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228 |Ownership Structure & Trusts with Julia Hartman – Everything You Need to Know About Property Tax (PART 2)

By in Podcast, Q&A

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Here we go, folks…. Property Tax PART 2 is finally here!!
So, let’s get down to the Ownership Structure, Trusts and SMSF insights you need!

If you tuned into Episode 226, then you’ll know we have none other than The #1 Property Tax Expert in Australia… Julia Hartman, unpacking the gold for you!

Julia is the Founder of BAN TACS, a co-operative of Accountants, which has been helping thousands of Australian’s navigate the world of tax since 1992!! She has a Bachelor of Business and is a Chartered Accountant (CA), Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and a Registered Tax Agent…. which, if they don’t mean much to you, translates to this — “impressive” and “rare”!!

PLUS, because we knew she was coming, we threw it out there for our listener’s to ask us their most pressing Tax Q’s they have — and Julia’s going to answer the last of these today and dishing out her top tax tips on ownership and borrowing tax structures!

Get the answers to…

Before we get to today’s questions, we want to let you know that we’ve compiled all of Julia’s Answers and Additional Resources into a PDF! If you’re interested, then just fill in the form below and we’ll send it to you right away. 🙂

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Today’s Ownership Structure and Trust Related Questions:

Question from Ben:

When investing for the long term as a couple (with one partner’s income considerably higher than the other), what are your top tax tips to consider when determining ownership and borrowing structures.

Question from Locky:

What is the best tax structure for being able to keep borrowing (family trust or company)? Buy build and rent out for passive income? Thanks guys.

Question from C L Wong:

Should we open a company to manage the residential properties or a trust perhaps? If so, what are the tax benefits do we have? Thank you, Gents 🙂

Question from Alistair:

How to transfer property between entities (company to trust or company to personal name). Investigate how the family law act interprets this. Thanks.

Question from Damien:

Is there any point in getting a tax depreciation schedule anymore for existing fixtures (since recent changes)?

 

Question from Paul:

Is there any point getting a depreciation schedule done on a brand new build IP considering I can just give my accountant the exact costings of the build to depreciate?

Question from Pete:

I want to know: am I able to claim tax deductions if I rent out 1 or 2 bedrooms in my home? If I rent out 2 bedrooms in my 3 bedroom home, am I able to claim two thirds or my rates, Strata, etc?

Question from Matthew:

When renovating an investment property to what level must you renovate the IP so it can be classed as a “Substantial Renovation” to allow you to claim it as a depreciating asset?

Question from Andrew:

Would love to know if we have any further clarification on the possible negative gearing changes from Labor are we able to still offset our income with interest down to 0 but not claim it as a loss i.e. negative gearing or is there plans to take away claiming the interest charges at all so all income is classed as income.

Question from Nick:

How do I transition my investment property at retirement with minimal tax impact?

Question from Kosta:

What implications must we consider if we go down the short-let Airbnb route?

Question from Sandy:

How do you choose/ find a quality property investment savvy tax accountant? Thank you for all your insights

Question from Sineth:

How to differentiate investment savvy/specialist tax agent and general Tax agent? What outcome Investment savvy tax accountant can bring in to table? Cheers

Question from Iain:

What sort of benefits could one expect from a property investment savvy/specialist tax agent over a generalist or do it yourself?

Thanks again for sending in your questions on Facebook folks! All of the answered questions will get a free book so make sure to reach out to us at [email protected]! 🙂

The Bank of Mum and Dad on Weekend Property, Today Show!

By in Free Resources

On the Today’s Show, Weekend Property this time, we talk about using the Bank of Mum and Dad to get on the property ladder! Saving a deposit, how it can be done and what else do you need to consider?

Hope you enjoy this segment! If you’d like to learn more about joint venture and guarantor loan, here are some helpful episodes! >>

  • Episode 46 | Q&A – Things we would have done differently, Buying sight unseen, Tax and purpose of property, Investment grade in regional centres and Joint ventures
  • Episode 116 | Q&A – How does Guarantor Loan actually works, Fixing a Joint Venture, Investing in WA and more

 

And there are heaps of other free resources on our website. We update them every week so make sure you check them out before you go. 🙂

Any questions or suggestions for new topics? Just send them in to [email protected] or fill in the form below and we’ll chat about it at our future Q&A episodes.

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116 | Q&A – How does Guarantor Loan actually works, Fixing a Joint Venture, Investing in WA and more

By in Podcast, Q&A

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It’s Question and Answer time!  Now, we answered a few questions in the last episode but realised that we wouldn’t be able to respond to all of your questions at this rate, so we will be doing a Facebook Live very soon. Stay tuned for that!

On another note, there’s an exciting announcement at the end of this episode so make sure you stick around. And here are the questions that we would be answering today:

 

  • Question on Guarantor Loan from Kate:

My partner and I earn a combined gross income of roughly $130,000 annually. We have a small amount of savings – about $5000 (remember we’re getting married). But really nowhere near the amount needed for a deposit on our first home. Listening to your episode about guarantors got me thinking. Is it possible to borrow the full amount for an invest-grade property in Newcastle? Do banks really loan 105% with interest only repayments so that we can continue putting money into an offset account? Or are we better to wait and rent and continue saving?

