Hi,

Next Meeting March 6

Our next Young@Heart meeting will be the Coffee Club cafe restaurant at Logan Hyperdome Shopping Centre at Shailer Park.
Time will be from 6:30 pm to 7:30 pm. For identification purposes please wear some red.

Karen Murray & Maree Reid who have recently had a story published about their property investing to date, will be there.
Refer to "Your Investment Property" magazine Feb edition.

Hope you can make it.

Cheers

My contact number 0414 527 482

It was good to catch up with the regulars last Thursday night at our meeting.
Many topics were discussed. Here are a few of the discussion points:

Karen advised that if you feel the carpet in your IP needs replacing, but your tenant has not complained about it & it’s not a safety issue, it may not be good idea to replace it. It could actually unsettle your tenants as it may make them nervous about marking or spilling something on it. So unless you are looking to do a re-valuation or to sell the property Karen's advice is do not spent money unnecessarily on something you don't need, unless there is a sound business or safety reason for doing it.

Tom recounted how he needed two valuations for two different reasons. One valuation he needed to be low & the second valuation he needed to be high. For the low valuation he presented the property in a negative light pointing out all of its blemishes, & he did not clean the place or turn on the air con to make the environment comfortable for the valuer.
On the second occasion when he needed a higher valuation so he had the property professionally cleaned. After it was cleaned & he had arranged the furniture, he took photos of each room & then studied the photo to make sure his presentation was good. When the valuer arrived on a very hot day Tom made sure the air con was switched on well before hand. He then pointed out all the positive aspects of the property. When the valuations came thru there was a significant difference in the amounts. So, it just goes to show you can influence a valuation.

Leisa advised she had purchased a 2 bed unit in Albury Wodonga for 15.6% lower then the list price. Congratulations to Leisa. When depreciation is factored in she should be looking at a rental yield in excess of 7%.

Leisa also advised that her accountant said she should obtain Audit Insurance.
She understood that this would cover the cost of an ATO audit. Leisa thought that meant the ATO charged for audits. I advised her that I would be amazed if the ATO charged for audits & it was more likely insurance to cover the professional costs incurred by her accountant if she is subject to an ATO audit.

Would be interested to know if anybody out there has audit insurance & if so why?

Marie advised of a very handy book she located in Angus & Robinson for property owners & managers that contains sample letters to assist with writing letters to deal with all matters of IP management such as advising your tenant that you are putting up the rent. The name escapes me but I think its called handbook for property investors.
Karen & Marie have already used the sample letter for increasing rent with no negative
reaction from their tenant.

Cheers