Hi MillionsYes, although as I said earlier, I used to be a solicitor.  The main reason I use trusts is for the income splitting benefits, rather than the legal protection trusts afford.  When we first started buying properties my husband worked and I just had baby number 1 so most of the income was given to me.  Now my husband has quit work, we sp…[Read more]

Hi StellaAny solicitor who deals in trusts should be able to set this up and they will know the best type of trust for you.BennyK, the answer is it depends on what you plan to do long term.  If you are only ever planning to buy one property it is probably not worth it.  It costs about $1000 to set up (less if you do it yourself, but I wouldn't r…[Read more]

I was looking at a block of 15 units a couple of years ago and negotiated ANZ bank up to a 75% LVR.  In the end the deal fell through because the vendor got a bit silly, but the whole experience was a very valuable lesson in negotiating with banks.  The phrase that kept floating around in my head was one of Steve's: "money follows m…[Read more]

What do you mean "private funds"?  Where would I source that?K

That is not the case in the NT either.  Certainly if they are all on one title then one lot of stamp duty is paid.  If they are all on separate titles then the LTO will look at them to decide if they were all one transaction.  Things they will look at are, whether the vendor and the purchaser are the same for each unit, whether there was a di…[Read more]

Hi Adam

I think it is an excellent idea.

Darwin is going through a fantastic boom period and there doesn’t seem to be too many other places around that are booming. I’m sure there will be plenty of people looking for a buyer’s agent in Darwin.

We have been buying in Darwin for about the last 3 years and one of the problems we have found in…[Read more]

Offloaded an IP in Mt Isa about 4 weeks ago. How very decent of you to wait until the house sold before you posted that!

Cheers

K

I have just sold my PI in Mt Isa and wouldn’t buy there again.

I bought there just over 1 year ago at a 10% return and have just sold it at about an 8.2% return (so a nice healthy gain of about 25% in the last year).

Problem is, it has come despite several sleepless nights over the terribly slack job done by the PM there. I have had to chase up…[Read more]

Hi Dutchess

As an ex lawyer (I am now a fulltime Mum) I will give you the best advice you will get on this subject.

Go and see a lawyer who specialises in Family Law. Don’t listen to people who tell you about the situation of a friend of a friend. It is a messy area that is open to interpretation.

Good luck. I hope things work out with this…[Read more]

Just going back to whether a tenant could sue a landlord, it would very much depend on what the damage was.

If there was a building problem like a big hole in the floor and the tenant fell in it and injured themselves then the tenant could probably sue. But the landlord would have to have reasonably known that the hole was there. If the tenant…[Read more]

Hi Carlin

Good luck with a new tenant.

I have Landlord Protection Insurance with Terri Scheer. The only time I had a problem with a tenant (he absconded owing rent) my PM made the claim with Terri Scheer and all outstanding rent was paid without any problems.

I am also lucky because I have an excellent PM. She is not in SA though. Maybe you…[Read more]

Hmm Geoffrey

I’m not sure that telling someone who has just managed to get out of ‘arresting debt’ to blow 2 – 5 grand just to avoid having to tell someone they don’t want to go guarantor is very sage advice.

Or maybe it was satire and I’m missing the humour in your response.

K

Ah, this is right up my alley.

I live in Katherine at the moment. I don’t think the return you have mentioned is very good at all. I wouldn’t be buying here unless there is AT LEAST a 10% return. If I look hard enough I can get 10% returns in Darwin and at least there is capital growth in Darwin. There really doesn’t seem to be any capital…[Read more]

Hi Wade

The best legal answer I can give you is that ‘it depends’. I studied for 5 years to learn how to say that!

It really does all depend on why the neighbour build on your mate’s property. There are a few technical ways for the neighbour to legitimately on the land without recourse, but they are very rare indeed. One reason (VERY…[Read more]

Hi EllyH

I can’t help but wonder whether you are not finding the properties because you are only seeing what you want to see.

Hellman DID help. He told you to read Steve McKnight’s 2nd book and learn how to make properties CF+. They are still out there (sorry to disagree with you bob the worker and, to an extent, markpatrick). I have bought 4…[Read more]

Hi Misty

Buy the Australian Property Investor from your local newsagent. OK its not free but it is the best $8.00 or whatever it is that you will spend each month. I subscribe to it and often I will remember something I read in a previous issue that is relevant to what I am doing at the moment.

Cheers

K

Oh. You told them you were at your limit. That may not have been such a good thing to do.

I used to do a lot of negotiating in my job – I was a lawyer – but I still don’t really understand how RE negotiating works. I know of people who put forward their first offer and tell the agent that it is their first offer. I don’t see the point in this…[Read more]

Hi Willie

I saw that this topic was about to slip off the first page and I thought that, in case you forgot about it, I would reply and keep it on the first page.

Your question brings to mind a line from Moulin Rouge that does something like this:

“Never fall in love with a woman who sells her body. IT ALWAYS ENDS UP BAD”.

I think what he was…[Read more]

I am a fulltime mum and at the moment my husband is in the Middle East (he has been for the last three months but comes back next week. Woohoo!) so I am working about 22.5 hours per day.

I probably spend about 3 hours per day investing, that is, looking for properties and doing the paperwork for the ones I have, as well as a bit of sharetrading…[Read more]

Don’t do anything. You have just made an offer. The ball is now back in their court. If you reapproach them you will just seem desperate and I have met some very shrewd old couples in my life!

Either they will get interest in their home during the Octoberfest or they won’t. It seems to me that unless you are prepared to offer asking price…[Read more]