​The Federal and State Governments have recently announced the HomeBuilder grant, which offers eligible owner-occupiers (including first home buyers) a grant of $25,000 to build a new home or substantially renovate an existing home. The objective of HomeBuilder is to assist the residential construction industry to bounce back following the Coronavirus crisis. 

While the grant is not available for use for renovation of an investment property, there are potential future benefits for investors who may choose to renovate their principal place of residence now. 

More than a week on from the NSW Government announcement outlining rental assistance measures due to COVID-19, we take a look at the current rental landscape and cover several frequently-discussed topics from conversations we’ve had with investors over the past few weeks. 

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. 

When budgeting for the costs of holding a rental property, most investors factor in the regular, repeatable expenses such as council rates, water service charges, building and landlord insurance, property management fees and strata fees (where applicable). 

From time to time there are additional expenses every investor is likely to incur - the trick is that the timing and extent of these expenses tends to be unpredictable. Due to their unpredictability, they can be more difficult to budget for and are sometimes neglected completely. 

Following is not an exhaustive list by any means, however should help as a reminder to new and seasoned investors alike of the importance to allow for a savings buffer to ensure any untimely surprise expenses are little more than an inconvenience. 

There's a well-known saying in property investment - "The best time to buy an investment property was yesterday. The second best time is today". Experienced and would-be investors alike know that the sooner they invest in property the sooner and more significant the gains can become. However, often the timing may not seem perfect and the investment journey can be delayed. 

In this post we take a look at 3 reasons why now really could be the best time to buy an investment property. 

In the current market many sellers are giving consideration to keeping their home rather than selling, and turning it into an investment property instead of a sale. Either there has been little interest, or the asking sale price they have been hoping for is not being achieved. 

In the meantime, their home is remaining vacant and non-income generating while waiting for a sale. In this article we suggest three questions to consider when weighing up your options around whether to hold out for a sale, or list your home for rent. 

The Australian Tax Office (ATO) has announced they will be doubling the number of audits scrutinising rental deductions for the 2018-19 financial year.

According to the ATO, in the 2017–18 financial year, more than $47 billion in deductions were made by over 2.2 million Australians. As a result, Assistant Commissioner Gavin Siebert has said that this year rental deductions will be a top priority for auditing.