It’s easy to be inspired by the super-profitable renovations and dream rebuilds we see on TV.

In real life, the picture can be a little different. The key to achieving your particular dream home is to arm yourself with the comparative costs for both selling and buying, and renovating, with a clear understanding of what’s possible on the funds you can raise – and afford to pay off. So, let’s take a look at some things you need to consider.

Know your budget limits

Calculating how much you can afford to spend involves getting a current valuation of your property. Once you know your existing equity, you’ll have a clear picture of what you can afford to borrow and spend on a renovation or a new home. Both options often involve re-mortgaging, with the renovation needing an offset facility that allows you to draw on those funds.

When deciding on how much of your equity to use, you need to keep in mind the loan to value ratio (LVR) of your new loan amount. If your LVR is higher than 80% for your new loan, you may be required to pay lenders mortgage insurance on top of your already larger loan.

Comparing the costs of renovating and moving home

To get an accurate picture of whether renovating or moving would be the most economical solution for you, you will need to compare a few figures. These include the comparative costs of selling and buying something similar to your renovated property in your desired area.

Buying a new property means paying for conveyancing, stamp duty, marketing and agent and solicitor’s fees. While these costs haven’t risen a lot, the timeframe, costs of building materials and the labour needed for a renovation have. This makes it especially important to budget a renovation accurately, so you are able to compare these costs against buying a move in ready property, where everything has already been done.

The alternative scenarios you’ll need to consider include whether the home you want to create is realistically within your budget to buy or renovate, and if you could potentially end up overcapitalising.

Overcapitalisation is a consideration many would be renovators overlook but need to be aware of. This is when the cost of the renovation is more than the value added to the property. You may be happy with this if your aim is to create your forever home, but it may present financial challenges when the time comes to sell.

Again, research and accurate financial forecasts are important. You’ll need to consider the current value of your home, what it would potentially be worth when the renovation is complete and the price point of equivalent homes in your area.

Matching your renovation to your budget and timeframe

Homeowners choose the renovation route for lots of good reasons. Some may want to get a property ready to sell or to transform a loved but too small or dated home. While others may not be able to afford to buy another home that is suitable, or want to increase the rental value of an investment.

Whatever your reason for renovating, you need to remember that it probably won’t happen quickly or cheaply. This means proper planning and adding in some financial wiggle room, is vital for a realistic budget. This includes deciding on extras such as the quality of your fixtures, alternative accommodation, and employing a site manager or architect to organise trades, manage council approvals and manage the project budget.

There is a lot to weigh up before deciding between a renovation and property move. We’re happy to help you get the facts you need to make a fully informed decision and reduce any unexpected costs, so please get in touch to organise a chat.

Setting your renovation up for success

• Set a budget
• Consider what you can do yourself i.e., painting
• Understand the feasibility and costs of your ideas
• Employ trusted trades
• Start any council approvals or apply for permits early
• Speak to us about financing your renovation

Diversification is an investment strategy that lowers your portfolio’s risk and helps you get more stable returns.

You diversify by investing your money across different asset classes — such as shares, property, bonds and private equity. Then you diversify across the different options within each asset class. For example, if you buy shares, you buy across a range of different sectors such as financials, resources, healthcare and energy. You can also diversify by investing your money across different fund managers and product issuers.

Diversification lowers your portfolio’s risk because different asset classes do well at different times. If one business or sector fails or performs badly, you won’t lose all your money. Having a variety of investments with different risks will balance out the overall risk of a portfolio.

It’s worth taking the time to review your investments and look for opportunities to diversify.

How diversification benefits you

Diversification is your best defence against a single investment failing or one asset class performing poorly (for example, the share market falling or one fund manager failing).

If you diversify your investments, when some fall in value, others may rise and balance out the fall. Diversification lowers your portfolio risk because, no matter what the economy does, some investments are likely to benefit. For example, when interest rates fall, bond prices rise, while shares generally do poorly at this time.

How to diversify

To diversify well you need to invest across different asset classes and within different options in an asset class. You can also diversify by investing in different fund managers or product issuers.

Review your investments

List all of your investments and what they’re worth. This could include:

• cash in a savings account
• shares
• managed funds
• an investment property
• your home
• your super

This will show you which asset classes you’re investing in and where you could diversify.

Identify gaps and research other asset classes

If most of your money is in one or two asset classes, research other asset classes. For example, if you own a house, an investment property won’t help you diversify. If property prices fall, you won’t have any other investments to balance out the fall. To diversify, you could invest in different asset classes such as shares or bonds.

Then within each asset class, make sure your money is invested across the different options available. For example, if you’re mainly invested in one sector such as financials, you should research other sectors such as mining, materials, health care, capital goods and commercial and professional services.

