Hi Richard- Interesting comment. Are you seeing the domestic credit market tightening possibly due to the Greece default? And it sounds like you think this trend will continue and credit will get harder to get?

Cheers,
Luke

Best talk to your solicitor/settlement agent- but of course make sure they know what they are talking about!!! I understand that you would be up for double stamp duty if you had not set up the company/trust when you signed contracts. Best to get this sorted out BEFORE you sign anything to avoid painful and expensive mistakes.

Cheers,
Luke

Not meaning to be rude or to judge against forum users- I love this forum and am on it all the time but sometimes you have to get paid advice.

Cheers,
Luke

Why not get a LOC? I dont know if you can just get a normal residentail loan and get the bank t give you the cash. also, when you get the cash, you would need to put this in a seperate account away from your savings otherwise the borrowings may become contaminated and you might lose tax deductablity.

You will pay an extra 0.1% for a LOC but this is only $7.91 per month on a $95k loan, which would surely be cheaper than paying the interest on the $95k loan for 3 or 4 months prior to you buying the property.

Cheers,
Luke

Another shrimp on the barbie? Does anyone do that anymore?

I had prawns a few nights ago, but they were with a white wine and cream sauce………

Hope you enjoy those ribs!!

Is everyone just jealous because Labradorinlove owned 8 properties before she was 23?

Sounds like you are doing really well to me! This Jay Hinrichs might be the person to talk to, there are not many people on this forum who know the ns and outs of USA property (apart from the peolpe trying to sell their services of course!). There was also a guy on here who went by the name of speedygonzales (I think!!) who sounds like he is doing well for himself investing in Texas, maybe you could give him a PM and he might be able to help.

cgheers,
Luke

If you would not buy it at $510k, then don't buy it for $510k. If the property is only worth $490k and that is what your offer is, then they will not find a buyer at $510k and so after a few months they will need to lower the price to the market value, which sounds like $490k. When they do this you will be able to buy it!!

But getting the seller to realise that their house is worth $490k when they think it is worth $510k is pretty hard. I was in the market at the beinning of last year and a house I was interested in was on the market for $530k. I believed that the house was worth $460-470k and so offered $455k. They told me where to go and that there was no way they would accept only $455k because their house was worth $530k at least. Fast forward 14 months and the house is still on the market with the price reduced to $510k and with the third real estate agent trying to sel it, and I can't see anyone paying that much for the house.

So you could wait and see, and after a month or so resubmit your offer and hopefully the owners will realise that their patch of dirt is no different top anyone elses patch of dirt and they can't sell at a premium. Or you could try some negotiation, like offereing a short or long settlement. If it a deceased estate then I doubt the family will want to sit on the property for too long so hopefully within a month or two you will have a chance of buying it at your price.

Cheers,
Luke

Hi Raj,

If you want to convert the house to units then you will have to get approval from council, which will probably mean getting a DA and then after work has finished obtaining a occupation certificate which allows people to live in the units.

You don't necessarily need seperate electricity meters, but it would not be possible to have the tenants pay for their electricity without them. To get seperate meters installed in an existing house would probably mean you will need to rewire the house.

Similar thing is for seperate water meters- if you want seperate water meters you might need to replumb the house, although you would need to do quite a bit of plumbing work anyway if you were converting a house to several units (e.g. you would need new kitchens, bathrooms etc).

One thing to note is that Sydney Water does not allow more than one water meter on a property, so unless you are creating seperate titles, then you would need to install meters that you can read yourself to allow you to split the water usage between tenants (I am asssuming you are in Sydney based on your user ID).

Cheers,
Luke

I just think buying a proeprty to save tax is crazy- takes breaks are just the ciing on the cake for me.

Cheers,
Luke

Hi Freckle, just wondering if you live in Perth? The only thing bonkers is the mining economy there. With billion dollar projects being announced every second week, it would be a brave man to bet that it is going to end soon. My observation is that when BHP plan on spending $40 billion in the next ten years in iron ore expansion projects and go ahead and build a huge new skyscraper in the Perth CBD to house their workers, they dont think the boom is ending any time soon. And then you can add the mountains of Rio Tinto and FMG projects in the pipeline.

I have more faith in the financial forcecasts of the BHP and Rio Tinto executive team than those of the average person off the street, so my opinion is that the good times are here for a while yet.

Cheers,
Luke