Hi Richard,
Now that you have sorted that out for me (and anyone else reading), would you now advise me to go and see a financial advisor and get advice on how to set up correctly and then see a mortgage broker to compare finance deals? Obviously there is some benefit by not having all your IP’s financed through one property. I always thought that…[Read more]

Thanks Richard, I didn’t take all he said for gospel hence my question. He is a bit more on the super side of the fence than the property side. Your rationale makes perfect sense to me Richard except for one thing I cannot understand. Will a bank let you borrow the full amount for an IP plus costs without additional security? I understand that the…[Read more]

Hi Finance Wizz’s
I am also very interested in this topic. We have just started to organize finance with our bank for our first IP. They suggested we first talk to our accountant to find out his recommendation. He told us to take out a interest only loan for the full value of the IP, set up a seperate mortgage offset account (against PPOR) for…[Read more]

I agree with looking dirty. The main problem with the grooves facing up (aside from water retention) is that dirt, mud etc gets pushed into the grooves and it doesn’t always come out with a going over from a broom. If you had alot of traffic (kids) and/or had a fair bit of exposed dirt around the place combined with a reasonable rainfall I imagine…[Read more]

Hi there wayne
For many years people thought that the grooves in decking where there as a feature and used to lay decking with the grooves up. In fact the grooves are put into the decking to help keep the timber straight. If you look on the bottome of timber floorboards you will see grooves cut into the base also. As far as which side is correct,…[Read more]

Thanks heaps Michael! I really appreciate your time and advice. The question regarding PM’s wasn’t intended to diminish the role of the PM but because where I live I would doubt that there are any. Only one architect up here is Uni qualified as far as I’m aware. Some of the architect/drafting firms in town offer this service but as I know how…[Read more]

Anything structural can be depreciated over 40 from the year is was constructed (not the year you bought it) but there are probably costs inside that figure that can be depriciated quicker. For example if the kitchen was updated and included a freestanding stove (not an inbuilt oven) then as far as the ATO website is concerned this can be…[Read more]

I think there are a few things to consider here Show-me-the-Money (SMTM).
For your first option.
Organizing and timing trades and costs efficiently are critical to a job coming in on budget especially at the moment with costs and trade rates rising (skills shortage) so in order to keep prices attractive many of the larger companies will mass…[Read more]

Hi, you are right! There is an inland Marina proposed for Mannum in SA with provisions for 200 houseboat mooring sites and smaller recreational craft, 550 residential allotments (200 with water frontage). If you go to http://www.planning.sa.gov.au you can follow the major development links where you will find more info.
Julie

Thanks for those links Michael, I will check those out!
Just going back to when it would be prudent to prepare or commission a FS; do you prepare a FS for every development you do, or just the larger ones? (I would like to know if you feel it necessary to go through the process for a 2-4 unit/villa development or is it necessary only for larger…[Read more]

I agree with marsden! If you are replacing it to improve the look of the roofline then go ahead but don’t do it just because it is asbestos. Fibrecement or AC sheet has indeed been around for a long time, the brown & blue asbestos was removed from manufacturing in the 1960’s but the white asbestos was only removed in the mid 80’s so any housing…[Read more]

Hi Sopkat
I am in the same dilemma! I live in a major regional centre in Victoria but have been looking at properties in the nearest State capital (Adelaide). I pulled info off the state govt planning website to view all the major infrastructure that is or has been planned to go ahead in the next few years.
I also think that my own city will do…[Read more]

I can sympathize with you there! My husband and I extended our conite PPOR about 6 years ago and when we started to remove the external walls that needed to come down we found that the conite had been installed over the top of weatherboards. After speaking to our neighbour we found out that both our house and his house were conited at the same…[Read more]