For most people, selling one property is stressful enough. Imagine how tricky it is to manage the sale of two properties and refinance two additional properties, all while buying your dream home. This is exactly the situation Nicholas Kirlew, an MFAA accredited credit adviser and Director of Arafura Finance Brokers, handled for his clients Peter and Sara, a couple in their mid-30s. The pair had a complex portfolio of property investments. They had recently sold but not settled one of their investment properties, they owned and lived in another property, which was to be sold, and they also owned an investment property in Melbourne. On top of this, Sara owned a property with her brother in a mining town in Western Australia. “They earned high incomes, but they didn’t have a lot of equity in the properties they owned,” Nicholas explains. “Plus, they were looking to sell at a time when the market was flat.” Nicholas managed the process by advising the couple to sell the home they lived in as well as the other freestanding house they owned. But they kept their investment property in Melbourne and paid the wife’s brother out so they could also keep the investment property in WA. This made sense because, although its value had dropped since it was purchased – one of the reasons they were able to pay out the brother – it earned rent of $4000 a month. This meant they could pay down the loan quickly, a good strategy for building up their retirement nest egg. They were able to refinance the WA property and secure it against the investment property in Melbourne. In a separate transaction they were able to buy the dream home they now live in. Nicholas’ advice to anyone in a similar situation is to seek advice and put together a strategy that will help build retirement savings. “The value of working with a credit adviser in this type of situation is that we are able to come up with the right structure for the client. It took me three months from beginning to end but the client was happy with the result,” he says. Very happy, by all reports. “We could not speak more highly of the service we received from Nicholas. He definitely went well above what we would ever expect,” says Sara. “When we thought there was no hope to achieve our goals, not only did he pull out every measure to ensure it would happen, he was also there keeping us upbeat.” *Customers’ have been changed. For more information on a Darwin home loan from a mortgage broker based in Darwin call today on 0447 499 794. http://arafin.com.au/managing-complex-property-transaction