Aug 15

Census meltdown does not help investment property research

By Hugh Frame | best investment, domain, Economy, Market, Property Research, Property Solutions, Research | No Comments

Census meltdown does not help investment property research

Census data is one of the most important sources of information used by property researchers and the census meltdown does not help investment property research. The big question now is just how complete is the new data acquired in the 2016 census going to be in assisting planning over the next 10 or 20 years?

Regardless of the culture described as “Reckless” at the top of the Bureau of Statistics, it is essential that trust between the citizens of this country and the ABS be renewed as quickly as possible in order that the necessary information used for the development of the future of this country is collected fully and accurately with the blessing and trust of every Australian.

Even before the on-line debacle of census night the ABS was not prepared to explain why it now wanted to retain names. It would save millions by posting login codes to most of the population rather than delivering forms. Had it delivered, or even posted, forms it would have had a backup. Instead it gave most of Australia only one way to submit census forms and threatened fines of $180 per day for people who didn’t comply. The result is we have now a group of elected representatives declaring to the masses who vote that they will not comply to filling in the form, even if it means paying a fine. What chance now of having anything like a 95% return on census information?

Lime Property Solutions Property Research, like other property research groups, plays a critical role in finding the best property investment for clients. Much of the research is analysing professional data supplied or purchased from Australia’s most respected property research agencies such as Australian Bureau of Statistics and BIS Shrapnel. Much can also be found by daily scrutiny of quality media such as the Financial Review. This outsourced research involving the growth and development prospects of different regions and locations, is assessed by Lime by visiting areas and increasing our knowledge through meetings with local developers, real estate agents and local Chamber of Commerce representatives. Once our research is satisfied with an area or suburb we seek out suitable property that meets our strict selection criteria. Like all research bodies, full and accurate census information is an essential resource to do this job. The census meltdown does not help investment property research!

Olympic seven’s gold medal and buying an investment property

By Hugh Frame | best investment, Investment, News, Properties, Property Research | No Comments

Olympic rugby seven’s gold medal as a victory for women’s sport

Team play will make Buying Investment Property so much easier! Olympic seven’s gold medal and buying an investment property

“Australia made history by winning the first gold awarded in women’s rugby sevens at the Olympics with a tight 24-17 triumph over trans-Tasman rivals New Zealand at the Deodoro Stadium.

The Australians had been pre-Olympic favourites, courtesy of winning the 2015-16 World Series, but were forced to weather an early attacking storm from New Zealand before prevailing with a four tries to three win.

Rugby sevens is among the fastest growing sports in the world and the number of women participating in the sport is enjoying a boom.”

These Australian women are certainly a supreme example of how a good group of individuals can become world beaters in an integrated team. Excellent team work will always provide a much better outcome than the sole individual. It’s obvious in any Olympic team sport but maybe not so obvious in the Men’s 400m freestyle with Gold to Australia’s Mack Horton. Even in these supreme individual performances there is a huge engaged team of parents, coaches, physiotherapists, sports psychologists and team mates behind the individual performance.

As in sport, your financial investment success can be improved by forming a strong team of professionals around you. This is part of the standard service Lime property Solutions provides to our clients.

Olympic seven’s gold medal and buying an investment property. Investment in the best locations with investment properties

Here at Lime Property Solutions, we are an industry leading comprehensive investment company with ample experience and expertise. If you are considering buying investment property, we can assist you in fulfilling your needs and goals. We strive for excellence and our team of professionals continually aim to meet and exceed your expectations. We prioritise your needs and requirements to ensure your satisfaction. We offer exceptional buying investment property services that will lead to the right path.

Our mission is to partner our clients in building a substantial diversified property portfolio with minimal risk and maximum growth. As part of our buying investment property services, we provide you with a unique property investment strategy in line with your personal situation. We source the excellent properties that meet your buying investment property criteria. In addition, we manage and organise all your support services for now and your future.

