If you’re happy renting then rent where you want and buy an IP where it makes business sense can sometimes be the preferred option, as like you said, you then have deductible debt as opposed to non-deductible debt if you were to own your PPOR.

$34k isn’t as bad as I was envisaging. My comment on you credit report isn’t so much to do with payments…[Read more]

Hi DJ,

Are you looking to buy an IP or PPOR?

Doing balance transfers can do a lot of damage to your credit record when you apply for the credit cards. The low interest rate can be attractive but if you’re looking to purchase a property they can sometimes do more harm than good.

If the cards are on the higher rates of around ~20% most banks have…[Read more]

Why these particular areas? Chasing CG or CF or something else – hard to make recommendations without knowing some of the details.

Have a chat to Corey Batt who posts on this forum. He from SA and knows that particular area better than the back of his hand and I’m sure he’d be happy to have a chat to you about it.

I can only talk to what I would do in this situation. I wouldn’t accept it – there seems to be too many conditions and strings attached to the ‘gift’. It would always hang over my head and it wouldn’t feel like ‘my’ home. If I was happy renting where I was then I would stay there, as long as my partner and I are happy does it really matter if the…[Read more]

Questions are good!

When you have an investment property, instead of making principal and interest payments where you are not only covering the interests costs but also reducing the principal owed have your loan/s set up as interest only so you are covering the interest costs only and not reducing the principal. This will help with cash flow.…[Read more]

It’s a tough one to answer as it’s different for everyone. It depends on your goals and risk appetite. If you’re planning on starting a family I would recommend keeping the risk fairly low.

how it is possible to repay the loan for the property

You don’t! :) Keep the loan as interest only so you don’t pay principal down and that in turn helps with cash flow. Capital growth helps take care of the equity.

I haven’t heard of splitting the rent into thirds before. Unless your LVR is low or you are getting massive rents on the…[Read more]

Some of the free website I frequent are:
http://www.investsmart.com.au/property – good for Capital growth figures, suburb demographics and make up
http://www.htw.com.au/downloads.aspx – monthly report on the state of the market for residential and commercial
http://www.suburbview.com/ a holistic view of all the real estate for sale…[Read more]

An IP savvy broker should be on your go-to list. As well as a good accountant and conveyancer / solicitor – they can all help you achieve your end goal and set you on the right path

With this day and age there doesn’t need to be a face to face meeting but some people prefer it – it’s up to the individual with what they feel most comfortable…[Read more]

What else would you be wanting to use it towards?

I think the best way to go about things is to start with your end game and work back from there instead of starting almost blindly and hoping for the best.

Why are you wanting to invest in property? Financial freedom? If so, how much do you need or want? So now you have that figure what do you…[Read more]

RE the LMI – makes sense. It’s usually capitalised onto the loan.

You’re correct with both scenarios. In the first example that is the preferred method.

You get an equity release as a separate loan or Line of Credit which is secured against your current PPOR. You then use those funds to contribute towards deposit and purchasing costs of your…[Read more]

he LMI is 10k and we pay $260 a month over 4 years for that but can pay it sooner if we wish.

I am a little bit confused by this – do you have a separate loan for the LMI charge?

If we only use the equity in this property to purchase another house will that void the LMI?

Not if you stay with the same bank. It’s generally called a ‘top…[Read more]

All good :) You’re asking questions and wanting to educate yourself so you’re off to a great start!

My guess would be is it’s principal in interest (P&I). This is where you pay the debt (principal) down as well as the interest that is charged. An Interest Only (IO) loan is where you don’t actually pay down the principal just pay the interest…[Read more]

Hi Kirstie,

Are you paying principal and interest or interest only on your home loan? If it’s principal and interest then change it to interest only. This will help with cashflow and is generally what is done with investments.

Do you have any equity available in your house at the moment? What is the mortgage against it and what is it’s…[Read more]

If you have never been to an area it is handy to be on the ground and get a first hand experience for the feel of the area.

But in saying that I have made offers on properties in areas I have never been to – new-ish builds or old places that were going to be demo’d eventually so that cut out some of the potential risk of buying sight unseen.

A…[Read more]

D) All of the above. But a solicitor and savvy accountant would be your first port of call just need to make sure each professional is a specialist in property investing and structuring.

Hi Ryan,

Few questions – how long have you been casual in the job for? What % of your income is from your PAYG work and what % is from your SE work? How long have you been self employed for?

What do you mean by ‘paid $15k paid off one investment’? And what would you call ‘large amount’?

$10k won’t get you too far at the moment – what price…[Read more]

No worries.

Re the LVR and LMI – all it really comes down to is your risk profile and how aggressive you want to be as that will determine which strategy will fit best.

The 95% lend world is getting tough, particularly for investments.

There’s a LMI sweet spot around the 88% mark. In your example (with some big assumptions here) LMI on an 88%…[Read more]

I have about $100,000 for a deposit and am eligible for a first home buyers grant.
I also earn around the 70k p.a working as a contract carpenter.

That’s a good start there, will give you a few options. Depending on the entry point and LVR you want to go you could even leverage that $100k for more than 1 IP.

Preferably I want to make my…

[Read more]