Hi sheranj, I hope you know enough to shy away from people who offer get rich quick solutions.Stick to your guns, you have already done very very well. The HECS debt is not a lot and will get paid quite quickly.KY

Hi, easy. If the broker can get you a standard bank loan, it means you're OK. Say total value = 700000 @ 70%LVR you have $490000 loans. Should be affordable. KY

Hi, my sticky beak bit.You aim to have your wife not working. For that, you have to replace her current 30K p.a. which means you need to have $600000 invested. Have you considered that?So your idea of buying a $600000 PPOR in Brisbane is going to put you backwards instead of forward. Basically you will be no worse off but you won't be any better…[Read more]

Hi, is Ingle Farm only 13km from Adelaide?KY

Hi, I bought 5 such units in NZ. If I have the choice all over again, I'd not have bought them. Not that they are bad investments, they're actually much sounder than shares or tree plantations or ostrich farms. The reason I'd choose not to buy them is that i'd have done far better with the funds on my own. The units yield 7.4% nett which is very…[Read more]

Hi, you probably need to form an opinion on how easy/hare it'd be to find another tenant. Often, the existing tenant stays on. The profitability of the existing business is the most impt. If the tenant is making money, he's unlikely to move. Even if he moves, he sells the business to another person.Hairdressers are probably the most lasting…[Read more]

Hi, never too late, you're to be congratulated for getting through the tough job of getting the house. Good luck on your future endeavours.KY

Hi W4life, you seem very concerned about rate rises. The variable rates are so low it seems laughable to consider fixing & fixing for a year doesn't seem to have much wisdom. You're likely to pay the spread which is around 1.5% for 12 months just to come off the fix when rates go up. The latest stock mkt jitters make it even more unlikely that…[Read more]

Hi, this is what I did. The Yellow Pages & street directory are the most hardworking tools in my house.I jotted down the addresses of the major builders. Then I went to their offices. All of them had salespeople whom I could make appointments to talk with.Most imptly, all of them have brochures, some thick books with pictures. I asked for a price…[Read more]

Hi, my variable rate is still 5.09% I'd decided earlier not to fix because I don't know when I'd sell. My view is that rates will remain low at least to the end of this year. I don't do much until it goes above 8% and then I pay off large chunks of the principal. In absolute amounts, I actually paid less interest when the rates were high. The…[Read more]

Hi, interest rates rise? When did that happen?KY

Hi, even more cheerful today cos it's been all good news. The cheapie stocks went up by double digits again.House rented, good tenant. Shops rented, good rents.To be fair, in my 1st 5 years of landlording, I never had a single default or late payment, across 4 properties in 5 years, only 3 weeks vacant for 1 property & that paid for by the tenant…[Read more]

Hi, unless it's a corner block, how do you access the one facing the side?KY

Hi, at least you have landlord insurance. I didn't even have that. And I had 2 tenants do that to me, not counting the one who never paid any rent & left $1500 worth of garbage removal fees.The house is still vacant – explains why I sold 4 last year and have been buying shares!I'm cheerful because today the shares are making up for all the tenant…[Read more]

Hi, don't know about Douglas but Cairns doesn't seem to be so hot at the moment. Check out the thread about vacancies & rents.KY

Hi, you need to really pay attention to the 2 who suggest the same thing & here is a 3rd suggesting the same.It seems that you don't know the full benefits of an offset account. What it allows you to do is to deposit whatever excess funds you have in a savings account & it automatically gets the interest at the rate of your mortgage. Your loan…[Read more]

Hi, there were some numbers bandied about re Tassie NRAS properties. $280 thousand house rented for $407 pw. Hello, how is that possible? Can someone check the median rents in Hobart and Launceston? It smells like a RORT.Ten years is a long time. Suppose the govt that guarantees the scheme gets voted out & the next govt says it's not me, it's …,…[Read more]

Hi, why not do both? DIY renos are cheap. I did a paint job & materials including tools cost under 10% of what I was quoted for it.Curtains cost under $200 and look quite good too. I paid my manager to install clotheslines & did the landscaping myself. Materials cost under $300 per house. I'd preplanted about 400 plants in the year it took for the…[Read more]

Hi, depending on your age, you could 'contribute' excess monies into super. Try not to pay down the investment loan as far as you can but you need to have a lot of willpower to not fritter away money on nonproductive purchases.A point to note here is even for a novice, you managed to buy something that's giving you such a good yield. You may have…[Read more]

Hi, you need to work on the viability of what you propose to do first. The trust structure is costly unless you can do much of the accounting. Legal fees etc add to the cost. Probably not worth unless you're looking at a million dollar investment.Current PPOR – no need to do much except change over to IO loan. Your LVR of 80% is about standard for…[Read more]