The way your super fund invests is a good example of diversification. Check your fund’s website or annual statement to see how they invest.

Invest overseas

Australia has a small share of the world’s investment opportunities. Investing some of your money overseas will lower the risk of investing in a single market. For example, investments in Asian and European markets may perform well when the Australian markets falls.

If you invest overseas you’ll be exposed to exchange rate risk.

Invest through a managed fund, managed account, ETF or LIC

A simple way to diversify is to invest through a managed fund, managed account, exhcange-traded fund (ETF) or listed investment company (LIC).

Managed funds and managed accounts

Managed funds and managed accounts can help you invest across a range of asset classes. Some managed funds and managed accounts offer pre-made diversified portfolios. These usually have the labels of conservative, growth or high growth depending on their asset allocation.

ETFs and LICs

ETFs and LICs provide a low cost way to invest in an asset class or diversify within an asset class.

Most ETFs in Australia are passive funds. These track an asset price or market index, such as the ASX200 or S&P500.

Most LICs are actively managed funds and invest in one asset class, such as Australian shares or private equity.

Keep your investments diversified

Over time, some of your investments will rise in value and others will fall. This means you could have more money in one asset class than when you started investing. You could also be less diversified. For example, if your shares go up and your bonds fall in price, you’ll have a greater portion of money invested in shares. As shares are higher risk, your portfolio will also be higher risk. If you’re not comfortable with this risk, it’s time to re balance.

How to rebalance

You can rebalance your portfolio by:

• Investing some extra money, such as a tax refund, in an investment you want more exposure to.
• Selling some investments and putting your money in other types of investments.

Selling investments will lead to a capital gain or a capital loss.

Get help with diversification

Finding the right investments can be challenging. If you’d like some help to build a diversified portfolio, talk to us.

Source:
Reproduced with the permission of ASIC’s MoneySmart Team. This article was originally published at https://moneysmart.gov.au/how-to-invest/diversification
Important note: This provides general information and hasn’t taken your circumstances into account.  It’s important to consider your particular circumstances before deciding what’s right for you. Although the information is from sources considered reliable, we do not guarantee that it is accurate or complete. You should not rely upon it and should seek qualified advice before making any investment decision. Except where liability under any statute cannot be excluded, we do not accept any liability (whether under contract, tort or otherwise) for any resulting loss or damage of the reader or any other person.  Past performance is not a reliable guide to future returns.
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Australia is a giving country, but we often give in kind rather than financially. If you are considering giving money there are several ways to do so.

Many ways to give

There are many ways of being philanthropic such as small one-off donations, regular small amounts to say, sponsor a child, donating to a crowd funding platform or joining a giving circle.

For those with much larger sums to distribute, a structured giving plan can be one approach.

Structured giving

You can choose a number of ways to establish a structured giving plan including through a public or private ancillary fund (PAF), a private testamentary charitable trust or giving circles.

Whichever way you choose, there are attractive tax incentives to encourage the practice.

The type of vehicle will depend on:

• the timeframe of your giving
• the level of engagement you want
• whether you want to raise donations from the public
• whether you want to give in your lifetime or as a bequest
• whether you want to involve your family to create a family legacy.

Private ancillary fund

A private ancillary fund is a standalone charitable trust for business, families and individuals. It requires a corporate trustee and a specific investment strategy. Once you have donated, contributions are irrevocable and cannot be returned. To be tax deductible, the cause you are supporting must be a body identified as a Deductible Gift Recipient by the Australian Tax Office.

The benefits of a PAF are that contributions are fully deductible, and the deductions can be spread over five years. The assets of the fund are exempt from income tax.

The minimum initial contribution to a PAF is at least $20,000. The costs of setting up a PAF are minimal and ongoing costs are usually about 1-2% of the value of the fund.

Each year you must distribute 5% of the net value of the fund to the designated charity.

Testamentary charitable trust

An alternative to a PAF is a testamentary charitable trust, which usually comes into being after the death of the founder. The governing document is either a trust deed or a Will.

With a testamentary charitable trust, trustees control all the governance, compliance, investment and giving strategies of the trust. The assets of the trust are income tax exempt. The minimum initial contribution for such a fund is usually $500,000 to $2 million.vi

Philanthropy through structured giving still has a long way to go in Australia. The latest figures for total giving in Australia is $13.1 billion, of which $2.4 billion is structured giving. Currently the number of structured giving entities stands at just over 5400.

As the baby boomers pass on their wealth to their families, there is a wide opening for some of this money to find their way into charities and causes through structured giving.

If you want to know more about structured giving and what is the right vehicle for you to help the Australian community at large, then give us a call to discuss.