Depreciator V Deppro

Just looking around for some one to complete a depreciation schedule on our IP on the Gold Coast which was built in 1986, renovated in 2000.

Deppro want $495 inc.
and
Depreciator want $715 inc.

How do these prices vary so much?

Comments on both companies?

Thanks

Tye
 
Tye,

Ive been using Deppro for a number of years now going back to when they were formerly known as HTW.

I have a portfolio spread across WA & Qld. Deppro have come out and inspected the properties, taken measurements, contents details & photographs then emailed them to Paul Bennion the Director & QS in Brisbane. Paul then completed the reports and posted them direct to me.

All reports have been completed within 2/3 weeks of commissioning and I have been very happy with the results & quality of them.

Sorry, I cant comment on Depreciators schedules as I have not commissioned Scott before but Im sure if you contact him direct yourself he would be more than happy to discuss your situation with you.

Cheers
 
Rixter said:
I have a portfolio spread across WA & Qld. Deppro have come out and inspected the properties, taken measurements, contents details & photographs then emailed them to Paul Bennion the Director & QS in Brisbane. Paul then completed the reports and posted them direct to me.
Cheers

Rixter,

Does this then mean the Deprro guys who attend the property are not Quantity Surveyors?

REDWING
 
Redwing,

His local office agent came out here in Perth and performed the onsite works. The last one I purchased in Perth was 4 years ago so Im not sure what their proceedures are nowdays. Cant comment on my recent years interstate property purchases tho as I havent been onsite to meet them.

Cheers
 
Depreciator

I recently used the Depreciator for a property in Perth.
If you mention to them that you are a member of this forum they will do the schedule for $650
 
Thanks Rixter, I was reading an article about DEPWEST and it made me wonder about some of the people who conduct the initial works...albeit, that could apply to many companies and industries


REDWING
 
As a tax agent, I have prepared many tax returns for property investors. I have only had one client with a Depreciator report but the report kicked major tax office butt. Very professional, all the bases covered properly.

I have used Deppro. They are one of the cheapest on the market and most of their reports are generic rather than specific. They don't seem to but their best effort into it but they are ok.

Napier and Blakely aren't too bad.

For those tempted to go with an independant QS, for God's sake don't. The last few didn't even do the maths right and my eyebrows raised at some of the things they were claiming.
 
redwing said:
Rixter,

Does this then mean the Deprro guys who attend the property are not Quantity Surveyors?

REDWING

Most of the companies do not use "quantity surveyors" to do the initial property inspection, but the report must of course be signed off by a QS..

A bit like the book keepr in your accoutant's office doing most of the number crunching or the law clerk doing some of the work for your solicitor.

I have found Deprro efficient - they have done reports for me personally and for clients.
 
Yes, our prices are a tad higher than some in the market place. (They're also lower than some.)
Looking around for the cheapest supplier of a tax related service doesn't make much sense to me. It's a bit like looking for the cheapest accountant you can find.
Our costs are higher in part because 98% of our inspections are carried out by Quantity surveyors or estimators. Tempting as it is, we don't have an army of unqualified information gatherers out there. Most reputable suppliers do in fact use a QS to carry out inspections.
We are up to date on the ever changing ATO rules and we follow the AIQS (Australian Institute of Quantity Surveyors) 'Best practice' expectations.
I have never met MRY, but I am gratified that he liked our reports. Around 60% of our work comes to us via accountants who similarly have confidence in our reports.
Scott
 
because our IP was built in 1986 and is approaching the 20year mark, will the depreciation of the initial construction stop this year?
 
As it was built in 1986, its claimable for 25 years at 4% a year instead of 2.5 % after 16th September 1987.

I read somewhere that, if it's only been claimed for, say 10 years as an IP, that you would still have the balance, in that case 15 years to go. Maybe a forumite accountant could confirm that.
 
lino28 said:
ahh just found out it was built in July 1988 - it has never been rented out before we purchased in 2005.
The bad news is that you only get 2.5% depreciation. The good news is that your depreciation only runs out in 2028 (at 4% it would have run out in 2013).
 
The important date is 'construction start date'. So Lino when you say your property was 'built in July 88', does that mean construction finished then? If contruction started before Sept 87, you can claim depreciation at 4%.
Yes, establishing this date will be problemmatical.
And as Geoff wrote, if it falls into the 2.5% category, at least you'll be depreciating it for some time.
To answer your question, SOS, what a previous owner or hasn't done doesn't come into it unfortunately.
As an aside, lots of investors look for properties built in the 4% window - July 85 to September 87. The depreciation left to claim on these properties is less than one built in, say 88.
An 87 property would have roughly 7 years left at 4% = around 28%.
An 88 property would have roughly 23 years left at 2.5% = around 55%
Scott
 
lino28 said:
Deppro want $495 inc. and Depreciator want $715 inc.
How do these prices vary so much?
I found a gap in price too but in the other direction for 3 new T/H in Melb, GST incl quotes below :
440 BMT & Deppro
400 Baglin Partners
200 Depreciator

Especially when the houses are new can there be so much variation in report quality ... to explain the price diff ?
I've used BMT before, they are most professional and I have the utmost confidence in them, but at $220 each for 3 reports, Depreciator is tempting.
 
Deppro want $495 inc. and Depreciator want $715 inc.

Gday people,

I have used a number of Quantity Surveyors over the years and have found that you really cant make a decision based upon price, simply because there are suppliers out there who will not hesitate to give you a substandard product at a reduced fee, not sure what corner they are cutting to make a buck, but I have been sent depreciation reports that I could have better prepared my self. Stick with the big names, I only use BMT these days.
 
We are one of the 'big names' - certainly in the top 3 in terms of the number of reports done per year. Petro is right in that there are a number of cut rate suppliers doing dreadful work. They depend upon the fact that most people buy one investment property and therefore only ever get one Schedule done so they're not relying on repeat business.

The price given to Patosan would reflect the fact that Patosan is able to supply the building costs of the properties in question.

The ATO states very clearly that some effort must be made to ascertain actual costs, as opposed to estimating them. In the case of a brand new property, the actual costs are obviously available because there is invariably a building contract floating around.

As you can appreciate, when we are presented with actual costs (as opposed to having to estimate them) it reduces our internal costs significantly and we can therefore reduce cost of the Schedule. And it's more ATO compliant!

Mystery solved.

To use a cliche, it's a 'win win situation'.

Scott
 
I used Depreciator and my accountant was very happy.

Many of my clients used him and I have never heard a complaint.

Scott contributes a helluva lot to these forums and also gives plenty of free telephone advice to clients and non clients. He really seems to know what he is doing.

Lastly I have met him and he is one of the good guys in my book.

What you need to be most careful of is not choosing a "cowboy" based on a cheap quote. Having said that I have no doubt the larger companies mentioned are all reputable.

Cheers,
 
Thank you Scott for contributing to this thread, I wasn't my intention to cast a shadow over Depreciator. I am aware of Depreciator's depth in customer base which alone says something.

Without focussing on price or Co name I'd like to ask what exactly makes for a good QS report ?
Or conversely what earmarks does a poor one have ?
Surely the reports are simple deprec tables where I'd be surprised to find calc errors.
Dwellings have a certain no. of items for estimation ... do poor one's miss some items ?
 
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