Hi TT,This is a very familiar story to me – on two occassions I have had the worlds best PM, only to have them burn out and leave to be replaced by some incompetant!  So I really feel your pain.The first thing I would do would be make a loss of rent claim on your insurance!  Then I would call the Real Estate Industry Association in your state a…[Read more]

Hi there Waylo1, welcome!Ok, let me preface by saying I am not an accountant, so this is just from personal experience… You can claimed all the money spent on holding the property (expenses) including interest, rates, management fees etc, above and beyond the rent received (income).  You can also claim the costs associated with the purchase (…[Read more]

hmmm…  To my knowledge; 'negative gearing and tax breaks' means the property is actually COSTING the investor money over and above what the poor tenant is paying…the government put these tax systems in place to encourage those who could afford to buy to supply housing for those who can't or chose not to pay a mortgage… the increase in…[Read more]

And I'll go one further than Derek, and say that even if you are planning to pay cash for your country property and think therefore that his comment about lending suitability of the postcode doesn't apply – think again!  I have 8 country properties – 6 of them in towns of less than 3000 residents and they are all great little earners, but I am n…[Read more]

Hi Dr Spock,I agree with Catalyst – what is the point of the reno?  Will you live there for any length of time? Quick reno and flip? Value-adding for tenants?  How big a reno are we talking – a freshen-up for higher rent? a tart-up for a nice quick cash flip? or are we talking major structural for a big fat profit down the track a bit?Either w…[Read more]