Hi Milo,

Are your girlfriend and her Mum both going on the certificate of title as joint borrowers or tenants in common?

It’s easier if the answer is no. Your girlfriends Mum will need to provide a statutory declaration saying she is gifting the $100K towards the purchase, then providing your girlfriends record is clean she will have heaps of…[Read more]

The US banks also have a nifty little system whereby if someone is silly enough to default on their repayments owing say $50,000 on a $300,000 property guess what the banks asking price is – $50,000!! And there’s nothing the owner can do about it, crazy.

Their defense is that if the owner was silly enough not to try to sell the property for more…[Read more]

I wish for the mighty lions to get Vossie back and kick more Collingwood butt … [}]

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Mel
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Hi,

I have a similar scenario so I’ll give this a go but really you need an accountant to verify this. I think it depends more on the trust structure – is it a unit trust, in which case don’t do it, or is it a discretionary trust with several beneficiaries in which case it may be okay, because at the end of the day the bank trying to get money…[Read more]

Know some people who’ve done it and they said excellent for beginners, probably a bit self-evident for experienced investors but you always learn something.

Hope that helps.

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Mel
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26/ Have your finances in place before you sign the dotted line

and

27/ Never have all your property tied up with one lender, shop around or better yet have a broker shop around for you

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Mel
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I’d always believed that the Chinese lucky numbers were 2,6 & 8 with 2 representing you, 6 representing road and 8 representing prosperity, hence the combination representing your road to prosperity. I am part chinese but learnt this off an avid English horse race enthusiast who’d spent time in Hong Kong ….

Four is actually very good at the…[Read more]

Hi,

CBA only use 70% of rental income towards your servicing model, whereas many other lenders like Macquarie will take 80% of the rental income they have security over PLUS 100% of any other rental income you have from other IP’s and are often better for investors. Having said that CBA are quite generous in the portion of the net pay which they…[Read more]

Hi,

One question – was the CBA max amount including any additional rental income to service the new debt, and if so how much?

Being a broker and knowing how many options there are to structure finances in cases like yours I cannot stress how important I think it would be for you to see both your accountant and your mortgage broker before…[Read more]

Many RE Agents appear primarily concerned with covering their commission fees, which is around 3% of the purchase price, so I’ve found offering at least that much when the contract goes unconditional satisfies most agents. The RE Agent holds the deposit in a trust fund which the vendor can’t touch and takes out their commission portion on…[Read more]

I think you’re right Terry, I heard that if you intend to complete construction of an investment property within two years you are able to claim all of the loan interest in the meantime. If you don’t complete construction though you do have to pay it all back.

Again – accountant check needed.

Good luck!

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Mel
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Hi,

Yes you can proceed with Tennants in Common but as a broker I don’t know any lender who would accept 25% of one duplex as security towards any other investing, and because it doesn’t appear that you’ll be receiving any income benefits from it in the form of rent, your serviceability for other loans is not improved either.

I really believe…[Read more]

One in 80 individuals sounds about right – about 5 years ago it was 1% of all Australian households had a net worth of over $1M and given the growth in property values since then this sounds right. If only I’d had the sense to buy property back then I’d be closer to being on that side of the line.

I thought that Mr Gates was only giving his…[Read more]

Hi,

I think Elves is on the right track – you have 16% equity in the property already and if the rental income can cover the debt on the remaining $250K then you can probably do it.

First thing I’d do is go to local real estate agents and ask them what kind of rent you could expect to receive pre & post a cosmetic makeover, and then get a broker…[Read more]

Love a good themepark but with the other two popping in and out of receivership over the last 10+ years can’t really see it …. although I’d be the first one through the gate if it did!

I have family living in Yatala and they bought several land parcels between there and the Gold Coast in 1985 and have watched it’s value go through the roof.…[Read more]

Hi Tony,

Equity is very powerful because it is classed as ‘genuine savings’ therefore gives you access to the best and cheapest loans around.

Be aware though that constantly pulling out equity to fund ‘lifestyle’ expenses eg holidays and expensive toys is a bit of a mugs game as you’ll pay a lot more back in interest over the long term, and…[Read more]

Hi Alex,

Try Remax at Annerley – Melinda Burns is their property manager, contactable on 3373 0023. They are a very professional outfit and have a long term and growing alliance with our company and they’ve been great to work with.

Tell them I sent you!

Cheers,

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Mel
[email protected]

Hi Dr Frank,

As I understand, the risks are basically the same as most other lenders in that if the borrowers cannot repay the loan then the bank can repossess the property and sell it within three months at whatever the market is willing to pay. This tends to bite on the high end of the residential and commercial property markets where the no.…[Read more]

Hi,

I always like Simon Macks suggestions, but I think this one is particularly good for a number of reasons:

a) the apartment isn’t a cash cow but seems to be located in the right spot for you, and more importantly

b) any funds you draw against your IP loan for the purpose of buying a PPOR cannot be classed as part of your investment loan,…[Read more]

Hi Daniel,

Yes you probably can by either:
a) refinancing your current place, drawing out the equity and using that to establish a new mortgage over a investment property, or
b) cross-securitising against your mortgage.

Option (b) is probably cheaper short term, but more inflexible and possibly not cheaper long term but it is the way that many…[Read more]