We have been in this industry for many years now and with over 30 years of combined experience, we carry an impressive portfolio of past success stories. When you are interested in buying investment property, we have got you covered. Our team will help you through every single step of the process and ensure you are equipped with the information, tools and resources to achieve your goals.

If you would like to read more about our hugely successful rugby sevens Gold Winning team, try here: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-08-09/womens-rugby-sevens-rio-2016-victory-for-womens-sport/7704298

Aug 09

1

Ground floor apartments make a great investment property

By Hugh Frame | best investment, Investment, Properties, Property Research, Real Estate | No Comments

As demographics and life styles change, investors are now realising that ground floor apartments make a great investment property. It was only 10 years ago that generally we’d find the least attractive units for investors in a development were on the ground floor. Usually they were reasonably priced and had a larger area due to a small courtyard but the general impression from buyers and sellers was that renters prefer not to be on the ground floor.

With extra space, ground floor apartments make a great investment property

The ground floor apartment was often felt to be too noisy with not enough privacy and of course, being on the ground floor, they were ‘easy’ to break in to so security was a concern! The security issue always had me wondering in a modern apartment block. It struck me that the security on a ground floor unit, with a common locked door to enter through before reaching the entrance door of the unit, always seemed a lot more secure than the average house and land where many of the property investment buyers had lived happily with no security problems for many years!

Ideas have changed dramatically in the last few years and we now find that ground floor units are often the first to sell in any reasonable apartment development. They are becoming top choice for an ageing population and more people looking for a mid-point between a unit and a house as rising house price inches the backyard dream further out of reach. Also, moving in to a smaller apartment with a courtyard gives the renter or owner-occupier more space and it is very likely to be designed to offer an additional outdoor room.

The younger Gen X and Y, choosing to live in a more affordable unit rather than the traditional house with garden, enjoy the easy access for their larger sporting equipment like golf clubs or surf boards, or even more importantly, a place for a pram, particularly secure where a baby can sleep in the fresh air. Of course, the fact that the lift may break down now and again makes the ground floor even more advantageous. In some developments, we are seeing the ground floor units becoming not only the largest in the development but also the most sought after and certainly more expensive than the penthouse!

The ground-floor apartment with a courtyard that is secure and quiet is now a particularly attractive and scarce property investment. It’s something to look for in your portfolio, not something to avoid, ground floor apartments make a great investment property! Read more http://goo.gl/TT7JhA

Aug 02

1

Tax minimisation and tax avoidance

By Hugh Frame | best investment, Economy, Financial, Negative Gearing, Uncategorized | No Comments

Tax minimisation and tax avoidance

It’s that time of the year again when we go to see our account and sort out our tax for the previous financial year 2015-2016, it’s important we do all that’s possible to look at tax minimisation while keeping in mind that tax avoidance is a serious offence!

So what’s the difference between tax minimisation and tax avoidance? It’s best this question is answered by a qualified tax agent and it is very highly recommended you speak to your own tax advisor about this, but basically tax minimisation is a perfectly legal way of reducing tax through genuine expenses while tax avoidance is just as the name suggests, finding ways of not paying tax which is legally due to the Australian Tax Office.

I find it very difficult to discuss tax minimisation without mentioning the late Kerry Packer, who famously said,

“I don’t know anybody that doesn’t minimise their tax … Of course I’m minimising my tax. If anybody in this country doesn’t minimise their tax they want their head read. As a government I can tell you you’re not spending it that well that we should be paying extra“.

One of the most efficient ways of minimising tax, of course, is to purchase an investment property. As we mentioned in yesterday’s blog, with the exceptionally low interest rates we now have and the high possibility of finding a relatively high yielding, well located investment property, it is highly likely that your new property investment will be more than fully [paid for by your tenant and the tax you can save through legal tax minimisation strategies such as negative gearing.

