Autumn 2016 Newsletter 

Quote
“Today our economy’s steady growth, falling unemployment rate, national wealth and relatively low public debt are the envy of the World.”
David Walke, Senior Analyst - Stocks in Value

Conveyancing 

If you buy a property and your contract has version 10 of the REIQ standard conditions, you will have to reimburse its seller for 100% of the land tax they paid in the previous year. BUT, if you later sell that property and the agent attaches a later version of the REIQ content, you can NOT recover any land tax. Please talk to Cholm or Hannah at our office BEFORE you sign any contract, for the best professional protection.

Life Planning by PRE-NUPS

Marriage figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics report that 121,107 couples tied the knot in 2014. Of this number, it is estimated that one in three will subsequently divorce, reinforced by the statistics that 27.5 per cent of marriages involved people who had previously married. 
The ABS also tells us that the median age of divorce in Australian for men is 45 and for females is 42.5 and the average for length of marriage is 12 years before divorce. With such sobering figures prenups should be a ‘must have’ conversation for anyone getting married with any reasonable wealth or prospect of wealth in the future (including super). 
One of your best protections against a messy relationship end from a financial perspective is a Binding Financial Agreement, or prenup as they are more commonly known. All it is, is an agreement to determine how the assets of a relationship will be divided should the relationship break down and can cover issues such as ongoing maintenance 

Our clients generally put Binding Financial Agreements in place when: 

•    One of them has significantly more assets than their partner at the start of the relationship; or
•    One of them has received, or expects to receive, a large inheritance.

The best way to approach prenups is to talk openly about it when the relationship starts getting serious. Talk about the assets that you both have and if things happen, the last thing anyone wants is the stress and costs of lawyers and court to split the assets.

To dispel a common misconception, a Binding Financial Agreement is not just for people with millions of dollars in assets. A large number of divorce disputes are over a few hundred thousand dollars and sometimes tens of thousands. In other cases, it’s just about avoiding being held responsible for debts.

A Binding Financial Agreement can be put in place for typically less than it may end up costing in stamp duty to transfer the relationship home after separation depending on the level of assets and complexity. 

A common misconception is that these agreements can only be entered into before marriage, hence the colloquial name ‘prenup’. This isn’t true. They can be entered into before, during and after marriage, and similarly before, during or after breakdown of a de facto relationship. 

A prenup requirement that must be met by both parties is the need to receive independent legal advice before signing the agreement. 

With the reality that many couples will divorce, having a prenup can assist with clarity if there is a break up. Of course the best protection against losing assets during a divorce is to be lucky enough to find your ideal partner, maintain good communication, be happy and never separate, although this is easier said than done as is anything to do with mixing money and emotions.

Please take the time to discuss this critical issue with Amanda Tomlinson from our office who is an Accredited Family Law Specialist. 

Not drowning, Waving
Are we choking on our own success?

A friend recently inspected a 1700mm² commercial office space at Bermuda Point (across the foot bridge from Bond Uni) in Bermuda Street. He decided not to purchase it because it only had two car parks and there was absolutely no parking anywhere around it, that wasn’t already being used by others. This example ties into our whole of city problem: TRAFFIC and  neanderthal traffic planning. Interestingly, the selling agent told my friend that he could have sold this office a year ago, if it had sufficient parking.

How could our Council even think that a building approval with that ratio was of any good to anyone, apart from the original developer? Why is our Council seemingly bent on traffic jamming up our city by continuing to grant approvals that are obviously detrimental to our quality of life? Now, not only are there insufficient car parks but we will also be given only 1-2 hours on a meter. Traffic planning must be the fundamental whole of city issue, so we, who actually live and work here, don’t have to abandon our Gold Coast travel plans because of the traffic woes inflicted on us by short sighted strategic planning. Please voice your objection to your local Councillor, before it’s too late. 

If you are thinking about buying freehold commercial space on the Gold Coast, please check the available and future parking capacity first, then discuss your purchase with Cholm or Hannah at our office. 

Australia’s Urban Boom

Sometime over the next three months, Sydney’s population will reach five million. If Melbourne keeps growing at its current pace, by 2020 it too will have reached five million residents – and it won’t stay that size for too long.

They’re not alone. In the past decade, Perth has added almost half a million people, although its growth slowed sharply in 2014-15. Brisbane’s growth has been subdued in recent years, but by 2050, on reasonable projections, both cities will be about the size that Melbourne and Sydney are now.

The numbers are kind of breathtaking. Yet they don’t explain what’s really going on, or the consequences for us now – let alone in the future.

On the positive side, it helps explain why the Australian economy keeps growing at a pace that looks impressive to Europeans, even if per capita growth is no better here than there. On the negative side, it explains why the roads, trains and buses in our four major capitals have become so congested and why housing prices have become so high.

Sydney grew faster than Perth or Brisbane, faster than any of the larger towns in Queensland except the Gold Coast. But one has to question whether growth at this pace makes Melbourne, Sydney or the Gold Coast better places to live, when our governments have been unwilling to invest in infrastructure on a scale needed to match their growth.

State Treasuries have been short-sighted, inflexible and irresponsible in advising their governments not to invest on the scale required, lest it cost them their AAA credit rating. What we lose in paying marginally more for our loans is dwarfed by the widespread loss of time, amenity and money as our overstretched urban services deteriorate for lack of investment and even adequate maintenance because of the easier commute.

This is good news for the established Gold Coast businesses and real estate. The North-South corridor is great for business but the East-West corridor may be better for residential real estate, unless you buy on our tramline.

If you are considering the purchase of a Gold Coast business or home, please call Cholm or Hannah at our office first to review your contract and discuss all of your options.