LVR Update - now's a good time to act!

Case study: Forced from interest-only to principle and interest
ASSOCIATED PERSONS TRAPS - PART 2
Trap 3 – Tainting for Life
Friends, Jesse and Skylar, are 50% shareholders in a property development company called...
ASSOCIATED PERSONS TRAPS - PART 1
This blog is Part 1 of 2 on traps that arise when land transactions involve “associated persons”. By way of background, both the Income Tax Act and the Goods and Services Tax Act have definitions of associated persons and special rules that apply to transactions between associates.
Property dealers, developers and investors are often party to transactions with associated persons (e.g. restructuring ownership of existing property).
5 Common Mortgage Mistakes
As mortgage advisers we often see clients in situations where they have gotten themselves into debt and aren’t always managing things in the most effective ways, and this includes first-home buyers and also property investors.
The most common mortgage mistakes we see are as follows:
Interest Rate Update - October 2019
Tax Working Group - Final Report
Capital Gains Tax (CGT): Unsurprisingly, the TWG has recommended that a capital gains tax be implemented. Although there was disagreement amongst the members of the group, the majority are advocating that CGT apply to.....
Financing Renovations on your Properties
Financing renovations by topping up on your home loan can be the easiest and cheapest way to get the job done if you don’t have access to the cash. ‘Topping up’ means increasing your existing lending with your existing bank. In some cases, if it makes more sense economically speaking, it could even be worthwhile refinancing (moving to another bank) for a better deal on your existing mortgage AND the new funds being requested......
LOSS RING-FENCING QUESTIONS
But first, in case you missed my last blog, the main points from the draft ring-fencing of losses bill are.....
HOT OFF THE PRESS - RING-FENCING BILL
On 5 December 2018, the Government released the first draft of legislation dealing with the proposed ring-fencing of tax losses from rental properties. First impression on reading the Bill is that it is extraordinarily complicated and leaves questions unanswered. Here is a quick summary of the key points........
Interest rates at all time low
There is a reasonable chance you have already heard about the phenomenal rates being offered almost across the board now with most banks having rate specials down into the 3%'s.
What you may not be aware of is that you don’t necessarily need to wait until your current fixed rates expire in order to take advantage of these very low rates.
As a personal example yesterday I broke out of a 5-year rate that I had locked down circa 2 years ago for 4.65%. I incurred no break fee in doing so. I then re-fixed at a interest rate of......
My two cents on CGT
- The Tax Working Group (TWG) has ruled out a land tax or an inheritance tax, but appears to me to clearly be pushing towards implementation of CGT. They have noted that it is premature to form a view without firstly determining exactly how the tax may apply, but I would be highly surprised if their final report did not support implementation of CGT.
- The TWG is of the view that CGT should apply across assets broadly, so not restricted solely to real estate. It would also apply to shares, intellectual property, goodwill, business assets etc. The one exception to this will be the family home.
Can I borrow money for renovations?
Can you borrow money to renovate?
The short answer – is yes. There are two key ways of borrowing for renovations (large, or small).