Could you give me a very broad and basic run down of the margin scheme? Can you sell a property under the margin scheme if you’ve bought a piece of land off a long term home owner and GST wasn’t required to be included in the sale?

How do you go about it? Short answer it depends on the individual circumstances.

I wouldn’t go anywehere near a property with a significant unapproved structure. Retrofitting fire separation between common walls is bloody expensive, there’s potential issues of permissibility and it may have been constructed in breach of Australian building codes.

Hi Benny.

The only point I would challenge is that negative gearing increases housing supply, Most major residential developments are sold off the plan or sold after completion, from my understanding the majority of negative gearing occurs on established properties.

End of the day the only people that will be negatively affected from a drop in property prices are property speculators; if you own your own home and the market tanks then if you move yes you will get less for your place but everywhere else will have tanked as well, making it a net even result. If you speculate on an investment for the sole…[Read more]

I don’t get why they are a joke though, can you explain further. If you can buy one outright with no loan and have it net 6.5 to 8% surely that is a decent return? Or are there other issues that I’m missing..

No council is legally permitted to retrospectively approve a building in NSW. They can issue Building Certificates which essentially are a document that state that they will not issue an order to remove the building for a period of no less than 7 years. That’s it.

And the building certificate process can get very messy, especially with granny…[Read more]

For a bit of balance here – opposite to what Corey said OTP can be a very profitable strategy in the right circumstances. Example, Citi1 apartments in Wollongong. They were sold off the plan in 2011/12, have since appreciated by about 30 to 40% in value, have low strata fees and are in a good part of town. They were built without delay and have a…[Read more]

From what I see, people are very good at prolonging a way of life without properly addressing problems until they are forced to. From memory people started predicting the GFC a few years before it actually happened. Couldn't this just be the beginning of what may be the trigger for the next market collapse in 5-10 years time?

Let me say first…[Read more]

Just google Wollondilly Council. From their home page click on 'planning' in the top tab and then you can access a copy of their DCP.

Having finished high school about four years ago my advice would be to make sure you do well in English as it is in my opinion the most useful subject by far. Geography may be helpful as well. 

Being a town planner I deal with developers all the time and I would divide them in the following way:

– 85% are first timers who are no more educated or…[Read more]

It's illegal to rent them out in Vic, SA and QLD I believe, other states is fine as far as I'm aware. Youd have to seek legal advice on that.

I wouldnt rush out to see a town planner yet; dual occupancies usually are not very complex applications, you could do a lot of your own research. First step is to obtain a copy of the Local Environment Plan and the Development Control Plan for your Council area. They are quite hefty documents but they will have specific sections that are relavent…[Read more]

Don't rule out the dual occ, most council's will accept minor variations to development controls. Once hard stand car space in front of the existing building line could well be supported if you provide adequate justification. Landscaping to soften the impact wouldnt go astray.

Ritchie, thanks for the reply. I'll take all of your advice on board.

Yeah that was the dilemma I faced when considering this purchase. As a pure investment the numbers stack up pretty well; however, I was also looking for a location that would be convenient for me when I did need to move in permanently. The clause on absences that Terry pointed…[Read more]

Perfect, much appreciated. 

Thanks a lot for the tip, I'll be sure to  trawl all the relevant pieces of legislation to see what I can find.   

Cheers for the responses, was just throwing it out there.

There's nothing stopping me from moving in initially (i should of clarified that I haven't moved out from the oldies place yet as I'm only 20). It's purely a financial decision as I currently have low expenses.

I am aware that it's illegal to simply rent the place out whilst claiming that…[Read more]