Hi. I was surprised by Hueys reply. 15 years is waaaay too long.
The numbers of infertile couples has increased markedly in the last decade (this is my field of work) and one of the reasons for this is that we are having our kids way after the peak fertility time for women – which is early twenties.
It is possible to do both with having the right attitude (excellent reply peterp) and allowing time for each. I would much rather be home all day with a headache over all my investment properties than coming through the door at 6pm tired and then having to have time with the kids. You can do anything with kids. I took my 7 year old backpacking through europe , everyone thought I was mad but I wanted to see europe before I got too old and of course would never have left my child behind and it was the highlight of my life. Now ten, my daughter comes with me on property inspections, talks about the ‘value’ of a property and can weild a hammer and screwdriver pretty well. She is all excited about a renovation coming up (of course safety is paramount) but I can see that all this is making her into an extremely adaptable and buisiness oriented young thing. So my advice is don’t put anything on hold, go with it, go with the flow and enjoy the ride.
cheers.

Hi. Have only just read your post but have been trying to find out about getting loans for NZ for a while now. My accountant tells me that I would pay tax in NZ and have the tax credited to my taxes here. That buying property is not a problem if I have an NZ passport. I have got a long expired one somewhere so will try to resurrect that, but am stuck at getting a loan. Would appreciate any tips you all have.
Cheers sunshine

As a newbie I would just like to say that some ‘oldtimers’ posts read as moody and menopausal, some are informative and some are gold mines of information. The mix is all part of the package and you take what you want from each.

There have been a couple of requests for a newbie column and I can see the merit tho obviously the only people who would read it would be newbies.

But ethics and integrity matter and hey, what about plain old fashioned being nice[] Afterall, you were a newbie once. Have some patience and create good karma.

Sunshine

Hi. having read the example I think I assume that the couple have bought this place as their principle place of residence so therefore no capital gains tax, no stamp duty so the profit would be as stated.

However you have an excellent point as more often than not, all those lovely good looking couples on the tele who make wonderful ‘profits’ fail to mention tax, interest, time and Labour, closing costs etc etc. All those little trips to Bunnings all add up and unless you are putting ALL your receipts through your accounts it is easy to blur the true picture of what the reno has cost.

Good luck to you, Brisbane is still good, around Morningside and bay areas, still rising. Sunshine coast is still good, not much on the Gold caost though.

Cheers, sunshine

Hi Nat 21
I had my rural property valued by the bank for refinancing. Sat in their office and the loan officer told me she had the valuation. I expected 20% less than my own market research of the area knowing banks are on the conservative side. But this was 40% below. She then had to leave the room and turned all my paperwork face down, on her leaving the room I flipped it over for a look and the valuation was stated at 20% more than she had said, being 20% under my own research!!!

Needless to say I will never use this bank again and although more costly to us to refinance did so, due to their total conservatism.

Which bank???!!!

definately timber/floating/laminate timber or tiles. Tiles in the bedroom, scatter rugs or not can still be a bit cold looking, not to mention walking on.
In my first investment property – now long gone, we had to replace the carpet constantly, tried vinyl etc and even had a tenant who used the carpet as a permanent ironing board. Also babies and carpets do not mix, the sicky smell can be impossible to remove if the tenant has let it sit, dog stains are also impossible to remove and so is red chalk!!!
Sisal carpets are not long lasting in a tenant situation and do not last as long as regular carpet.so I would go for tiles or the timber flooring which may be more expensive upfront but do not require cleaning costs by yourself or tenant and also do not have to be replaced within the same time fram. You also cant compare the life of your own carpet to an IP as the same due care is nowhere near equal. Good luck![]

I agree! I too built a granny flat under a home that I bought for 260,000 which is now valued at 500,000. The granny flat cost 22,ooo and is fully self contained and sparsely furnished. It is also rented out at $180 per week to an oil rig worker who is only here every second month. I take care of his dog while he is not here whihc is great as being a single mum I get extra income, a part-time guard dog and never see the tenant at all. Would I do this again…yeah!!! The granny flat is built along the lines of a teenage retreat for future marketing to families. cheers!