re/max profile investors essential guide to successful investment in property april 2012

In this edition:

Mould – Who Is Responsible?

New Laws For Blinds And Curtains

How To Start Investing On A Low Income

New Floodplain Mapping For QLD

On the Contrary-Everyone Judges a Book By

it’s Cover…

April 2012

Could you benefit from higher cash flow

now?

Property Development Tips for Saving on

Tax!

8 Easy Ways to Up Your Rental Income…

A Selection of Properties Leased This Month

Quote

Calendar of Events

Time for Bunnies and a Better Market!

With the election finally over, we can all get back to business. And business on the back of a good sleep - it was great not having to sit up all night waiting for the results! We look forward to the renewed confidence that comes with a change of government leading to price growth in the real estate mar-ket. If nothing else, the LNP have promised to cut red tape and reduce the endless supply of paperwork required for real estate transactions - which will be appreciated by all concerned! We continue to have a blast helping property owners sell and rent their properties. Our team was in the top ten nationally for February: a tribute to all the wonderful properties we sold for our clients. Last month we also welcomed Bette Mcguane to the sales team. A top

real estate agent with many years standing and success, Bette is adored by all of her clients with al-most 90% coming from referrals and repeat business. Specialising in the centenary suburbs, we feel for-tunate to have Bette join forces with the seventeen amazing individuals we have on the team already. The rental market continues to be steady with January being the stand out month so far this year. During period where properties are not al-ways being immediately snatched up the quality of the marketing comes into play and the one big thing we would recommend to our owners looking to let their properties is professional photos. As you know – a picture speaks a thousand words! We have a really good deal available from our photographer at the moment with 15 shots for $125. He’ll also do floor plans, which is another thing Grant and I have done

for our properties. They last forever and help to qualify your tenants in advance as well as minimising inter-ruptions for your current tenants. The office is open on Easter Satur-day from 9:00AM to1:00PM as usu-al and will be closed during Good Friday and Easter Monday. With the boys on school holidays we’re all looking forward to a few days at the beach. The boys will also enjoy lots of time at their grandparents and are much antici-pating the Easter Bunny’s visitation: they’ve been admiring all the Easter eggs in the supermarkets for weeks! We hope you will get to enjoy a break too! Thanks for your continued support, Christina

Bette

www.propertyrentalsbrisbane.com FREE Information Guide For Landlords & Tenants

ventilating a bathroom using

an extractor fan or opening a

window, it may be the tenant’s

responsibility to clean up the

mould.

The lessor/property manager

and tenant should talk with

each other to work out who will

clean the mould. But if agree-

ment can’t be reached, then

either person can lodge

a Dispute resolution request

(Form 16) with the RTA.

If the dispute resolution pro-

cess doesn’t provide a solu-

tion, the person who lodged

the dispute form may choose

to apply to the Tribunal for a

determination.

Although Queensland tenancy

laws don’t refer specifically to

mould, general rules about the

responsibility of the lessor/

property manager to carry out

any repairs and the tenant to

maintain the place throughout

a tenancy apply.

Source : RTA Newsletter (December

2011/January 2012 )

Mould – Who Is

Responsible?

The RTA receives many

calls from lessors, property

managers and tenants ask-

ing who should clean up

mould in rental properties,

particularly over the sum-

mer months.

The answer is e i ther

the lessor/property manager or

the tenant, depending on the

situation.

If the mould appears as a re-

sult of fair wear and tear, or a

result of a property mainte-

nance issue such as a roof

leak, it is the lessor/property

manager’s responsibility to

have it cleaned. It is always up

to the lessor/property manager

to ensure the premises are

maintained and kept in good

repair.

However, if the tenant causes

the mould, for example by not

New Laws For Blinds

And Curtains

The Australian Competition

and Consumer Commission

(ACCC) introduced the regu-

lation following concerns

that looped cords posed a

child strangulation risk.

Lessors, agents and suppliers

must comply with the new

mandatory standard when

supplying new window cover-

ings in rental properties.

The Office of Fair Trad-

ing recommends adding safety

tassels to cords or adding a

hook high on a window frame

to hook up the cord. The bot-

tom of any blind or curtain

cord should be at least 160cm

above the floor.

Suppliers of internal window

coverings must meet all the

requirements for design, con-

struction and the marking of

corded internal window cover-

ings such as warning labels on

cords and retail packaging.


The internal window covering

must also include installation

instructions and any neces-

sary safety components re-

quired for installation.

