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065 | Q&A – How will technology impacts the property market, investing in strata properties and more

By The Property Couch May 26, 2016 in Podcast, Q&A

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Today’s episode starts with a recap on the AREC16 Conference (ps: Bryce refused to talk about AFL). Bryce and Ben also discussed about the possible impact of technology to the property market for example, what would happen if we don’t need to drive a car in the future anymore? Would car spots still be a considerations in asset selection?

They then moved on to answering a couple of the listeners’ questions below. Thanks again for submitting your questions!:

Asset selection question from James: Love the podcast! Just wondering if there’s a big difference between investing in a 2 bedroom house or a 3 bedroom house. Everyone is telling me ‘the more bedrooms the better’ however others have told me that for an investment it doesn’t matter. Thanks!

Next step question from Mat: My wife and I are on the move from Newcastle (Whitebridge) to Coffs Harbour on the NSW mid north coast. Our house in Whitebridge is our first home which we purchased in 2011 for 365k and is currectly valued at 490k. Ideally we would like to keep our house in Whitebridge as an investment property and look to buy in Coffs Harbour. The rental return will be $420 which comfortably covers the mortgage at interest only. I see the house as being a good investment grade property and ticks the boxes that you both talk about in the podcasts. What should we do?

Question on strata properties from Sarah: I’ve got a question about strata properties. We have two townhouses, one is in a smaller complex with 8 townhouses & the levies are reasonable, there is rarely any issues with maintenance etc. The other one (our first purchase!!) is in a complex with 30 townhouses/units, the units have lift access/underground parking & we’re paying about $985 a quarter in levies.We are constantly getting correspondence from the strata company with owners having maintenance issues, leaking toilets/tiles, graffiti removal, underground car park issues…. We’ve committed the property, it will give good growth & should be neutrally geared in the years to come (held for2yrs to date) so selling is out of the equation.Would love to hear your thoughts on strata, when is it a good idea, when is it a bad idea. Should I be religiously sending back votes for meetings etc? When I read the strata documents that require owners response, it’s all dutch to me, can you explain how to respond to things I can vote on & making sense of the minutes etc. Thanks guys, appreciate any advice you can give on strata.

Question on timing the market from Leighton: I’d love to hear Bryce and Ben’s thoughts on the property cycle and the part that it plays in investment decisions and how the cycle ties in with “timing the market”. It seems that different parts of the country operate in different phases of the cycle.

If you like this Q&A episode (How will technology impacts the property market, investing in strata properties 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/

064 | Case study: mid 30s couple, combined income of $150k p.a, existing PPOR and two IPs

By The Property Couch May 19, 2016 in Case Study, Podcast, Q&A

It has been quite some time since our last case study so this time on The Property Couch, Bryce and Ben will be discussing one the case studies that we’ve received from our fellow listeners! Here’s what Tom wrote to us:

After listening to Episode 56 where you discussed various other case studies I thought I might write in to see if you were interested in discussing our situation. I’ll try and keep it short!

Basically, my partner Kirby (30yo) and I (32yo) are both teachers on a combined income of about $160k. 3 years ago we got the bug to do something with our money but weren’t exactly sure how. Our simple goal is to have choice whether to work or not. If we had no loans to service we imagine a passive income of $80-100k would be more than enough, and any more is a bonus!

We had a PPOR property valued at a tad over 300k with a mortgage of ~200k, limited other expenses and a disciplined approach to spending. Property sounded like a great avenue so we went about increasing our knowledge. Unfortunately our naivety led us to a property investment ‘education’ group where although we have learn a lot we have made what we think are two poor investment decisions. We overpaid for both to fatten the developer’s margins.

Our first was brought using the above equity in our PPOR and was a House and Land duplex in Dakabin, Qld for circa $500k. Although the yield is decent there were many costs that the property investment ‘education’ group failed to mention/understand that we have been left with, and there is little scarcity or owner occupier appeal to make growth a good prospect. We have always had tenants in both sides which has been great. We borrowed 90% on interest only terms.

About 18 months ago we signed another contract, this time on a 4 bed H & L in Doolandella, 18kms out of Brisbane for circa $400k. After a long land settlement this was completed yesterday and will be advertised for rent tomorrow. Looking at about a 4.9% yield. Again, this is on an interest only loan at 90%. Deposit and costs were paid from our savings – I know, huge mistake!

