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Take last year's tax return, proof of employment (2 recent payslips), 100 points proof of identification (Drivers licence, credit card, medicare card, passport etc)
Generally speaking, as all of the work was done prior to renting the property out for the first time, it would most likely be 'capital works' as opposed to maintenance. As such, he would only get away with depreciating their cost not writing off major sums eg replace burnt out clothes dryer during the term of a tenancy.
Purchase costs must be capitalised (wiping out about half of your claim).
Then it becomes a case of how you then become liable for a proportion of the CGT on the eventual sale. How do you take into account other items such as utilities?
Heating isn't the only issue in Melbourne, there are also some lovely 40 deg days as well. It may be worth considering installing 2 or 3 split system reverse cycle air conditioning units or a few window rattlers (lounge/dining and bedroom rooms) – depending upon your layout you may be able to get away with some shared cooling between the rooms or supplement it with some ceiling fans. If you make the main living area and the main bedroom comfortable then you will hear very few complaints (the tenants pay the running costs of the power, ensure that you service the units summer/winter).
You will need to check that you have adequate power as well to handle the additional load.
The required information is contained in the Building Code of Australia – finding the information may not be as simple as looking for 'fire separation of duplexes' as you will need to follow the process of building category, rise in storeys, form of construction etc.
There may be some state variations between requirements however these will generally be minimal (unless it is in a cyclone/bushfire/snow prone area).
Generally you will need to provide fire separation (most likely 120/120/120) which will extend from the sub-floor area through to the underside of the roof.
Copies of the code are available from the HIA, MBA, Govt Bookshop, Online, TAFE/Uni Bookshops and from specialist publishers such as Lexus Nexus (complete with update service).
To make your life simpler, it may pay to engage a building consultant to clarify the scope of works, prepare and submit plans to council, achieve the DA/CC etc.
If your parents are looking to move out into a unit in a few years, it may not be the most pertinent thing to pay off the loan quickly but rather put the additional money into an offset account (to be able to take the money as a deposit on the unit as well as to be able to claim the cost of interest on the rental property) – speak to your fin planner/accountant about the strategies that you may employ.
Do you intend living in the house or is it an investment? Are you going to be claiming the FHOB grant? Do your parents have the benefit of a fixed interest/lower interest rate loan?
The main thing is being able to have the address in a particular suburb at a slightly reduced price. If the median price of properties in the suburb increase so does yours – it will not be left behind and you will get close to the same amount of rent.
There are plenty of threads on this website. Also google Spiro Kladis – that's always intersting.
It will depend if you want an easy out – what you have highlighted won't give you any recourse. The building inspection will highlight the issues or potential issues so you will need to frame your 'out clause' to cover the unsatisfactory outcome of such an inspection eg: 'building defects not disclosed by the vendor or obvious to the purchaser and discovered in the course of a building inspection to be rectified by vendor prior to completion'.
Engage an agent, after all it will only cost you a couple of percentage points for the piece of mind that you won't be caught for unlicensed selling of real estate. If you are in the business of selling oops flipping, you should be able to do a deal with an agent.
Do the short owner builders course at TAFE (a couple of days) gives you a background in what is needed to project manage construction & trades works. How do you intend going about the work – owner builder or project home? Project home builders specialise in standard design on the block, getting approvals and getting it built – probably the easiest way to go for first timer.
Are you talking cheap and nasty vinyl flooring (loose laid DIY) or good quality 2.5-3mm stuff which requires professional installation?
Some questions come to mind – is he the strata manager or just one of the owners who is on the executive committee? A strata manager is neither obliged to own a unit nor live on the premises (they are licensed under the same legislation as real estate agents, auctioneers, business agents etc).
Do you have annual budgets for the sinking fund and the admin fund? Tenants do not pay body corporate fees, owner do.
Are the other owners pro-active or don't care about the building?
What else isn't the strata manager doing?
What is he doing poorly if at all?Contact VCAT for more specifics regarding your issues.
Your solicitor will probably have to wait about 2 weeks before they can issue a notice to complete. I hope you aren't hanging out for the funds.
A couple of questions to consider: if it is a single tenant with a 12 year lease, prescribed annual rent reviews, rent paid directly into your account – what does the management fee get paid for ie can you give the manager the boot? Is the tenant responsible for the fitout and maintenance of the fitout ie projectors, IT equipment, video/phone systems, tables, chairs etc? Does the rent include the GST or is it on top of the rent? Who is responsible for getting conferences arranged? Are there specific requirements for the upkeep of the premises ie painting, carpet, ceilings, air conditioning etc?
Tommi, are the footings the only item which failed inspection or did the owner get inspection for the framing, wet areas etc? If council continued inspections in the absence of a previous satisfactory inspection, they may be liable for passing the subsequent works and thereby accepting that the footings met the BCA requirements. What failed the inspection? was it depth, size, placement of reinforcement, location of reo, support, cleaning of foundation material etc? Did it require reinspection and was it undertaken (satisfactorily or unsatisfactorilly)?
Oops, my apologies, the Legalworks business was absorbed into Matthew Shaw & Assoc. (They are definitely still around).
There are 2 questions that you need to address: firstly -what is the zoning? Do you need to rezone it in order to live in the property or does the current zoning permit such a usage? Are there other uses within that zoning which will give you a better return on the premises eg commercial? Secondly, speak to an independent town planner with regards to the Basix requirements, gut feel is that you won't need to comply as it is an existing building.
Tommi, if it is NSW then the council's website (under development & planning) may be able to give you details of the DA/CC. It will be a good place to start.
