How to get the Best Pricing For your Commercial Loans

Commercial-Loans

COMMERCIAL PROPERTY FINANCE rates and fees are much more fluid than those associated with residential loans.

To get the best deal, you should know what the banks look for and consider the other factors that go into pricing for commercial loans. The following ways may assist you in securing better pricing for your commercial loan. [Read more…]

In Construction … What’s Value Engineering?

Value-Engineering

YOU MAY BE AWARE that budget overrun is a common problem for construction projects.

Value engineering is an effective process that assists in managing costs, throughout a project, to meet the budget requirements.

It analyses the requirements of a project, with the aim of satisfying your requirements, as the owner, in the most economical way — from capital outlay to life cycle cost. [Read more…]

BEWARE … If You’re a Commercial Tenant

Plantation

A LANDMARK DECISION by the Court of Appeal of the Victorian Supreme Court means that a landlord’s liquidator can now disclaim a tenant’s lease — meaning that you, the Commercial tenant, no longer hold a leasehold interest in the land.

Case: In the Matter of Willmott Forests Ltd (in liquidation) [2012] VSCA 202 (‘Willmott’)

The Facts of the Case

The facts can be summarised as follows: [Read more…]

New Effective Lives of Depreciable Assets

TaxLives

THE AUSTRALIAN Taxation Office (ATO) has released a new tax ruling — effective from the 1st of July 2013.

Tax Ruling 2013/04

Replacing Tax Ruling 2012/2 , Tax Ruling 2013/4 explains the methods you should use when determining the effective lives of depreciating assets.

While Table B of Tax Ruling 2013/4 lists the effective lives of depreciable assets currently recognised by the ATO.

Roll Out of New Effective Lives

The tax ruling in effect at the time you acquired an asset determines the effective life of that asset. Therefore, any changes the ATO have made to the effective lives of assets in Tax Ruling 2013/4 — only affect assets purchased and installed for use after the 1st of July 2013. [Read more…]

Important Changes to Land Zoning within Victoria

Planning-Changes

A significant number of our clients have been purchasing property in Victoria — despite them living all around Australia. If you have already (or are about to) purchase within the State — then read on, to find out if the recent land zoning changes could affect you.

REFORMS TO THE VICTORIAN residential, commercial and industrial planning zones have come into operation in recent months.

The changes have resulted in the replacement of the business zones, introduction of the new commercial and residential zones, and amendments to the industrial zones. [Read more…]

How to Use the Equity in Your Commercial Property

Equity-Release

RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY INVESTORS commonly release equity in their homes in order to invest in other property. But can you do the same with your Commercial property?

Equity in Commercial Property

It is possible for you to utilise the equity in Commercial property … but it is a bit more difficult and complex than with residential property.

Banks are more risk-averse to Commercial property funding than they are to the residential market. And they will want to have some measure of control over the use of funds — before releasing cash to you. [Read more…]

How to Find the Right Builder

The-Correct-Builder

LIKE ALL THINGS, there is a “right” approach and there is a “wrong” approach to finding the perfect builder for your project.

Some developers, investors and building owners fall into the tempting trap of trying to cut costs — by bringing in builders who offer to work for much less, but who may not have the experience needed for that particular project.

These people hope that by reducing initial costs, they can boost their overall profits. Unfortunately this tends to backfire on them, more often than not. [Read more…]

How to Write-off up to $6,500 … Instantly!

Small-Business

SIMPLER DEPRECIATION LAWS have recently been introduced to assist small businesses — which take effect as from the 2012-2013 financial year.

Under GST rules, every Commercial investment property is deemed to be a “going concern” … or in other words, a business. Therefore, you could qualify to benefit from the instant asset write-off threshold having been increased to $6,500.

This new rule allows businesses to write-off any depreciating asset with a total cost less than $6,500.

Previously, the cost threshold was $1,000; and anything over this cost could not be claimed as an instant deduction. [Read more…]

Environmental Issues Loom Large Among Commercial Property Transactions

Green-Building

ENVIRONMENTAL CONTAMINATION is fast becoming a contentious issue in the 21st century. As such, it is not surprising this is becoming one of the key factors in property transactions.

Sale contracts

All aspects of contamination and compliance with environmental laws have emerged as an issue in negotiations between vendors and purchasers.

Generally speaking, a vendor will aim to sell a property ‘as is, where is’. Accordingly, the vendor’s preference would be for the purchaser to rely on its own enquiries; and therefore, buy the property in its present state of repair.

This would mean the purchaser buys the property subject to any pre-existing contamination, or non-compliance with environmental laws. [Read more…]

Claiming Depreciation Can Transform Your Bottom Line

BMT-Tax

IN MANY CASES, commercial properties are positively geared. And that means their rental returns are often higher than loan repayments and outgoings for the property.

What what you may not realise is that the income received from a positively geared property can have avoidable tax implications.

Claiming depreciation on a positively geared commercial property can help you substantially reduce your overall taxable income, and further improve your after-tax cash position.

Perhaps a Case Study would help … [Read more…]

Control The Loan Process

Commercial-Loan-Application

THE OTHER DAY, I was doing some analysis on the loans lodged over the past year … looking at the time-frames, and where the delays have occurred.

And I was struck by the number of stages a loan application needs to go through, before settlement. Plus the number of people the file depends upon, to go smoothly.

The people involved in this process can include the broker, the bank officer, credit analyst, valuer, borrower’s solicitor, bank’s solicitor, vendor’s solicitor, accountant, financial adviser (if financial advice is required), real estate agent and, possibly, the tenant.

As you can appreciate, delays can occur at the hands of any of these stakeholders with dire consequences. That’s why it is advisable (as far as possible) for you to retain as much control over the process as you can … in order to avoid potential pitfalls. [Read more…]