xizzles

You have to pay land tax with a house, and council taxes for both strata titled and freehold/Torrens titled houses.

There's no land tax for strata.

And, specific to Melbourne, I have to keep voting in the city council elections although I'm thousands of miles elsewhere, because my house sits on a piece of land. I'm not sure about apartment owners in Melbourne though...

I don't have to vote for any of the properties I own in Sydney (a mix of units and houses).

Buzzy--Bee

Only if the land portion of the property exceeds a certain value, and this is state dependent.

So if you owned say 1 x $400,000 house in each state, you would probably not have to pay any land tax.

swans

First major mistake you have made is asking the crowd,they don't know.Second mistake, never ask an expert (salesman).The magic words are vested interest.


Property returns in general are low.rent minus (a long list of expenses)rates,insurance,land tax,repairs etc.


Depreciation schedules are useless,at some time in the future all those things you have been depreciating need to be replaced,an expensive outlay.They sell that shite by the magic (stupid )words TAX DEDUCTION,works every time.After all those outlays you then pay tax on what is left...I gave up on property around 1990,I still own the properties I bought.They are very handy for leverage,the bank likes them.Eventually the bank will stop lending money on them.Age comes into it and the hassle of trying to get property back after you have died.So they stop giving you money,property is not liquid.


Stock markets are great,very liquid and great fun,start learning about them.No outlays,tax free income (the wonder of franking credits),in general better growth than property and far less hassle.Thus me giving up on property 26 yrs ago.


Super started in 1992 @3% of wages (1July 1992) Commbank shares were around $7 each.That single outlay of 7K with all dividends reinvested is now approx. $320 k and produces around $24K in income.


Don't listen to clueless fools bleating how wonderful super is,4TH largest in the world etc,salary sacrifice and all the other crap the salesman gets them to repeat.Never underestimate how stupid people are.Imagine paying salesmen tens of thousands of $$ to show them how to avoid wealth.


In the interests of honesty (never underestimate how important that is.The common sense to say ,yes I got that wrong.)NAB was the largest bank in Oz at the the time (now the smallest),around $8 a share ,same scenario reinvest etc,that is now around $125 K and produces around 12K in income.NAB has been a badly run bank for around 25 yrs now.They suffer from the human condition,fool themselves they have never been wrong,the facts are always wrong.


Wealth is created by thinking,always has been ,always will be.Start thinking.


I don't know how old you are but for more modern times then super hit 9% on 1 july 2002.Westpac was around $12 a share (I know I bought a fair few around then)That single outlay of 12K to buy 1000 shares should be worth more than super,if you can find someone that started super on 1/7/02.They are going to follow the crowd,refuse to see reality,pay salesmen $$$$ to show them how to avoid wealth and so on.Run that model for 40 yrs and see how it goes.Experts will try to make it look complicated by using the words STOCHASTIC ANALYSIS (akin to calculus) proves whatever they tell themselves they want to see,the facts are wrong.The really dumb ones will tell you they studied economics,I wonder why economists never appear on rich lists.


Read it,try to digest it,always think for yourself.The crowd are never going to be rich,don't follow them or ask them for advice.As for experts,well,if they had any idea would we not all be rich,the dozy bastards have been selling us shite from the year dot.


Good Luck


Geordie downunder

Amazulu

Yet again:

For 95% of people in this country, not investing in super is not an option. Last time I looked, it was compulsory by law for virtually all employees. So your argument, yet again, is pointless and meaningless. Now you could say that investing your super into banking shares as part of a SMSF is a good option and I would agree, but yet again, not an option for a majority of people

Superannuation as a macroeconomic policy for Australia is a superb idea. Any pension system that encourages private contribution and is taxed at a low rate, is protected by law and can be accessed tax-free at retirement is a good idea. It has its flaws but it's working

Hope this helps

spouse of scouse

You just sound like one of the crowd to me, banging your own particular drum

astera

Xizzles, how is everything 18+ months after your last post in your thread on moving from Singapore? Have you settled in already or are you looking at heading back in the near future?

How would you compare the buy-to-let approach in Australia compared to Singapore, which is easier to manage, where are the better returns on rental income as well as property appreciation?

Buzzy--Bee

They will have to be replaced regardless of whether you have been depreciating them or not. If you have been depreciating them then you will have more money to replace them with.

swans

I forgot,more of those damn facts that as you say are meaningless and pointless.Isn't it wonderful how much people detest reality.


CBA wasn't listed on 1/7/80 the other 3 were.Just as today they all traded at around the same price.Today ANZ,NAB around $30 ,WBC around $32.Back then around $1.50 to $1.80 each.Shall we call it $2.


Back in 1980 they dribbled the same shite as you keep dribbling.They'll still be doing that in 2080.That is 36 yrs ago,that outlay of $2k to buy 1000 shares is now around 8000 shares with divi reinvested.Call it $30 a share for all of them shall we say.You will deny this but 3x8 is 24,so you have $240k worth of shares,you'll deny that.


Tell me again how most people didn't have the option of borrowing $2,000 in 1980 and paying the loan back.


As for an SMSF.
Well,isn't it wonderful how stupid people are..Shall we put that into an SMSF and pay some clown to look after it,shall we say 2%.We'll pay them 2 x 2.4,can you work that one out by yourself.I'll give you a clue,the answer is $4,800 (4.8).


