For young Australians, one of the biggest challenges they face is the ability to own their own home. In our practice, we are seeing more and more clients who believe that the dream of home ownership is out of their grasp. Increasingly, we meet younger clients who believe purchasing a home and being able to […]
property
Added costs to acquiring property involving foreign persons
The NSW Office of State Revenue levies additional stamp duty on acquisitions of land by foreign persons and additional land tax in relation to foreign landholders. As trusts and companies can also be considered ‘foreign persons’, these entities could potentially be hit with an extra tax bill to pay.
Are self-managed superannuation funds causing a property bubble?
I recently watched another report on the TV claiming that the ability of self-managed superannuation funds to purchase residential investment property is causing a property bubble in Australia by using Limited Recourse Borrowing Arrangements (LRBAs) (or borrowed money). Let’s look at the facts. LRBAs have grown substantially since 2007 (in 2007 SMSFs were permitted for […]
Is the Melbourne apartment market reaching saturation point?
A Tale of Two Suburbs suggests this view is misleading: · Docklands has over 10% vacancy rates regularly – clearly in oversupply · Collingwood has 1-2% vacancy rates – supply can’t match demand If you believe what you read in the media, Melbourne is currently suffering from an apartment glut. For those who dived into […]
Can helping your children be detrimental to your own retirement?
A lot of my clients are telling me “I want to help my children buy a home.” This is understandable given the average house price as a ratio to average income is the highest it has been in half a century (See graph below). However, when does helping your children become detrimental to your own […]
New rules about identifying clients involved in property transactions
From 1 May 2016 a new set of rules came into place in various States about client identification for the purposes of registration of property dealings. The transitional period ended on 1 August. These new requirements add a whole new layer of inconvenience and cost so clients and advisers need to understand what’s required. As […]
Can your SMSF buy your business?
“I am the sole director of my private trading company and I also own the premises from which my business is being run. Can my SMSF acquire the premises and the shares in the company from me?” This question comes up regularly so let’s split it into two parts before answering it. Transfer of the […]
Loan vs gift: the right way to help out your kids
We all know that life’s pretty expensive living in Australia these days – especially if you have a hankering for buying residential real estate in a capital city. Plus, if you are “lucky” enough to get into the real estate market, that usually means that you’ve signed yourself up for an enormous mortgage for the […]