Andrew Nicholl

Was that right?

And so normally you pay down that loan before you pay down an investment loan.

What was your motivation there?

And I think this is a good example of where often Ed and I might talk about, you know, the optimum way of structuring things to kind of get as many benefits as you possibly can, thinking about things like tax.

And we've got to remember, sometimes in practice, that's actually not what people do.

And actually, whatever works for you and mentally makes you feel like you're getting ahead, well, sometimes you just do that.

Okay.

What did the renovations actually end up costing, and what do you think it did as far as adding value?

30 to 35, I'm guessing, over three months.

And was that property then a rental property or did you live in it?

One thing that I've noticed when people spend a lot of time and energy doing a renovation and then they live in that property, when they move out and rent it to tenants, the tenants don't typically treat it the same as you would yourself.

Did you experience that?

Now, are you thinking that the next move you make is probably going to be a purchase in Australia now that you're there, or are you hip-hoppy renting?

Because I know the market there is pretty buoyant at the moment.

It's a really interesting one because I completely agree that the Australian tax system around property is way more complicated and it can vary from state to state.

And of course, I was just, before we jumped online, reading about the potential changes around their capital gains tax again.

And so you end up with a property, you think you do okay, you sell it, you pay a whole lot of tax and you move back and you might not actually have done as well as you thought.

What would be the thing that would change your mind that would mean you would buy in Australia?

Is there something in terms of values dropping or would it just come down to your partner telling you that's what you're doing?

Now, one thing that I always say that investors should do before going and buying a property, but most people don't, is actually have a plan for what they're trying to achieve through investing in property.