Just as a reminder for those who have already bought a property investment, you should have your tax variation completed by now for financial year 2016-17 to ensure that you get the ‘saved’ tax in your fortnightly pay packet now rather than waiting until the end of the tax year to claim it all back.

For more information about the difference between tax minimisation and tax avoidance read: http://www.smh.com.au/money/-gqb4w9.html

Aug 01

1

Baby Boomers to spark rises in regional cities

By Hugh Frame | best investment, Economy, Investment, Market | No Comments

Baby Boomers to spark rises in regional cities

The managing director of a minor national research company, Mr Simon Pressley, is suggesting that we may see some significant growth in interest from baby boomers wanting to sell up in the city and move to one of Australia’s many regional cities.

Mr Pressley has specifically identified 40 country towns that could outshine growth in our capital cities over the next few years.

Baby boomers were responsible for the huge increases in coastal property prices in the very late 1990’s and early 2000’s as the older boomers started to scale down or take early retirement. It was around this time that Bernard Salt, the well-known demographer, introduced us to the terms ‘sea-changers’ and” tree-changers”.

Move to the country and live a very comfortable retirement!

While baby boomers have been officially retiring at age 65 since 2011, Mr Pressley is identifying the group again, particularly those on the edge of retirement, to become part of a surge in buyers seeking affordable homes in regional areas over the next 15 years.

He suggests that “maybe hundreds” of thousands, could leave the capitals as superannuation fails to sustain them into retirement.

The huge increases in property prices in our cities and the fact that many do not have sufficient retirement savings will leave downsizing as a practical and in some cases the only option available to many who wish to maintain their current standard of living.

The most popular places Boomers are likely to move to, are most likely those with good lifestyle drivers as well as excellent health care facilities. In other words, places with a “pseudo-capital city” feel to them. A good spacious home in such a place may cost as little as $400,000 leaving the average home-seller in Sydney with a profit of more than $500,000 on which they can live!

Some of the top places in each state are identified as Wagga Wagga (NSW), Geelong (Vic), Albany (WA), Devonport (Tas), Alice Springs (NT), Port Lincoln (SA) and Cairns or Townsville in Queensland. Full list and story can be found here: http://goo.gl/r9FgHB

Aug 01

1

What a fantastic time it is to buy an investment property!

By Hugh Frame | banking, best investment, Economy, finance, Investment | No Comments

What a fantastic time it is to buy an investment property!

Tomorrow is the first Tuesday of the new month of August and we must all appreciate what a fantastic time it is to buy an investment property. So why should it be such a fantastic time to buy an investment property? Well, it looks like interest rates will drop again buy even if they don’t drop this time, many of the major lenders have already dropped their fixed rates in preparation for an expected cut this month with probably another before Christmas.

High Yields and very low mortgage costs result in positively geared investment property.

Many banks slashed interest rates for the most popular type of fixed-rate home loan in July, as markets bet the Reserve Bank will act to stimulate the economy this Tuesday. New figures from the comparison website RateCity show as many as 18 lenders cut three-year fixed rates in July, across 112 loan products. Fixed mortgage rates are influenced by financial market expectations for official interest rates, and there is a widespread view the RBA will soon take the cash rate to a new record low.

The average reduction in three-year fixed rates during July was 0.19 percentage points, with lenders including National Australia Bank, ANZ Bank, ING Direct, HSBC and Suncorp among those to have cut. The cuts were occurring in anticipation of the RBA dropping the cash rate from 1.75 per cent to a new record low of 1.5 per cent.

The ANZ Bank slashed 0.44 percentage points off its three-year rate for owner-occupiers to 3.85 per cent; NAB cut its three-year rate to 3.89 per cent while the lowest rate on offer was 3.67 per cent from Mortgage House.

With fixed rates of under 4% on offer and property yields of over 5% still possible in the right market place, it is almost certain that most property investors would be looking at positively geared property after tax, meaning that most potential investors can now buy a new investment property which would be costing their normal weekly cash flow absolutely nothing!

