While there are ways to minimise your tax obligations that you should discuss with your accountant, this is unfortunately not one of them in Australia. Well at least not in the way Robert Kiyosaki talks about in his books. That is specifically an american tax rule. Here you have capital gains tax.At least that's my understanding on it. If someone…[Read more]

Here’s a link to Dymocks – I’m sure you could buy it online, or you could take the details (ISBN, etc) to your local bookstore and educate them.

http://www.dymocks.com.au/ProductDetails/ProductDetail.aspx?R=0731405773&Producode=0731405773

I do find it interesting that they’ve got the photo for 0 to 130 properties by mistake…

Cheers,

Craig.

I think buying the house before they get foreclosed can save their credit rating and possibly save them from bankruptcy. Therefore they can go out and buy another property in the next couple of years, possibly even save their business.

Sure beats twiddling their thumbs whining about the world having it in for them. Obviously there’s a line that…[Read more]

I’d recommend you sell at least one of them using a creative strategy like vendor finance, or a second mortgage carry back.

Selling a property is NOT a sin. Even selling at a loss is sometimes worthwhile. If you were running a business and it was going broke ’cause you didn’t have any cash-FLOW, you’d cut costs to increase cashflow. The same is…[Read more]

For a wrap, while the settlement is several years down the track, there is still an exchange of purchase contracts. This is the transaction that attracts stamp duty, not the settlement. Each state has it’s own rules about exactly when the stamp duty is payable, but they all revolve around exchange of contracts. You can pretty much assume you’ll…[Read more]

Hi foxyac,

My take on what the investor / Joint Venture partner / etc would want out of the deal depends on the deal and the investor. I think most look at the following factors (not necessarily in this order):

1. how much it costs to get in
2. how much they profit (either dollar amount or relative to their cost to get in – also known as COCR or…[Read more]

I’d say 250,000 is fine, even if there are some others in the area.

I know some people who do them now and then, and also know some who do more than one or two per month as their main business.

Saying you don’t start a business offering finance must really confuse banks. It doesn’t matter how your business makes it’s money – a business is about…[Read more]

You definitely have the right drive to succeed, so you’ll get there.

I can totally understand your frustration, though – it all seems pretty frustrating sometimes.

One thing you may find useful is to drive, bike or walk around the area you live to see if you can see obvious signs of investment. If you can (say a new development, etc), just…[Read more]

I just had another one recommended: http://www.jajah.com.

They use the same technology, but you use a normal phone. You register up to 3 phone numbers to call from, then you log in to their web site and start the call from there. It rings your phone and the person you’re calling, connecting the two together.

If you’re both registered the call is free,…[Read more]

Commercial property is more driven by rental yield than anything else, especially since most of your running costs are covered by the tentant as well.

If you can increase the rental return, you’ll increase the value and therefore equity in the process.

Ideas could include splitting one larger shop into 2 smaller shops with higher per metre rent;…[Read more]

I worked for a company in NZ who used skype for everything. Their head office was in NY, so all their communication was using Skype. It was pretty impressive.

I also personally use instant messaging with a microphone when my wife goes to NZ to visit family. Although we haven’t been able to convince the rest of the family to use it yet, we’re…[Read more]

First of all, my condolensces on the loss of your grandfather. While it is fortunate for you that he was able to leave you something as an inheritance, it’s still not the same as him being there to share it, is it.

As to the options, just as a different angle, how would this look?

1.240k into PPOR. Putting it all in, then redrawing 10k for…[Read more]

Hi FF,

You ask if 10.4% is a “safe” return.

When you calculate your return, the 10.4% “rule” is a great place to start, but you really need to follow that up by breaking it down to specific costs. One of the costs needs to be the interest you pay on the property.

When people say the “create room for interest rate changes”, they are most likely…[Read more]

There are a few calculations I use.

First, the gross yield = purchase price / annual rent. For a rough figure I use the weekly rent x 50, since this allows for a couple of weeks vacancy.

I also use Cash on Cash Return (COCR). This is a far more accurate figure which takes all the actual out of money costs into account related to the profit I get…[Read more]

Hi Deb,

I think what Kiwi is saying is not to buy a dog-house in Perth, but buy one on the other side of the country. Lots of really successful people has said you make money by going against the herd. If the herd is in WA, maybe there are better opportunities elsewhere.

I’d sit down with a good mortgage broker and talk about what you can get…[Read more]

Hi Michelle,

Obviously only you know all the specifics of your deal, but your payout calculation really depends on what your plans were when you started the deal.

Go back to your notes and documents from the start and look at the outcomes both partners went into it with.

e.g. when you bought the property, you may have specified that “partner A”…[Read more]

Thanks Kiwi,
One of the things I’ve always liked about Tim Shadbolt is his willingness to throw bold ideas out there for people to think about. Whether they were his ideas or someone elses, Invercargill and Southland in general have done a great job of turning the popluation trends around over the last 5 or so years.

On the positive side, they…[Read more]

Hi Dave,

I think the real estate agent Elka mentioned would be a property manager – usually part of a real estate office’s team. If you ask on this forum, I’m sure someone will be able to recommend a good one in the area.

The depreciation schedule is basically a list of things the tax department recognises as costs. Things that go down in value…[Read more]

have you looked at adding a sky-light? I’ve seen them used to really lighten up dark rooms. But make sure it’s an appropriate one for the rest of the room. I know they come in various costs, too, so you may have some options.

Craig.

Interested in Property Joint Ventures earning 15+% COCR? Email me for details.

Personally, I’d be asking: what’s my goal?

you’ve identified it as being “in a position where we [don’t] both need to work full-time”.

Do you see holding a non-performing property hoping for capital gain as moving you towards your goal?

For me, if I could see a valid reason there may be growth there in the near future, I’d possibly hold it if…[Read more]