It is generally excepted that the average investor feels more confident with real estate as a place to secure their future, believing that over all it will outperform cash and fixed interest deposits, particularly for the medium to long term. Many Australians prefer to invest in residential property, as it's a tangible, "bricks and mortar" asset.

Furthermore, the degree of expertise required is not much different to buying or for that matter selling your own home. Many of the same principles apply, in fact it could be said that it’s easier, as the location is decided on by profitability as opposed to family or emotional reasoning. As with all purchases you should establish its real worth. This can be achieved by comparing the asking price with that of similar properties in the same area and by discussing your needs with a real estate agent this will give a reasonably accurate idea of the price you should be looking to pay.

Of course, your own negotiating skills will also come into play, but the final price will depend, not only on the property's true value, but also on how much the owner is actually willing to accept.

Prior to entering into serious negotiations establish, if you need to borrow, how much can be made available. For residential investment properties, or interest only loans, banks have been known to lend up to 90% of the purchase price or valuation, whichever is the lesser. However, if you have other residential property that can be used as additional security, some lending institutes will lend you the full purchase price of the proposed investment property.

Be sure to investigate any hidden cost before going to contract on your investment property, it would be worth taking a little time to find out about.:

• Bank Establishment Fee
• Loan Security Administration Fee
• Lender’s Property Evaluation Fee
• Lender's Mortgage Insurance
• Life Insurance
• Title Searches and other enquiries
• Stamp Duty and Mortgage Registration Costs
• Legal Fees

To help you determine the amount you could borrow, check out Suncorps Pre-approval Calculator. By entering your current income and expenses, it will give you an idea how much can be made available.

There are many different types of loans these days it pays to investigate your options.

There are a number of savings that can be gained by owning an investment property, contact your accountants for their advice in the following areas:

• Interest payments
• Building allowance
• Depreciation
• Outgoings
• P.A.Y.E. taxpayer benefit (negatively geared investment property)
• Capital Gains Tax
• Buying and selling costs

As an investment property owner you do have a few obligations, and it would be wise to discuss these with your advisor particularly in the following areas:

• Record keeping, both income and deductions, for a period of 5 years. Being a landlord you automatically have responsibilities and legal obligations for more information contact the Residential Tenancies Authority or ask us for a copy of their Form 17a handbook.
• Of course it goes without saying that insurance must be considered for this a broker or agent can give advice, real estate agents also give options sometimes at very favourable rates, particulaly if they are affiliated to a large company such as AON. Areas to consider protecting yourself are.
• Building Insurance
• Contents Insurance
• Loss of Rent
• Contents Fusion Cover

In Port Douglas there are three main areas of interest:

• Residential, both houses and apartments normally manager by a local real estate agent. There has always been a strong permanent rental market in the Tropical North primarily because of the large tourist industry for an overview see our rental pages.
• Holiday on site managed property involving a lease back arrangement. On site-managed properties are dependent on the managers ability, in the first 24 months to establishing the property with the wholesalers, agents and public will take a lot of effort. This can be costly, large advertising budgets have to be considered. Once established the length of time a property stays making a good return for its investors really depends on the up keep location and again the manager. Resales will have previous yearly figures, for a current list of available properties please contact us.
• Holiday Letting. Over the last 5 years there has been an increase in Port Douglas of 5 star holiday homes, this type of letting requires a specialist operator, preferably with a tourism background, again in Queensland these operation are strictly controlled either by a licensed tour operator or real estate agent. A fully licensed company specialising in this field only is Accom Port Douglas.
• Commercial. Yhese types of arrangements are overseen by real estate agents as a rule. The demands for commercial space for rent in this area is strong particularly close to or on Macrossan Street.

To find the right property you will have to spend some time making enquires or employ a buyer’s agent. We offer residential and investment property and commercial businesses for sale.

There are a number of organisations offering information on identifying and purchasing investment property mainly mortgage and lending institutions.

• Suncorp Metway
• National Bank
• Commonwealth Bank

In Queensland, particularly since the publishing of the new Real Estate Act in 2000/1, the mechanics of buying and selling of property have become more involved with the introduction of cooling of periods and disclosure statements all designed to protect mainly the purchaser. If you are interested to find out more about how to purchase property in Queensland contact us, or view the Office of Fair Trading web site, where there are lists of forms.

At an early stage in the purchase of your property it is wise to involve a solicitor, but this is by no means mandatory, should you require a list of local offices contact us, or the Queensland Law Society.

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