Business Solution

I recently decided the time was right to utilize some surplus cash I had available and began looking to purchase an investment property. Whilst it would have been easy to just dive in and find something that I could afford regardless of the location or potential growth, I thought it best to do some research knowing that my investment property was more than likely going to be a long term property investment for me. Timing was also good from an income perspective –I good easily demonstrate my capacity to service the investment loan I would need to complete the purchase and negatively gear the property. The “cost” of my investment loan after tax benefits were taken into account was considerably reduced.

When I began to think carefully about purchasing my investment property, I took such things as what economists were predicting as far as growth and property value increases as well as expenses that I would incur, both now and ongoing. This was definitely a decision I had to make with my head and not my heart. I also considered what was happening in the investment loan scene particularly in relation to features of an investment loan that could be advantageous for me as well as the general interest rate environment.

On the property front, my first port of call was to view the recent BIS Shrapnel report noting that by mid-2011, the median Sydney house price will climb from $560,000 to $650,000 – A senior economist at the firm, Jason Anderson, said the price rise would be spread across the city, helping cut the gap between Sydney’s two-speed property market. This was quite encouraging and meant that I could now look at a vast array of locations for my investment property. Whilst deciding on a local property, I also looked at the opportunity to perhaps purchase an investment property interstate, which is definitely something prospective buyers should focus on.

As far as investment loan product was concerned I checked out a number of mortgages until I found one that included a capitalizing interest component. I wanted to make sure that in the event that I had surplus personal income I could apply as much as possible of this to my home loan repayment as opposed to subsidizing my investment loan repayments. A capitalizing feature in an investment loan also gives me some protection in case of unexpected maintenance costs on my investment or a prolonged vacancy.

The next important issue I had to consider when deciding on an investment property was the cost associated with the purchase. There were the up-front costs such as loan fees, legal fees and government charges as well as the ongoing costs such as maintenance costs, real estate agent’s fees (rent collection), loan repayments, government taxes, etc. From a discussion I then had with my accountant, I discovered that as this was to be an investment property, most of the costs associated with the purchase, both up-front and ongoing, were tax deductible, either in the year I incurred them or in some cases they had to be spread out or amortized over a 3 or 5 year term.

I also checked out the possibility of borrowing these costs within my investment loan. This is always a possibility but I discovered that if your investment loan exceeds 80% of the purchase price then the costs increase – basically it did not seem worthwhile to take my investment loan past 80%. I did realize however that if I included my home property as security for the investment loan (I had quite good equity in my home) then this meant that I could borrow 100% + costs on the purchase within the investment loan. This again meant that instead of applying my savings to the investment purchase (and taking a smaller investment loan) I applied this to the reduction of my non-deductible home loan debt and increased my investment loan debt. Increasing the investment loan like this was much more tax efficient for me.

Having done my own property research and having sourced an excellent investment loan I now felt at ease with my decision to go ahead and start to look in earnest for a property.

I am now the proud owner of an affordable investment property that I negatively gear for taxation purposes through my investment loan. With the help of a reputable non-bank home loan provider, I have structured my home and investment loans to maximize my tax benefits.

When thinking about purchasing an investment property and looking for an investment loan it would always be advisable to thoroughly research the current real estate market, source qualified information about where the market is heading both locally and interstate as sometimes this may be a more profitable option and finally, speak to qualified financial consultants as this could potentially save you thousands when claiming deductible expenses. And don’t forget to make sure your home and investment loan are structured properly so that you are minimizing your tax bill as much as possible.

The Working Capital Journal is one of several commercial financing resources which should be reviewed regularly by small business owners to assist in keeping up with the imposing difficulties posed by rapid changes in the business finance funding climate. As noted below, there have been some surprising actions taken by lenders as a direct result of recent financial uncertainties. The increasingly complex and confusing environment for working capital finance is likely to produce several unexpected challenges for commercial borrowers.

The working capital finance industry has primarily been operating on a regional and local basis for many years. In response to cost-cutting that has permeated many industries, there has been a consolidation that has resulted in fewer effective commercial lenders throughout the United States. Most business owners have been understandably confused about what this might mean for the future of their commercial financing efforts, especially because this has happened in a relatively short period of time.

Of course, for some time there have been ongoing complex problems for commercial borrowers to avoid when seeking commercial loans. But what has produced a new set of business finance funding problems is that we appear to be entering a period which will be characterized by even more uncertainties in the economy. With little advance notice by lenders, previous standards and rules for working capital finance and commercial financing are likely to increasingly change.

With the current realization that substantial changes are likely in the near future for commercial finance funding throughout the United States, business owners should make an extended effort to understand what is happening and what to do about it. At the forefront of these efforts should be a review of what actions commercial lenders have already taken in recent months. The Working Capital Journal is one prominent example of a free public resource that will facilitate a better understanding of the responses by business lenders to recent economic circumstances.

By publicizing actions taken by commercial lenders, this will contribute to these two goals, both of which are likely to be helpful to typical business owners: (1) To assist in eliminating or reducing questionable lending practices by highlighting controversial lending tactics. (2) To help business owners prepare for commercial finance funding changes. Sources that currently include The Working Capital Journal are actively encouraging business owners to describe and report their financing experiences so that they can be shared with a broader audience to assist in this effort. Some of the most significant commercial financing changes reported so far by commercial borrowers involve working capital loans, commercial construction financing and credit card financing. A notable situation of concern is that predatory lending practices by credit card issuers have been reported by many business owners. Because they have been excluded from obtaining any new business financing by many banks, some specific businesses such as restaurants are having an especially difficult time recently.

One of the few recent bright spots in business finance funding, as noted in The Working Capital Journal, has been the continuing ability of business owners to obtain working capital quickly by business cash advance programs. For most businesses accepting credit cards, this commercial financing approach should be actively considered. Business cash advances are literally saving the day for many small business owners because most banks appear to be doing a terrible job of providing commercial loans and other working capital finance help in the midst of recent financial and economic uncertainties. For example, as noted above, restaurants are virtually unable to currently obtain commercial finance funding from most banks. Fortunately, restaurants accepting credit cards are in a good position to obtain needed cash from credit card receivables financing and merchant cash advances.