The gorgeous photos of the derelict properties you still can’t afford | Australia news | The Guardian

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/feb/23/the-gorgeous-photos-of-the-derelict-properties-you-still-cant-afford

Moving to Brisbane?

#moving to #Brisbane Moving to #Brisbane Call us http://crwd.fr/2sDJvfD

A guide to renovating your home with kids around

https://www.domain.com.au/living/a-guide-to-renovating-your-home-with-kids-around-20171130-gzugqy/

Delusions of Competence

Epiphany

A few years ago, I started doing Argentine Tango. While learning this highly complex dance, I found dances frustrating and unfulfilling. Until I met Joe. My dances with Joe were delightful! Each time I left his embrace feeling like the most elegant, talented dancer in the room. I thought “Wow – tango is easier than I thought!”.

My dances with Joe, a professional tango dancer, were amazing because of his skill level – not mine. A skilled dancer compensates for everything the unskilled person does wrong. When I dance with Joe, if I am off time, he gets me on time. On the wrong foot? Joe fixes that too. If my frame or connection is weak, or my musicality is off, Joe has to compensate for all that. Meanwhile, I am blissfully unaware and having a fantastic time – relishing in my delusions of competence. But Joe is having to work extra hard to make this dance tolerable / enjoyable…

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LJ Gilland Real Estate: Property depreciation: Article by Mike Mortlock @MCGQS @GillandDebello @ljgrealestate

ljgrealestate

Too many property investors are missing out on important cash flow by neglecting depreciation. 

Blogger: Mike Mortlock, MCG Quantity Surveyors

Many property investors are missing out on beneficial depreciation tax claims. The annoying thing is how often this happens, when it really doesn’t need to happen at all!

Tax depreciation is often an overlooked method of obtaining tax deductions on investment properties. It is a big help in enabling investors to minimise their tax liability and improve their cash flow. Sadly though, we often see situations where depreciation either isn’t maximised to its fullest potential, or worse yet, overlooked entirely.

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) recognises that the value of capital assets reduces over time as they approach the end of their effective life. These assets can be written off as a tax deduction ie. ‘depreciation’.

What depreciation should I be considering?
If you own an investment property (new or…

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We are Pleased to Support Queensland Police

We are Pleased to Support Queensland Police.

via We are Pleased to Support Queensland Police.

Statesmen turns negative into positives

Do you know what we call negative gearing?

A socially acceptable way of saying “I’m losing money”.

Case in point: I got an email this week from a bloke asking me for advice.

He had what I call “property fever”, a strange affliction that comes from attending too many auctions, property seminars, or both.

He’d gone in full pelt: buying two investment properties, both negatively geared (in other words, he was able to write off his investment losses against his income).

The problem for this poor chap was that he had lots of losses but not a lot of income.

He was so negatively geared that he was positively screwed.

And that’s the problem with this policy: it encourages punters (aided and abetted by an industry of property spruikers, real estate agents and debt floggers) to buy money-draining, over-inflated property and lose money — while copping a high-five from the taxpayer.

Worse, young families can’t compete because these investors can afford to pay more for a property (the Australian taxpayer is effectively subsidising them).

Over the years, I’ve spoken to parliamentarians from both sides of the political divide, and they all agree, albeit privately, that negative gearing is a rort that distorts the property market and prevents young families from breaking into the property market.

However, they won’t do anything about it.

That’s because politicians from both sides suffer from a different kind of fever to my negatively  geared  friend.

Theirs is called “I want two flags on the bonnet of my chauffeured Holden Statesman” fever, and it’s so virulent that it takes over the rational policy-making part of their brains.

In short, the lesson here is simple: don’t get in between a statesman and a Statesman.

Scott Pape’s finance columns appear in the business section of the Herald Sun on Saturday and Sunday

Queensland’s new real estate law came into effect on 1 December 2014, and with it some significant changes, what they mean to you as property investors.

ljgrealestate

Queensland’s new real estate law came into effect on 1 December 2014, and with it some significant changes. Despina Priala explains what they are, and what they mean to you as property investors.

Queensland has embarked on a new era for property and contracts. On 1 December 2014 the new Property Occupations Act (POA) came into play, making some dramatic changes. These changes are expected to reform and streamline the way contracts are formed, and will simplifythe inevitable procedures that always  accompany the formation of contracts.

The changes also mark a new era for real estate agents with the removal of  the cap on commissions, and they’re no longer obliged to disclose to buyers their agreed commissions. It has been more than 10 years since the last reforms in Queensland.

The Property Occupations Act

Selling property generally

The main changes are:

1. PAMD Form 30C and the BCCM Form 14…

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Who Free Trade Agreements Benefit

Excellent post))

Rcooley123's Blog

Currently, the Obama Administration is in the process of negotiating two large scale so-called “Free Trade” Agreements. The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) seeks to include the United States and European Union in a free trade zone akin to NAFTA and some of the more recent trade agreements with South Korea and Latin American countries. The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) seeks to accomplish much the same among the US, Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam. Provision would be made to add Japan, the Philippines, Thailand, South Korea and other Pacific Rim countries later on.

The documents are extremely complex and lengthy. Negotiations are kept largely secret, and include input designed to consolidate financial, economic and political power in the hands of a relatively few large corporations. Local and national regulatory powers of governments that restrict corporate power regarding environmental and consumer safety, as…

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The expensive illusion of housing affordability policy

ljgrealestate

Our tax system and culture have deliberately conspired to drive up housing prices, with no thought to the consequences, writes businessman and Private Media director J. Addis.

You don’t become a fully fledged member of Australian society without first owning a property. And the more properties you own, the more Australian you become. Take this far enough and eventually even The Block becomes compelling viewing.

We know this to be true because the tax system, like reality TV, is a mirror to our national aspirations. Both tell us that property investment is good and rising house prices even better.

Australians do not pay capital gains tax on the family home and investors can negatively gear their property investments. Own 30 properties? Please, claim a tax deduction on all of them. Want to cut your capital gains tax bill in half? Sure, just hold the asset for more than 12…

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