18/12/2018
Owning your own home is a quintessential part of being an Australian, and the idea of home ownership was sold to us for decades as being a smart financial move. It’s easy to see why: home ownership gives us a sense of security; it is free from capital gains tax; it provides a hedge against inflation; it’s just the way things are done here, mate.
But in these days of skyrocketing house prices, when purchasing your own home means borrowing money at unprecedented levels and stretching yourself to your financial limits, the coin has well and truly flipped and we are now being told that ‘#rentlife’ is the new way of living and the smartest financial move (probably).
The truth is that neither renting for life nor buying a residential home is fundamentally good or bad, smart or dumb, and what you end up doing will depend on individual circumstances together with rent prices and interest rates. But perhaps it is time, as we move well into the 21st century and see many property market traditions beginning to change, to rethink home ownership and how best to protect your financial future.
This article explores the benefits of renting rather than buying, because buying a home to live in just for the sake of tradition, especially if you’ve crunched the numbers and they don’t add up and you’re going to be house poor, is fairly pointless. Rent money is not dead money, as is often touted; after all, that rent money gives you a place in which to live.
There are a number of good reasons to invest first and worry about buying a home later, if at all.
Getting into the market now. You might not have enough of a deposit to purchase your dream home in your dream suburb, but you may well have enough to purchase something somewhere else. This means you can start building on your wealth sooner rather than later and move closer towards achieving your financial goals.
Living where you want. As the location in which you want to buy a home is most likely out of your price range, it makes more sense to rent in the neighbourhood of your choice and buy an investment property in a more affordable location where the buy-in price is lower and rental returns are strong.
Building wealth faster and easier. Many investors find that the cost of servicing their investment property is minimal, with the rental income and tax refund covering most and often all of the cost of their loan and expenses commitments, while at the same time building precious equity, which is key to financing future purchases and accruing wealth.
Buying smarter. When you have a rational investment mindset from the get-go and don’t purchase based on emotion and sentiment, you are much more likely to set yourself up for a fruitful wealth creation journey. A well thought-out investment property purchase will accelerate your wealth-building process much more effectively than will the property you might choose to make your home.
Australian investors are rewarded by the government. Conservative government projections put our population at an expected 30 million by 2030, and all of these people need somewhere to live! Our country has a great need for well-located residential property to house the expanding population, and Australian tax laws are friendly to people who invest in real estate. You can write off investment expenses against taxes, lowering your tax bill and offsetting the shortfall between your rental income and holding costs. Apart from rental yield, the key to a healthy cash flow lies with depreciation, which can earn you thousands of dollars over a period of several years and can turn an otherwise negatively geared property into positive cash flow.
Sometimes it’s just smarter to rent, but whatever you decide to do it is critical you do your research, get educated and become an expert in understanding your numbers. For example, did you know that – since depreciation tax laws changes in 2017 - brand new properties will deliver almost double the depreciation compared with a 1 or 2 year old property, which in turns affects your cash flow materially.
It always helps to have a team of professional people to guide you through the options that are available to you. Working with a team of professionals is at the absolute core of being a successful property investor.
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Philippe Brach is CEO of Multifocus Properties and Finance.
Philippe is an experienced property investment specialist, mortgage broker and author of ‘Creating Property Wealth in any Market’.
Contact Philippe and get a jump start on your portfolio with expert advice.
Ph. 1300 266 350 | www.multifocus.com.au | philippe.brach@multifocus.com.au
Disclaimer: while due care is taken, the viewpoints expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Your Investment Property
