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Hi I would really appreciate thoughts/ advice from the SS community regarding a moral dilemma. I have leased a 3 bedroom 2.5 bathroom to a young couple in Labrador. Yesterday the agent phoned to say that the tenants had requested permission to allow an additional tenant to move in. The...

Hi I would appreciate some comments/ thoughts. I have a bias against buying a townhouse in a large complex (50) of similar townhouses. However the location is good - close to shops/ transport/ schools. Its tenanted, and the strata fees are reasonable, and overall its positive geared (in...

Gold Coast Labrador - a possible "hot spot", which we will no doubt read about in the monthly property magazines in the months ahead. "One of the largest integrated tourism infrastructure projects in Queensland's history could be just weeks away from getting the green light. The huge...

Hi Can someone advise me - does a unit in Runaway Bay which is very close to the border with Biggera Waters have a lower price than one further north in Runaway Bay. ? It almost seems that the units (for unknown reasons eg old stock/ demographics/ transport factors), are cheaper in Biggera...

An article in the SMH today regarding a high profile banker (in NSW) being slugged for $1m+ for land tax despite his, "objection to the tax assessments was that their expenses for those three years exceeded the income from the property and they were therefore eligible for a land tax...

This sounded like a good idea to me - select a tax agent/ accountant is someplace like the Gold Coast/ Cairns - a lifestyle place. Then, presuming you are located in somewhere like Melbourne or Sydney, your trips to see your tax agent/ accountant are tax deductible. I suspect having an...

Hi I'm presently getting a discount on my I/O variable IP loan of 1.18% (from Westpac). I'm thinking of switching to a fixed rate, say 3 or 5 years. Can I carry the 1.18% discount to the current advertised rate for fixed loans (from Westpac). My simple logic being that the loan itself...

Hi We (spouse and myself) have a mix of shares and property. The properties are doing great, but we took bath in 2007-2008 on the shares. Thus we are carrying a capital loss which we would like to use (since it is gradually being eroded in real terms). The easy answer would be sell the...

Hi I would be interested in any comments/ observations regarding forecaster Phillip j Anderson - author of "The secret life of real estate ...". He maintains there is an 18 year cycle to property. Google him, if you don't know what I'm talking about (and are curious). There just might...

Hi Do you know how you spend Saturdays looking for a property, and then find two IP's that you like. You can't afford both. And you don't want to put an offer for one only and get knocked back (eg because of a higher offer), only then to lose out on the second one (eg because no-one else made...

In today’s (13/12/2012) AFR, a letter writer states, “I charge my wife 2% pa of her capital to advise her. And she charges me 2% pa of my capital to advise me. That way, we get the long lunches and overseas holidays, and not the fee hungry (financial) planners”. I don’t understand...

Hi One of the units in our block (not mine) has what seems to be a rising damp problem. I would appreciate any contacts/ referrals for a building engineer and/ or damp course specialist, preferably in the Parramatta area. We (the body corporate) are thinking we need to get a building...

Hi I would welcome any suggestions on how best to remove green mould from the outside timberboard to our house. I'm thinking that perhaps, a quick sanding of the affected area, then wipe down with a mixture of washing up powder ? and water, followed (after its dry), by Zinsser? with...

Hi I would appreciate some feedback from other formites on this matter. I have been informed by Strata that Government legislation requires that an Abestos Management report be obtained for a block of units in which I have an I/P. I now have the report, and asbestos has been detected...

Hi A WBC problem. Four weeks ago we signed the loan and mortgage documents. On Monday next week we go back to the bank for the third time to sign the same document again because of confusion over the signature, eg John Barry Smith v John Smith. But we signed as per the names shown on...

So after 12+ years, the civic place development has been dropped. Groucon announced that they have decided to walk away from any further association with the council - disgraceful that council have squandered massive amounts of local rate payers funds through absolute incompetence. Tony

Hi I note from todays SMH, "THE Planning Minister, Brad Hazzard, has agreed to consider proposals for a state or Sydney-wide levy on ratepayers to raise money for parks, libraries and other community facilities in new suburbs. Mr Hazzard said historically low rates of construction of...

Hi Hopefully someone will learn from my stupidity. For many years I have thought that my Westpac savings account was an offset account linked to any one of my 8 IP accounts. With 9 IP's I have always held a large balance of funds, eg $20k to meet the monthly payments but I was always...

Hi I recently renewed several i/o loans which had been fixed for 3 years with Westpac. The rep mentioned that there was a 10 year maximum period for i/o loans. Thus I was told I could renew several of the loans as i/o but only so as the total period of the loan, as i/o, did not exceed 10...

Hi I see that Ipswich Council (want) to do a Parramatta, according an article a few hours ago on NineMSN. http://money.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=8183580 As someone who has been bitterly disappointed with Parramatta and its Council, I can only hope, for Ipswich's sake, that it...