With the property market becoming more valuable, there are more and more strategies becoming more popular. I think some of the readers of this blog, some of these strategies might come in handy to give some options of getting in and ahead.

Lease option sales were popular financing instruments in the late 1970s and early 1980s. They were primarily used as a way to circumvent alienation clauses in mortgages. Proponents claimed the sale was not really a sale because it was a lease; however, courts argued otherwise.

Today, options to purchase, lease options and lease purchase agreements are three different financing documents. The variances are state specific and not all states have identical laws. Before entering into an agreement with a seller, buyers should obtain the advice of a real estate lawyer. The information below is an overview and is not meant to be construed as legal advice.

Basics of an Option

• Buyer pays the seller option money for the right to later purchase the property. This option money may be substantial or as little as $1.
• Buyer and seller may agree to a purchase price now or the buyer may agree to pay market value at the time the option is exercised. It is negotiable. However, most buyers want to lock in the future purchase price upon inception of the option.
• The term of the option agreement is negotiable, but the common length is generally from one year to three years.
• Option money is rarely refundable.
• Nobody else can buy the property during the option period.
• The buyer can sell the option to somebody else.
• If the buyer does not exercise the option and purchase the property at the end of the option, the option expires.
• The buyer is not obligated to buy the property.

Basics of a Lease Option

• Buyer pays the seller option money for the right to later purchase the property. The lease option money may be substantial.
• Buyer and seller may agree to a purchase price now or the buyer may agree to pay market value at the time the option is exercised. It is negotiable. However, most buyers want to lock in the future purchase price upon inception of the lease option.
• During the term of the lease option, the buyer agrees to lease the property from the seller for a predetermined rental amount.
• The term of the lease option agreement is negotiable, but the common length is generally from one year to three years.
• The option money generally does not apply toward the down payment.
• A portion of the monthly rental payment typically applies toward the purchase price.
• Option money is rarely refundable.
• Nobody else can buy the property during the lease option period.
• The buyer generally cannot assign the lease option without seller approval.
• If the buyer does not exercise the lease option and purchase the property at the end of the lease option, the option expires.
• The buyer is not obligated to buy the property.

Basics of a Lease Purchase

• Buyer pays the seller option money for the right to later purchase the property. This option money may be substantial.
• Buyer and seller agree on a purchase price, often at or a bit higher than market value.
• During the term of the option, the buyer agrees to lease the property from the seller for a predetermined rental amount.
• The term of the lease purchase agreement is negotiable, but the common length is generally from one year to three years, at which time the buyer applies for bank financing and pays the seller in full.
• The option money generally does not apply toward the down payment.
• A portion of the monthly lease payment typically applies toward the purchase price.
• Option money is nonrefundable.
• Nobody else can buy the property unless the buyer defaults.
• The buyer typically cannot assign the lease purchase agreement without seller approval.
• Buyers are often responsible for maintaining the property and paying all expenses associated with its upkeep, including taxes and insurance.
• The buyer is obligated to buy the property.

Doing a Lease Option / Lease Purchase

Hire a real estate lawyer to draw the documents and explain your rights, including those of possession and default consequences. The property might be encumbered by underlying loans that contain alienation clauses, giving the lender the right to accelerate the loans upon sale.

Sometimes sellers give the option money to their real estate agent as full payment of commission. Agents are not always involved in the exercise of lease options or fulfillment of lease purchase agreements and, even if you have retained real estate agent representation, you still need a real estate lawyer. Agents are not lawyers and cannot give legal advice.

In the event of a lease purchase, obtain all the disclosures and do your due diligence just like you would on a regular sale. This means:

• Get a home inspection.
• Examine the title policy.
• Obtain an appraisal.
• Read seller disclosures.
• Consider obtaining pest inspections, a roof certification, home warranty plan and hiring other qualified inspectors.

Lease Purchase Benefits for Sellers and Buyers

Lease purchase agreements are commonly offered by sellers of hard-to-sell properties. Think about it, if the property was easy to sell, the seller would sell it to a conventional buyer who would pay the seller cash.

• Sellers generally get market value at today’s prices and relief from paying a mortgage on a vacant property.
• Although the lease payments may exceed market rent, the buyer is building a down payment and banking that the property will appreciate beyond the agreed upon purchase price.
• Buyers generally make a small down payment, with little or no qualifying, making a lease purchase an attractive way to ease into the benefits of home ownership.
• Buyers also receive a forced savings plan since part of the lease payment is credited toward the purchase price at the end of the lease option agreement.
• If the buyer defaults, sellers do not refund any portion of the lease payments nor the option money and may retain the right to sue for specific performance.

