detatched dwellings are dwellings that do not share any walls.  So it is saying that if your land is 800m2 or more, you could build two separate houses/dwellings.

If you wanted one house plus a duplex, I would imagine that you would require 400m2 (half of 800m2) for the house, plus another 600m2 for the duplex, so you would need 1000m2 in total.  That's what I think, if you combine the understanding of the other all the rules you mentioned.

Of course, there will be other council rules you have to comply with and you must make an application which may or may not be approved.  In other words, it is not a guarantee that just because your land is the correct size you will be able to build what you want.  For example, there might be an easement under the ground that you are not allowed to build on top of. 

ps make sure you find out what all the bills are on the flats.  If the council rates and water rates are billed separately you would surprised how quickly your 6% yield will be eroded.  I'd be looking for closer to 6.5% as a minimum on a block of flats.  Also be aware that if there are 5 or more flats in the complex it will almost certainly be commercial finance which is a higher interest rate.

Hi James

Best to use one of the brokers that have already responded to you in this thread to arrange your finance to ensure it is done properly.  All too often we see people coming on here getting answers from those in the know and then trying to relay the knowledge to an inferior local broker.  Makes no sense at all to do that.

Why would you use some random broker in Melbourne and try to explain to him the great information that two brokers have already given you in this thread?  Makes much more sense to use Richard or Jamie as your broker.  Most broking work happens via email and phone these days, so you have luxury of using a great broker regardless of where they are based. 

I have also found that Terri Scheer quotes are astronomical compared to other insurers. 

Hi Claire

Please tell me you are not referring to a SMSF acquistion that is not yet settled let alone unconditional?

Can't say the ATO would consider it responsible use of a SMSF's monies paying for repairs or improvements on a property that has not yet settled (and worse, not even unconditional).  Careful, if you do something the ATO does not like, they have the power to force you to sell the asset and close the SMSF, and not let you ever open a SMSF again.

Pay it off?  Blasphemy.    Much better to split your available funds into multiple piles to acquire multiple properties. 

Keep in mind you cannot live in more than one property at once.  So in this regard, the properties need to make sense as investment properties rather than places you wish to reside.