It is a fantastic time it is to be buying an investment property, give Lime a call to find out more! Read more: http://goo.gl/g6f9oa

Jul 27

1

Buying an investment property before the boom

By Hugh Frame | best investment, Investment, property cycle, Property Solutions, Research | No Comments

Buying an investment property before the boom

The goal of all property investors is to ensure they are buying an investment property before the boom and not at the very top of a growth cycle.

At Lime Property Solutions, we have always believed that good research is key to ensuring that you are buying your investment property before the boom.

Stick to a selection criteria and buy property before the boom

We always start with the ‘big picture’ statistics. It is these State by State and city by city statistics and forecasts that will inevitable point us towards the city with the highest probability of being at a point before the boom. Once we have the ‘proof’ of best city, it’s then good to have a very close look at the macro factors of general areas. These include transport links and ease of access and egress, infrastructure growth, educational facilities from child care to university, medical facilities including hospitals, shopping, entertainment, leisure areas such as parks and entertainment centres, infrastructure growth, job growth and population growth just to mention a few.

When we get down to the suburb we research the micro including a suburb’s population growth, its major existing attributes (like a train station or sought-after school), and any plans for change in the short term (like an expanded shopping centre), then drill down to the market trends that will tell you what’s happening right now. Specifically we are looking at very short drive or walk-to facilities including child care, schools, convenience stores, cafes, salons, pools, sports ground, etc.

We do not agree that you should stick to your own home area. While this may give some peace of mind, as an investor you can be missing out for many years on excellent growth opportunities by diversifying to different cities. For example, remember, we had no growth in Sydney between 2003 and 2010/11. In this same period investors in Brisbane saw a 150% increase in house prices and in Perth it was close to 200%.

The research outside of your own area can be done by professionals like Lime Property Solutions; this is exactly the service we provide.

John McGrath has written a very good article on this topic although we believe he is contradicting himself and not helping any investors by suggesting investment in your own back yard only!

Call us at Lime for more information on how you can be buying an investment property before the boom! Read more: http://goo.gl/Z30w1W

Jul 26

1

By Hugh Frame | banking, best investment, finance, Home Loans, Mortgage, News | No Comments

The best investment loan is not the cheapest

As interest rates continue to fall and the prediction being they may fall even further next month, many borrowers and investors are considering changing lenders to take advantage of even cheaper rates; the issue that must be considered, particularly for active property investors is that the best investment loan is not the cheapest!

The lowest investment loan is not usually the best for your investment property

There are now over 1000 different home loan/investment loan products in the Australian property market and trying to work through them is even trickier than trying to find the best mobile phone plan to suit you.

The three areas we believe a property investor should be concentrating on are:-

Flexibility – a loan that will allow you ‘movement’. If you decide to move house, or borrow some money for renovations or another investment property, or need to reduce your repayments while the kids are at high school a no-frill loan generally won’t have the redraw facility and you need. In particular you will need sub-accounts, some which will be fully tax deductible, and some that will have no tax deductibility.

Interest rate – we are not suggesting that this is not important, it obviously is. However, a good broker nearly always negotiates a very favourable discount from the advertised rates so working through the advertised rates only can be unhelpful.

Off-set accounts – These can be a great feature. Funds deposited in a standard interest bearing account you will probably earn less than 1.5 per cent a year and interest is normally taxable! However, when you deposit money in an offset account the interest credited should be the same as that charged on the investment or housing loan.

Your Lime property investment consultant will explain how an investment loan would potentially impact your financial circumstances. Working with a highly experienced property investment Mortgage broker can help you to explore the implications and perhaps structure your loans in a way that your home mortgage may end up being paid off much faster than you ever thought possible. This type of structure is not possible on a very low interest ‘no frills’ loan so The best investment loan is not the cheapest! Read more : http://goo.gl/f08Ha1

Jul 11

0

Property prices still continue to rise

By Hugh Frame | best investment, Economy, Investment, Negative Gearing, News | No Comments

Property prices still continue to rise

If you have been keeping an eye on the value of your property investment portfolio over the last quarter then you’d be quite happy to note that unlike the first quarter of this year, property prices still continue to rise!

