Stay Cool
December 20, 2021
Is keeping a rental property cool in the heat a landlord’s responsibility? This is a vexed question that most regulators struggle with. Providing climate control is obviously helpful to ensure your tenants’ year-round comfort. Both air-conditioning and heating may be necessary to keep indoor temperatures at a pleasant level. Tenants are likely to be attracted …more »
How to maximise borrowing capacity
November 16, 2021
Here’s a couple of tips to help you and your buyers borrow more $$$ to meet current market conditions: Know your position Before planning your next move, we need to know your starting position. Getting an accurate picture of your income, expenses, assets, and liabilities is crucial at this stage. It’s the reason we ask …more »
Claiming what is yours
October 22, 2021
How much do you know about capital works deductions? Recent data from the Australian Tax Office had just 52 per cent of property investors making claims relating to the declining value of their property’s bricks and mortar and other fixed assets. In 2017, changes to tax rules denied depreciation deductions for many items, including carpets …more »
Decision to invest in the next
October 22, 2021
What’s your ‘pub test’ for your next investment property? This is when you strip back your plan to purchase another property to the absolute basics and see whether it stands up to scrutiny. A property investment has a significant benefit over other forms of investment and that’s leverage. A lender may allow you to borrow …more »
Property investors and APRA
October 22, 2021
Earlier this month APRA* asked that lenders increase their serviceability buffer from a minimum 2.5 per cent to at least 3.0 per cent from 1st November, mainly because it was worried about the level of debt that borrowers were carrying relative to their income. How might it affect different buyer groups? First home buyers might …more »
Do the research before you make your move
October 22, 2021
While there is quite a bit being said and written about COVID making large homes more attractive with people wanting spaces to live, work and play all within the confines of the home, downsizers are still in evidence. Perhaps ‘right-sizers’ is a better term to describe many of these homeowners because often the home they …more »
The Humble Shed
October 5, 2021
I don’t have a shed. There, I’ve said it. Before you start shaking your head and crying out ‘why not?’ – or are turning back to page two to get my email address so you can write and tell me all the reasons why I should have one – let me say that it is …more »
Inner City or Outer Suburb
October 5, 2021
We all know people who can’t imagine themselves living anywhere they can’t jump in the lift and step out on the pavement before the short walk to buy their coffee. And they probably know people who cannot imagine not being able to kick a ball around the back yard. It has been a long time …more »