To comply with the standards,

the ACCC advises that suppli-

ers:

• read the ACCC’s regula-

tions

• have checked to ensure

products comply with the

standard

• register to receive auto-

matic email updates from

the Product Safety Aus-

tralia website

Further information is available

on the ACCC website.

Source : RTA Newsletter (December

2011/January 2012 )

How To Start Investing

On A Low Income

We’d all like to invest our

way to financial security,

and having a well paid job

certainly makes that task a

lot easier.

But don’t be put off if your job

doesn’t put you in the higher

pay brackets, you may still be

able to kick start that property

portfolio.

Tips for those aspiring inves-

tors whose day jobs don’t pull

in the big bucks:

GETTING A LOAN

The more closely you fit a

lenders’ criteria, the happier

they’ll be.

A lender looks for:

• a record of steady em-

ployment for at least the

last 6 months, preferably

longer

• a good declared income

to the tax office for the

last two financial years if

you are self employed

• permanent residency or

Australian citizenship,

although temporary resi-

dents and non-residents

can get loans if no mort-

gage insurance is need-

ed, i.e. the loan is 80% or

less of the value of the

security property

• an unblemished credit

record, even quite small

defaults (for instance to

telephone companies)

can derail an otherwise

strong application

• a track record of saving –

amounting to at least 5%

of the value of the prop-

erty – if you’re a first

home buyer.

Lenders vary on how conser-

vatively or loosely they assess

such things as:

• your living costs

• the net rental income you

can expect from invest-

ment properties

• the extent to which inter-

est rates might rise

above their current level,

so you need to check with

them separately in relation to

your own circumstances.

Source : Your Investment Property

(3 August 2011)


be quickly adopted to

help with the assessment

of potential development

sites;

• Ensure more appropriate

building designs in flood-

plain constructions.

The Queensland Reconstruc-

tion Authority has partnered

with State agencies and work-

ing in collaboration with the

LGAQ to fast track the task of

mapping Queensland’s flood-

plains.

Source : REIQ Journal (November

2011)

appeal from the outside then it

won’t entice buyers to view it.

Here are some simple tips to

improve your home’s street

appeal:

1. Put plants around the

boundaries of your front

yard to “frame” your

home.

2. Make sure your driveway

is presentable. There are

a number of products on

the market that will trans-

form an old, shabby

driveway into something

solid and new.

3. Draw attention to your

“entrance” or front door

area.

4. Make sure your letter box

is looking good. Appeal-

ing letterboxes are readi-

ly available and afforda-

ble.

For more tips on how to pre-

sent your home for sale order

a free copy of our book “How

to sell your home for a dream

price in record time!” today, go

to http://propertysalesbrisbane

.com/our-book/.

On the Contrary-

Everyone Judges a

Book By it’s Cover…

Improve Your Home

You’re thinking of selling

and naturally you want the

best price you can get…

The bottom line is, that it all

starts with the very first im-

pression. If your home doesn’t

New Floodplain

Mapping For QLD

The largest floodplain map-

ping initiative in the State’s

history – built on the latest

technology and supported

by both new and historic da-

ta – is under way.

The draft Planning for strong-

er, more resilient floodplains

guideline has been developed

in consultation with more than

10 councils, the LGAQ, Geo-

sciences Australia, and the

Fitzroy Basin Association. It is

now open for consultation.

The objectives of the toolkit

are to:

• Promote better under-

standing of floodplains

and how to manage

them;

• Promote greater correla-

tion between floodplain

management and land

use planning;

• Provide councils with a

series of criteria that can

Could you benefit from

higher cash flow now?

What could you do with ex-

tra cash each fortnight?

Save on interest costs by pay-

ing a current mortgage off fast-

er? Save more quickly for the

next investment property de-

posit? Go on a holiday? There

are so many possibilities…

Why not consider a Pay As

You Go (PAYG) variation?

Often overlooked by investors,

the PAYG system is a great

way to increase fortnightly

cash flow throughout the year.

The PAYG method of tax col-

lection was introduced in July

2000 to replace previous ver-

sions of the same system,

such as pay as you earn

(PAYE). The system gives the

option of claiming back tax

regularly, rather than in one

lump sum at the end of the fi-

nancial year. A PAYG varia-

tion means that the property

owner’s employer will reduce

the amount of tax withheld to


reflect set deductions like de-

preciation on a rental property.

In essence it is a way of de-

creasing the amount of tax

paid by the investor each pay

period.

