Hi, even though you have not drawn any money from your line of credit, the bank will still factor in this available amount of money as though you have already drawn this line of credit out to it's total limit. Therefore they would be working on a loan amount of $370,000 that you are liable for. You have not mentioned if you have any credit cards and what limits they have as well as any personal loans or car loans, HECS debts store cards etc. All of these debts will be considered by the bank. Therefore if you have a credit card limit of $10,000 they will factor this $10,000 into the equation even if you pay off the card in full each month. Good luck with your endeavours

cheers

Sonya

Hi if you are planning to rent the unit when you are not using it then you would need to be aware of any tax implications of using the property for your own personal use. Check with the tax office regarding how many days you are permitted to use the property before it is no longer considered an investment property. You may be better off buying another form of property and continuing to pay for you accommodation out of your own pocket so that it is less complicated and messy.

One of the more knowledgable investors may be able to help, I haven't purchased this type of property so i am not sure of all the factors that you will need to consider

cheers

Sonya

So,

You are prepared to let go of your two properties that give you income, how will you service the oustanding amount of $230K. Also you will need to both factor in the legal side of things such as stamp duty and any other sales 'duties'. As far as I am aware you cannot swap ownership between people unless you are related.

Just something for you to think about and perhaps seek some legal and financial advice

cheers

Sonya

Hi i am in almost the sme position with termites discovered in the ceiling of one of my properties that i had an inspection carried out on prior to purchase. i too got another inspector to look at the property and he said that the termites would ahve been present for a long time due to the fact that they had migrated to the ceiling. He said however, that pest inspections are only valid for the day that they are carried out because 'a termite may have entered the building the next day'.

i don't know why we pay for these inspections when they have so many clauses in the contract whereby they abstain any responsibility if termites are found in the property. they are not even valid for six months!!! Bu I guess they MAY tell us if there is any evidence of termites but don'd bet on it.

let us know how you get on

cheers

Sonya

I have bought both of my properties sight unseen and have realised good rental returns on both since the day that I purchased them. I carry out research via the web as well as speaking to the local council to find out what developments are happening in the area as well as talking to a number of real estate agents. I choose to speak to the property managers first and ask them where they would avoid in town if you want to get a good rental return with limited vacancies. many are quite happy to talk about this in a hypothetical sense (not specific properties that they have listed for sale as the vendors might be unhappy about such a discussion). Real estate property managers don't want to have the owner on the phone on a weekly basis asking when they will find a tenant for their property so they are more than happy to suggest which streets in town have good rental histories and which streets may be problematic.

I have such a good relationship with one of my managers, whom I am yet to meet, that she will inspect properties listed by other agents and give me feedback on the condition of the property as well as expected rental return.

As with any property purchase do as much reseacrh as you can and make sure you get the pest and building inspections done.
If like me you live in a rural area and buy in other, distant rural areas there are no direct flights to towns and flights are still expensive because there is little competition (only one airline they can charge what they want) And by rural I mean towns with populations over 20,000.

Sorry to be so long winded, good luck with your investing

cheers

Sonya

Hi I have seen $1million in property at my local library, if you are wanting to read the book as opposed to keeping a copy you may find it at your local library. i like to read a number of different authors and if I find their information of benefit to my style of investing or mindset then I try to buy a copy either thru a regular bookstore or, if out of print, thru ebay or similar sites.

cheers

Sonya

Hi tricky

if you are planning to divide upu the properties after a certain time I would suggest that you get some sound financial advice with regards to payment of capital gains because even though you may all jointly share the properties if there is a transfer of ownership you may face Capital gains. perhaps one of the more experienced investors or Mortgage brokers could confirm or clarify this.

cheers

Sonya

HI

I have also found margaret Lomas' books to be very helpful and include calculations for determining land tax and other assoicated purchasing expenses.

good luck

Sonya

apologies for the typos in the previous post

sonya