My parents have been lucky enough to own a home in Sydney that has enjoyed the crazy house price growth. Their home would be worth at least $1.5 million at the moment. How long would my parents need to be guarantors – would it be until we had saved 20% of the loan? Perhaps in our offset account? Or would it be until the full amount was paid down?

My dad is from the generation of debt is bad and avoids risks. If you thought this was a smart move, do you have any tips on how to explain the risk/benefits so that he can understand?

 

  • Question on “To Hold or Sell” from Warren: Hi ‘couchers’, thank you for your entertaining, informative, and thought-provoking podcasts. I’d like to know what your thoughts are on rescuing a situation where someone has an investment property they’ve had for 10 years that isn’t performing. Cut the losses and look to replace it, or hang onto it? (I bought this place at age 20 on apprentice wages, it was all I could afford) Thanks! (specifics: paid $195k, current market value $240k, current rent $270/wk)

 

  • Question on Property Investing in WA from Daniel:

My partner and I recently bought a duplex (2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, 2 living rooms, 475 m2) in Spearwood for $400,000. We have $112,000 equity in the property and $73,000 cash in our offset. Our salaries are $50,000 p/a for my partner and $71,000 p/a for myself, and we do not plan to have children for another 5 years. There is an opportunity to buy the second duplex (also a 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom, with a small granny flat at the back) for $385,000. The site is zoned R40 on 950 m2 (we see a 4 property potential), 3 km from the new Port Coogee Marina, the North Coogee development estate and the potential South Fremantle Power Station development bringing 6,000 new high-density houses/apartments into the area. We are 300 m from the local shopping centre and 5 km from the satellite employment hub of Fremantle (Bryce’s old hood). It ticks all the lifestyle boxes bar being near a train station (it is currently challenging to access the freeway to the Perth CBD). My two part question is:

  1. I am currently weighing up the opportunity cost. What is your inference of Spearwood as a potential “wave rider” suburb piggy backing off the growth of the coastal development? Do you feel that it would have long-term, consistent capital growth or a short term upswing, followed by a flattening capital growth and thus be better to buy into a blue chip area?
  2. As a first time investor, would it be wise to buy the adjacent duplex and land bank the asset, then develop the land after we have acquired several more properties in our portfolio or focus on the subdivision straight off the bat?

 

  • Question on Joint Venture from Tristan:o

I am in a bit of a bind and require some help. I currently have 4 properties. PPOR, a house in country VIC (Nathalia) that my father rents, a house in Frankston (that’s had 10% growth in 5 months!) and the front house on a sub dived block in Seaford.

The last 2 properties were purchased with friends as tenants in common.

I wanted to try and get another property with just my wife and so (as my friend has changed his plans a bit) I spoke to a well-regarded mortgage broker and they told me that the banks have changed the rules and that now they take the full loan amounts of the split properties and only half the rent!?

This destroys my serviceability. I am now not sure what to do, my friend is moving interstate and will not be ready to buy again for 2 years. (which I think my turn into 5 years) and I am keen to keep purchasing.

Should I concentrate on paying down the debt on my PPOR (280k worth 750k) or look at selling one of the joint houses (to gain the serviceability)?

 

And here are Free Resources mentioned in today’s podcast:

 

 

If you like this Q&A episode (How does Guarantor Loan actually works, Fixing a Joint Venture, Investing in WA and more), don’t forget to rate us on our iTunes channel (The Property Couch Podcast) and our Facebook page. Any questions or ideas? Feel free to drop us your thoughts here: http://tpcaustralia.wpengine.com/topics/

056 | Q&A – Exiting a contract, crowdfunding, what’s the impact of global events on Australia Property Market and more

By in Podcast, Q&A, Real life stories

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It’s Q&A time! This week on The Property Couch, Bryce Holdaway and Ben Kingsley will be answering the questions below from our fellow listeners. Thanks again for submitting your questions!

