Programs such as The Block might make house flipping seem straightforward and lucrative, but there are also a number of tax issues that house flippers should be made aware of.  Mark Chapman from H&R Block Tax Accountants looks at where house flippers stand from a tax perspective.

Of the over 2 million property investors in Australia, only 18% own two properties, and less than 1% own five or more.  Although any asset is an achievement, success to most property investors is really determined by their ability to continue purchasing real estate. Unfortunately, so many Australians save for their entire working lives to be able to afford an investment property, but very often once they achieve this, their progress remains stagnant because they aren't sure of what to do next.  Zaki Ameer Founder of Dream Design Property tells us about his formulae for building a successful portfolio.

We make no guarantees in this show but one thing I can assure you of is that when our property markets are hot, some buyers lose their cool.  Many are now scrambling to get into the market, particularly in Sydney and Melbourne, because they were sure prices would soften.  Now they have a very bad case of FOMO or the fear of missing out.  When you do that you start to make mistakes like the ones we discuss with Michael Yardney.

We catch up with the head of Century 21 – Charles Tarbey – about the suburbs that are sometimes called the ugly ducklings but have the potential to be swans.  He tells us where they are and buyer’s agent Meighan Hetherington is along to share some wisdom about buying well and what happens with competing offers on a property.

We have some news about a new product called BONDSURE that will ease the rental bond burden for tenants and offers great protection for tenants, investors and agents.  It is proving to be very popular.

Transcripts:
When ‘ugly suburbs’ change and competeing with other buyers – Charles Tarbey and Meighan Hetherington
Kevin:  My next guest is Charles Tarbey, CEO and chairman of Century 21 in Australasia.

Charles, I want to talk to you about some of the suburbs around Australia that, well, were pretty cruddy but they’re now very, very much in flavor. You must see a lot of this. When I talk about these types of suburbs, I think of places like Paddington in Brisbane, Paddington in Sydney, even New Farm in Brisbane that weren’t so desirable. In fact, my Mom used to tell me that New Farm was one area that you’d never walk into. But, boy, hasn’t that changed?

Charles:  Kevin, New Farm was a spot that I had to be careful of, as well. My sister had a home in Darra, going back all those years ago – Darra/Goodna – and if you think about the areas around there now and you look at all the different developments that have gone on, it’s just incredible.

Kevin:  It’s great the way they’re gentrified some of these areas. Are there any areas that you know, because you get around Australia quite a lot, that are going through that process right now?

Charles:  Yes, absolutely. I had some people visit the other day and they were looking at buying investment property and so on and had their dollars out and talked about buying something for $1 million or $1.5 million in Sydney. I said, “Look, you know, you can still buy properties…”

People talk about Mount Druitt in Sydney, and Mount Druitt had its first million-dollar sale of a home last year, last January. It was all Commission homes. But people are moving in from overseas, and they think these areas are fantastic compared to the lifestyle ahead. So they come in and they do the same thing.

I said to these people, “Look, right in the middle of Sydney, in between the M4 and the M7 freeway are places like Hebersham, Dharrak, that are not far from Mount Druitt where you can still buy a home in Sydney for mid $500,000s,” and 10 kilometers north – not even that – people are paying $2 million dollars for homes.