The power in equity

ACCORDING to Bellarine Property managing director Christian Bartley, many home owners are sitting on a significant financial resource and don’t realise it.

“Most people are so keen to pay off their home loan as fast as possible they fail to see the advantages of staying in debt,” he said.

“A home owner’s debt, or more particularly their debt to equity ratio, is a matter of perspective.

“For example, take a property currently valued at around $580,000 with $130,000 left on the loan.

“Some people see it as $130,000 owing, whereas others see it as $450,000 borrowing or investment power.”

Mr Bartley said that more people were turning to investment property acquisition in the realisation that the real long-term value of superannuation was being eroded.

“Once you have bought the first property, it is easy to go on until you’ve built up a comfortable retirement package of between five and 10 properties.

“Think of your nearly paid-off home as a sort of parent property and watch it grow a portfolio of dependents. Over time the dependents will not only stand on their own two feet, they will also support you when you want to reduce your income from work.”

Mr Bartley said a common fallacy was that all investment property owners were high salary earners.

“Even people on relatively modest salaries are able to use their equity to buy residential properties as income for their retirement.”

He said the main thing was to get good financial advice and ensure that mortgage borrowings were structured correctly.

“People should approach their accountant or financial planner to find out details of negative/positive gearing and the factors influencing the rate of increase of their portfolio.

“The important thing is to realise that equity is power – power that even average income earners can tap into for the purpose of preparing for their retirement.”

For further information on equity, phone Christian Bartley on 0410 695 325, email [email protected] or head to bellarineproperty.com.au.