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There is a company in Qld that does removal homes, I have seen the prices on the Queenslanders, note there are several styles of 'Queenslanders" , and the really nice high set with all round verandah type was 150000.00 'plonked' on site. Drake, I think they were called, you could google it and see what comes up. C
I agree with Jamie M, Dark colours make spaces appear smaller. I'd knock the arch out but also lime wash or paint that brick wall, it's oppressive. C
Hi, my name is Cathy. I live in rural SA on 9 acres of sand which I have spent the last 10 years trying to turn into a replica tropical and native scrubland retreat from the world. I am now 50 and my partner is 56. We had no intention of relocating ever again but I had been getting interested in investing but have never considered us to be in a position to do so. Always thought you had to have bucket loads of money to do it. This site and other investigation has opened my eyes to so much, I wish I had known about this stuff when I was younger, why aren't kids tought stuff like this at school, more use than some of the crap they teach! Anyway, last year things in our little world turned a bit pear shaped. My partner was diagnosed with prostrate cancer. Me, being the stable, calm, rational being that I am, decided that that was it! We were heading back to Qld. 99% of his family are there and half of mine is as well. Working with a financial advisor I found on the Gold Coast, I followed his advice and we changed our home loan from St G to WestP and extracted as much equity as they would give us to put in an at call account. So half the mortgage is interest only, half is variable and 76k went into the at call. Beautiful, we both had an income although combined was only about 60k max. At least we could do something, then just to add spice to life G hurt himself at work just before he was due to have the op ofr the prostate cancer. That meant that there was NO money from work or workcover for him.
Then, my brother got diagnosed with non hodgkins lymphoma and the week my mum and I were going up to see him was admitted to hospital and put on life support. I took early leave for shutdown from my job which was cleaning at the local abbatoir, however the current contractor had lost the contract and after shutdown the new contractor would take over. No problem with that, we all had our jobs they said. So off I toddled to see bro, (what a roller coaster that was! we were told on arrival that they were going to pull the plug on him after a few days. They were just waiting to see if he picked up a bit. Then at the family conf to let us know when they would do the deed, behold, a different doc, different story. Trying pumped him full of steroids they said, see if he improves the nest few days! Well blow me down, he did.)
Well, duty done I went home. But HO!, after 5 years of dedicated service I find myself out of a job. The Wily site manager had pulled a swifty on me and didn't re employ me. (I should have seen it coming, I was 1. quite open in my opinion of his ineptness and 2. I was the union delegate.)
So now we have no income from me but because workcover started paying as soon as the new contractor took over (because G couldn't get to a site operated by the former contractor) we have one amount that only just covers the mortgage.
I am now on newstart but doing a Diploma of Business Accounting online so I also get some money.My problem is, now we are both no longer 'employed' an only bringing in about 680 per week are my grand plans out the window. I had planned on using the at call money combined with the proceeds from selling off all our assets (cars, cars, cars, cars, cars, cars, and some other things) to give us the money to buy a business, something that had accom attached. Took a real fancy to a little hotel motel in the Gold Coast Hinterland. Were also planning to sell our place here and use the money for a deposit on an investment or future retirement home for us. Now, I think that it is very unlikely we would be able to borrow any money for the home, is this the case? Or is there still hope we can do something?
Any advice or assistance from you finance geniouses out there would be gratefully received.
PS. Gary's op was first thought to be a success, 8 hours it took. The surgeon said he'd never had one so difficult. The cancer was up under the pelvic bone and very vigorous. Luckily it hadn't got to the seminal glands but was not far off. However, the last test found his psa was up again so they think they missed a tiny bit and it has grown enough to register. So not only has he got a posible death sentance hanging over his head, he still cannot use his arm properly and has gone from a person that used to <moderator: delete language> lived in his workshop (mechanic by trade) to one that doesn't get off the lounge! I would hate to be in his head. Mine is bad enough!!!!
Thanks in advance C
Usually I just read the muddle of good, bad or just plain confusing conversations that go on here, but this eeejit really got me!!
Falling house prices good??? Do you own a home? tell that to the poor sap that just got a loan of 500k for their new pride and joy valued at 560k, lucky them they had skrimped for ever to get the deposit, mum and dad had put some in to help them get their first home. The first home grant was a bonus but the price of the house was probably jacked up by that much anyway. They can just get by if they are reeeealy careful with the massive mortgage, so long as they don't have any bad luck and they both keep their 6 jobs each. But wait! 2 years later and things start to tip a little sideways, the economy is getting rough, they're fine though. They have been able to make extra little payments every now and then. Ooops, she is pregnant. Time to do up a nursery. Let's see the bank and extend the mortgage to pay for the reno. What! Oh no! house price have fallen and their house is only valued at 490k now. How can that be? they ask. Well, the housing market was over inflated and with the downturn in the economy the housing market has re adjusted to somewhere near where it should have been but sorry, you owe more than your house is worth. But it's ok, falling house prices are a good thing!
