. Are you eligible to receive the grant? To be eligible to receive the grant, the following criteria must be satisfied:You and your spouse/partner must not have received a grant in any State or Territory of Australia. You and your spouse/partner must not have owned residential property, either jointly, separately or with some other person prior to…[Read more]

I managed to squeeze five rooms into my place and that extra $120 a week makes it worth it for me.  I wouldn't think it was worth the effort for just 4 people.Cheers

One idea might be to purchase some income based managed funds using a LOC and/or margin loan.  The excess funds can be used to support the property shortfall.If you need more info please email me.I am not selling anything here or providing financial advice.

Rodeo 98 wrote:
Hi Greenjoy ,Have you tried ASAP Financial Services ? I have used them and found them ok

Rolf Latham at ASAP is one of the best brokers I know.  If you contact him tell him I said G'day.

birddog01 wrote:
Anyone know any good share market forums?

I use http://www.invested.com.au

twyfordcc wrote:
Hi Guys,Do you think it's better to buy a first home now (Sydney), save rent, & use the FHOG now given the current flat (buyers) market or purchase positively geared investment property first and miss out on FHOG? My gut feeling is too hold off , till election , see if FHOG is doubled, and in the meantime explore how to build…[Read more]

kenzel wrote:
"One of my properties has a $260K loan IO – I have parked $260K in an offset account and make no monthly repayments whilst it is in there." – In this case why wouldn't you by the property outright instead of taking out the loan? I think I'm getting a head spin from all this – think I'll lay off posting again for a couple of weeks…[Read more]

They sell with a higher yield for a reason.  Because they are not attractive investments and they need to sweeten the deal somewhat.I wouldn't buy one.  Look for a house and land deal or a unit with something special.  View, location etc.

You should be using the $15000 on the PPOR.  It will reduce your LMI considerably.Then you can do the 100% borrowing on the IP and deduct all those ugly fees.If you don't have enough equity yet then there is no problem with holding off a little while.The rule of thumb is that you don't use any of your own cash for investing whilst you have…[Read more]

1.  Goal setting.  What do you need to own/control to get to where you want to be.2.  A financial snapshot of where you are now.  What can you borrow now to get started?3.  Short term goals – what do you want to have done by end this year??  By end 2008??  By end 2012??Remember the goal is not to just buy IPs and see where you end up….  Many pe…[Read more]

kenzel wrote:
Thanks GuysOpportunity…- I think you're right about only being able to claim back interest that you paid only if the proprty is rented out (income producing). Either way I'm leaning towards a PI loan so that I'll own a property outright in a shorter period and once I have that I'll use the equity and IO loan for purchase of a…[Read more]

blueheeler wrote:
Quote me if I'm wrong about the difference between shares and property, The difference are, risk and value. You can add value to property with a paint job or reno, but u cant with shares. You have control over your property, someone else has control with your shares. What happens when your shares crash? The word "[Read more]

That's all true enough – as long as you don't occupy this property you will still be entitled to the grant when you duy buy your first home.

You going to maintain it for the students too?What about the tickets that come to the owner?  Who are you going to send them onto?I reckon you are going to make life difficult for yourself.  You are in the business of IPs not car rental!Good luck!

philos3rd wrote:
It is highly recommended, as Simon said, to pay Interest Only, rather than P&I on your loan. Then setup an offset account which is linked to your loan – once you put extra savings and monies here, then you will immediately reduce the interest you pay on the loan. The advantage is that, when you wish to purchase an investment…[Read more]

Things are'nt as black and white as this.Many property investors also have a share portfolio and vice versa.  In fact most professional investors would have more than just one sector covered.Of all major crashes in history – all have recovered to new highs.  Whilst a CRASH is a scary word a canny investor reads it as OPPORTUNITY.  A well ma…[Read more]

You don't declare anything when you start.  Just start declaring the income and claiming the expenses in the tax return that covers the year it is rented out.You claim all your interest regardless of the type of loan.  You cannot claim the Principal amount on a P&I loan.You will get a depreciation schedule done and that will give you a figure t…[Read more]

MY is one of the good guys in an industry full of cowboys.Cheers,

Sorry Cath but you cannot advertise for funds here.  Even this post is a veiled ad and will be removed later on.However don't take this as being negative and we would love to see you posting on a regular basis.Cheers,

You really need to send a detailed email off to a broker who does this sort of thing.  there are a couple of good ones on this forum who have some commercial lending experience.  Not me of course – I am a ratbag!These deals are not that standard and each situation needs to be shopped around by someone with access to a number of different l…[Read more]