Suseonline, "By the way, we have a rental property that has never given us any problems, and we certainly reap the financial benefits at tax return time..."

Maybe you could explain how you legally "reap the financial benefits at tax time"?

What about the numbers? Income against all outgoings that arrive at your claimed profit of (what)?

Next, if you have a rental property that "has never given (you) any problems", you might care to pass on your wisdom as to how you have achieved that very enviable result and for how many years.

The B.S. detector is reading way off-scale.

Quite simple really Susi never rents her place to vandals like you.
BS come if you have an alarm how do you live with your self?

Suze, negative gearing only really provided a healthy tax break when interest rates are high.

Now given they are at record lows, you must have a huge mortgage over your rental to get great write offs, because you can only write off rates, maintenance and direct related expenses, not improvements.

So this then makes you wonder if you are robbing Peter to feed Paul, because my rule of thumb when it comes to property investing, is to make sure your annual inputs don't exceed the annual growth rates in your investment, because otherwise you are actually going backwards, albeit at someone else's expense.

If you do have large NG write offs, perhaps you would be better to consider shares, as they also attract NG write offs and are far more liquid.

There are funds out there returning up to 65% at the moment and they are not huge risk funds either.

It just seems to me that anyone with large write offs in property at the moment is too heavily geared in a stagnated market place.

Not advising, merely observing.

rehctub, "It just seems to me that anyone with large write offs in property at the moment is too heavily geared in a stagnated market place"

Property prices shot up during the watch of Labor governments of Hawke and Keating. Hawke and Keating scare-mongered 'negative gearing' as the excuse they had to have, with 'rich property investors' as the whipping boys at fault for higher home prices. It was actually a balance of payments problem.

The 'rich property investors/speculators' was utter bull too, because it is largely aspirational mums and dads 'investors' who buy rental property. Ordinary folk were strongly encouraged to provide for their own retirement by parallel scare-mongering about humps in population - baby boomers. The latter descriptor includes around 18 years of births(!) and somehow avoids mentioning the overwhelming contribution to the 'hump' in population from over-enthusiastic annual record immigration targets.

Property prices and rents have stalled and even retreated for the last ten years. Owners have been facing high risks (as usual) for very poor returns. They shouldn't have to sell the farm as it were, to realise some return, but even that is illusory if prices have not increased, and of course there still is the capital gains tax to pay.

Suseonline,
Still waiting for you to give your numbers and strategies for everyone's edification.

Rechtub you and I have visited this subject before, I warned of a housing bubble.
And you said it was not coming.
Remember your claims about current prices while unlikely, are I take it in QLD.
NSW Sydney highlighted is seeing record prices and massive home and unit sales.
How all that makes the fall more certain, not sure any government can bring about rise or falls in this market.
Go back re read Susionline comment, then re think did she claim capital gains gave her the tax break?
Look once more and tell me if you think female posters should face words like those used to taunt her?

Belly this is the post from Suze I was referring to.

....By the way, we have a rental property that has never given us any problems, and we certainly reap the financial benefits at tax return time...

We have a rental that HAS .... Implies that it has been held for a while,otherwise the word has would be replaced with will or did.

As for your claim that I though prices would never fall, I don't see where you get that.

What I do recall saying is that our prices and situation would not be like Europe.

I also suggest QLD gas towns would make sound investments and I was right. 400%increases is not uncommon. My land has increased some 600% in just six years.

QLD will boom in the next year or so as the royalties from gas are about to flow.

In fact, we may buck the traditional trend whereby all booms start in Sydney, because chances are, thanks to the gas, Brisbane may lead the way this time round.

On the beach, it was negative gearing that has actually seen returns fall and rents stay affordable in comparison to returns on investment.

Prior to the early 80's there was no capital gains tax, so one could buy an asset one day, sell it for a profit the next and not get taxed.

NG has seen returns on investment plummet to low numbers 2-5% whereas prior to rents generally returned 10%.

the big unknown is how much growth would have occurred had things not changed.

Plenty I would suggest as building costs skyrocketed meaning existing homes went along for the ride.

Of cause the first home owners grant kicked prices along as well.

A first home owners loan with zero or very low interest rates (non capitalizing) would have been a much beget option.