For more information, contact a real estate lawyer.

By Elizabeth Weintraub, About.com Guide

Australians need to look at long-term saving options that sit outside superannuation if they are to have enough money to maintain their current lifestyle in retirement, according to investment group IOOF Research from the firm has shown more than a third of respondents to its consumer survey believe they will not have enough money to maintain their current lifestyle when they retire, with only 29 per cent believing they could carry on as normal. More than one-third of survey respondents still plan to use superannuation as their sole source of income.

“It’s alarming to find out that many Australians believe compulsory superannuation will be enough to maintain their current standard of living, the harsh reality is that in many cases it won’t,” said IOOF’s investor solutions general manager, Renato Mota.

Mota added that those looking to top up their super through voluntary contributions would find their saving potential has been limited following recent cap reductions imposed on voluntary contribution levels. As a result, he advised consumers to look at a selection of investment vehicles as a means of saving for retirement.

IOOF’s survey, which was conducted by AC Neilsen, found 33 per cent of respondents saw retirement as the most important thing for which to save, however, almost one-third had yet to begin long-term planning. Shockingly, despite the lack of financial knowledge among Australians, almost 80 per cent of respondents had not sought professional financial advice for their retirement.

If you need help with determining how much you will n eed in retirement and how to get there, please feel free to contact me at super@protectmywealth.com.au

Source: Moneymanagement.com.au
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We’ve all seen and read the ads for Industry Super. The guy that goes up the escalator vs the guy who goes down, representing their investments due to commissions being paid. Now I have always said there is value in Industry Funds, depending on what value you place on Super.

One side is that you save ‘a small amount’ of fees on your super with industry funds, but the other side is that nobody monitors your super, gives advice on where your money is supposed to be invested, and generally, there is nobody to talk about salary sacrifice, government co-contributions, etc.

An adviser, or financial planner can always help with these scenarios, but of course there is a fee involved. We don’t live in a benevolent society, and you get what you pay for. Most would understand this. Well, this week uncovered the under the table commissions paid to a fund manager by an industry fund. Sure, it’s not paying a trail commission from your account to an adviser, but instead it’s paid $1 Million to a firm to provide service on a SunSuper investment.

Where does that money come from? The SunSuper accounts. The member accounts! It comes directly from the interest returns of the members.

Please CLICK HERE for the full article. I would love to get your opinion on what you think.

PD

An interesting story in News today about the promising property cycle in Australia. This is not just a property spruik, but contains some great ‘facts’ about why this is the case. Like I’ve been telling for quite a while, now is the time to invest for the long term. The wealthy of tomorrow are the ones who acted at this time in history, but ONLY if you are financially able to do it (and stick to the investment rules of location).

AUSTRALIA’’s property sector is about to catch a wave but homeowners and investors do not need to worry about a wipe-out.

While a bubble in the first home owner segment of the housing market is set to burst with the winding back of government grants in two months, industry experts say investors will fill the breach.

They don’t expect the property market to follow the big slumps felt in Britain and the US, where prices have fallen by more than 20 per cent.

In the US, in particular, the problem is too much supply and not enough demand.

“Fundamentally, America has 1.1 million properties in oversupply,” says Damon Nagel, the managing director of property investment  company Ironfish.

“In Australia, it’s more than 180,000 in undersupply. We can keep building for 18 months and only catch up to demand.”

But the buyers of property are expected to increasingly be investors, rather than owner occupiers, once the Federal Government First Home Owner Grant starts to wind down from September 30.

“I think you’ll find first home buyers next year will be like rocking horse droppings – few and far between,” Nagel says.

Professionals Real Estate Group agency principal Claudine Deneuve says buyer inquiries have risen as people realise interest rates are unlikely to fall further.

She’s expecting investors to return to the market as first home owner activity falls in coming months.

“House-price growth will be fairly moderate, with a much slower global economy,” Deneuve says.

“We have avoided the 30-40 per cent drops of the US and UK because our economy was in far better shape than our peers at the start of this historic global recession.

“If the global recession drags out too long, Australia’s economy may become at risk.”

A report released last month by forecaster BIS Shrapnel says conditions are ripe for a sustained recovery in residential property prices.

“Low interest rates, solid growth in rents and housing shortages are evident in most markets,” the report says.

But not everybody believes the outlook is for growth.

Morgan Stanley chief economist Gerard Minack says Australian residential property remains expensive “and will likely prove to be a poor medium-term investment”.

