In this edition: How long will it take for your property to rent? Missing Out on Thousands of $$$ Each Year? Depreciations for Renovations Made Easy Cords that Can Kill… MANDATORY Standards for Window Fittings!

March 2015

6 steps to achieving your property goals in 2015 A Selection of Properties Recently Leased Quote Another happy customer -Wow Mo-ment Calendar of Events

Dear Landlord,

There is an old proverb that every

dark cloud has a silver lining. The

very dark clouds, torrential rain and

damaging winds of cyclone Marcia

certainly wreaked some havoc upon

the communit ies of Central

Queensland. Fortunately here in

Brisbane we escaped the full force

but did encounter heavy rain leaving

some of our properties without

power and leaks. We emailed all our

tenants an alert reminding them of

what to do in an emergency. This

was positively received with many

tenants commenting back to us they

respected the helpful email. The few

properties that were affected have all

March rental and team updates

been repaired promptly and

eff iciently with our Property

Managers ensuring our affected

tenants and landlords have been

notified. Again, this serves as a

reminder to have your gutters

cleared and debris pruned away

from your investment.

We are hitting the ground running as

autumn is here with a prediction of

one of the hottest on records.

Easter and school holidays are just

around the corner and our Property

Management Team is enjoying a

good end to February with our

properties rented at increased rents

and low vacancy rate. Long term

leases are still very popular and

recommended if you can secure a

good tenant. Interest rates are at a

record low with another cut

predicted. There has never been a

better t ime to buy another

investment!

Enjoy your March.

Best Regards,

Belinda Johnston

General Manager

Property Management

www.propertyrentalsbrisbane.com FREE Information Guide For Landlords & Tenants

How long will it take for your property to rent?

That of course depends on the time of the year so here are the latest statistics for February.

BRISBANE STATISTICS The Market

Source: rentfind.com.au

Missing Out on

Thousands of $$$ Each

Year? Depreciations for

Renovations Made Easy

Investment property owners often

miss out on thousands of dollars

due to two main reasons:

1. They don‘t know what

depreciation entitlements

they can c la im for

for the items being removed as a

tax deduction in that financial

year.

Get a “before renovation” tax

depreciation schedule

Arranging a tax depreciation

schedule before completing

renovations will save you time

and money when making a claim.

In case of an audit by the

Australian Taxation Office (ATO),

renovations or refurbishments

to their investment property

2. They don‘t use a qualified

Quantity Surveyor to

prepare a tax depreciation

schedule

Follow the steps below to ensure

your tax depreciation schedule is

right the first time around.

Understand scrapping

Scrapping refers to the removal

and disposal of any potentially

depreciable asset from an

investment property. When worn

or old assets (like carpet and hot

water systems) are replaced and

scrapped, the owner of the

property may be entitled to claim

the remaining depreciable value

Brisbane, QLD February 2015 Annual Change

Median Weekly Rent - House $ 420 0%

Median Weekly Rent - Unit/Apartment $ 390 0%

Days on Market (Avg) 29.8 3.2 increase

Days Vacant (Avg) 16.7 1.9 increase

www.propertyrentalsbrisbane.com FREE Information Guide For Landlords & Tenants

a valuation of all items in a

property, as well as adequate

photographic records is required.

Get an “after renovation” tax

depreciation schedule

A second schedule is prepared

af ter complet ion of the

renovation, identifying the value

of all new plant and equipment

and capital expenditure within the

property. The adjustments will be

made to your tax depreciation

schedule for a small adjustment

fee and should not cost you as

much as the init ial tax

depreciation schedule. The new

schedule will outline all the

depreciation claims available for

the life of the property (forty

years).

Only deal with a credible

provider of tax depreciation

schedules

With over sixteen years of

Quantity Surveying expertise,

BMT Tax Depreciation is the

leader in providing ATO

compliant and comprehensive tax

depreciation schedules to

Cords that Can Kill…

MANDATORY Standards

for Window Fittings!

The mandatory standard for

internal blinds, curtains and

window fittings (corded internal

window coverings) was declared

on 8 July 2010 and applies to

relevant blinds, curtains and

some fittings supplied after 30

December 2010.

The mandatory standard that

deals with the installation

services of window coverings

was made on 28 March 2014.

This regulation commenced on 1

January 2015 - the new

requirements now apply.

Australian homes often have

blinds, curtains and other window

coverings that are manipulated

by cords or chains.

Corded in te rna l w indow

coverings are window coverings

that can be used inside a building

and are either:

property investors Australia-wide.

At BMT, our qualified team of

Quantity Surveyors meticulously

prepare and customise each and

every BMT Tax Depreciation

Schedule, ensuring you claim

everything you are entitled to.

Scrapping is a complicated

process that requires the

expertise of a specialist Quantity

Surveyor in conjunction with an

Accountant. By requesting a tax

depreciation schedule you know

you‘re not going to miss out on

anything and your Accountant will

love you for it.

To find out more about property

depreciation, visit the BMT Tax

Depreciation property investor

page at www.bmtqs.com.au/for-

property-investors or contact one

of our staff for obligation free

advice on 1300 728 726.

Article Provided by BMT Tax

Depreciation.

Bradley Beer (B. Con. Mgt, AAIQS,

MRICS) is the Managing Director

of BMT Tax Depreciation. Please

contact 1300 728 726 or

visit www.bmtqs.com.au for an

Australia wide service.

www.propertyrentalsbrisbane.com FREE Information Guide For Landlords & Tenants

The mandatory standard applies

to all corded internal window

coverings supplied from 30

December 2010.

