Hi all
I am going in to see my solictor tomorrow regarding, among a couple of other things, setting up a Hybrid Discretionary Trust. When my accountant asked me why I would want one of those, I felt that it was time to educate myself and take some control. I’ll let you know if the solictor is much better tomorrow….

If you are an owner/builder you are acknowledging that you are building your own home so as the final consumer you would not be entitled to claim back the gst from the materials and labour you purchase. You are therefore paying the gst component as you build your home thus making your total of $300K gst inclusive. If you then sell your home it will no longer be deemed new and will not incur gst but you will incur Capital Gains Tax and will not be able to go owner builder to replace your home for a few years (depends on which state you live in).
You can only claim back GST if you are carrying on a business enterprise and have an ABN. You would also have to live in your home for at least 12 months to avoid tax complications associated with business. I would suggest that you talk to your accountant as you need some help to understand the basic principles of gst and cgt. I know that it was probably just a figure that you used as an example but if not then I need to let you know that you will not be able to build a house for $100000 unless it is tiny and you are very handy. Good luck.

Hi Ibergin
You should subscribe or at least buy the monthly magazine Australian Property Investor. It discloses potential hotspots with why they are worth watching and also have many articles about successful investors. The back pages list lending rates from many institutions as well as the median rents, house prices, unit prices and growth etc for each state from month to month (3 monthly cycle on the figures from what I can see). You should also get on websites for councils and states and see where govt spending and large scale private spending is happening and they are the spots you should start looking. I was exactly where you are 4 months ago so be prepared to research alot before you jump in and get your financial set up organized beforehand as well. Heaps of finance wizz’s on this forum to point you in the right direction

Julie
Daryl Fisher Homes[biggrin]

Plus if someone sues your business then the house is up for grabs as well!!

I went to a property investing seminar on the weekend and one of the speakers was Melanie MacDonald a commercial property investor. One interesting point that she made was that a valuation on a commercial property will always be lower if the property is valued while vacant. This is due to the high vacancy rates in commercial property. So check whether the property is/was tenanted or not when the valuation was done. If it was tenanted then I would suggest to find out how long the current lease has remaining, if the current tenants intend on moving and what the lease details where (will they take their fitout or not?), as you may have some negotiating power if the commercial property is now vacant.
She said that you can also get a commercial valuer to conduct a valuation on a commercial property and the recent price she paid for a commercial valuation was $1000 per $1,000,000 of property value (Melbourne). I know it seems like a lot but I suppose you would spend a similar ratio of money to get a residential valuation done and there’s not as much money at stake probably. Better to know that you’re paying as close as possible to the market value.

Hi Fatman
If you are only going to renovate at a later stage have you just considered removing the remains of the existing grout and regrouting then remove/replacing the remains of the silicone which should be down every corner (instead of grout) and between the base and the wall tiles. I haven’t seen the shower of course but we acted as assessors for IAG (CGU RACV GIO etc) for the north west vic for a couple of years and most leaking showers we saw had cracked grout (small cracks can have a capillary like action on water even on a horizontal crack) and nearly all had deteriorated silicone seals. The silicone in a shower should be replaced every 2-3 years. If the tiles feel solid and aren’t cracked then this may be all you need in the short term. There are also franchise companies who can seal the area; but I dont know much about them (just seen the advertisements)
The other option is to remove tiles and line the shower with ceramilite or similar laminex sheet which then you will only have to silicone between the sheets and the screen. Mouldings come for internal and external corners and cappings. Doesn’t look as nice as tiles but is quicker with less maintenance.
Be careful with either option if you have a polymarble or acrylic showerbase with a showerscreen; if you use tiles or sheet of a different thickness to the original tiles you may not be able to reuse the original showerscreen.
If you sheet it you have to glue the sheet to the plaster wall and brace for 24 hours and if you tile you would have to leave between tiling, grouting and siliconing for up to a day at a time depending on the weather.

have fun Julie
daryl fisher homes

Good luck
Julie Fisher
Daryl Fisher Homes

Hi Cathy38
You will have to start with giving the walls and ceiling a really good clean with something that will not only remove the visible mould but kill any residual spores not able to be seen by the naked eye; otherwise it will grow back. Vinegar is a great non-toxic antifungal etc spray it one with a trigger nozzle lightly and let it sit for a bit. Shower enclosures can be cleaned with a vinegar/bicarb mix (fizzy) and a toothbrush will get into the grout well. You can use a very weak bleach solution (and rinse well) but I have stopped using that since I found out that it makes grout porous, strips the glaze off tiles, causes glass cancer on shower screens and breaks down rubber sealant on shower screens. It also even can make paint surfaces powdery.
Mould will grow best in a moist environment which is why the most effective deterrent is a well ventilated room. While you are deciding how to tackle your problem you could ensure that you open your window and door immediately after you’ve finished in the bathroom to disperse the moist air before it settles on you walls/ceilings.
If your ceiling cavity is a shared floor to an upper flat then pushing moist air into a confined space will ultimately cause moisture to settle back onto the top of your ceiling and cause further damage. In Victoria new homes able to be built which allow rangehoods and exhaust fans to discharge into a roof cavity but in NSW you have to have it ducted through the roof cavity and discharge to the outside of your roof or the underside of an eave or even directly through an external wall to the outside of the house. How close is your shower to an external wall? I will try to find some products that you could retrofit which will remove the moist air in the meantime and get back to the forum with the info later.

Julie Fisher
Daryl Fisher Homes.

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do you know if there is any logic or reasoning behind whether garage will be on the right of the house or left? i have seen quite a lot of plots where the garages are adjacent. So in my case i can get the same house but with the garage and bdrms swapped. Infact the plan that i sent you was completely the opposite of the actual house that i had seen last week. Can you shed any light on this?
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SMTM, I think you are describing what I am referring to as a ‘mirror image’; where the layout of the house is the same but reversed (as it would be if reflected in a mirror) Is this what you mean? If it is, this is what I suggested that you do if you are keen on this particular block of land, as it will mean the garage is now where your master bedroom is with all the other rooms in line behind as they are now?
The reason that the henley group would do this would be purely why I am suggesting that you do it; achieve a better/easier rating and more comfortable home for clients. It may sometimes be that clients have a view on one side and not the other that they want to reverse the plan (mirror image).

Regards Julie