The purpose of this article is to determine the role of the buyer's agent when considering the right real estate team of professionals to surround yourself with as a real estate investor.

A buyer's agent is, in essence, an advocate for the buyer when they are trawling the market in search of a property to add to their investment portfolio.

Not only can the appointment of a buyer's agent save you time and money in conducting property searches yourself, but these experts are also usually very well connected to industry contacts and have their ear to the ground when a not-to-be-missed bargain comes onto the market.

A buyer's agent will take the details of the property you are searching for, the money you have to spend and the time-frame in which you want to buy and set about matching a property to suit your needs and wants.

The agent can save the serious real estate investor a considerable amount of time searching for properties and act as the middle man between the buyer and the real estate agent's themselves.

The buyer's agent will usually exist by means of a commission charge along with fees for searching.

Therefore, you may pay the buyer's agent to find you a property, and when something suitable is located, you will then pay the buyer's agent a commission on the cost of the property.

It is important to remember then, in any situation where someone is paid by commission, that even though a buyer's agent may be working for you, they will also be trying to maximise their commission on each purchase.

It is for this risk of bias that many property investors choose to act as their own buyer's agent having been unable to find a buyer's agent whose track record and trustworthiness suits their needs and wants.

If you are considering the use of a buyer's agent do some careful research into the agent and check for any hidden fees that may not be readily visible upfront.

My Knowledge Tips

1. A buyer's agent is, in essence, an advocate for the buyer when they are trawling the market in search of a property to add to their investment portfolio.
2. The agent can save the serious real estate investor a considerable amount of time searching for properties and act as the middle man between the buyer and the real estate agent
3. The buyer's agent will usually exist by means of a commission charge along with fees for searching
4. It is important to remember that even though a buyer's agent may be working for you, they will also be trying to maximise their commission on each purchase.

1. Mortgage Expenses 
Mortgage Interest is usually your biggest deductible tax expense. As a landlord you can deduct mortgage interest payments on all your borrowing expenses as well as stamp duty bank fees. This also includes loans to improve your investment property and interest on credit cards for goods or services related to maintenance and other rental costs. 

2. Depreciation 
Depreciation is the decrease in value of your property’s fixtures and fittings due to wear and tear, and is an eligible property investment tax deduction. 

3. Insurance 
All the insurance premiums you pay for your property investment including your landlords’ liability insurance and employee workers compensation insurance are legitimate tax deductions. 

4. Maintenance and Repairs 
Maintenance costs and repairs to your investment property are claimable. These include body corporate fees, land tax rates, gardening and landscape maintenance. Maintenance repairs can include painting and plastering, plumbing and the replacement of locks or broken windows. 

5. Travel 
Travel expenses related to the management of your rental property collection such as the collection of rent and property maintenance are tax deductible. 

6. Agents Fees & Contractor Hiring 
Any payments you make to contractors in the course of managing your property, including agent’s commissions, are tax deductible 
Examples of Investment Property Tax Benefit Deductions 
• Interest on mortgage and credit cards related to your property investment 
• Depreciation on furniture and fittings 
• General & landlord liability insurance 
• Agent fees 
• Body corporate fees 
• Maintenance and repairs 
• Bank fees & charges 
• Gardening & cleaning 
• State & local government taxes & fees 
• Office expenses 
• Travel 
• Agent, accountant & contractor fees 

To make sure you maximise your investment property tax benefits you need to keep an accurate record of all your claimable items including your receipts and bank statements. And it also makes good sense to also seek good financial advice.

The purpose of this article is to compare a solicitor to a conveyances when discussing the right members of your real estate team.

Somewhere along the line in a property transaction you will require a qualified legal professional to arrange settlement of the property.

While DIY conveyancing is a trendy thought for many amateur investors, those who take their real estate investments seriously, and see a future within the investment sphere, must use qualified solicitors or conveyances to get the job done.

A solicitor is a generalist legal professional who may or may not specialize in property transactions.

A solicitor has completed a legal degree at university and has been admitted as a legal professional who is able to practice law.

