To buy now or wait?

[Penelope Pitstop]

Hi everyone - penelope pitstop mentions about bringing her money over from the uk later, i thought you had six months to do this from the date you emigrate or you have to pay alot of money to the oz taxman, does anyone know about this.

 

Also if we decided to rent our house in the uk and the money went into our uk bank account do we have to declare it, would the taxman in oz find out and will i have to mention my small pension that goes into the same account, i don't want to break any laws.

 

If we rent our house out in the uk, we will long term rent in oz, at the moment we are down about $120,000 because of the exchange rate, so selling our house and transferring the money to oz is a none starter, unless there is an housing price crash in oz, which doesn't look likely.

 

jim

 

Hi, there was a post a while back about this but it might leave you more confused than ever. I think the 6 month rule is something to do with pensions.

 

http://www.pomsinoz.com/forum/money-finance/69167-how-long-can-i-leave-my-money-uk-before-being-taxed.html

[immy21]

. A good investment is one where there is a reasonable rate of return, minimal risk of your asset losing money, low ongoing costs of holding the asset, and easy disposal of the asset. A house ticks none of these boxes.

 

 

Ergh rubbish mate!

 

some of the richest people on the planet are in this position simply from doing what you say is impossible

 

A house IS a financial vehicle producing a 'reasonable rate of return' with 'minimal risk of your asset losing money' 'low on going costs of holding the asset' and 'easy disposal' in fact a house ticks ALL of these boxes (as an investment!)

 

put it another way money in the bank is easily spent, money in a property is more difficult to get hold of and if you are disiplined and not many people are! you can watch your assets grow by hundreds of percent over the long term.

 

By riding the inevitable boom bust cycle ( a cycle which is hundreds of years old and as constant as night and day) you can time your property investments to make substantial gains with little effort.

 

The stock market has done nothing since 2000 when the dot com bubble burst, property on the other hand has!

[Guest daveintaiwan]

A house IS a financial vehicle producing a 'reasonable rate of return'

you can watch your assets grow by hundreds of percent over the long term.

I'll refer you to the helpful graph I posted earlier showing the retail price index for housing in Australia. 2.1% real growth per year since 1955. If you look at the prices from 1880 to 1955, they didn't go anywhere.

 

A house IS a financial vehicle producing...'easy disposal'

If you have a few read of posts on PIO, you will find both people in the UK and in Oz who are struggling to sell their house, thinking of renting it out for a while or dropping the price to get it sold as they try to move from one country to another.

If I want to get my money out of stocks or bonds, I can phone my broker tomorrow, sell whatever I own and have the money in the bank by the end of the day. Immy21, are you truly going to argue that a house is just as easy to dispose of?

By riding the inevitable boom bust cycle ( a cycle which is hundreds of years old and as constant as night and day) you can time your property investments to make substantial gains with little effort.

Firstly, this seems to contradict your earlier statement of investing over the long term. Now you are talking of investing in the short term to ride a boom. Secondly, this can also be said of the stock and bond market. My point of view is not about whether gains can be made in property in the short term. I agree completely, that it is possible to make money in property in the short term, and as you have said, many people have done so. It is also possible to lose money in both property and stocks in the short term as I'm sure many people will attest to.

My personal point of view (and it is only that, an opinion) is to do with the type of investment that property offers. The majority of people who buy a property, do so using a mortgage. There is a cost associated with that mortgage - the interest rate (around 7.5% in Oz at the moment). Similarly, when you buy stocks and bonds, there is a cost associated with owning them, brokers' portfolio management fees (normally run at 1-3%). If your costs are lower, then your return is greater when you are investing over the long term. It is simple math.

[Guest Carron]

Hi,

I have been in Oz longterm (40 years!) and the only way we have ever made money is through property. Look at people like Harvey Norman... he admits his great wealth didn't come through his retail stores but from property acquisitions.

Our first property bought in 1987 for $96K sold in the recession in 1992 for 250K. Taking out interest rates paid ...and yes at one stage they reached a frightening seventeen and a half percent... and maintenance costs etc, we still did extremely well! (Sold in 5 weeks before auction)

Another property bought in 2001 for $320K we sold for $965K in 2007. (sold in four weeks) Admittedly we did some serious renovations but after all costs still cleared $350K in profit.

Historically house prices double every seven to ten years in Oz! I have not been in the paid work force for the last fifteen years thanks to real estate

 

The secret is not so much in knowing when to buy because you would need a crystal ball for that, But knowing when to sell AND getting the price right The longest we have ever taken to sell a property is eight weeks. This is due to the fact that we buy to hold until market conditions are right to sell. I am also an interior designer and presenting a home so it stands out from the crowd is absolutely essential and I am certain the work that goes into this is what ensures our record of reasonably short sale times.

This is an interesting time globally and real estate will be affected by what is happening in America, UK, Europe, China etc as well as here at home. We may see a drop in property prices temporarily but as long as you don't have to sell you will be fine! I believe with our strong population growth we may be insulated from a drop in prices but capital growth will flat line for a number of years.

Just my thoughts...would still like a crystal ball though

[Bobj]

Renting means NEVER OWNING...Better to use that money to help buy a property.

 

Cheers, Bobj.