That sounds good, however, if you have clay soils, then on-site infiltration through soakwells and pits become ineffective as the soil when wet becomes impervious and the water will not infiltrate away. I would suggest you spend some dosh upfront to get an engineer on board or consult the local government to get a better idea to avoid ending up…[Read more]

It depends what the local planning scheme stipulates and the cost of development over your return ie market demand. Townhouses generally fetch more than single bedroom apartments and can have a cheaper development cost and therefore a higher return. Plus older style apartment blocks that were built in the ’70s are unappealing so I wouldn’t be…[Read more]

If the builder offers the services, then I would take them up on it. Most of the time they don’t offer things like painting, landscaping, fencing etc so you have to sort those things yourself anyway. Like you eluded to – time is money, get things done in the least amount of time, instead of trying to pinch a few pennies.

Stop looking for ‘bargains’ as they don’t exist – instead, look at ways you can add value and invest for the long term, as that is where the real results exist.

Costs start from around $70,000 and yes it needs approval and you will technically only be able to use it for family members associated with the main dwelling – ie your granny.

Hi Karen, shame it didn’t work out, but yes certainly you can contact me – I’m in WA.

I’m not sure why you think that once your home is paid off it will only be then an asset? Is this because it is no longer subject to loan repayments? You will still have expenses without any income – hence the liability label. But saying that, you do need to live somewhere. However in the meantime the interest on you repayments and expenses are…[Read more]

Not sure where you are located, but I should make sure that you are aware this is for Western Australia – it may be different in other states.

You might be able to reduce that timeframe by a few months, but I like to play it safe and not risk your investment unnecessarily, so I always build in a contingency timeframe to allow for any delays and if it happens earlier – bonus!

The reason it takes so long is due to the number of government agencies involved and the sequential nature of the…[Read more]

Try thinking of your home as a liability as opposed to an asset.

In WA, you can always obtain a retrospective approval, I’m sure this is the case for other states.

Each Council is different when it comes to the need for various types of approvals – always best to check first and comply.

Refer to 6.5.3 A3.2, this states that car parking spaces be in accordance with AS2890.1 (Australian Standards for design of car parking and the like).

I can tell you that the minimum internal dimensions are 5.4m x 5.4m for a double garage.

If the ‘Acceptable Development’ provisions don’t result in the best outcome, go for the ‘Performance…[Read more]

Covenants do not control land use in Australia – the planning system does.

Generally covenants are made by the original subdivider because they would like a certain type of development outcome and they try to get around the planning system. This helps their marketing because they can say to prospective purchases that all future development has to…[Read more]

I’m in for the Perth gig

There are no guarantees in life. Medina is one of the worst suburbs in Perth and if you paid over the top because you wanted to cash in on the boom like everyone else and reap the benefits but paid too much in the process, well then you have no choice but to accept the consequences. Having said that, I’m 100% sure that if the people who bought…[Read more]

Yes all very good stuff thanks T!

So what you are saying is to limit directors exposure to guarantee as this will avoid surplus capacity being chewed up unnecessarily – like having your loans cross collateralised.

In regards to developing property with others who are not family (ie syndicate style), could you have your beneficiaries as directors in the company acting as trustee…[Read more]

I would have thought that limiting the directors (whether the number of them or their ‘calibre of credit’) could mean that the financial institution will refuse to accept the guarantor and therefore refusing to give finance?

Thanks again for your informative response Terry. In regards to your first paragraph – if the trustee is a company and gets sued – is the director personally liable and his/her assets? Or is liability limited to company owned assets only?

In regard to second paragraph, first point – can you explain what a guarantee is? I saw a thread about…[Read more]

Thanks guys, appreciate the response. So just to confirm – this would apply to Unit Trusts as well? And I guess if the trustee was a company, that company should also be created prior to making an offer?

Can the Unit Trust allocated units be easily transferred amongst the unit holders after it has been setup?