VIC Currently building 1st investment property. What’s next?

Hello! It’s our first investment property and just wondering what to do next. I know we need to find a realestate agent to manage the rental. We used to be under fruit property when we were still renting in geelong and found their service very good. Any reviews from them as a landlord?

Anything else we have to do as property owner? Or is it gonna be managed by the agent?

also, we have offset in our invest property loan am i right in thinking that it is better to put extra money in our ppor offset rather than on the investment one

any tips and advice welcome for newbies like us.

 

building insurance
landlord insurance
property management
depreciation report
record keeping .

You can choose to have the property manager pay things like council rates, water, insurances etc.... or you can do it yourself. 6 of one, half a dozen of the other. Who does it is not really important.... just make sure you practice good record keeping. I keep soft and hard copies of everything . I have filing cabinets with folders for each property, and I also keep Dropbox folders for each property, with sub-folders for each financial year It gives me soft or hard copies, and I can access from home or anywhere where I can can get online. It's very easy... there isnt much record keeping involved most of the time. You will get a monthly statement from the property manager , and you or the property manager will only get things like water bills or rates quarterly, and insurance renewals annually ( or quarterly if you prefer). At the end of the financial year you will get an annual summary statement from the property manager which basically provides you with all you need for a tax return. Just add the depreciation report ( see below) figures and your accountant ( or you , if you lodge yourself) is set. Once in a while there may be a maintenance or repair issue.... the property manager should deal with that stuff and again, it will show up in statements at the end of the month and end of the financial year . Its very straightforward. Loan documents will be mailed or emailed to you monthly or quarterly or twice yearly, depending on the lender... and with almost all lenders they can also be downloaded anytime using internet banking So again, easy stuff. Most people just hand all of this responsibility to their property manager.

BUY A DEPRECIATION REPORT - buy it once, use it many times. it is valid for up to 40 years on a new building. It will only cost you a few hundred dollars and it will provide many many many many many thousands in value. retain two copies ( one soft, one hard- see above) and hand a copy to your accountant

Always direct extra repayments towards non deductible debt first. That might be PPOR debt, or credit cards or car loans etc.... Getting rid of that debt is the most important thing.

 

Depreciation report?

 

Only need to obtain a depreciation if you buy a property that has depreciating assets.

 

They're building brand new based on the title, so deprecation report is a must have. Not as useful as they used to be on existing property thanks to the rule changes

@Trainee they write up your tax deductions on all the fixtures and fittings in the house- e.g. what are the blinds worth and what is their depreciable life, building, carpet, appliances, paint, etc. BMT is the big boy in the industry and well regarded, but there's some great alternatives around too.