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Any representation that you make may be used against you unless you have some documentary evidence to back up anything you say eg: pest treatment certificates for say termites or borers or an occupancy certificate from council ie not work pointing back to yourselves. However many timbers show some signs of insect damage – it is a natural product so any activity would have occurred whilst the tree was growing not after the timber was installed in the house.
Many exclusions by the pest inspector are cover-all clauses and seek to limit the inspector's liability, the purchaser is trying to fill in the gaps. I would refer them to undertake a building inspection as they are the person best qualified to comment on the building.
Two schools of thought: 1: you paid $4500 for the ac unit and depreciate that over its life, declare the insurance payout as income and write off the old unit or 2: claim depreciation on the net cost of replacement and write off the old unit.
Likewise with the hws – if you paid $1500 after the rebate, is there really a difference between this rebate and a rebate that a purchaser of an IP might get on an off the plan purchase? ie you can't depreciate an item for more than it has cost.Yes, otherwise you have no idea who put the money into your account.
When they do the direct deposits either have 3 different bank accounts (a pain) or instruct them to put their name on the transfer so you can identify the payment (spin some story that you have several payments of that amount going into your account and you run the risk of crediting the wrong tenant).
Your other option is to ask your financier who should have those numbers on tap.
Often frontage is not an issue but you will need to refer to the Council's LEP to determine if there is a minimum lot size and a minimum frontage. This may vary throughout the municipality.
There are plenty of sites available eg Domain.com.au which will direct you to the home price guide. Other sites include whatpricemyhome.com.au etc – just google a few (they all get some details from you and must pass details on to local agents (which isn't all that bad, at least they know that you are looking).
Other sources include your local REA – get to know them and they will provide you copies of sales data from CMS, PIM, RP Data, MyRP etc. These services do have subscription fees (over $300pcm) so unless you are going to get alot of value out of these services it probably isn't too cost efficient to subscribe.
The median price is a skewed assessment of the market – skewed based on the last year's sales. That is, if there have been no new projects then the median will be much lower than price of newer units, if there has been alot of activity for new projects, then the median will be artificially high.
It is best to understand how the numbers work, analyse all of the sales yourself eg get all of the sales for 2 bedroom units, select all sales of units similar to the market that you want to assess, then determine the median (you may wish to weight the prices based on floor area, garage, quality, locational factors etc). By doing this you are then getting a better picture of the market segment you are considering not just a skewed view of all sales.
If I ever have a problem with a property manager, I escalate the issue to the licensee of the REA. They are responsible for the running of the agency. If they are unwilling/unable to assist, take your business elsewhere – even if it means going out of the area.
One condition of the FHBG is that you actually live in the premises for 6 months within the first 12 months of ownership (although if it is being built it may be difficult). Also, if the house is being knocked down then it may be better to buy it with a contract for construction already in place to recieve the increased grant for a new home. If on the other hand it is an investment property, you will not get the FHBG but you would still qualify for it on another house (provided that you don't live in this one).
Remember that SJ's comments are general and relate to the US market – bonds in NSW & other states must be lodged with the Dept of Fair Trading/Rental Bond Board. You should always screen your tenants sufficiently for your own situation.
Better still Brett, you lock in tomorrow's price (ie price at the time of settlement) today – why lock in today's price in a depressed market?
Have a chat with your solicitor about your actions on the caveat. Depending upon what your agreement with the parties states as to the % that you share any profit/loss will limit what the caveator could recieve.
Also approach the sale from a different angle – speak to the agent and sell the site subdivided with DA in place for the new houses (you may be dealing with the wrong agent or the agent may have hundreds of developers lined up looking for sites – you won't know unless you ask).
Once you have identified a suburb (and preferably a house with the contract in hand, so that you aren't wasting council's time) visit the town planner. It will pay to download a copy of the LEP and the zoning map for the suburb.
Google David Cameron – that is what it is does.
K, there are too many unknowns for anyone to put a guesstimate to your needs – you may get away with less than $2k if you already have a room with a graded floor/waste, good & easy underfloor access, easy access to water supply & sewer and reusing sink etc. On the other hand if you need to build a new laundry with new fixtures & fittings, no underfloor access, house built on rock etc it may cost you $15k or more.
Generally an agency agreement is done on an exclusive basis in order for them to procure the best tenant and to work in your best interests (would you compete for the sake of a couple of hundred dollars?). Interview a couple of property managers, find out how many properties that they have, the number of staff looking after those properties, how many vacant properties they have, how many similar vacant properties they have, how many they have in the block, the level of experience of the staff, where do you go if you don't get resolution of your issues with the property manager (ie who is their boss), what services do they provide to you, how do they choose their tenants etc.
Fees vary from state to state & property to property & the number of properties that you offer to them to manage. This is charged as a % of rent collected.
Get the property manager & tenant to find an alternative tenant & whether you get the current tenant to pay the costs of replacing her then becomes an easier decision.
Has the tenant stopped/reduced using the heater? Otherwise her bill will be higher again.
Generally offers pre-auction will require a S66W or similar to waive the cooling off period.
Just the marketing ploy to get everyone to buy buy buy whilst prices are low, interest rates are low, vacancy rates are low, unemployment figures are low. So obviously the only way is up.
It takes a little more research on the research to understand the fundamentals as to why everything is 'such a good buy' at present eg median house/unit prices have dropped ie there is no new supply hitting the market. This would suggest that it may be time to buy development sites, get the DA & prepare to build/sell not buy solely for capital growth (but do so if you do not want the development risk).
