Hi Terry, nice point abput the marriage thing. Problem is there would then be two contracts required for you, assuming you were the wife, to have an equitable interest. Contract number one must have been your husband’s contract to purchase his equitable interest in the land. Contract number two is a marriage contract, or legal de facto…[Read more]

Terry, as I understand things, if you have an equitable interest in the land, you must have had a contract to prove this. If so, you are liable for stamp duty. which is the point I am trying to make. You cannot have an interest in land without it being contractual, and if so stamp duty will be levied on that contract.
You are correct about the…[Read more]

Richard, thanks for the info.
mancityfan

Richard, sorry forgot to ask. If you are never the intended owner of the property, and you are exempt from stamp duty as a result, however, you have negotiated the sale of the property to another party, then are you not in breach of the Real Estate laws regarding licensing.
I understand that if you are in the business of negotiating the sale of…[Read more]

Richard, thanks for your comments. Can you please clarify for me…”You then go and find someone who wants to buy the property. You then get them to sign a constract of sale with the original vendor.” at what price is this contract written?
Is it written at the original price PLUS your option fee? Or, is it written at the strike price of the…[Read more]

Interesting comment about not owning the property. Stamp duty is paid on the contract value, not the ownership of the property. The Stamp Duties Office will charge you stamp duty on the value of the contract. If you have done multiple deals in this way and not paid any stamp duty you may want to seek some legal advice before doing any more.
Happy…[Read more]

Why do people buy investment properties? If the motivation is simply tax deductions, then perhaps they should look at alternative investments. If, on the other hand they buy for the long term, surely any short term negative loss would be well and truly offset over the long term by the end value of the property. Utilising P&I loans for 30 years…[Read more]