You really shouldn’t turn your nose up at a suburb due to its stigma. I have made it my business to get to know Geelong very well, spending each weekend and some weeknights here, talking to lots of agents and tenants, attending loads of opens to understand demand. And visit shopping areas to understand the demographic. There really is no ignoring Corio. PM me if you want more info on geelong and which property managers to definitely avoid

Take a drive, use your eyes and you will learn useful things such as which streets have one too many sofas on the front porch, or which streets have too many units. Talk to some local realestate agents to find out what kinds of properties are in most demand, and monitor how long things take to disappear from the rental offerings on http://www.realestate.com.au

For normal suburbia, prices go up about $40-$50k per bedroom.  So if  you know what a 4bedder in the area costs you can work from there.  That said, there are very few buyers needing a 7bedder so you can knock the price down due to lack of demand.

If the two dwellings are separately metered for water, gas, and electricity it is a fair bet it is all council approved.  I learned a neat little trick recently.. a council I deal with a lot pretty much said if they have already issued two sets of bins then they are happy for the two dwellings to be separately occupied.  But do call them and have the conversation.

0.9% on a $500k loan saves you in the order of $4500 per year. PER YEAR.  That's quite a saving.  I'd be keen to get my way. 

The stats pages at the rear of the Australian Property Investor Magazine can give you the answer to your question

Just give a call to a local draftsperson and they'll be able to give you an idea… as will the council.

b.free2live – good stuff.  Just be really sure she is experienced and successful with SMSF loans rather than just standard property loan applications lodged under a person's name.

There is always more than one factor that dictates a rate. You and i have pointed out some of them others include scarcity, danger level, remoteness of job.

There is also an element of which ones you have to choose from for that particular property. Depending on the property type and location, some insurers might not touch it. You also need to work out what your biggest risks are. Eg if flooding is a major tisk, you wouldn’t opt for an insurer that won’t cover flooding

Nice one, fWord!  What suburb are you in at the moment, and what suburb will you be considered to be a part of when they shift the boundaries?