THE BENEFITS OF INVESTING WISELY
If you want to get the most from your hard-earned savings, create a safety net for unplanned emergencies, or guarantee your comfort in retirement, it’s important to make your money work for you. There are a number of smart ways to invest your money, but first you should consider what it is want to achieve from your investment and how long that goal could take to achieve, as this may affect the type of investment you decide to make. You should also consider paying off any existing debt you have and boosting your super.
Investments 101 – what you need to know
Buying a Family Home
Buying a family home is a long-term commitment and therefore it is important your decision about when and where to buy and how much to borrow is given serious consideration.
Where should you buy?
This will depend on your level of savings and the amount you can afford to borrow. This will help you decided when and where to buy. The purchase price of a property is affected by many factors such as distance from the central GPO, type and state of construction, views, surrounding environment and economic conditions. Property prices vary greatly from suburb to suburb. Therefore, the first step in buying your home is to select the suburbs whose property values are within your price range.
The next step is to select a suburb(s) that best suits your lifestyle. Having selected those suburbs you should attend as many auctions in these areas as you can and analyse properties that have been sold privately or by auction in the past 6 weeks – you can do this by searching the relevant real estate websites and local newspapers.
AVOID LOSSES IN PROPERTY INVESTMENT BY CONSIDERING:
Location of the property. Buy in an area adjoining a suburb where property prices are rising
Timing of the property purchase. Buy when prices are down and sell when they are rising
Establish approximate market price of the property in the area you decide to buy. This can be achieved by reading newspapers, property magazines, and real estate websites and by attending local property auctions Selecting the most suitable type of finance. Most financial Institutions will approve an interest only loan for the 1st three years
Purchase properties that can be improved by adding an additional bedroom, renovating the kitchen and bathrooms or improving the landscaping
In times of below average interest rates, cap the interest rate for the expected term of the loan
Family Home Improvements
Increasing your family (home / personal???) loan to make capital improvements is generally considered a safe option to increase your wealth, as there is no capital gains tax payable on the sale of the property. The other advantage is it will increase the sales value of your home, allowing you to consolidate all your loans at a lower interest rate.
Buying a Negative Gearing Property
Negative Gearing is where your borrowing costs, and allowable tax deductions associated with your investment, exceed the Gross Income generated from your Investment. Allowable tax deductions include deductions costs related to acquiring your Investments to be deducted over 5 years including: bank application fees, mortgage insurance, brokerage fees, stamp duty on mortgage and valuation fees.
Depreciation Costs: Total cost of building (2.5% over 40 years), fixtures and fittings, furniture, floor coverings, plant and equipment;
Accounting fees, advertising, bank charges, interest costs, council rates, gardening costs, government charges, insurance, land tax, postage and stationery, property management fees, repairs and maintenance, commission, cleaning costs, pest control costs, telephone costs, water rates, motor vehicle expenses and other costs associated with the property
Property Investment
THE PROS & CONS OF INVESTING IN PROPERTY
Over the years real estate has proven to be a successful choice of investment. Property investment includes the purchase of vacant land, residential, commercial and industrial properties.
This form of investment normally involves a high capital outlay and therefore, consideration must be given to the implication of taxation, the method of finance, economic conditions and the ability to meet the serviceability of the loan repayments so as to avoid a forced sale.
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