Mawson Lakes (Adelaide)

I'm seeing quite a few apartments in the Mawson Lakes area that have implied gross yields around 6.5-7.5%.

Seems to be everything you need nearby for shopping.

20 minutes into the city by train.

Uni campus and schools.

Looks like rents & prices have gone nowhere for around 5 years (and perhaps might be stagnant for sometime yet given new development still going on).

Any SA investors hold a property in Mawson Lakes? What's your experience been with finding a tenant, strata costs and any other pitfalls I might be missing?

Mawson Lakes (Adelaide)

Turf for rental and equity raise?

Hi all, I'm currently in the process of installing a french door and fencing up the sideyard to create a nice little private outdoor area, accessible form the kitchen.

Property has some nasty weeds around it, which I am planning to get a gardener to remove them. But question is, do I have to go as far as to install turf (or synthetic turf)?

Main reno motivation is to manufacture equity and refinance, but it is also a rental (tenants generally don't maintain the turf?)

Turf for rental and equity raise?

contract work requiring interstate travel, what can be claimed

Hi all,

My wife and I have been on the road for a few years with work but this year we are having a go with her working, me stay at home dad.

What can we claim come tax time
We were in Qld but now travelled to the west coast. Part of the most recent contract included 900 towards fuel and accom, it cost more so I plan to claim the difference.
some contracts included single accom and if we're lucky family accom in a house. But we'll most likely have to find our own. We have started renting and are getting furniture etc, we came over with our caravan but can't live in it for long periods, ideal for in between contacts and holidays.
Can we claim the rent? Any chance furnishings? I'd think not.

With driving over to what extent can you claim mechanical repairs and servicing? it is essential to get to the next contract, is it a cents/km rate or based on actual work done or parts etc

I'd like to get an understanding before talking with accountant

Also will claim laptop, phone incl internet,

In previous years I have done our tax returns, bit different to this financial year so will have to cop it on the chin

Thanks!

contract work requiring interstate travel, what can be claimed

Granny Flat Section

With the popularity of Granny flat investment I was wondering if anyone else thought it was worthy of it's own section. Maybe below Commercial Property. I thin it would be easier to research others experiences if it were all in one section.

Granny Flat Section

Water Dammage

Howdy

So currently going through some issues with this nasty QLD weather.
Have a townhouse that has flooded( gutter rain) 3 times now with approx 4-5 inches of watch through the lower level( kitchen, lounge, car port)
Each time has been with the freak downpours.
1st Time Body Corporate ignored the issue as being once is 30 years and did no investigation
2nd time Body Corp advised that sometimes once in 30 years can mean twice in 30 years!!, but after some insistent prompting got some-one out to review( no word on this or results)
3rd time was last night and this was the worst, fridge smoking and had to be turned off, they even sandbagged to no effect.
The Building maintenance manager is hopeless( we ditched them as property managers as they had made many errors, even having tenants on a rent increase with no supporting documentation)
They did organize an emergency plumber last night as apparently 4 townhouses were effected( seems like dodgy drainage throughout the complex) but this was a little to late.
The Tenants have been pretty calm with this, but I suspect this was the last straw and they will be moving out.
The Property is Less than 10 years old (2006/2007)
There are a few things i'm planning on doing.
1. Getting a builder to inspect for any lasting dammage/potential mould
2. Getting an independent inspection of our Townhouse and the whole site drainage.
3. Gathering Evidence to build an insurance case if required.
4. Getting involved with the Body Corporate as they seem rather incompetent
5. Preparing for Tenants to vacate, but this means I need to have fixed the problems or this is likely to happen again.

Does the above sound ok? Have I missed anything
Thanks again :)

Water Dammage

Foreign buyers face new tax in Victoria

According to The Age Victorian government is introducing new 'stamp duty' type tax for foreign buyers. Current proposal is 3%. Also they proposed the higher land tax for foreign owners. Permanent residents and citizens would be exempt.

Foreign buyers face new tax in Victoria

What is speculation ?

There's a few threads suggesting that property investment is speculation...

Quote:

If you negatively gear a property you are speculating on future price or rent growth to make a profit in the future

Where does the distinction between investing & speculating ( & gambling) lie ?

• Buying Google shares 10 years ago - they didn't make a profit & paid no dividend, but there was an expectation of a profit in the future
• Buying dot com company shares in 1999 - they didn't make a profit & paid no dividend, but there was an expectation of a profit in the future
• Buying Berkshire Hathaway shares 50 years ago - they never pay a dividend, but have had spectacular capital gains
• Buying a +ve geared property today with the expectation that the income would continue to cover the costs & produce a profit
• Buying -ve geared property today with the expectation that the income would increase over time to cover the costs & eventually produce a profit
• Buying -ve geared shares today with the expectation that the dividend would increase over time to cover the costs & eventually produce a profit
• Buying gold that is guaranteed never to produce an income - the only expectation is for capital appreciation
• Buying a lotto ticket ?
• Buying all the lotto tickets (i.e. buying every single number - this happens when the prize has accumulated to be worth a lot more than the cost of buying all the tickets) ?
• or something else ?

Or is the distinction between investment and speculation dependent on the amount of cash put into the deal ? Would it make a difference to the above if the investment was 100% funded by cash or 100% borrowed funds ?

Or is the distinction something more abstract like knowledge (and therefore probability which leads to an expectation of gains) ? eg expert knowledge of the market for search engines, or inside information about a dot com firm, or excellent research & experience of a particular suburb or share market sector ?

What is speculation ?