In summary:
Your first home is always a challenge. But getting a head start can open many doors.

Before reading, please note due to the numbers of suburb in Victoria this article provide concentrated on a section of the Melbourne’s Metropolitan area being the City of Brimbank and nearby area.

At the time of this article is written (2022); the median (average) price of the suburb of Sunshine VIC 3020 is $880,000!

In 2015 it was $520,000, only 7 years has passed since then this date, a difference of $360,000!

Moving a bit further away from Sunshine area in the Western Suburbs, approximately 20 minutes drive, you have Tarneit VIC 3029, median approximately $600,000, and in 2015 approximately $400,000.

And even moving further away, another 20 minutes drive, you have Melton VIC 3337, median approximately $455,000 and 2015 was $255,000.

Getting your first home can be challenging, the price of a house trend is moving up. There is no further needs to think too much when you may hear, “Get your foot in the doors”. That why we are here to protect you from losing your hard earn money. Do not sign any contract without talking to us before hand.

Reference:
https://www.land.vic.gov.au/valuations/resources-and-reports/property-sales-statistics
https://www.realestate.com.au/

In summary: (As Purchaser) Ask for the Vendor to pay for all their Landtax.
(As Vendor) Consider if the Landtax should be apply to the Purchaser or not.

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You recently bought a property and you see your “Statement of Adjustment”, you see Council Rate, Water Rate then there is this “Landtax” section.

Your conveyancer explain to you that you have to pay for this Landtax, the next question you may ask is, “What is a Landtax?”. The response may be it is property that is an investment, you reply, “I’m buying this to live in, why do I have to pay for the Landtax?”

It is very common for property to have a Landtax on a property, and depending on the property value and the settlement date, that could be another $500 to $1,000 expense you may be ready for.

Worse still, the Contract of Sale may state that the Landtax is proportional, what this mean is, if the Vendor (Seller) have many land, house & asset, the are paying Landtax at a higher value then a Vendor with one 1 investment property. The expense of $500 to $1,000 is no longer applicable and a bill of $2,000 to $5,000 is asked for you to pay at settlement which meant to be a happy day for you.

How can you prevent for this? As always it come down to negotiation and understanding of the Contract of Sale. If you negotiation that all Landtax is payable by the Vendor as you are planning to live in the property for example or the Vendor owes too much asset and it is not your responsible to help the Vendor with their tax problem.

As a Vendor, you would like to offset this cost of selling your property, it is understandable as it is an outgoing and expense in maintaining your property. Taking into consideration of all the expense you will be liable to and have been paying for, you may have a Sale (Purchase) Price that fit your expectation when it come to selling your property.

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If you like to read more about Landtax, how it is calculated, it history and your obligations, please read further at the State Revenue Office website: https://www.sro.vic.gov.au/land-tax

Updated 2022 – This application is no longer relevant as the application is closed, not unless you have a pending application you will not be eligible for the Grant.

Want to received $25,000 from the State Government to build you new home? The “Home Builder”grants was announced by the Treasury of Australia in the effort to boost our Australian’s economy in response to the Coronavirus pandemic.

This article provide a summary of the condition to receive the grant. For full detail and in depth information, please contact the Treasury of Australia and your State government.

Treasury of Australia: https://treasury.gov.au/coronavirus/homebuilder

1. Receive $25,000 in grants directly to nominated account if approved.
2. For Owner-occupiers only (no investment property)
3. Construction must commence within 3 months of contract date.
4. Can use together with First Home Owner Grant, First Home Buyer and other concession if applicable.
5. Pass income-threshold (earning less than $125,000 per annum for individual and $200,000 per annum for couple.)
6. Signed contract construction between 4th of June 2020 to 31st of December 2020.
7. Value of the property is less than $750,000.

The grant is also applies for property that is substantially renovated ($150,000 to $750,000 in cost).

Details of the Application progress, approval stage and procedure in the state of Victoria is unknown. Depending on the numbers of application that the State government will be receiving, the grant may not ever be approve for, whether it due to “First in line”, or “Insufficient funds available”.

Should you require this funds to complete your settlement and/or construction, you must account for a situation where you do not receive the grant at all. The announcement of this grant was sudden, many State did not have the details ready until 2 to 3 weeks after the announcement. As of the 19th of June 2020, no state have an application forms or make it possible through the Duties System.*

Application form has not yet available and any application must be done through email or mail. Many of which currently just redirect back to the Treasury office. Please refer to your individual state for updates, their website link can be found below.

*Base on a brief overview of the information available to the respective website.

How is your Asset distributed without a Wills? Or an invalid one?

In case where there is no Wills or invalid Wills, then your asset need to pass the Supreme Court through an application progress. This application progress is usually made by the Next of Kin.

The Guide and Rules to dividing your asset follow a “Legislation” formulas set by the Victorian Government. Without a valid Wills you are unable to give your love’s one the inheritance as it is yours Wills.

The order which is considered your Next of Kins is as follow:

• spouse/partner
• children
• parents
• then siblings
• then grandparents
• then uncles and aunts
• then cousins.

The estate is then pass to the government under a Crown Estate system when there are no living relatives.

See us to prepare yourself a valid Wills and ensure it is Executor correctly.

The Definition of the terms “Next of Kin” varies from State to State and Country to Country. In this article we explore the Next of Kin in relation to Victoria, Australia in the event of reportable death.

Please note that this may not be applicable for other event such as from Wills, Medical, etc.

This article mainly explore the order in which the Next of Kin is appointed, for more information on what is involved as the Next of Kin, please refer to the website below.

The role of Next of Kin be the first point of contact, which may include identifying the person, obtaining and providing documentation and information, receiving report, etc.

In most case the Next of Kin is usually the person’s spouse or domestic partner. In case where the person is unable the order is as follow:

• spouse/partner
• an adult son or daughter
• a parent
• an adult sibling
• a person named in the will as an executor
• a person who, immediately before the death, was a personal representative of the deceased (for example lawyers)
• a person determined by the coroner to be taken as the senior next of kin because of the closeness of the person’s relationship with the deceased person immediately before his or her death.

Reference: https://www.coronerscourt.vic.gov.au/families/first-48-hours-families/senior-next-kin