Forum Replies Created
For a rental property I would choose tiles every time. Not only will they last longer they will look better longer. If you have a tenant who doesn't respect your property then timber flooring will look shabby VERY quickly. An inconsiderate tenant can destroy timber flooring within a couple of weeks.
Cheers
K
Renovating a place that is also your PPOR is a good way to make money if you choose your property wisely. But before you choose a property decide how much interruption you can put up with. If you are single person and don't mind living on a construction site then it is a great idea but if you have a stay at home spouse and young kids then ask yourself whether they will cope and whether the profit is worth the inconvenience.
Just beware of selling it before owning it for less than 12 months though. Although the ATO does not stipulate how long you have to own a property before it is considered to be your PPOR, they generally accept that 12 months is a reasonable timeframe. If you own it for less than 12 months the ATO can start asking questions. Whether a house is deemed to be a PPOR depends on intention. If you bought it with the intention of renovating it and onselling it then the ATO can deem your property to be an IP even though you don't own another PPOR and you will then lose your CGT exemption. But if you live in it for 12 months that generally satisfies the ATO as to intention.
Cheers
K
Hi coolridge
If you have found a few properties, then there is no point in getting a buyers agent. A buyer's agent's job is to source the properties for you. You can probably negotiate for a property just as well as a buyer's agent. Just get the place you are interested in independently valued by someone like Herron Todd White and use that as your negotiating tool.
A PM will give you an idea of rental and they could probably take photos for you. I personally would never own an investment property in another state without using a PM. They will do all the hard work for you – finding tenants, making sure they pay rent on time, dealing with maintenance issues. Imagine owning an IP in another state and having a tenant that complains every couple of days about minor things. It would drive me mad!
A PM will not be able to help with advice on future subdivision. You would need to contact council or a town planner for that advice. Do not listen to advice from well meaning RE Agents, PMs and Buyer's Agents who may tell you that you can subdivide a property. The only people who can tell you that are people whose jobs it is to know that sort of information.
Flights to Melbourne from Adelaide are dirt cheap so it would probably be more cost effective for you to just fly over and look at the properties and talk to council yourself. Meet a PM at the property and get them to talk to you about expected rental so that you can do some number crunching.
Good luck. I don't mind the look of some of the western suburbs in Melbourne at the moment. I think there are some good opportunities there.
Cheers
K
That's excellent Lizzie
I have found that between everyone there, they know the answer to just about everything.
Cheers
K
You are right Bart. VIC has particularly onerous notice requirements for landlords. Other states don't require anywhere near as much notice.
Cheers
K
If I were the landlord I would weigh up how valuable they were as tenants vs how expensive it would be to replace the curtains. If they had been there for a long time, didn't complain about the property, were always prompt with their rent then I may entertain their request.
But given that you replaced the curtains previously at THEIR request, I would not put new curtains in no matter how good they were as tenants. I would have no problem with them buying curtains and putting them up as long as they replaced them when they left.
Cheers
K
I would also be iinterested to have a look at your property.
Please PM me the details if you want.
Cheers
K
Hi Lizzie and Jacqui
If you do go with SBS, please PM me and let me know how you go.
Cheers
K
If their lease expires on 1 May then they need to be out on 1 May. You can start advertising now for new tenants to commence on 1 May.
Have the tenants given you formal notice that they don't intend to renew their lease? If so, then you don't need to do anything. If they have just given verbal notice then you need to be the one to give them formal notice in writing. Check with your agent as to the minimum time to do this – it has been 14 days in every state I have held property but check with your agent.
Cheers
K
The way I would go about this is buy putting in offers with very small timeframes with a clause similar to Paul stated above "eg. "good until xxxpm on xxx date". If you have a short timeframe of say 24 hours, then you will know very quickly whether your offer will be accepted.
Don't put in any more offers than you are prepared to contract. What if all of them accept your offer? The beauty of a very short timeframe is that you will know very quickly whether you have secured the property or whether you should continue making offers.