Complying with the mandatory

standard

Corded in te rna l w indow

coverings have been associated

with hundreds of deaths and

many near strangulations. It is an

offence to supply corded internal

window coverings that do not

comply with the requirements of

this mandatory standard. For

more information about the

mandatory requirements, we

recommend you read:

Trade Practices (Consumer

Product Safety Standard -

Corded Internal Window

Coverings) Regulations

2010

Competition and Consumer

(Corded Internal Window

Coverings) Safety Standard

2014

Explanatory statement and

r e g u l a t i o n i m p a c t

statement—corded internal

window coverings

Explanatory statement -

corded internal window

coverings installation

services

window coverings, such as

curtains or blinds with a

cord, or

fittings used with a window

covering, such as a

traverse rod or track.

These include, but are not limited

to:

Curtains

Blinds

shades

traverse rods

tracks.

HAZARDS

Strangulation

Children can become entangled

in blind or curtain cords if they try

to use, play with or play around

window coverings. Even with

raised coverings, children can

climb onto window sills or

furn i ture to access the

cords. Cords or looped cords that

become tangled around a child‘s

neck can very quickly cause

strangulation.

Cords can also strangle infants

sleeping or playing in cots placed

near a window where cords are

within reach, or hang into the cot.

Alerts

Cots & cords don't mix: Keep

cots away from blind, curtain and

electrical cords

Loose or looped cords near cots

can accidentally strangle and kill

small children. Babies have died

from being strangled in blind, cur-

tain and electrical cords they ac-

cessed in their cots. There are

simple steps you can take when

preparing baby's sleep area to

make sure it's safe from these

hazards.

Source:

http://www.productsafety.gov.au/

6 STEPS TO ACHIEVING

YOUR PROPERTY

GOALS IN 2015

Meeting any of your goals takes

commitment. Whether it‘s losing

weight, saving for a holiday,

buying an investment property,

new car, saving up for school

fees or changing jobs – sacrifices

will need to be made along the

way, but achieving the ultimate

goal should make these well

worth it in the long run.

www.propertyrentalsbrisbane.com FREE Information Guide For Landlords & Tenants

It helps to keep in mind how you

will feel this time next year when

you look back on the year and

s e e w h a t y o u h a v e

accomplished. Think how proud

you will feel knowing you haven‘t

let the year slip by without

making the most of what you can

do.

If you want to give yourself the

best chance of seeing your goal

come to fruition, here are six top

tips for getting your house in

order:

1. Establish your goals

While you may have a

general goal to get your

finances in order this year,

if you haven‘t clearly

identified your goal it‘s far

less likely to happen. For

example, do you want to

buy a new property or

renovate an existing one?

Do you want to maximise

your tax benefits from

owning the property? Once

your goals are set, you can

focus your energy on this

particular outcome, which

will set your course for

2015.

2. D e t a i l t h e s t e p s

In the same way as you‘d

follow a map to a new

destination, you need to set

out the steps of how you

are going to achieve your

goal. Will it be spending

Saturdays looking for the

right property? Perhaps it‘s

getting your finances in

order so you have a

pre-approved loan ready for

when you see the property

you want to purchase. You

need to ensure you have all

the steps broken down and

laid out so you can achieve

your goal step by step.

3. Don’t set yourself up to

fail

G oa l s n eed t o be

attainable. It‘s important to

understand what the first

steps are in achieving your

goal. Rather than ―buy an

investment property‖ look at

what is required to get to

this point first. Saving for a

deposit is one thing but

how are you going to do

this on a day-by-day or

weekly basis. What is going

to get you to your goal? By

giving yourself smaller,

realistic, achievable goals

you will be inspired rather

than risk feeling deflated

when your grand overall

goal doesn‘t materialise.

Like everything in life, you

need to work at it!

4. S e t d e a d l i n e s

Once you have broken

down the steps, set realistic

guidelines and timeframes

for achieving each of them.

5. M a n a g e y o u r s e l f

Keep yourself on track to

meet these deadlines.

Remind yourself how

quickly the year slips by.

Cutting yourself ‗too much

slack‘ will undermine your

chances of succeeding.

Make it your priority to meet

your deadlines knowing

they are crucial to meeting

your ultimate goal.

6. Remind yourself why

Keep your overall end goal

in mind when working

through the smaller goals

you have set for yourself.

This will inspire you to stay

on track and by this time

next year you will be

successful because you

have put the work in. That‘s

satisfaction!

Source:

smartpropertyinvestment.com.au/,

Tyron Hyde

16th March 2015 Mid Month Accounting 1st April 2015 End of Month Accounting

A Selection of Properties Recently Leased

Kenmore Hills House $895 p.w.

4 bed, 3 bath, 2 car accommodation

Quote

“Start by doing what's necessary;

then do what's possible; and sud-denly you are doing the impossible.”

—Francis of Assisi

Taring Unit $350 p.w.

2 bed, 1 bath, 1 car accommodation

RE/MAX Profile Real Estate 141 Boundary Road TEL 07 3510 5222 FAX 07 3876 5544

www.profilerealestate.com.au Bardon QLD 4065 Belinda profilemanager@remax.com.au

www.propertyrentalsbrisbane.com PO Box 388, Paddington, 4064 Helen helenbryan@remax.com.au

Lisa profilerentals@remax.com.au

Errors & Omissions: These details have been prepared by us on information we have obtained and while we trust it to be correct, is not guaranteed by us and you should rely on your own enquiries.

Kelvin Grove House $500 p.w.

3 bed, 1 bath, 2 car accommodation

Calendar of Events

Helen is a credit to the RE/MAX brand. She exemplifies the key values a customer looks for when choosing a property manager. With a warm and friendly manner, Helen always leaves you with the feeling you are in capable and trusted hands. Her dedicated work ethic and an engaging personality provides a professional yet personable experience unmatched by any other. I have no hesitation in recommending Helen and can testify to the added value she brings to the RE/MAX brand. Mark Allen

Another happy customer—Wow Moment