Hi Robo,

There are 2 ways you can get a stencilled driveway.

The first way is they put a stencil over the wet concrete and sprinkle on colour pigment mixed with cement. This mixture combines with the wet concrete to form a 3-4 mm layer of coloured concrete on the surface. When the concrete has partially set the stencil is ripped up and a leaf blower is used to blow off the cement debris. You’re right Robo you have to seal the job every 2 years or the surface will erode away.

The 2nd way is to have the driveway done as per usual and then later it is sprayed with an acrylic basecoat, allowed to dry, then a stencil is placed over this and a new colour is applied. The stencil is then removed. This finishing technique doesn’t need sealing every 2 years although I have noticed on old jobs that it tends to delaminate from the concrete surface on occasions.

Sheesh that’s what I call negative geared! I hope she’s got some great capital growth potential kaus……

I like jparrie’s idea.

At this time in the property cycle I would sit it out for a while. You’ve got to find a way of inducing your capital gains because the market probably wont give it to you in the immediate future.

IMHO because of the large cash reserve you have I would look at developing something in the not too distant future.

Gotta say commercial props can have great yields. My portfolio consists of residential and my brother is mainly commercial. He’s always bragging about how much better his commercial stuff is over residential UNTIL his biggest commercial property became vacant (for 6 months). It’s tenanted now but it sure put a drain on cash flow and his family’s tranquillity for a long time.
Also, the CG’s long-term haven’t been as good as residential.

IMHO if you have a low S.A.N.F. you’re best with residential over the long haul.

Doesn’t the 2.5 % figure equate to 40 years worth of depreciation?

Just for general knowledge, Trees very close to houses with highly reactive soils (large clay content) cause drying out of the sub soil and shrinkage of sub soil. This can cause a corner of an external wall to subside slightly during periods of dry weather. This will crack brickwork as well.
Older homes don’t have the required depth of footing so are more prone to the effect of drying reactive soils.
Newer homes have to have their building site sub soil analysed and the results determine the type and depth of footings required to overcome this problem. Doesn’t always work though!

Some parts of the inner west of Sydney have such reactive soils that people have installed sprinkler systems under their houses to control the moisture content of their sub soils!!

And this is how the boom ended last time. Stories of people trying to get out of their purchase contracts etc. Next will be stories about families out on the streets because they cant meet their mortgage repayments, price corrections / stagnation in certain areas etc and on it goes……..

Hi celivia,

I bought a property some time ago with 2 vertical cracks in 2 separate external walls. The cracks haven’t opened up any further (2mm) since purchase. The building report said that it was common in the area due to high clay content in the soil (expanding and contracting due to the weather). A builder buddy said that they normally run a diamond saw up the crack and fill it with a flexible joint compound to let it open and close as needed. I also noted a lot of new houses will long external walls are now being built with these expansion joints installed from new.
I might just add this house was fully refurbished when I purchased it (excellent dep schedule) and has never been vacant. The cracks in the 2 walls kept a lot of other buyers away!
Don’t let this scare you off! No doubt others have walked away. If I were you I’d get an engineers report done and if ok push for a sizeable reduction in price (as I did).