Quite simply, the only reason you would use a generalist solicitor to facilitate your buying and selling transactions is if they have completed a conveyancing certificate and have extensive property market experience.

Solicitors are often used by investors who believe they will offer better legal protection if something goes wrong within the real estate transaction -- while this may be the case, a solicitor can be appointed at any time within the process as an adjunct to a conveyances.

Conveyances are usually not legal professionals in a generalist sense -- therefore, they may not have completed a law degree at university or been admitted to practice generalist law -- although there are some conveyances who are also solicitors -- they just specialize in property transactions only.

A conveyances will usually provide you with all of the expertise you need to buy and sell properties within the real estate market.

For quite a low price, conveyances will run all of the necessary property title checks and searches on the property and facilitate the settlement process as a middle man between both the buyer and the seller.

If legal protection is required, it is the role of the conveyances to alert the investor to this need -and therefore the investor can choose to appoint a solicitor.

The general rule is to form upfront relationships with a trusted solicitor, conveyances or both when considering buying an investment property.

It is not a good idea to opt for DIY conveyancing -- particularly when you are the purchaser.

Making sure the property is legally transferred into your name is not something you want to stuff up -- it truly is best left to the experts.

My Knowledge Tips

1. Somewhere along the line in a property transaction you will require a qualified legal professional to arrange settlement of the property.
2. A solicitor has completed a legal degree at university and has been admitted as a legal professional who is able to practice law
3. Conveyances are usually not legal professionals in a generalist sense -- therefore, they may not have completed a law degree at university or been admitted to practice generalist law
4. The general rule is to form upfront relationships with a trusted solicitor, conveyances or both when considering buying an investment property.
5. It is not a good idea to opt for DIY conveyancing -- particularly when you are the purchaser.

The purpose of this article is to consider Loan to Value (LVR) ratios and their impact on borrower's equity when entering debt.

Equity is your friend when you enter the world of real estate investment.

Quite often, getting your first mortgage is the hardest part, but once you have some equity within your assets you can usually move on quite smoothly as an investor.

Loan to Value ratios are one consideration when you are first starting out in property investment.

A Loan to Value ratio (LVR) is the amount of a mortgage when compared to the value of the property it has been taken out on.

If you want to borrow $130,000 to buy a house valued at $150,000 then the LVR is 87% - meaning you are borrowing 87% of the value of the property - this would still be considered a good debt.

A situation such as this would see the borrower in "instant equity" before the new home has even been christened with a champagne toast, the borrower has borrowed only 87% of what the house is worth and therefore has 13% of the value of the property in equity.

When assessing borrowers for a mortgage banks take into account their income, savings history and amount of outstanding bad debt, but they also assess how much the property is valued at when compared to how much the borrower is hoping to borrow in order to buy it.

In this instance, a bank lender can often become your best friend.

If a bank refused to lend you money on LVR reasons, this is probably a blessing in disguise - no savvy property investor wants to borrow more than what a property is worth and start out in negative equity.

LVR ratios that are under 80% are thought to be "low risk", but this does not mean borrowers do not often come away with loans for full financing, or 100% LVR - the situation is not suggested and is usually reserved for credit-worthy borrowers, but it does happen.

The savvy real estate investor will want all borrowing to stay under the recommended 80% LVR.

This may not always be possible to the exact percentage, but the closer you try to get, the better.

Over-borrowing can be the undoing of many prospective real estate investors.

Be cautious about what you borrow, what you buy and how you buy it.

My Knowledge Tips

1. Equity is your friend when you enter the world of real estate investment.
2. A Loan to Value ratio (LVR) is the amount of a mortgage when compared to the value of the property it has been taken out on.
3. If a bank refused to lend you money on LVR reasons, this is probably a blessing in disguise
4. LVR ratios that are under 80% are thought to be "low risk"

The purpose of this article is to explain the capital requirements of real estate investment.

Buying some shares in a company can be achieved with the investment of just a few hundred dollars. And you can start a bank account with just a few cents, so what is the capital requirement of investing in real estate?

