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Long time since my last post, great to see the form still so active. A friend of mine has been running a business from his home for many years. He has a shed in his back garden which has been converted into a small office and that's the sole office for the business. He's been very careful...

Hi all I'm interested to hear if this is a one-off case or if it's quite common. Some friends of mine were recently renting a house in the Hawthorn/Kew area through one of the well known Melbourne agencies, one of the ones with a double barrel name. (But not HS, BP, BA, MW or NJ) At...

Hi all My Glodermatic garage door motor is playing up, can you recommend a good garage door specialist in Melbourne's inner north? Thanks Jonathon

I haven’t read anything on here about the proposed abolition of LAFHA for foreigners and the impact it will have on the rental market? The govt is planning on abolishing LAFHA for non-Australian residents from 1 July this year. (And tightening it for Aussies as well) LAFHA for non-Aussies...

I noticed this nest on my window the other day (please see pic). The hole you can see is slightly narrower than a pencil. Any idea what kind of nest it is? Or if it's even a nest at all? Cheers Jonathon

I just found out that my neighbours are demolishing their house in the coming weeks to rebuild. Our houses are fairly separate but they have a large brick garage in the back yard that has a long boundary wall, so demolishing that will definitely cause some damage on my side, not to my house...

Hi all My backyard is about 15m by 15m, but the last 5 metres, along the back fence, is elevated about 2m higher than the rest of the property, with a retaining wall. This top section is grass and is about the same level as the land behind my property. However it's also the highest section...

Hi I've got 2 trees in my back yard that the bees are loving at the moment, there's no hive there, they just come to collect the pollen, or whatever bees do. This doesn't bother me, but I have 2 very young kids and one of them was stung a few days ago, so I'd like to move the bees away...

A colleague of mine is looking at an apartment in Abbotsford which is Business Zone 3. Is this likely to cause any problems with banks? Cheers Jonathon

Most of us are very familiar with the standard debt recycling strategy when we have some non-deductible debt, usually in a PPOR. But I'm curious if anybody adopts the strategy of capitalising costs into a loan account that has a 100% offset, just for a rainy day. Let's say that you have a...

Just wondering whether anybody picked up this product in June? It's an interesting capital-protected product, given that they have a tax ruling and the 100% loan is limited recourse. If you're a higher rate tax payer, it'll cost you something like $31k pa to have exposure to a $1m...

Hi My PPOR home insurance renewal is in, and it's $1,840! (This includes about $85 broker fee, through OAMPS, the main policy is with QBE) The coverage details are: Buildings cover - $600k General contents - $56k Specific valuables - $23k (wedding/engagement rings) Public liability -...

I noticed this white stuff on one of my roses the other morning, do you know what it is, and more importantly what I should do about it? Sorry for the dodgy pics, it was absolutely freezing in Melbourne and the iPhone doesn't take great pics at the best of times. Cheers Jonathon

Let's say I list an IP to sell, but during the sales process I take it off the market, or perhaps it passes in, and I then keep it as an IP, how do I treat the selling costs that I've incurred, ie marketing, etc. My gut instinct is that it just increases the cost base for CGT purposes, but...

Hi all I'm tentatively thinking about selling an IP I own. It's tenanted, but past the lease period, so a 60 day notice period to vacate the property. It's not an obvious investment property (partly why I'm thinking about selling, shouldn't have bought it in the first place!) and the...

If I buy a house in the US today that cost $500k to build 3 years ago, is the value for depreciation: 1) $500k * 2.5% * current exchange rates; or 2) $500k * 2.5% * exchange rate from 3 years ago? Cheers Jonathon

Hi. I want to put winding window locks on two windows in my son's room, as he's now at the age where he can jump out of his cot and climb out the window. However, bunnings only have the type that open on the left side. The two windows in question are hinged on the side, and I'm putting the...

I'm stunned that Darebin council have allowed this in Northcote! This was dropped in last week by crane into the rear block in a really nice street, full of classic californian bungalows. The pictures really don't give the full impression of just how big it is. It looks like a prison to...

Hi all I've got a brother in New York who's thinking about buying a house there. I'd like to buy an investment property in the US, so I'm thinking about buying a place and he'll rent it off me. That way he can pay significantly less rent to me than the mortgage and tax payments, or to put...

Despite living in London for 12 years, when I moved to Australia 5 years ago I completely lost interest in the property market. But now, with the pound collapsing to $1.65, I'm suddenly getting interested again! A £300k flat in say Clapham now costs less than A$500k, whereas 2 years ago it...