  • Exiting a contract question from Alex: Hi, Just looking for some advice as the more I listen to the podcast (and read your book), the more I think my first IP buy could be better. I’m currently on a defacto visa so can’t buy anything but new properties which led me to an off the plan development in Brisbane. While its marketed very well and made out to be a great buy, it goes against all you talk about- high rise, buying through a unqualified salesman, no room to improve, rental guarantee, and high strata. At the time it looked good but the more I understand what makes a good investment, the more I think I could do with the $40k deposit I put down. My question is, is there any way out of the contract that won’t cost me? It’s not due to be built for another 2 years so wondering if I could ask the developer to renege on the contract without penalty or even onsell it for cost price. I’ve started putting away some cash every week just in case it comes in undervalue but would rather not be in the position of ‘hoping’ this doesn’t happen. Would appreciate any advice to help!
  • Crowdfunding questions from Carol: I have heard people talking about “crowdfunding” being the next property investment strategy. What is “crowdfunding” and how will it work?
  • Ownership questions from Rob: What property ownership structure should investors use when buying an investment property? Individual, trust, company etc. Is there a need to balance tax advantages with long term asset protection on this issue?
  • Global events question from Cookie: I have an economy/finance related question and would like to hear your discussion on it. As we step into 2017, the market has been flooded with negative sentiment news. Lots of countries are under the water as oil and other commodity price plummet. China economy slowdown and share and currency tumbled. In the middle-east you have ISIS terrorist and European country have migration crisis. The central federal government around the world response to the crisis with more and more quantitative easing money printing. I feel like 2008 all over again and this time the crisis is on a global scale.The question I want to raise here is what will happen to the property market and banking policies if the crisis come in the near future? Few friend of mine thinking that the property price will go down like during the great depression. Am I best to wait until the crisis come and then purchase undervalued asset? But if there is a crisis and bank run, will interest rate raise to double digit and banks tighten the lending? What happen to my home loan if there is a bank fail? European central bank is doing negative interest rate already, will Australia heading to this direction one day? How should I position myself now so to be prepare for the day to come?
  • Case study question from Chris: Brief Bio – 33 yrs old. married with one child, live in Sydney, workfull time. have three properties. two in Townsville (both rented) building one in Melbourne currently. Currently renting in Sydney as units where we want to live sell for $800 k to $1 million. However we can rent and invest. We put all our money into our offset and pay out the credit card at the end of statement period. We also have a full functioningPAYG withholding variation in place.
    • Question 1 – with the house I am building in Melbourne. Will I ever be able to claim back the GST I have paid in the build contract?
    • Question 2 – With one of my properties in Townsville I am concerned that our body corporate fees are way to high. We pay over $5k pa for fees. No lift, no pool in complex and it is a three story masonry construct building. How do I compare if this is the going rate in our market?

 

References:

 

If you like this Q&A episode (Exiting a contract, crowdfunding, what’s the impact of global events on Australia Property Market and more), don’t forget to rate us at our iTunes channel (The Property Couch Podcast) and our Facebook page. Any questions or ideas? Feel free to drop us your thoughts here: http://tpcaustralia.wpengine.com/topics/

046 | Q&A – Things we would have done differently, Buying sight unseen, Tax and purpose of property, Investment grade in regional centres and Joint ventures

By in Podcast, Q&A

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We are back on with the Questions and Answer time for our Summer Series. This week, Bryce Holdaway and Ben Kingsley will be answering the questions below from our fellow listeners. Thanks again for submitting your questions!

  • Question from Alex: Aside from getting into property earlier or not selling… knowing what you know now, what 5 things would you both have done differently?
  • Buying sight unseen questions from Lewis : We are currently living overseas and want to want to move back to Australia in a number of years. Late 20s and want to start buying investment properties in 2016, we have two questions.
    1. Best advice for buying property without being able to walk through the property.
    2. Best area to buy in Australia if you don’t know where in Oz you want to move back too!
  • Question on tax implications on property from Chris : A question relating to turning an investment property into a PPR. My partner and I just completed construction of a home which was intended to be an investment property for 5-7 years after which time we were going to move in and make our family home. Situations have changed and we will be able to completely pay off and move into the new house within the next 12 months. Will there be any issues arising from all the tax deductions (ie interest during the build, deprecation etc) Since we will be changing the purpose of the house?
  • Investment grade for regional properties question from Lou: Loving the podcasts – succinct and very informative so thank you! I’m currently saving for my first investment property and I have a couple of questions. I am considering regional Victoria (as I grew up there) and was wondering how ‘Investment Grade‘ the properties are, particularly along the Vic/NSW border. Should I be looking here or become more ‘borderless’ in my approach? I am looking to purchase in 2016 however I’m concerned with the property cycle, should I hold off another year until the market drops or is it likely to only increase in the short/medium term? I understand you can only give general advice, but I would like to know what the generally suspected trends are.
  • Joint venture question from Christopher: I am a first time investor and am looking at buying an older federation era home. For a 3 bedroom home of this style you are looking at a purchase price of around the $550,000 mark. Due to an over inflation of new homes, I can see these are the only worthwhile investments for the future as they have generally around the 1000 sq m block at less than a km from the CBD and are rising in value at around 2-3% per year depending on what renovations are performed where they can be anywhere up to 10%.  To find these funds I am looking at doing a joint venture with a good mate of mine who is a builder, do the minor renovations without overcapitalising, hold it for maybe 5 years rented out for that period and then sell it for hopefully a decent capital gain.  Are joint ventures worth it and will this be a silly strategy for such an old house as depreciation will have been used up already and these older houses can be a pandora’s box once opened up and end up costing way over budget?

 

Free resources mentioned in this podcast:

 

If you like this Q&A episode, don’t forget to rate us at our iTunes channel (The Property Couch Podcast) and our Facebook page. Any questions or ideas? Feel free to drop us your thoughts here: http://tpcaustralia.wpengine.com/topics/

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