Archive for March, 2010

What to look for when buying a holiday apartment investment

Investors will often buy a holiday apartment so that they can have their holidays in it, but also let it out for the rest of the year either themself, through an agency or through the onsite management.
There are several aspects to keep in mind when buying a holiday apartment and these are:

find out how much [...]

Should you cross collateralise your assets to purchase investment property

On the face of it the idea of cross collateralising your assets to purchase investment property seems to be a good idea.  In many cases to this will make it cheaper for you to set up a mortgage on an investment property where you will be using the equity in another property as the ‘deposit’ [...]

Various split loan combinations for property investors

Finance is so important at any time, but at the moment with the adjustments to loans and property investments in general, having a good knowledge of the various loans is helpful in making the right decision which will benefit your finance management.
About the only certainty we have at the moment (well, so we have been [...]

Refinancing your loans is more popular than you may think

A report the other day stated that on average home owners refinanced their loans every 3 years.  I don’t know about you, but I was a bit surprised as that.  I would have thought more like 5-7 years.
If home owners are doing that then what are property investors doing with their loans?   There have definitely [...]

Auction clearance rates are improving

Figures put out by RealEstate.com.au showed that clearance rates at auctions have improved quite remarkably in the past year.  They were quoting figures for December 2009 and the following are the top 5 for clearance rates:

78.4% Melbourne
76.9% Canberra
72% Sydney
53.9% Adelaide
50% Tasmania

Given the fact that an auction contract is a cash contract, buyers are obviously ready [...]

Land Tax calculations for New South Wales

Property Investors are charged land tax in all states and territories of Australia.
As in all areas of Australia, Land Tax is payable on the total value of land held by an owner, be it a sole owner, joint owner, trust or whatever.  Various states have different rates of land tax so if you own properties, [...]

Personal development is part of creating wealth – excellent reading

Most people who have been involved in investing either in shares or property have taken a bit of a battering over the past two years and if they are in business they have probably been affected in that area of their lives too.  If not in business employment could have been a very real concern.
If [...]

Sustainability considerations when doing property renovations

Here are considerations you may like to take into account if you are planning to do property renovations to any of your investment properties.
We have talked about better light, better fresh air flow and other features regarding improving the property for sustainable living but one idea that we have not mentioned is the designing of [...]

Queensland has set new Sustainability Laws

Property investors need to be aware that if  they as a property owner lists a Queensland property with an agent, the agent should make sure they get from the owner a current Sustainability Declaration so that they can show it to prospective buyers.  A Sustainability Declaration can be filled out by another authorised person (property [...]

How to take some control over your property maintenance

Landlords can take the worry out of looking after their investment property.
Tenants have a right to ‘quiet enjoyment’ of the rental property so a landlord cannot keep driving by every week to see if the place is being kept in a reasonable condition.  So what can you do to have some control over the upkeep [...]

Interest rates up again, no surprise really – Tax Variation

Rising Interest rates and Tax Variation
The fact that interest rates were put up again this week didn’t surprise too many people given the fact that there was not an interest rate rise in February.  Property investors need to be prepared for this as there will probably be a few more this year.  View our stategies [...]