Benny wrote:

Quote:
 

  For me, Woodridge, Kingston, Crestmead, Marsden, even Waterford West.   Woodridge really does have a lot going for it when you boil it all down, but there are still a heap of 30 – 40 year-old "cheap homes" (commission homes) way out-numbering any newer, better ones.   So, still cheapsville, but with great potential to…[Read more]

Hi there,

Two years ago I remortgaged a property I own in London on an expat's mortgage. I found Sherrie See from SeeMoney.co.uk  to be very helpful in this…and she even posts the interest rates on the website.
http://seemoney.co.uk/pages/offshore/expat_mortgage_rates.asp
As you can see the LVRs are pretty tough around 75%, so fortunately we…[Read more]

Thanks all – I took your advice, and it seems the mold is coming up through the subfloor (had to get several inspectors as I am always paranoid that some recommendations are just people trying to sell me something!).
I ensured the roof drains the majority of rain water away from the house but some natural run off still makes it towards some brick…[Read more]

I'm considering getting one for my IP – but think I can only get it in the livingroom since the bedroom faces the front of the unit block and I don't think the body corp would allow the extractor to sit on the front of the building. Would tenants still value one in the living only?

Hi NHG,
I have a property in the neighboring suburb of Whalan… it's a 4 bed place I bought in March this year for $242000 and rents for $360. For a 4 bed the agent says it is conservative, and seems to be cheapest 4 bed rental in the area (apart from Tregear), so gets demand. I'm happy with the 7.7% yield and no work done.

My advice would be…[Read more]

What I've taken from all this and my own research is:- Appropriate landlord insurance will take care of your risk of being sued by the tenant.- The HDT doesn't offer any legal tax benefits over and above having the properties under your own name.- There is a high cost of setting up and maintaining trusts with little personal benefit.- There may be…[Read more]

Thanks Catalyst! Have already ordered the strata report via the solictor route.Cheers.

Thanks for the reply Derek…It's a pretty old building, only 2 storeys high with no underground parking.So I guess my solicitor should dig out the strata report and any minutes to look for any known serious problems that may indicate pending work on the building.I realise the decision is mine, but I really wanted to know what the general…[Read more]

Thanks Terry – just what I was after! You seem to be answering all my questions today!Cheers!

I agree – definitely lots of good info from Terry. Thanks for the lengthy response, I really appreciate the time you've take to do so.I think I'll have to start doing some heavy reading of my own on this, following Warren Buffet's ideology of never investing in something that wasn't understood. To be fair, we (my accountant and I) covered a lot…[Read more]

Thanks both for your answers. It makes sense to focus on only the things that the valuer will tick off as an improvement rather than just purely cosmetic reasons. Would be good to have that list of checkboxes!