Looking for help/First time investment buyer & poster

Hey Guys
I'm extremely new to this so please forgive me if I am asking basic/stupid questions

So recently I bought my ex-partner out from the property we had a mortgage with together, so my name is on it solo. I have the good fortune of moving in with family for now, and paying minimal rent etc. I am turning the house we used to own together into a rental property, and am able to save extra money while the mortgage is paid by the tenants and I am able to live relatively expense free. I'm wanting to enter the world of investment properties, and I'm just wondering if anyone had any advice of what to do next. Obviously I will be starting to save money for a future deposit, but is there any other possible advice you could give.

Thankyou so much in advance!

 

Hey and welcome to the forums!

Having a chat with an investment savvy broker about your goals and plans will be a good first step - they can make sure your existing loan is structured correctly and help you understand the best way to set things up moving forward.

 

@Jess Peletier is correct that you should consider how your loans are structured, and to make sure that you have an offset attached to at least one loan, so that your savings reduce your interest payments, but don't affect the integrity of the loan.

I'd suggest you organise to get a Property Manager, Landlord Insurance. Before you engage a PM, ask here for recommendations. Someone might already be using a great PM in the area. Speak to the PM about what you might receive in rental payments, and if there is anything that needs improving.

For instance, you might have a small balcony without railings. It's not very high off of the ground, so you've never worried about it yourself, but you may wish to put a railing up if a tenant is living there.

 

You will need to check what your borrowing capacity looks like first as this will dictate what you will be able to purchase in the future.

I would also look at determining if there is any equity in the existing property that you can access - again servicing/borrowing capacity may impact this.

Another strategy may be to go interest only on the existing loan in order to accumulate savings for a deposit quicker however you need specific advise/strategy on this. Going IO repayments has done sides which you need to think about.

 

Property Chat is a great place for learning about investing, however try some offline networking. Look out for meetups when people decide to run them. Everyone runs their own strategy and has their own experiences and you will learn a great deal from talking to other investors directly.

Networking & Meetups

Make sure that you have a property manager for your property. It's lower-risk than trying to manage it yourself. Try to use word of mouth to select an experienced and capable property manager.

Get a Depreciation Schedule done for your property and find a good accountant.

 

Hey mate,
Borrowing power is one thing you need to consider.

Deposit wise..we if you still have sufficient equity on your property to use then you might now need to spend a few more years saving.

 

Also ensure you get a valuation for CGT purposes at the time it first earned income (Ie time tenants first moved in from PPOR to IP as it seems from info provided.)