Hi all
I feel compelled to write this post because last week I had a significant number of people chatting to me after getting horrendous advice from their brokers - advice that could cost them quite literally over a hundred thousand dollars over the life of their loan/s.
If you've found yourself here on the SS forums, you know you have access to AMAZING brokers who know about structure, tax, investment and more. By asking and learning here, you yourself have the opportunity to learn more than many brokers will know about loan structure, tax effects, and the best way to squeeze as much from your properties as possible.
Please do not assume that your local broker will know this stuff - they probably won't. It's not taught in broker school and it's not default broker knowledge.
Please don't assume your broker has the knowledge required to set you up properly simply because he or she is a broker!!
You need to protect yourself, and you need to ask questions so you can be sure they understand investment lending and can relate to what you're doing and what you're hoping to achieve.
Some good questions to ask/conversations to have are -
If you get faced with a blank stare at any point of this conversation, you can be pretty certain they aren't the broker for you and it might be best to keep looking.
Any other key questions/convo points you like/recommend?
I feel compelled to write this post because last week I had a significant number of people chatting to me after getting horrendous advice from their brokers - advice that could cost them quite literally over a hundred thousand dollars over the life of their loan/s.
If you've found yourself here on the SS forums, you know you have access to AMAZING brokers who know about structure, tax, investment and more. By asking and learning here, you yourself have the opportunity to learn more than many brokers will know about loan structure, tax effects, and the best way to squeeze as much from your properties as possible.
Please do not assume that your local broker will know this stuff - they probably won't. It's not taught in broker school and it's not default broker knowledge.
Please don't assume your broker has the knowledge required to set you up properly simply because he or she is a broker!!
You need to protect yourself, and you need to ask questions so you can be sure they understand investment lending and can relate to what you're doing and what you're hoping to achieve.
Some good questions to ask/conversations to have are -
- Do you invest in property? If so, how many do you have? What kind of investor are you?
- Talk to me about the tax implications of the loans we'll be using. ( Hint - "there aren't any" is the wrong answer)
- Is there any particular structure you'd recommend for my loans? Are you a cross-collateralisation fan-boy?
If you get faced with a blank stare at any point of this conversation, you can be pretty certain they aren't the broker for you and it might be best to keep looking.
Any other key questions/convo points you like/recommend?