Hi all,
New to the forum, but been lurking for a long time - I have dozens of questions, but I'll try and space them out.
I own a serviced apartment similar to that described in a recent thread - the apartment can be sold like any other (for PPoR, private let, etc.), but there is the option of entering it into a pooled 'hotel' scheme. I opted for the latter when I bought, since I thought it would be a lot less hassle, but I'm finding in fact it's more hassle in accounting terms, and the average rent over a year is only barely at market (compared to what it would rent for privately), possibly slipping below seeing how they've been rising lately. And of course there's nothing I can do to improve the apartment while it's under the scheme. I signed a 5+5+5 lease, and there's still about 10 years to go.
My question is - has anybody ever actually asked to be released from a lease contract (whether successful or not)? I suppose if I were really desperate to regain possession I could 'sell' it to a relative and incur stamp duty, but it seems a bit extreme. Any other thoughts or opinions on the situation? It's not costing very much to hold since my LVR is low, but it'd be nice to have control of it again, and I just can't help thinking I could do better with respect to rental income at the moment. More of a hypothetical, I guess.
New to the forum, but been lurking for a long time - I have dozens of questions, but I'll try and space them out.
I own a serviced apartment similar to that described in a recent thread - the apartment can be sold like any other (for PPoR, private let, etc.), but there is the option of entering it into a pooled 'hotel' scheme. I opted for the latter when I bought, since I thought it would be a lot less hassle, but I'm finding in fact it's more hassle in accounting terms, and the average rent over a year is only barely at market (compared to what it would rent for privately), possibly slipping below seeing how they've been rising lately. And of course there's nothing I can do to improve the apartment while it's under the scheme. I signed a 5+5+5 lease, and there's still about 10 years to go.
My question is - has anybody ever actually asked to be released from a lease contract (whether successful or not)? I suppose if I were really desperate to regain possession I could 'sell' it to a relative and incur stamp duty, but it seems a bit extreme. Any other thoughts or opinions on the situation? It's not costing very much to hold since my LVR is low, but it'd be nice to have control of it again, and I just can't help thinking I could do better with respect to rental income at the moment. More of a hypothetical, I guess.