And so another year has flown by... it doesn't seem as long as 12 months ago that we compiled our 2018 gallery of images from our cameras and here we are wrapping similarly up for 2019!

We are spoiled by beautiful sights and scenes around Newcastle and Lake Macquarie. In concluding the year, we'd like to share with you some of the nicer images we've had the joy of capturing from our local area throughout 2019. 

If you've considered moving out of your family home and converting it to a rental property, but with a view to returning at some point in future, you may be familiar with the six-year capital gains tax rule. This important rule offers a significant tax benefit to investors in this circumstance, but there are only certain circumstances under which it will apply. 

Every week we are contacted to provide rental appraisals on investment properties. Over time we've come to realise there is a question many investors wonder but rarely ask - "Why did you estimate lower rent than the other agency?".

We realise of course that when we are contacted by an investor to provide a rental appraisal, we are usually one of many agencies contacted with the same request at the same time. Unfortunately, an agency's response to a rental appraisal is a very one-dimensional way of assessing the value the agency they will bring in managing the investment. This has been covered separately in the article The 3 Criteria Most People Use To Select A Property Manager (And Why They're Flawed).