Hey brendogs,Bendigo sounds like a much better option. Must admit in your price range, you won't get a heck of a lot, but rentals are very tight, and yields quite good. I would suggest avoiding Long Gully area, and be careful around pockets of Eaglehawk, Kangaroo Flat, and some parts of Nth Bendigo & California Gully. SOme of the new H & L…[Read more]

Terryw wrote:
Salary sacrifice a credit card? What do you mean? Does the employer just pay the credit card for you each month by reducing the taxable wage by the same amount?If you pay a loan with a credit card then you would need to do a cash advance and then use the cash to pay. No lender would take the credit card payment. Same with rent, the…[Read more]

Hi st81hp79Sorry if I may have mislead you there – I thought you were talking about a SMSF & trust for some reason, (must have been some of the other posts I was looking at earlier) rather than a 'non SMSF' one – which of course what I said doesn't apply to. As I have seen some SMSF special purpose trusts get into some serious issues with the…[Read more]

Hi,Most people would salsac to the actual homeloan itself! Then, if you have all your loans paid off, some places allow you to have a sal sac a fixed payment to your a/your credit card, and you would simply use this for normal living expenses /bills etc, and then pay the extra amounts due over and above your employer payment amount yourself. Cheers

HI,If you are paying a deposit to purchase the property, and seeking finance then for the balance, you MUST pay the deposit via the trust or you will be in breach of SMSF legislation, which could have serious repercussions for you. You cannot 'reimburse' a third party from the SMSF for the deposit. Of course, you could make a gift/contribution to…[Read more]

Hi Intrigue,It's all good. People tha have a principal and interest loan have exactly the same situation – there interest varies depending on how many days are in the month and what day it is charged on (depending on weekends/last day of month) but as their repayments are 'contracted' the same amount each month, they usually don't see that the…[Read more]

hI naughtyj.As mentioned, you will need in most cases the correct loan product – ie an 'interest only in advance loan', which will have a fixed interest rate. By way of illustration, the best of the 'big 4' as far as rates and fees & charges goes currently offer a 20 point discount for their product over a normal 'P&I' loan. You can't just pay the…[Read more]

HI,I think Jason's comments are timely in this market. Have recently done the same myself selling a place – and the concensus is the BEST you can hope for is to simply get your money back, and possibly make the property more appealing. And that is the best you can hope for unless you are able to perfomr the works extremely cheaply or have new…[Read more]

IF it's the group I am thinking of (the name sounds the same) I think you would be hard pressed to get finance – as there are numerous fraud alerts for them doing the rounds of institutions that you might need assistance from, with a particular warning about the brokers that 'suggest' them, and the 'valuers' they use. Think of how much weight…[Read more]

Hi Quattro,Sorry to hear about the house too.The ATO publication you need is called 'Has your rental property been damaged or destroyed by a natural disaster" & it is NAT 73814-04-2011. Similar to what you would expect though, as it depends on whether it is a 'repair' or a 'replacement' or 'improvement.'Cheers

Hi Kate,Definitely make sure you go the eyelids first WIth LMI premiums its like anything else – all about volumes, and the banks chuck a heap more business the way of the LMI providers than the credit unions. I worked for the NAB a while back, and the difference in LMI between the banks price and what a couple of the credit unions offered (like…[Read more]

Hi Tracey,We have a place in Burnie we listed for sale mid march (got a couple there as I always thought it was a solid yet undervalued area, and it's always good for a 'tax deductible holiday to God's country……. but only want to sell the one in order to use the funds elsewhere) and have had almost no interest at all – just about to have it's…[Read more]

I wouldn't classify them as low income necessarily, but there is still good value to be had in parts of regional victoria – places like Bendigo & Ballarat ? The lower $ end is pretty ordinary, and you need to choose your suburb/street carefully, but yields are ok, and more importantly……..vacancy rates are as close to zero as you'll get.…[Read more]

Hi Kate,Couple of thoughts……..Firstly, I have seen plenty of valuations of late coming in lower than expected – although personally I have had a few that have given people a pleasant surprise. IF you know of any comparable sales, even recently (ven if you have to badger a few real estate agents for info on recently sold places) you could…[Read more]

HI,I don't see too much of an issue – in that IF you can provide examples of higher sales prices for similar properties, they will consider this & possibly review. Bear in mind valuers compare block size, bedrooms, street appeal, condition, and Sale – not For Sale – price. I have seen recent examples come in lower than rates notice CIV values…[Read more]

HI,Plus if it is zoned as business/dual usage, I have heard of people suggesting you buy the next house back from the corner…..so when the guy on the corner does develop, they offer you big money for your place to either expand, or make into a carpark!!

shoppingarigas wrote:
sorry, one more thing. Shouldnt the vendors solicitor have issued a final demand for the balance of the 5%? of the deposit before terminating the contract?

From my understanding in NSW absolutely – based on what I have seen. Sounds suss – but if your agent HAD banked the cheque, it would be all good…..you need to discuss…[Read more]

Hi,My thought would be also to run a mile. You have to eat. My start in the finance industry was a commission only job, and while I did it to 'fund my way' into a better role later on it was a night mare – 2nd only to the absolute unscrupulous mortgage broker who was desperate for 'finance professionals' to 'join his growing team' and convinced me…[Read more]

hi Jamie,Have used nobo heaters before – quite good for smaller areas, and although much better than other heaters of this style are certainly expensive to run compared to other types. (I have had 'portable no name brands similar before and you would rather freeze to death than pay the 2nd electricity bill…..)I agree that reverse cycle is the…[Read more]

HI,It has already been covered ….but yes – absolutely you need it.IF for example, the house burnt down 3 days before settlement, you still have to proceed with the purchase, whether the vendor had it insured still or not! It is considered extremely high risk not to – and some lenders have it as a condition before proceeding to settlement.Out of…[Read more]