Shall we pay them $4800 from now on or shall we just not bother with an SMSF and save $4800 in fees.That's a bloody difficult one isn't it.As I said paying people billions of $$ to show them how to avoid wealth.


Geordie down under.

xizzles

How's it going, Astera!

Well, a lot has changed in the world in the last 18 months hasn't it?! Trump is now the POTUS, while Blighty has voted against common sense (in what I feel is a misguided attempt) to slam the door shut on unwanted refugees and immigrants.

I've had some major changes happen too - for one, I'm now a newly minted Singaporean. Yup, gave up the old passport for the same one that the wife carries. You played a big role in that decision, truth be told - so, many thanks indeed. The reasons?

Well, you mentioned that it would be a diplomatic and logistical nightmare should the family be carrying different passports and disaster struck while on a vacation. And seeing how Her Majesty and I have travelled to (just in the last 18 months alone): Australia (many times), Hong Kong (multiple trips), Bangkok, China, Malaysia, Macau and New Zealand (we left just days before the second Christchurch earthquake struck!), it made more sense to be carrying the same passports now than ever before.

Anyway, the Singapore government had already invited me to have my nationality converted some time ago, and I finally bit the bullet before the invitation expired. Seeing how I had no properties ("sold" the apartment we bought to our niece (from the wife's side) when she started work at The Liverpool Heart & Chest - I will miss the view of Princess Dock & the large cruise ships when they visit, but since our niece is like the daughter that I never had the courage to have, I guess it's no big loss to us), no investments, no significant amount of money (apart from a semi-active Barclay's bank account) in the UK and what with Brexit, the perceived increased in anti-foreigner sentiment (it doesn't matter what accent my wife ends up with, she'll always look Asian), it wasn't a difficult decision to make.

Secondly, with me becoming Singaporean, we are now allowed to purchase other investment properties in Singapore (in addition to owning our own landed home - which, if you recall, was in a nice, leafy, quiet part of Holland). With the prices in Singapore softening, we've picked up a couple of good bargains - and the rental returns have been very encouraging, despite the softening market. So, it's worked out quite well economically for us.

As you might have guessed, the property market in Singapore is a lot simpler. Well, that's my layman's opinion anyway. There are 3 specific taxes a property owner needs to consider: Stamp Duty (be it purchase, or rental), Property Tax (this is the "annual value" the all-knowing, all-wise government assigns to your purchase, which equates to the market value of a month's rental) and Income Tax, the rental returns (based on the Stamp Duty) to be declared come reporting time.

There are of course, the niggly bits of Strata fees (for apartments) & Town Council taxes (for commercial properties - we managed to pick a couple up for a song) and that's really it. Done & dusted.

I've also successfully obtained the 189 (or you could say "re-obtained", if you considered the old 175 which lapsed). The house in Sydney that we bought has been completed, and is being tenanted at the moment. And coupled with the existing properties we already own in Sydney & Melbourne, I'd say managing the leases and tenants have almost become a full time job! (Well, not exactly. We've farmed the mundane bits to the professionals - both here in Singapore, as well as Down Under).

So, I have another 5 years to decide whether to stay put in Sterile Singapore, or to give up my admittedly rather cushy (if a little materialistic) life here and strike it out in Sunny Sydney. Whatever the case may be, I'm a firm believer of the axiom of making as much hay as possible while the sun still shines - and since Singapore's the place to be for the skillset that I possess at the moment, I say bring it on until the 5 years are up, and then we'll make a fresh decision then.

I take it you're now back in the Gold Coast? Hope life's been good to you and yours!

Cheers & have a great weekend (I know mine's just fantabulous!)

cresta57

Instead of taking the time to edit your post to remove the personal insults which infringe the site rules I'll let you do it yourself. If you cannot comply with the rules I'll just ban you. I'm having a bad day so do me a favour and remove the personal attacks and stick to posting information instead of insults.

Alfresco

Well said.

xizzles

Thanks for the clarification. I actually emailed my agent that question (because the land tax is deducted quarterly from my rental income) - and she then showed me an invoice from the tax office. Needless to say, I have to pay the blasted land tax.

On a happier note, it's good to know that my house's value has appreciated

Amazulu

Dude, I know you're one of BE's most arrogant, boastful and patronising posters but you're ranting/arguing/agreeing with yourself

You continually rail against super but all I was saying is that the vast majority of people have no choice but to invest in super as it's a legal requirement and that the only option that they have to really choose the type of investment is through a SMSF. Every other kind of investment is a personal choice

As a macroeconomic (macro=big picture - just for you) policy for this nation, super is very good idea - that's the only point I was making. I have quite a bit of super. Not my choice but there it is and I take a keen interest in how it is invested. I'm sure many others do the same

Ultimately though I agree with you about investing in blue-chip shares - it's a sound policy and something that I do. Like my corporate finance lecturer says, the best way to get even with banks for rip-off fees, higher interest rates etc is to own them

In the spirit of the season (I read your insulting other post before it was deleted) - peace

spouse of scouse

Nice post Mr Zulu

louie

Can't speak for anywhere else, but I certainly pay land tax on my strata-titled rental unit in Sydney.