It is important to note that sub-

mitting the PAYG variation

does not replace a normal tax

return. A tax return still needs

to be filed at the end of the

year to calculate the actual

amount of tax liability. Your

PAYG instalments for the year

are credited against your as-

sessment.

A Quantity Surveyor can pro-

vide all current and future de-

preciation values for invest-

ment properties in a detailed

tax depreciation report. Ob-

taining the report immediately

after the purchase of a proper-

ty will allow the maximum re-

turn from a PAYG variation, as

the precise figures will make

the instalments accurate.

The flexibility provided to the

Investor through a PAYG vari-

ation, combined with deprecia-

tion deductions identified by a

Quantity Surveyor, can be of

great help in managing the

fortnightly cash flow of an in-

vestment property.

Let’s consider a hypothet-

ical situation:

A typical $400,000 investment

property would show an aver-

age annual loss (or deduction)

of $35,000 and an average

income of $20,000 for the first

5 years. The deductions in-

clude costs such as interest on

a $350,000 mortgage, man-

agement fees, maintenance

and property depreciation. The

total loss (income minus ex-

penses) will result in a deduc-

tion for the owner of $15,000.

In the 37% tax bracket the

$15,000 deduction could gen-

erate a tax return (or credit) of

$5,550. Under a PAYG varia-

tion, the investment property

owner can adjust their fort-

nightly pay to anticipate this

return, adding $213 to their

pay packet each fortnight.

BMT Tax Depreciation are

specialists at maximising tax

deductions for investment

properties. Talk to an account-

ant about a PAYG variation to

increase fortnightly cash flow.

Article Provided by BMT Tax Depre-

ciation.

Bradley Beer (B. Con. Mgt, AAIQS,

MRICS) is a Director of BMT Tax

Depreciation. Please contact 1300

728 726 or visit www.bmtqs.com.au

for an Australia wide service


1. Design and Professional

Fees: This includes ar-

chitectural fees, engi-

neering costs and any

other design fees associ-

ated with ”creating” the

property.

2. Council Costs: Many in-

vestors neglect to claim

council fees. This is not

limited to development

application fees, reports

and the like but can in-

clude council contribu-

tions when undertaking a

development.

3. Building Profit: If you en-

gage a builder directly to

complete your invest-

ment property, then the

profit from your work can

be claimed for Capital

Gains Tax implementa-

tions.

Property Development

Tips for Saving on Tax!

Getting your taxation right is

of utmost importance. Here

are three tax tips that many

property investors common-

ly overlook.

8 Easy Ways to Up Your

Rental Income…

Beefing up your rental in-

come doesn’t need to break

the bank.

Here are some inexpensive

ways to add extra dollars to

your rental returns.

1. Fresh paint works won-

ders. Paint your property

throughout whenever it

starts to get tired.

2. An annual spring clean

will boost your property’s

appearance.

3. Fresh air – Air your prop-

erty between tenants.

4. Replace or repolish floor

coverings every 3 – 5

years

5. Storage. We all need it,

provide some basic stor-

age for your tenants.

Built in robes perhaps a

garden shed.

6. Privacy is important –

provide adequate win-

dow coverings.

7. Modern finishes – update

outdated door furniture,

cupboard doors and light

fittings.

8. Climate control – provide

air conditioning or ceiling

fans and heating.

6 April Good Friday (OFFICE CLOSED) 7 April Easter Saturday 8 April Easter Sunday (OFFICE CLOSED) 9 April Easter Monday (OFFICE CLOSED) 16 April Mid Month Accounting 25 April ANZAC Day (OFFICE CLOSED) 1 May End of Month Accounting

A Selection of Properties Leased This Month

Alderley House $650p.w.

4 bed, 3 bath, 1 car accommodation

Quote

“The most successful

people are those who are

good at plan B.”

- - James Yorke

Bardon House $500p.w.


RE/MAX Profile Real Estate 141 Boundary Road TEL 07 3510 5221 FAX 07 3876 5544

www.profilerealestate.com.au Bardon QLD 4065 TEL 07 3510 5227 Nikki [email protected]

www.propertyrentalsbrisbane.com PO Box 388, Paddington, 4064 Helen [email protected]

Marcia [email protected]

Errors & Omissions: These details have been prepared by us on information we have obtained and while we trust it to be correct, is not guaranteed by us and you should rely on your own enquiries.

Morningside Townhouse $485p.w.


Calendar of Events





re/max profile investors essential guide to successful investment in property april 2012

Documents

selection of properties

wonderful properties

christina bette

landlords tenants

bette mcguane

current tenants

easter eggs

tenants responsibility