1. CGT of 20% on PPOR if sold under 10 years..with exemptions for legit reasons. Don't make me laugh! Firstly to set up yet ANOTHER government department to collect, police etc this would cost us a bucket load and for what, anyone with half a brain would do what we all do best…Lie through their teeth!
2 and 3 Land tax, you big hearted darling! so on top of all the expenses associated with maintaining a home, the mortgage payments, the rates, insurances, etc, and then trying to find the money for food, school fees, clothes, fuel, medical bills, so on and so forth, you want to slug the poor bugger who thought that by owning his own home he was providing security for his family another piddling little 1.5% . Per year?! Very generous of you to allow pensioners and low income earners to accrue this until selling their house. Leave it long enough and they won't get anything when they do sell it! And when they do you added DEATH DUTIES! so not only do they cough up all that luvly lolly to the government but their kids have to add to the coffers as well! well done. Oh sorry, that's right only on estates worth over 1mill. Why discriminate? I'm sure thoe poor sods who busted their chops to pay for their homes that are a little higher up the value chain will no doubt appreciate the fact that all the effort they put in to provide for the future generations will just have cost them a whacking great bill. Why do you think most the great English Estates are pretty much bancrupt after having had to be successively chopped up into smaller and smaller parcels till they are nothing more than some decaying relic the family can't afford to maintain,(if they managed to keep it), the original means of income, namely the land, gone. I can just hear all the Aussie farmers now. Did you think about them when you dreamed this up? The next generation saddled with a massive bill before they even get started just because the dirt they are trying to eke an existence out of is valued by some moron in a suit to be worth so much. You can't eat dirt sunshine. All this will mean is that the small cocky will fade into oblivion and the multinational will rule, and by the way, a huge part of our agricultural land isn't owned by australians anymore anyway. So when the Chinese, Brazilians and other overseas corporations own ALL of our agricultural land you will have lost your death duty revenue totally.
4 the only good idea you had
5. So, you want the poor old soul to flog off their home and if there was anything left after you have ripped the accrued land tax bill off them, you want them to have to move in with the 'lations or even some random young couple, (i'm sure they'll be rapt with that idea!) Aah yes the paltry balance left over from the house, that will pay the lovely couple from number 5 some rent, tax free too, that 'll be nice. For how long? Granny might have another ten years of good living to do yet. And they'll get another 5k for the good deed of providing her with a room, why? they're getting rent income tax free. Granny will need it more than them! What is wrong with single occupancy? we spend years just praying for the day the damn kids move out, what makes you think we want to move in with THEM?
6. don't know what NG is but so far 99% of your ideas are up the creek so why wouldn't this one be.
7. 20% GST, why? Increase the tax free threshold to 40k and then increase welfare! as much as I'd like to earn 40k tax free it'll never happen. You propose the governmet will fund the increased welfare payments from the 10% increase in GST do you? The largest proportion of wage earners in this country would most likely come in under the 40k income bracket. This is my view not a figure from any journal, statistic blah blah. The supposed average wage the statisticians like to spruke of something like 600 per week is a myth to the average Joe. I thought I was doing really well when I got up to 36k then life did it's usual little burp and it went back down to nearer the high 20's. What was that? get a different job? country town sunshine, not much scope here! even less if you not male!
8. just what we need, another LAW. who is going to police that one? and what a can of worms you open there. If you make a law to restrict rent increases to a certain percentage then why not do the same to supermarkets prices, fuel prices, clothing mark ups. Anything that has supply and demand fluctuations? Lets bang in another law to stop someone from making a buck! why not make them all justify their markups. Make them account for every cent and if they make over a certain percentage in profit, let's make them drop the price!!!
9. a 3% reduction in PAYG would not be enough to make me stay in a bad relationship. What about defacto or same sex relationships, do they qualify? Again, how do you check that people are not lying? What is so good about staying married? why does that need a reward? that one is about as good as paying girls to have babies!
10. define permanent. The deceased's relatives get it? that's the only way you will know when permanent is up. Got a HECS debt have you? I'd rather they came back and paid the damn thing off, that's government money. Government money is OUR money! I assume you are expecting that they will come back and work, not go on the dole or be a life time student!Hmmmmm
