spouse of scouse

You're dead right there Tom, half an hour or so and that's no distance at all in Perth.

I've never been on the M25, the M60 scares me enough!

the troubadour

Fremantle Market would take all of twenty minutes, if not less. No comparison at all with Camden. Not particularly crap, just little of it and what is being rather mainstream. In fact the entire city of Freo could be easily done in a morning, including breakfast or lunch.


It's not Swan River, but the Valley. Well worth an afternoon. Besides wineries, there are micro breweries. Guilford en route, has a pleasant, if small main street with a few 'interesting' shops selling odd's and bod's. Not a bad place to get a coffee before the Swan Valley.


Perth, that time of year, not particularly tourist friendly, weatherwise. May not be suitable for al fresco dining for example and probably not the beach.


It should be remembered this is not really a tourist city with lots to do. More what is termed a 'lifestyle city'.
But there are still parks where you can get up close to native wildlife, get the vista from Kings Park, have a day in CBD viewing the changes from ten years back.


The new Elisabeth Quay is open, if a little 'sparse', but worth catching a ferry to South Perth and perhaps dine at the Windsor Hotel.
Just the ride is worth the ticket to see Perth from the river.


For areas to consider with a bit of an urban vibe, you could do worse than consider Leederville. A number of apartments, have gone up, with more in the pipeline and easy access to airport.


I would indeed get out of the metro area. North would likely prove better weatherwise, but South is closer. Not a fan of Maggie's by any stretch of the imagination. But would certainly go to Albany and Denmark. The first has whale spotting (second trip free, if whales fail to show) and quite different to elsewhere in the state.


IMO, prices have a way to fall yet so likely no hurry to rush into something. While prices have fallen, they haven't by a lot considering the economic climate. There is a lot of resistance out there. No doubt denial in quarters, but definitely more concern around.

xizzles

Oh wow, just wonderful information, the troubadour! Here some karma for you - with grateful thanks!

xizzles

Oh, damn it. There goes my plans for a holiday home in Perth with the Federal Budget announcement

carcajou

If you are on PR (as I believe you are?), I don't think you count as "foreign" for property purchases.

xizzles

I am a PR, yes. However, I will not be able to fulfill the required number of days per year of staying in the property. It's similar to the new land tax in NSW and Melbourne that I've been slapped with. "PRs with less than 200 days per year" will be considered "foreign purchasers" for the purposes of swelling the ATO's coffers.

I suppose it could have been worse... I'm not a citizen (yet), thus I should just roll over, take it in/suck it up and still have a grateful smile while doing that.

carcajou

Sorry to hear you will be unable to explore the opportunity you were telling the forum about. I do hope, however, you still visit WA anyways, and better yet, get out to the regions.

xizzles

Thanks mate. We're still booked for WA/Perth, but the changes announced at the Federal Budget have certainly put a bit of a damper on things for us at the moment.

Ah well, looks like I'll just have to make sure my business venture in Sydney takes off, to ensure a positive RRV outcome (should I'm unable to fulfill the residency requirements outright).

Beoz

Just go for it. Its $5000 if you leave it empty. No biggie for you and many other foreign investors. The budget was just all hot air for the housing affordability thing. Remember, the pollies own more investment property than you do. There's no way they aren't going to look after their own.

At the end of the day, they are going to be giving a few grand to FBH in the form of tax saving, they won't be penalising investors (in fact they encourage multiple property investments through tax incentives).

Your investment is just going to continue to soar (caveat - maybe not on the west coast for now).

The perfect budget for investors and a killer for first home buyers. Buy buy buy is the message. (unless of course you may want to claim the airfare for your annual trip to that Gold Coast apartment you own - that's off the table now - damn. There's $300 out of my own pocket )

xizzles

Oh bollocks. I must have missed the part where it stated air fares for "property inspections" are no longer tax deductible! There goes my First Class rides on Singapore Airlines! Gotta start hunting for Scoot or AirAsia now

PS. What's going to hurt me more from this Federal Budget is the bank tax they announced. I have a bunch of structured derivatives tracking the bank stocks (and paying 8 - 10% interests in the meantime) that might go all pear shaped or, in the worst case scenario, tits up with this announcement. So, it's not all good news for investors. Honestly, the mixed messages from this budget makes me miss the boring, predictable and balanced/in surplus budgets of Singapore.... sigh.

Beoz

So you've been able to deduct your flights from Singapore to Sydney? I would have thought that as most of your earnings were in Sing, you wouldn't have had enough Australian earnings to do that?

Yes will be interesting to see where the banks claw back this tax.

If they were clever and want to improve their popularity with the people, they would increase interest rates for investor loans and leave the live in mortgages alone. They could do the job the govt should have done and be everyones hero - except the investor

xizzles

Not difficult, actually. You buy a one way ticket to Australia, and buy return tickets from Australia to Singapore thereafter. The 1st transaction is a write-off, subsequent transactions can be "creatively accounted" for. It's all legit.

I do have Australian earnings, as one of them evil property investors - and I'm being punished for that by this blasted budget. Ah well, it all had to end sometime, I guess. I'll just suck it in and take it up where the sun don't shine like a real man, and not whine about how come the cheap study fees are no longer available for a lowly PR like me.

Beoz

You aren't being punished for being a property investor or earning lots of money from it. If you were they would have hit NG and GCT. Quite frankly they should as us tax payers are supporting your investments. And that's wrong.

What they are doing in the words of ScoMo "taking a scalpel to housing affordability". More like a feather.

They don't want property prices to come down and that's the only way to tackle housing affordability. And they are going to give more money to FBH (a teeny weeny amount) so its just going to mean prices will go up further (except Perth maybe)

So you are fine as an investor for now.

Things to watch out for.

Using a scalpel means you can keep chipping away. The removal of flights might just be the start. What's next?

The NSW govt will do a housing affordability package in next months budget. What will be in that?

It will be interesting to see if the investor community start getting nervous and pile out. Might be time to think about cashing in.

brits1

Hi, I much prefer East Freo, Applecross to Subi that is because I enjoyed Fremantle much more than Perth CBD. These areas are also near or on the river. I also liked the fact your just off Canning Hwy which is great for the Airport and also Kwinnana Freeway which is handy to head south to Mandurah/Rockingham etc. I would certainly visit Swan Valley rather than Margaret river again my preference, Margaret River is nice but a long way to go in your time frame. The Kings Park is worth a visit for the views of the City and River. It will be cool in June so take some warmer "tops" and it also can be very rainy. Enjoy your visit, Perth has some nice things to offer BUT it would not be choice if I were to return to Aus.