Right after we signed this contract we found your podcasts which have taught us that there are so many fundamental errors in our property selections, and if we had our time again would have purchased existing properties with scarcity and owner occupier appeal.

We have just had our first child and Kirby is now off work. We have a ~$45k buffer in our PPOR offset and somehow are still managing to save, even though Kirby is off work, although receiving maternity leave payments.

We use a credit card to pay for 95% of our spending, and repay at the end of every month to ensure no interest payments.

So, we are still very keen to use property as our investment vehicle and have learned so much in the last year but are now stuck as to our next step. We doubt we would have enough equity to purchase again now and the fact Kirby is off work will severely hamper our serviceability. She will return to work at the start of 2017.
Questions:

Do we sell both/one of our current properties? We’d like to keep if possible as I am a firm believer in buy and hold, although will they hamper us moving forward?
Where to from here?

Any information from you would be extremely appreciated. I’m sure there are a number of people who have used ‘property spruikers’ such as these to purchase less than ideal investments.

If you like this case study episode (Mid 30s couple, combined income of $150k p.a, existing PPOR and two IPs), 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/

58 | Will apartments value drop by 50%?

By The Property Couch April 7, 2016 in Podcast, Uncategorized

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In recent weeks, a few lenders have begin to tighten their terms and conditions on apartments in certain suburbs across Australia. Needless to say, some commentators are putting a blanket statement on the future of apartments and claims that they are looking rather bleak at the moment. However, how much impact will these changes have on apartments value and if so, will it affect all types of apartments?

Listeners that have followed this podcast since its inception would know about Bryce and Ben’s view on apartments. Whether it is a brand new one bedroom apartment in the city centre or an attractive off the plan deal, our hosts still prefer established apartments in great locations. As property investment advisor and buyer’s agents, they have advised hundreds of clients to invest in apartments so, are they worried about this lending restriction? Are they expecting a massive drop in apartments value and where are they seeing this happening? Listen to this podcast to find out more.

The article mentioned in this post:

Apartment lender AMP blacklists more than 140 suburbs – Read more

If you like this podcast: “Will apartments value drop by 50%?”, don’t forget to rate us at our iTunes channel (The Property Couch Podcast) and our Facebook page. If you have 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 The Property Couch March 24, 2016 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:

Episode 8 – Investment stock vs investment grade
Episode 37 – Understanding the scarcity factor
Episode 48 – Different property investment structures
Bryce on The Today Show – Double trouble for the property market
If you are interested on the 2016 Outlook for the Global Economy, do check out our videos here.

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/

51 | Will Labor’s proposed changes to Negative Gearing policy be good or bad for ordinary Australians?

By The Property Couch February 18, 2016 in Podcast

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What an interesting weekend! We always knew that the negative gearing debate was one that would never fade away but last weekend on 13th of February 2016, Opposition Leader Bill Shorten used his speech to the NSW ALP conference to unveil some possible changes to negative gearing should Labor win the next election. Needless to say, this opens up a lot of conversations and debates surrounding what this policy would involve, what data the decision is based on, the policies’ framework and its implications.

In his speech, Bill Shorten mentioned that if Labor wins the next election, from July 2017 onward, negative gearing will only be available on newly constructed homes. This is to improve the efficiency and fairness of the Australian Taxation system and he reiterated that the changes will not affect existing negatively geared properties. Furthermore, this policy will also reduce the subsidy on CGT from 50% to 25%. You can read the rest of his speech here.

As property investment advisors, property analysts and professionals who are actively involved in the industry, Bryce and Ben are both aware that any negative gearing changes would have a ripple effect on the Australian property market as well as the general economy. Decisions that are made without considering all the impacts on the market would mean history repeating itself again such as the brief change in negative gearing in 1985. Hence, in this podcast they analyse Labor’s proposed changes and explain the good and bad aspects of those changes.

It is important to note that Bryce and Ben’s comments and opinions in today’s podcast are their own and not the position of the Property Investment Professionals of Australia (PIPA).

If you like this podcast: “Will Labor’s proposed changes to Negative Gearing policy be good or bad for ordinary Australians?”, don’t forget to rate us at our iTunes channel (The Property Couch Podcast) and our Facebook page. If you have any questions or ideas, feel free to drop us your thoughts here: http://tpcaustralia.wpengine.com/topics/

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