NSW Where to buy a unit for under $300K for SMSF

eSuperfund is just a suggestion, there are plenty of others. I am not with them, I use a small accounting firm(A bit more expensive then esuperfund) for reasons I don't want to disclose on a public forum.

This is a bit dated but still relevant - Comparison Table of Setup & Administration Services - SMSF Review

SMSFs need four things:
1. Admin - this is like book keeping. Keeping track of contributions, investments and associated income/expenses.
2. Audit - This is mandated by ATO. An independent Auditor makes sure that you are not doing something funny with your SMSF and sticking to the rules.
3. Tax - A tax return for your SMSF
4. Advice - You can be your own advisor or get professional help. IMO, To really make the most of out of your SMSF, you need both. So don't forget to factor in costs for ad-hoc and/or proper structuring advice.

Most low cost online providers only do 1,2 and 3. Some offer 4 as an add-on. Many accounting practices only offer all 4 together, with the cost determined by the complexity of the transactions in the SMSF.

PS: For the hands-on SMSF trustee, I also suggest using software to be on top of things. Plenty of free and some really good paid ones out there. I signed up with BGL Simple Fund. There is also the more expensive Class Super and some free ones. Though some people swear by excel spread sheets.

 

Advice is not just financial advice as to where to invest your money. It includes structuring advice, tax advice and if needed legal advice. Not necessarily from the same person or firm.

Before you pull the trigger, I suggest you read the many well written articles at - Guide to SMSFs (Self managed super funds)

 

This was the case but not since a year or so. Now they allow all banks, all investments, all lenders. They do have preferred ones but using them is not a requirement. Their prices have also creeped up to $900/year, a bit more money and one has the choice of boutique accounting firms with ad-hoc advice.

I believe many SMSF firms are pricing themselves out by saying silly things like - $$$ per number of transactions, which doesn't make any sense in this day and age with specialized SMSF software. There is niche in this space with fixed baseline costs for admin/audit/tax plus extra for advice on as needed basis.

 

Thanks very much @JohnPropChat. Forgot about the advice on legal structures and tax. I'll read the articles you recommended.
I know I need to seek legal advice, but would you recommend us to use Corporate trustee if we want to add our children to the SMSF trust in 15 years time and we currently have a company doing other businesses? I presume we can register an existing Company as a Trustee for our SMSF.

If I don't borrow much in the SMSF to buy a property, and I still have a surplus in my super account, can I invest that money on something else such as shares?

Is there any SMSF that allows you to invest in cryptocurrency yet ?

I'll have a look at the software that you recommended too, but I'm more comfortable with excel spreadsheet as well.

Thanks a lot.

 

Is @Redwood also a SMSF mortgage broker? Do you know who's else on this forum also a mortgage broker for SMSF?

I'm currently maxed out in my personal borrowing capacity, so not sure if I can borrow much in the SMSF.

Thank you

 

Legal advice is not strictly necessary to setup and run an SMSF but structuring advice(likely from a lawyer or planner) and tax advice is quite useful.

From my own research and talking to other people, corporate trustee is the best way go. There may still be some valid reasons why an individual trustee might be useful (other than just cost) but that's something you may want to research yourself. I set mine as a corporate trustee and one of the reasons is ease of changing/adding members in the future.

I believe using your existing company as a trustee is allowed (please double check) but generally best to keep things clean. A separate company costs a few hundred dollars to setup and since it's a special purpose company it only costs about $50 a year in ASIC fees and that's about it.

You are free to invest your SMSF money as you see fit as long it complies with the a) rules and regulations b) your trust deed and c) your written investment strategy

An article on what SMSFs seem to be investing in - SMSF investment: Three most popular asset classes, and the rest

As for cyrptocurrencies, I believe it's still a bit of a grey area - this may have changed since I last looked about a year or two ago. When in doubt always seek professional help and/or get a private ruling.

 

You may wanna post in the Property Finance section for better responses.

 

Thanks very much @JohnPropChat. It's lovely to receive detailed responses from you

 

Redwood is a finance broker too as well is being an accountant and licenced to give financial advice.

 

Hello all, my apologies for the slow response and thank you all for the mentions.

The space for SMSF loans, bitcoin etc is interesting. Very interesting.

Cheers Ivan

 

Esuper is a brilliant "no advice" model, they have an AFSL with a huge PDS. I reckon they are great are they are the ultimate no frills SMSF admin service, particularly for people like the OP who are hands on and just need someone to take care of the admin.

My firm is a little different, we are hands on and have to be, its a disaster if we make a mistake and personally I reckon SMSFs are about choice and flexibility so if you want to use a certain lender, use them, comms don't impact the end decision, best interests of the client is paramount.

Cheers guys

Ivan

 

@HouseData assuming the above structuring debate posts haven't scared you off consider tweed, queanbeyan or far south coast for cheap units.

 

Thanks @BuyersAgent. I'll look at these areas

 

Thanks Ivan

 

Hi, I am with Esuperfund and wondering about the BGL simple fund. I see they charge $360 per year initially and $180 per year ongoing, but I would assume we still need to pay for Audit and Tax return separately. Just wondering about the total cost per year and whether it is worthwhile switching... I am quite hands-on and happy to use the online/self service tools.

 

If you mean to say that you want to do admin by yourself using BGL SimpleFund then that's a possibility but you still have to pay for audit which is about $400 on average plus cost of tax return(which you an do yourself).

I've read about people who do admin in excel and just pay for the audit but how much money are they really saving and is it worth the hassle and potential trouble with the ATO? Unless you are just doing term deposits and some share trading, in which case do you really need an SMSF?

BGL Simplefund has a trustee edition which is what you are referring to. Mine was setup by my smsf accountant and costs a tad less than the trustee edition.

There are free tools as well. McClowd is one but there are others if you wanna give it a go.