Buyer’s agents are generally used by home buyers rather than investors.

Serious investors do their own research and wouldn’t leave this up to someone else (JVs aside) for fear of error.

In the home buyer market you have specific needs in a home (eg. 5 bedrooms, pool, dlug, contemporary deslowign etc) so things like Capital Growth and Cash F are…[Read more]

Your message is a little confusing (why are you mentioning *his* debt levels and interest rates?), so I hope my partial response is not off track.

I would try and bargain down the price if he is as eager to sell as he sounds. Equally, I don’t know where you are buying, but a good proportion of the country has had very little capital growth over…[Read more]

No one can tell you the *best* postcode to buy in, as we all have our different strategies and comfort/risk levels.

First you need to work out what exactly you are looking for in an investment property. eg.
Cashflow positive?
Capital growth?
Something you can do a quick reno on?
Something you can develop?
Long term, short term, or hold…[Read more]

Dianne,

You might want to include some more info about what you’re looking for in a JV partner, and what is in it for them.

Eg.
How much $ is the property?
What is the expected ROI, rental yield, etc?
Are you planning on developing the sub division or sell off?
Is this a long term JV or a quick turnover?
Do you want $ from the JV partner (how…[Read more]

It really does depend on where you live and your investment strategy.

Most people buy in the area they live because they feel more emotionally secure that they ‘know’ the area, and it is a good area (beacause they like living there).

Benefits include better local knowledge, easier to monitor the market, manage the properties, cheaper to oversee…[Read more]

If you were using it as PPOR for part of the financial year, you need to deduct expenses during this time from the full year’s expenses (as non-deductible) while remaining expenses as IP are deductible.

Certainly envious that there are such great websites for areas that I’m not interested in investing in!

One more Australian paying service is Residex http://www.residex.com.au , they have a range of reports (costing different amounts) rather than an online search function.

Originally posted by viralk:
Problem 1
No builders would give be the estimates without I have plan ready. I have approach surveyors etc, they said it will cost me about $4000 because we need to do the soil test etc….DO I HAVE TO DO PAY FOR THIS TO GET THE BUILDING COST?

Yes and no. It depends on how accurate you want your costings to be. If…[Read more]

Hey Nothings Impossible,

Good on you for thinking so positive when you’re in such a difficult life situation.

Do you know anyone who might be interested in partnering up with you? If they have an income that will gain the bank’s thumbs up, and you do all the hard yards of finding a property, you have a perfect match. (However, this will make you…[Read more]

Forgive me if I’m wrong (I only deal in single residences), but I thought Town Planners were hired by the council, and you as an individual don’t have a choice as to which one you deal with?

Hey Bradles C,

If I were to invest *your* $420,000, I’d invest it in my back pocket…

Personally, I’d look for an area that you’re more likely to get a good rental yield. This makes the loan more servicable while the market is slow on the capital growth side.

I’d also try for a place that doesn’t force you to overextend to the maximum of…[Read more]

A side note on the main question – if I were paying my whole year’s interest up front, I would expect a better reduction than 0.2%.

You might get the tax deduction up front, but you’ll also now have a $50k debt on your PPOR as a result, no? (perhaps reduced somewhat by the tax deduction… but depending on your tax bracket probably not by *that*…[Read more]

It might be a good idea to talk to a financial adviser before you buy your first IP, as you may find that it’s better not to purchase it in your own name, but through another structure for tax effectiveness.

If you have an offset account, there’s no need to put down ‘extra’ on the loan as long as you leave the money in the account and don’t spend…[Read more]

Have a look at how the real estate agents are marketing similar properties in your area, and make sure you cover the same ground. Certain buzz-words – while cliched – are effective because buyers know what the terms mean. E.g. “character” means the place is a bit of a hardsell/run down. “renovator’s delight” means the place is an utter dump.…[Read more]

I haven’t invested in holiday letting, so feel free to discount my advice (only cons, I’m afraid).

It’s not a simple matter of splitting half the year into high rental return and half into low return. You can expect to have the place sitting empty half the time between lettings – with none of the stability of a 12 month rental contract to know…[Read more]

I haven’t invested there. About the only info I can give you is that like most rural areas the population is in decline as young people move to larger cities and older people die off (at least according to census 2001 figures).

The question to consider is how long you plan to invest there, and whether there is enough buffer in the cf+ if vacancy…[Read more]

Bit off topic, but…

Originally posted by The Mortgage Adviser:
I have never seen anyone paying up front or building a ‘PART’ of a building before.
[/b]

Sometimes a bank will only give stage by stage funding – but this is more common with a larger development (townhouses, units, etc) than a small residential house. If they’re not sure you will…[Read more]

Depends on your needs and which architect.

It’s an extra buzz to be able to say “architecturally designed” and it should attract a higher end buyer/tenant…

So long as the design is practical. Some architects have their heads in the clouds, and what they design may look great (or may look totally bizarre), but when someone is looking for a home…[Read more]

The agent certainly does sound unreasonable – but equally to gain maximum benefit you should think about retaining the tenants if they pay on time and look after the house.

Inner Sydney does seem to have a stronger rental market at the moment than it was about a year ago, so you may not have to wait too long to get it re-rented – however if it’s…[Read more]

Costs will vary on your postcode (chance of crime, fire, etc). Why don’t you ring round a couple of insurers, and they should be able to give you a quote on the phone.

You may also be entitled to a discount if you go through a company that you already use for car insurance etc.