I find having an advertised "open time" for people to come and look at the place on the weekend is a great help. Makes it easier for them than making an appointment with the RE agent.

My understanding of trusts is that they are useful for disbursing profits but can't be used to disburse losses – and as such would not be useful to you in this situation, even if the ATO would regard it kindly which I rather doubt.

I think P2 would need to pay 50% of the market rent to P1. Also P2 would not be entitled to any tax deductions as it is a PPR for P2.

White Knight is a brand designed for this, you need three parts (clean/prime/paint) I think. They have various colours. If you don't like it or it wears badly you could retile down the track. We did it for a kitchen splashback and it was ok for that job.

You could try out option 3, for the reasons Michael gave, and if it turned out too tight, switch to option 2 which is a very comfortable option but with less properties growing for you at this point in time.

They do say it will keep falling this year, maybe 5%. So it might be good to buy end of the year… however the negative forecasts may also mean there are less buyers out there – so may be some bargains around! Personally I would start looking once you have the deposit, look at a lot of places and get a good idea of value and if a bargain comes up…[Read more]

Try Margaret Lomas, she focuses on positive cash flow properties.

My brother did a truckdriving course, then moved to Newman (mining town) and got a job with a labour hire agency. It would be good if you could get a truckdriving license. Or ring some labour hire agencies to see what they can offer. It can take a while to get "in" to mining – they are good jobs.

If you can afford the costs, as well as your living costs and your other property, I would do it. If you hold it long term then even if it goes down for a couple of years it'll come back up and a few years after that you'll be laughing – while those who are worried about buying still haven't bought. Obviously do your research and try to buy in a…[Read more]

The catch that worries me, is if the hotel goes broke, you are left with a room in a building with no services worth very little. I'm not sure if there are other issues.

We got contractors to polish the concrete in our 1970s house. It came up quite well. They wet polished it so less dust but more splashing – have to scrub the walls afterwards and it's best if the skirting boards are up while they do it. We have a water based sealant on it. They took it down 5mm or so and you can see the aggregate (rocks) in it.…[Read more]