Recent content by Kevmeister

The relevance of IRR to property investing, or any investing for that matter (eg. shares), is it shows how hard your *cash* is working for you. Other measures of investment performance, such as Yield and Growth, whilst being useful measures in themselves, do not specifically show how hard...

Colonial First State have a developing companies fund (Colonial First State Developing Companies Fund), a Future Leaders Fund, and a multi-manager Firstchoice Australian Small Companies Fund. Entry fees should not be a real consideration in practice. I used Neville Ward Direct as a discount...

To the photojournalist, a change to the photograph represents a lie. We're not talking about things like color correction, adjusting sharpness etc because that is concerned with getting the best picture quality. But in advertising it seems to be a lot different. Real Estate agents have long...

If you are spending money on ordinary every day items, perhaps you should also look whether your budget is actually realistic. Like if you spend $200 per week on groceries there is no point putting $150 per week in your budget. Unless you are going to substantially change your...

Remove the windows (cover over with plasterboard) so they'll need to use the light :)

Okay, how about buying secondhand solid bricks and laying them into a mortar bed to form a mowing strip? Not mega-cheap, but might be a reasonable solution.

For a minimalist look you can buy rolls (Nylex I think) of green or black plastic garden edging. It is intended to be buried. Its only real function is as a weed barrier to some degree. It gives a similar look to using a spade to cut the edge.

Hmmm. "Favorite" rewards program? I voted for the ones I have, which is not necessarily my "favorite". I haven't been so anal as to investigate every one of them. Suffice to say, the Westpac Altitude Rewards program effectively gives me something for nothing. The card is free with my home...

(Edit: Apologies, didn't see that Dave asked the same question). Hiya Rolf, I'm curious whether Liberty wants a formal reduction of the loan balance or whether property growth can help account for the "reduced" LVR. For example, $100K home lend $105K but must reduce to 85% LVR in 5 years...

Very nice. Looks like a good job.

This is my understanding, but you cannot own another PPOR in the meantime. You can only own one PPOR at any given time. This means that whilst you are "moved out", you will probably be renting somewhere else yourself.

Agree with all of the above and wish to add another one: Greed. Or, put another way, fear of missing out. As the boom has continued, people have seen $40K properties become $150K properties, $200K properties become $400K properties etc. They get excited at the prospect of earning what...

The point DaveP was making was that if you hold property at a reasonable LVR, the value of the property itself (when sold) covers the loan. As others have said, the insurance doesn't benefit you, only your beneficiaries. The need for such insurance is different if you are a couple...

The bank wants to limit its "exposure" on your property to a certain limit. That's why banks don't lend you 100% of the property value in the first place. So, there is a maximum percentage for which you'll be able to get finance. This is the LVR - Loan to Valuation ratio. To gain access to...

multi, you completely missed the point I was making. I was simply pointing out that the core benefit of property over shares is somewhat due to the additional leverage you can achieve. But leverage also works against you when the market drops. I leave it up to others to point out or debate...