Settlement day today and everything went smoothly, as far as I know. I received an SMS from the bank to notify us settlement is complete, an email from our solicitor, and an email and phone call from our Client Liaison Manager at Open Wealth to say congratulations. So I’ll call that done.
I’d suggest this would be a good occasion to pop a bottle of bubbly but the wife is pregnant and heading out for dinner with the girls tonight, no less. So, in our usual way, we’ll let the occasion pass without much excitement. What investment property?!
Here’s a picture of a pile of dirt—but it’s our pile dirt (er, the bank’s pile of dirt rather)! Good to see the skies are blue in Queensland so hopefully progress can be made without too many disruptions from the weather.
I’m told by Open Wealth “the builder has arranged the soil test, engineering plans and working drawings and the plans have been submitted into council for approval”. “While the plans are being approved the builder will be organising the site works, retaining walls, sediment barriers, driveway shake-down and signage.”
Open Wealth expect 6-8 weeks for permits (ideally six since we paid the 5% builder’s deposit up front and should have jump-started the process) and then things start to really get underway.
I would have preferred to be further along by now, with the original aim of having tenants in place by the end of the 2014/15 financial year but settlement has pushed us out to October (worst case, on the basis of the 30-week construction guarantee Open Wealth includes). Naturally, this will be particularly awesome timing—he said sarcastically—as I’ll likely be overseas as we transition from construction to rental.
The base stage complete milestone is next, which is everything before framing starts.
All said, I’m impressed with myself for a) doing this and b) doing this as well as I possibly could using my newfound knowledge. When we built our PPOR in 2006, we were clueless and did as we were told. Rather than try and understand the process, we followed the bouncing ball. We lucked out in general, but for an investment property I felt complete engagement was necessary. This will be one of several (future) income generating assets which I intend to run as a business and I believe it would have been amiss of me not to dive deep into the semantics. Yes, we’ve still followed the bouncing ball in general because the process outlined by Open Wealth is aligned to my knowledge and strategy but I now understand why the ball bounces and I’ve not hesitated to correct its trajectory when I felt it was heading in the wrong direction.
Time will tell whether we’re doing the right thing but right now I’m comfortable knowing I’ve taken the first steps to secure my financial future and done it in a way that I understand and believe to be correct.
I suppose a disclaimer is also worth posting: I'm just a guy, I'm not an accountant, lawyer, solicitor, tax agent, mortgage broker, banker, financial adviser, insurance agent, land developer, builder, government agent, or anything else so I disclaim your application of anything I write here is to be applied at your own risk. What I write may be incorrect and you are best to seek your own professional advice (tax, legal, financial, and otherwise) before entering into contracts or spending your money. Your situation is unique to you and what I write here reflects my experience only. This content is not professional advice and is not tailored to your situation. I'm learning too and expect to make many, many mistakes along the way.
Enjoy,
Michael
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