Most real estate investments require a far greater initial outlay than other investment options.

While a mortgage is a loan that ensures you do not have to have every dollar of the asking price available in order to purchase real estate, in order to be granted a mortgage loan you usually have to present a deposit and proof of income information to convince the lender you will meet your mortgage repayments.

The good news for most Australians is that these days you can make the repayments on many mortgages for the same price you would fork out to rent a similar property -- making the prospect of seeking approval for a mortgage a lot less daunting.

While most have heard of the great returns involved with real estate investment -- the initial outlay to buy your first property will sometimes deter the nervous investor from taking the plunge into property. 

Luckily there are several types of loans available these days that do not require a large deposit or rigid proof of income. These loans are often referred to as no deposit or low doc loans, and will be explained in a later module.

The trick is if you decide real estate investment is the way to go for you, you should be prepared to be in it for the long haul.

Like the share market, the property markets goes through ups and downs and most people who make money out of real estate do so by holding onto properties over a long-term period.

There is more good news too.

The hardest part of breaking into property investment is buying your first piece of real estate. As long as you make the right decision when you do this, you can generally move upwards on the real estate investment ladder quite smoothly from here. This phenomenon is because of a little friend of ever real estate investor -- Equity.

Equity is your greatest leverage.

If the first property you buy is a "bargain" you may very well have paid less than it is worth in the market or a surge in the market may see you earn almost instant equity -- i.e. the difference between the amount you owe on the property and its salable value in the market.

Equity in one property can be used as capital leverage for your next buy, and so on and so forth. 

Breaking through the initial capital requirement barrier will be your toughest capital problem, but once you meet your friend Equity, you will be able to move forward as a real estate investor with vigor.

My Knowledge Tips

1. Most real estate investments require a far greater initial outlay than other investment options.
2. The good news for most Australians is that these days you can make the repayments on many mortgages for the same price you would fork out to rent a similar property
3. Like the share market, the property markets goes through ups and downs
4. The hardest part of breaking into property investment is buying your first piece of real estate
5. Equity in one property can be used as capital leverage for your next buy, and so on and so forth.

The purpose of this article is to explore the ability to add value to your real estate investments.

Very little effort will often bring about substantial gains when adding value to your real estate investment.

Something as simple as clearing up the garden, a coat of paint, modern bench top in the kitchen or building a car port can easily add value to a property with the goal to either increase its rental yield or its selling power on the market.

Many real estate investors enjoy how tangible their investment is, and the control they may have over increasing its capital growth potential by making small value adding changes to its look, feel or functionality.

Investors who are able to add value to their property may also do so while enjoying the benefits of tax deduction. If expenditures on your rental property's other income -- reducing the amount of money on which they pay tax.

Value-adding can also increase the property's cash flow potential - for every $10 extra rental income you get you can usually add an extra $5,200 to the valuation of your property - $10 per week for 52 weeks per year is $520 a year -- for the property investor every little bit counts.

Deciding how to add value to the property is the biggest hurdle and you do not want to over-capitalize on the investment or its capital growth potential.

A simple rule to follow when value adding to your real estate investment is to keep it simple.

If the bathroom is old and run down and potential tenants are deterred by its state it's probably worthwhile investing in a bathroom renovation. This can be done simply; maybe all you need to do it replace the tiling, add a modernized sink or toilet or replace the shower curtain for a glass door.

Every little bit counts when it comes to adding value to your real estate investment -- and it's usually little changes which come at low costs that are most worth your while.

If you have added value to your investment property through renovations and you wish to borrow more money to continue with your real estate portfolio it may be worthwhile having an independent valuer carry out an assessment of the improved property. The more equity you have as capital leverage when re-borrowing the better.

My Knowledge Tips

1. Very little effort will often bring about substantial gains when adding value to your real estate investment.
2. Investors who are able to add value to their property may also do so while enjoying the benefits of tax deduction
3. A simple rule to follow when value adding to your real estate investment is to keep it simple
4. If you have added value to your investment property through renovations it may be worthwhile having an independent valuer carry out an assessment of the improved property