It appears that a very long general election, cold and wet weather and the effects of ‘brexit’ were not enough to stop property prices continue to rise over most of our capital cities.

CoreLogic’s monthly house price index indicates that most of the loss that we witnessed in Sydney over the first quarter has been gained again with house price growth of 6.8% in Sydney and about half that in Melbourne.

The further interest in what are already unaffordable markets is being attributed to the interest rate cut in May which gave owner occupiers and property investors a little more encouragement to spend more again on property. Another factor that supposedly increased property investment activity was the pre-election fear of losing out on negative gearing if Mr Shorten had ended up forming our new Government.

Domain Group chief economist Andrew Wilson said the Sydney and Melbourne results were not surprising, particularly after a month of strong auction clearance rates,

“Auction clearance rates increased in every capital city [in June] except for Melbourne, which was flat,” Wilson said.

“We would expect to see house price growth following these results.”

Sydney’s auction clearance rate increased to 71.7 per cent over June, compared with 69.2 per cent in May, Domain Group data shows. One year ago, the auction clearance rate was above 80 per cent.

It is probably worth considering if auction clearance rates in the high 60’s and low 70’s are particularly good, especially when we are looking at a hugely reduced number of auctions in the first place, so maybe these results are a little more surprising than we expected?

Rentinvestor means you are interested in tenancy and landlord issues

By Hugh Frame | best investment, Property Research, rent | No Comments

Rentinvestor means you are interested in tenancy and landlord issues.

As more and more new owners of investment property continue to rent, being a Rentinvestor means you are interested in tenancy and landlord issues, you don’t want to be the “tenant from hell”, we often read about but you certainly want to avoid the” nightmare landlord”.

It would seem that we have a disproportionate number of tenants whose landlords are deciding to manage the properties themselves and this is very often a sign to keep well clear of becoming a tenant!

As a Landlord, do not try to manage your own property investment

Landlords who do not wish to pay a qualified and experienced agent always have a reason for not using an agent. The first of these might just simply be that the Landlord does not want to spend the tiny percentage of his rental, a cost that is fully tax deductible, on agent fees. I’d say this sign of financial ‘tightness’ would suggest you may be contracting yourself with someone who may not be keen on spending any money on necessary and urgent repairs as they come along. In some cases, landlords will decide to manage their own investment property in order that they can just flaunt the Residential Tenancies Act and they cannot find an agent to work for them.

Even if you find Landlord/manager who seems to do a reasonable and fair job, many have problems in obtaining a refund of their rental bond. Often the bond has not been lodged with the correct authority and/or the owner has very different ideas of ‘fair wear and tear’ to an experienced agent who works with hundreds of tenants each year.

There are some things a new tenant can do for protection like being thorough on an initial inspection and taking many photographs at the beginning of a new lease.

The Greens want Canberra to take over responsibility for rental standards from the states by introducing a national tenancy act as the rules currently vary from state to state. This would seem to be a good idea which will help all tenants. As far as the property investor owner being your first point of contact as a tenant however, we would recommend you keep looking until you find a place with good professional management.

best investment

Census meltdown does not help investment property research

Olympic seven’s gold medal and buying an investment property

Olympic rugby seven’s gold medal as a victory for women’s sport

Ground floor apartments make a great investment property

Tax minimisation and tax avoidance

Tax minimisation and tax avoidance

For more information about the difference between tax minimisation and tax avoidance read: http://www.smh.com.au/money/-gqb4w9.html

Baby Boomers to spark rises in regional cities

What a fantastic time it is to buy an investment property!

Buying an investment property before the boom

Property prices still continue to rise

Rentinvestor means you are interested in tenancy and landlord issues

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