Cabo,

If you are considering increasing your current loan to 95% … I have a couple of questions:

1/ Is this loan over your primary place of residence at a managable level?
2/ Do you have sufficient equity in the first investment property to finance the second?

The first thing is to consider is the state of the economy and the state of your…[Read more]

I've just started reading his book Co-written with Donald Trump … 'Why we want you to be rich!'

Lo Doc and especially No Doc loans are harder to get since the sub prime crisis and this will continue to get tighter.  With any loan you must be able to demonstrate that you are capable to support the loan required.  The broker needs to be, as duty of care', confident that you can repay the loan even if he/she doesn't need to supply full income d…[Read more]

Robert is an internationally recognised best seller.  That's one sign that he does his research and gets it right.  He also partners with many other top guru's and writers in a range of his books.  They are all a good buy!

Heaps of emotional hype and pitching … etc etc etc … not unlike Empowernet and their REM Real Estate Mastery course.  Nothing you can't get by reading a good book or two or three.

Bank loans are definitely more attractive than most Non-Bank loans at the moment.  Although, First Mac are about to release an 8.77% fully flexible variable loan into the market.  As the exit costs are usually higher with most Non-Bank loans, you need to be certain of your intentions of the loan over the reasonable term (first 4 years) to b…[Read more]

Somewhereoverthere,You mentioned the income for last years tax return, but what is the income for the previous year?  You would be required to provide two years tax returns to be eligible for a sole trader loan with tax returns that are suitable for serviceability.  It appears that the previous year could be lower than the other.  The mortgage in…[Read more]

Spot on forecast Chris White!!!!

People, sorry for the delay … been busy helping my clients! I wasn't implying that tax cuts would reduce interest rates … they wont.  Nor was I implying they will directly slow the economy down …. they are likely to have some upward pressure on inflation.  This can't be avoided.The point is the unemployment figures and the massive effect t…[Read more]

Soloinvestor,It's called 'Arms-Length' ruling!!!  Placing it in a trust structure would be a good idea to consider for other reasons too … speak to a good property investment privi accountant.

Get a very good finance broker and make sure you have pre-approved finance.  Meaning … everything as submitted without and surprises … finance will go thru fine.  An independant valuation ASAP would be advised to make sure there are no hidden traps there.  You broker should be able to go thru these and any other concerns or considerations wi…[Read more]

There are regulations around foreclosures being 'fire sales' at bargain prices …. I agree they are very hard to find as the banks have responsibilites to sell the properties at as close to market value as possible or end up in court!A lot of these ideas of buying thru foreclosures comes form the US …. the Australian economy is not the US…[Read more]

Linar,You simply can not 'assume' anything these days anymore based on the past.  The past will only aid in your research, not govern the outcome.  Especially with rapidly increasing fuel costs, water shortages, rising costs of materials … everything fueling inflation …. that prices will continue to double at the same rate that it has in the p…[Read more]

Neil,As long as you are passionate about your career in finance and are proactive …. you will do fine in the finance industry in any state of economy…. your business is what you make it.  I've been in finance for 8 years now and my business has grow well more than double over the past 12 months not shrunk as many would expect…. so don't pay…[Read more]

It gets a bit old when staff/ contractors come on the site just to spruike their company …. if you're in business and your proud of who you are and what you do and offer … what's wrong with using a signature????It's worked for you for quite a while right,  Richard??   And might I add just by giving unbiased healthy tips and experience?It's hu…[Read more]

It's always a case of doing your homework …. Not all agents are crooks … there are some very good RE Agents around.  Their job is to sell properties for the highest possible price given the market conditions.A valuation will always give you an accurate price (usually with in 10% each way)  but remember a R E Agent usually on gives an a…[Read more]

The fine line between profit and loss is …… attitude plus research, research, research.  As I dont know the dimensions and layout of the block … I cant tell you how much the road woudl cost and even if a road is required, but it's usually very difficult to cut 8 blocks out without at least two frontages … without an access road built.  $…[Read more]

God,That's exactly my point …. that's why it's a delicate balance …. short of writing an essay here!!!The reason it is less likely for rate rises is because fo two reasons ….1/  If you fix one problem you worsen another …. unemployemnt figures and you can weaken the economy severely,2/  Interest rates is not the only way to slow the e…[Read more]

The problem wioth Perth is that the last boom was artificially boosted by the mining boom and caused many lower priced homes to heavily inflate off the back of high end property sales.  This bubble is now bursting.I have a close friend in the same predicament down by Rockingham …. been trying to sell his house for over 12 months now.

Rudy,Unless privacy laws have changed …. you can go to the council and they will usually give you the contact number for the owners and you can ask them.  I did this with a Property I was interested to buy in Adelaide ( I now live in Brisbane) and had no problems at all.