Pat, I'm not sure which suburbs you're looking at, but the consensus amongst investors is that inner Sydney is ripe for its next boom in the next year or two… so if you can afford it, I'd definitely be buying something to live in yourself.

Ten years is fairly long – you'd be going close to the long-term average of about 7 to 8% pa over that time-frame. It's only if you need growth in the first 2 or 3 years that it really matters which area you choose – over ten years you'd be pretty safe in most areas provided the fundamentals are there. ie Jobs, population growth, infrastructure,…

hangingupsidedown wrote:
How does the amount drawn affect your loan?

Your loan increases in size.

hangingupsidedown wrote:
Does it change your loan payments?

Yes, proportionally to the increase in the size of the loan.

hangingupsidedown wrote:
How does one go about accessing equity?

You can either increase the loan amount with your existing…[Read more]

elkam wrote:
However my understanding from my PM is that it is working but does not cope with temperatures above 35 degrees.

OK, probably not obliged, but if it's that old and the tenant's not happy with it's performance, I'd be inclined to replace it.

elkam wrote:
You said in your post that you pay about $500 for installation costs. Is that…[Read more]

Aimee, I think if you allow 4% for annual expensees, that would be ample. This should cover everything except mortgage interest quite comfortably.When Steve refers to "cash received" and "cash paid" he's talking about the ongoing costs that recur every year so your income and expenses. Cash received is rental income, cash paid is mortgage…[Read more]

SteveMcKnight wrote:
I don't think you have to provide air conditioning.

Steve, I'm assuming you missed in Elka's original post that the air-con was already there but is now not working. My understanding is that if you let your property with air-con units, you do have to maintain/repair/replace them.Regards, Tracey in Brisbane

Council rates, landlord's insurance, repairs, accounting (tax returns, plus fees for maintaining Trust and corporate trustee if applicable), body corporate (if applicable), possibly excess water charges, etc. I budget on all costs apart from finance adding up to 2.5% of total value of property, or more (3-4%) if the property is valued under $3…[Read more]

Elka, yes, you are obliged to maintain the amenities in the property. And given that it's 30 years old, I think you've gotten your money's worth out of that air-con! Having bought about 25 air-con units the past 5 years, I can tell you that this is an area rife with over-quoting. You should be able to pick up a no-name split system for about $400…[Read more]

OK, propertyboy, there are a few different aspects here. You're almost right at the end. You can buy the property in your name, AND you can have the loan in your name, and yes, your new house would be collateral. Your Mum GUARANTEES your loan.1) SECURITY – the asset against which the lender has security. So if you don't pay, they can sell this…[Read more]

Why would you sell rather than refinance?Whether to do the works or not is something you have to research: it may sound obvious, but figure out how much each item will cost, and how much value it is estimated to add to the property. (Ask a local real estate agent for advice.) If an improvement costs at least 50% more than it will cost, then it's…[Read more]

Firstly let me say that I know very little about the FHOG and don't know if any of my advice would render you ineligible. Having said that, I think that you look at the FHOG as a bonus if you can get it, but it shouldn't determine your decisions. Compared to the difference (in dollars) between a good and bad investment decision, the amount of the…[Read more]

As per another recent query, the main drawback is low LVR. Read this thread from this afternoon: https://www.propertyinvesting.com/forums/property-investing/help-needed/4323340

Ring up your mortgage broker and check, but I've done a bit more searching and I have a feeling that you'll be lucky to get 60%. Basically, the more "specialised" and "unique" the security is, the lower LVR you can borrow against them. So a "bog standard home or reasonably sized unit" – up to 100% or even 106%. Some commercial properties with a…[Read more]

Problem is that you can't borrow against them! (Or you can only borrow 60% LVR or something like that – can't remember which.) So unfortunately they suck as an investment proposition.

Do you have an option to extend beyond 7 weeks if Council doesn't approve in that timeframe? That sounds very optimistic to me, but perhaps you know something that I don't which gives you reason to think that this is achievable. Can you share?

mikeking wrote:
I'm still interested in how Steve managed to use his $10,000 that he and his partner had in cash to start investing and then go on to 130 properties in 3.5 years.

I wondered the same thing. I think that a lot of it was done by creating lots of different Trusts, and using their personal incomes to guarantee loans in Trust A, then…[Read more]

I'm with SNM and Marc; particularly I agree with SNM that the cat door has to be removed and the door returned to original condition when they move out.Best wishes, Tracey in Brisbane

I just want to say that I'm not a tradie or tradie's wife, but I love and appreciate my tradies.  I don't think they get paid too much at all. In particular, they often do hard physical work in the heat of summer. They do stuff that I don't know how to do and can't do, so I appreciate their expertise. They provide an essential service. They're w…[Read more]

Have you tried getting a few credit cards? I think that's about the only way that you'd get it through, unsecured. Banks seem to give out credit pretty readily via credit cards – get 4 x $10K credit cards and you're home!Regards, and good luck! Tracey in Brisbane

OK, Richard, now you've got me thinking about selling our PPR to our Trust… obviously we'd want to sell our PPR to the Trust for a figure that is not unreasonable, but "in the high end of the range of market value". Provided that the lender accepts that valuation for the purposes of lending to the Trust, does the ATO have any problem with the…[Read more]