Let the agent know that you are making several offers. I have sold several properties before and usually I ignore offers with timeframes because I feel pressured, but if I know that it is because the purchaser wants to be free to make other offers, then I will give an answer within a few hours. The agent should tell the vendor the reason for the short timeframe.
If you were to make several offers and they were all accepted, you could take advantage of the cooling off period but, in my opinion, RE Agents will be less likely to consider you a serious purchaser. Why would an agent continue to deal with you in the future, let you know of deals before they are released to the public, if you then just cool off without any good reason? As much as people say that RE Agents work for the vendor, the truth is that they work for themselves and if they have a purchaser who they know is a straight shooter and doesn't mess them around and makes life easier for them, they are more likely to want to deal with that purchaser.
Cheers
K
Hi Nat
I don't think that selling is such a cardinal sin. I sell properties all the time. It is all mathematical. If, taking into account selling and buying costs, I can get a better return elsewhere, I don't have any problem at all selling and putting my money somewhere else.
There are all kinds of investing strategies. Buying and holding is just one strategy, albeit the most popular one.
Cheers
K
Hi Denon
What research did you do before you determined that your property was worth mid $600k? Did you base this on other properties in your area or did you get some RE Agents to give you an appraisal?
If you are selling it privately (ie, without an agent), as Jeff says, the only two reasons it wouldn't be selling are price and marketing. If you tried to sell it privately, where did you advertise it? How broad was your audience?
If the issue is price, then drop the price. Spend a few hundred dollars and get your property independently valued (by a valuer, not by a RE Agent who may increase the quoted sale range just to secure your listing).
Good luck
K
Hi Stephen
Listen to what they have to say and then put it on the forum. It sounds like they are just offering something that you can get through any mortgage broker , but you never know, it may be something new that not many people know about.
Cheers
K
Hi Zayne
I would be running from the contract. If there are serious structural problems, who knows what will happen in the future, even if this problem is fixed. Also, to get the problem fixed, every unit holder will have to contribute $5 – 6000. What happens if one owner doesn't have this kind of money.
Sounds like a potential nightmare to me. I wouldn't touch it.
Cheers
K
It sounds like the vendor has given you two sets of advice – the letter saying you can get your deposit back and the contract that says you can't. If you were to take this matter to court, you would be bound by the contract, not by the letter. Was the letter before or after you signed the contract?
Ask the vendor to tell you in the contract where the sunset clause is. Then, if you still don't understand it, go and get legal advice.
Cheers
K
Hi there
Adprop is certainly the one to go to.
Cheers
K
I've done the Property Investing course through TAFE and highly recommend it. It's not a short course though – one Sunday in three going for 8 months.
It gives an excellent overview of all aspects of investing from building inspections to finance to renovating and development.
Cheers
K
It normally means that they are asking a lot!
Hi JL
I also use LMI all the time for the same reasons that trakka does. The fact that I get a refund is an added bonus. In fact I didn't even know that I was entitled to a refund until I received the cheque in the mail. I have received at least 6 refunds and I have never applied for them!
I would use LMI even if I didn't get the refund. I have read several times to avoid LMI if possible but to me it is a fabulous wealth creation tool. If I have a spare $60,000, I can either use it as a 20% deposit on a $250,000 house that will increase at about 10% pa, increasing my equity by $25,000pa. Or I can buy two $250,000 houses putting down a 10% deposit on each house and getting LMI (probably about $6000 all up as a once off fee). My portfolio is then worth $500,000, increasing my equity by about $50,000pa. You can see that the LMI fee is really just chicken feed in the scheme of things.
As to why they do it, I don't know, although I expect that trakka's car insurance analogy is correct. But if they are refunding money, I'm not going to be querying it!!
Cheers
K
I have had a number of refunds of late. WIth my particular insurer, Genworth, if I sell the property within 12 months of taking out the mortgage I get a refund of 40%, dropping down to 20% if I discharge the mortgage within 1 – 2 years. I think after that there is no refund.
I have never heard of getting a refund just by dropping back the LVR and remaining with the same bank (and therefore insurer). It would be worth checking with the bank though.
Cheers
K
