Inspirational People - Hints and Tips

1. When thinking about leverage, don't just think about the finance side (OPM - other people's money). Also consider time (OPT - other people's time) plus know-how (OPK&E - other people's knowledge and experience). Use these resources to assist your own journey along the property path. Ask us about our M,T,K&E.

2. When considering buying a property, don't just focus on the asking price. See if you can negotiate: extended settlement, lower deposit amount, deposit using deposit bonds or bank guarantees, optioning the property, what other inclusions or upgrades are there, can you obtain vendor finance, is there a rent guarantee, can you gain access prior to settlement, rebates for costs such as legals and stamp duty or early settlement. All these contribute to "the deal". Consider these components when you are next buying a property.

3. Storage in garage – rent out at a premium as an extra feature of your unit/apartment to your existing tenant or ask another tenant in the building if they require extra storage and rent to them separately. Build a lockable cage with hooks also on the wire mesh. When first purchasing off plan, negotiate to swap your car space next to a masonry wall, so you only have to build one side of cage.

4. Do you live or have an investment property on a busy road? Sell to local businesses small billboard space or properties on corner blocks can have 2 side signage on fences. Rethink the design of your brick front fencing to have the signage in the inner cavities – great for busy road exposure. Of course, all subject to council approval.

5. Do you have 2 street frontage - one busy and one quiet or one with a better view? If your house has the busy street address, change your address – take off busy, noisy road and "move" to the quiet side or street with view. Redesign and change entrance to the other street frontage..sounds better and valuations could increase.

6. Instead of using funds out of your line of credit or own cash for a deposit for a long term off plan purchase, weigh up the benefits of using a bank guarantee or a deposit bond. The fee paid could possibly be cheaper than the interest paid over the term and the possibility of interest rate rises during this time. The vendor may also pay the fee for you to secure the sale.

7. Here's one from left field in making money from your property. Do you own a large block of rural land that's not zoned for residential...why not convert to a pet cemetery? (STCA) Restrictions are not as tough as a human cemetery and you can charge for small plots.

8. Not sure about converting your rural plot to a pet cemetery....why not use it for livestock and charge agistment fees for cattle, horses, sheep, free range chicken farm and sell eggs etc.

9. Did you know that if you receive 2 valuations on a property which differ substantially, that legally both valuations are correct. However, you can use these to your advantage. If you are buying, use the lowest valuation to negotiate with the vendor, if you are selling, use the highest to show the buyer what your property is worth and get yourself a higher sale value.

10. It's advisable to get your landlord and contents/building insurance in place once you go unconditional on a property purchase as you are liable for the property should anything happen prior to settlement. Remember that if in a body corporate structure, body corporate is responsible for the building insurance but not your contents.

© Inspirational People in Property 2011

11. A great new tool to use to view real estate from the heavens is www.nearmap.com. Great monthly up-to-date shots of an area (mostly Metro & CBD). More up to date than Google maps in some cases.

12. If you make an insurance claim, determine if it is of a capital or income nature. If the claim is to replace rent lost, you need to declare the monies received from the claim as income received, if the claim is for a damaged capital item such as property or furnishings, refer to your accountant about claiming the item outright or as a depreciable item. Always seek advice from your accountant at tax time.

13. Do you wish you could get a little bit extra in your pay-packet each week? If you need cashflow throughout the year to help maintain your property portfolio, why not claim your tax back on a pay by pay basis instead of a big fat cheque at the end of the year - complete a PAYG Withholding Variation form available from - http://www.ato.gov.au/individuals/content.asp?doc=%2Fcontent%2F00188348.htm

14. Are you the owner of a QLD property with a pool? New laws came into effect on 1/12/10 and you need to comply with these new laws. You must also register your pool on the QLD Govt pool safety register by 4/5/11. Visit http://www.dip.qld.gov.au/poolsafety and be sure your pool is safe.

15. Why not get something back from the banks. Ask about their professional packages to receive a 0.7% discount for your residential loans with that bank. CBA charges $350 per annum and WBC charges $395 per annum for the privilege of a ProPack, but the interest saving across a portfolio is worth it. Depending on your loan portfolio you may even negotiate 0.9% - 1.00% discount.

16. Set up Google news alerts to get current newsworthy property articles emailed to you daily. Use keywords such as property, realestate, development, Australia, the state you live in. Only takes about 5 minutes to set up and you'll be kept up date on all things property.

17. You don't have to know everything about property investment to be an investor, that's why you "hire" a team of experts such as brokers, accountants, conveyancers and mentors to guide you through the process. Do your due diligence but don't get analysis paralysis whereby you never make a move into investment - ask for assistance to get you past any potential paralysis blockages.

18. Want to know where the Govt is spending the $$$ on infrastructure..www.infrastructure.gov.au. There's also separate Govt. Departments for each state as well. This may help you decide on where you spend your next investment dollars. Specific sites to follow... State sites
 www.infrastructure.qld.gov.au
 www.planning.nsw.gov.au
 www.dpcd.vic.gov.au
 www.infrastructure.sa.gov.au
 www.dsd.wa.gov.au
 www.dpi.nt.gov.au
 www.dier.tas.gov.au
 www.cmd.act.gov.au

There are many more specific sites for sectors, but this will get you started.

19. Stage 1 of a development is always the best to get into as subsequent stages usually increase in price by $5k, $10k. If other stages have been released, ask the developer if there have been any fallovers in Stage 1 and get it at that original price or ask to take over that fallen contract. You could save yourself thousands of $$$$.

20. Want to know what's happening in your purchased investment area. Why not subscribe to the local paper, or even better, ask your property manager to send you copies once a month with your rental statement. You'll understand the community and local goings on and how that may impact the growth in that region.

21. Do you own a property with multiple tenancies? You should have multiple landlord policies in place, i.e. one for each tenant under a separate tenancy that is under the one roof. Some insurance companies may offer a discount for more than 3 policies.