“Whether there are big price declines will depend on employment,” he says.

“In markets where employment and incomes have taken a big hit . . . we have seen big price declines.”

But some do not think prices will drop while houses are still in short supply.

“Demand stems from population growth,” .

“With 190,000 migrants coming into Australia, there’s a shortage of housing, and people need accommodation.”

Some industry names say now is a ‘‘once-in-a-generation opportunity” for investors.

“It’s probably a good time to buy in the right spot, but be careful,”.

PD

Yesterday, I covered off how to actually pick a planner. Hopefully, when looking around, you will be lucky enough to find one local in your area. This post today is to cover off who you shouldn’t pick as a planner.

There are thousands of planners and advisers in the market today. The industry itself has a bad reputation for some reason, but I think it’s unfairly earned. Many years ago, the industry had many rogue traders, but were since traded out by the government through strict licensing regimes called Policy Statement 146 (PS146). This requires anyone advising on money and insurance to have the appropriate diplomas called ‘Diploma of Financial Planning’ which takes much study and complex tests to complete.

There are expetions to the rule in many cases, and I believe there is one when talking about this area. Banks! Yes, they are a bunch of Bankers.

Banks have been immune to many of the rules and regulations set on the financial services industry that has kept it clean for the past few years.

One of the rules is that ‘independent’ advisers MUST offer independent advice to clients from several financial institutions, making it unbiased of course. Bank employees are influenced by the banks products, limiting their choice in advice to you.

When choosing a planner, make sure you look into their product offering, which can be obtained by asking them for their Financial Services Guide (FSG), and that will give you an idea of what they can offer.

If you are in a small town and the only planner available is bank staff, then you may want to also ring another town or city and discuss over the phone so you can compare.

No more than 3 planners will be enough for you to get a feel of what is acceptable. And above all else, make sure you feel comfortable with the person, but remember, they are qualified and if you take their advice, FOLLOW IT. They don’t say it for nothing.
Good luck. I would love to hear any stories from you about success stories of visiting a financial planner. If you haven’t visited one and would like contact to one, please Contact Me and I will give you a list of some you can interview.
PD

So, what exactly are bonds?

Companies typically have two ways of raising cash when they need to expand their businesses or need it for a mind-boggling number of needs. One is by going public and diluting their ownership of the company to investors who would all pay a morsel (share price) and claim ownership: stocks. Another way of raising money is the age old method of borrowing: bonds.

Companies can borrow from the investors themselves and when each of the investors lends out even a small amount like $1000 it quickly rolls into a huge sum of money which the company can use for its expansion or other needs. Usually the federal government also borrows money from the investing public (these are the government bonds) for its own use. All of this money is returned to the public in a periodic manner with interest paid on the sum borrowed.

So typically, a bond is nothing but a loan that you hand out to companies or the government itself. The loan is paid back to you (an investor) within a scheduled time and at a specific, pre-determined interest rate (also known as coupon rate). The borrower (the company or the government) would have agreed in writing to pay back the borrowed amount (called as face value, in bond parlance) at a fixed date into the future which is when your bond matures ( the amount would have been paid back to you in full with Interest) and this date is called as the maturity date.

Since you always know how much you are owed exactly, these investment vehicles are less risky, more stable and hence they pay less compared to stocks. They are often called as fixed-income securities or debt-market instruments to reflect on the fact that they are predictable, more stable, pay less but don’t fluctuate wildly.

Between the two important investment vehicles — debt (Bonds) and equity (Stocks), there is this major difference. When you pick stocks, you claim ownership of the company, complete with voting rights and the works - you make money when the company you invested in makes money. When you buy bonds, you become a creditor to the company and in principle, when push comes to shove and when companies have to liquidate for some reason, the creditors are given the first preference and the bond investors are paid up first.

Over the past few years, the example given above has been pushed to the maximum and has caused what we now know as the Global Financial Crises - Link to a great video to show how it happened

PD

Happy New Year! Now that there are new laws and tax rates to apply from this week onwards, I thought I might give you the upper hand on wat the main parts have changed which will more than likely affect you.

The new tax rates means that the 30 per cent income threshold is increased from $34,000 to $35,000 and the 40 per cent tax rate is reduced to 38 per cent.

An individual on $40,000 a year will get an extra $2.88 a week, while someone on $100,000 a year will get an extra $10.58 a week.Don’t go and spend it all at once!

The Family Tax Benefit A has also risen by $5.60 a fortnight for each child 12 and under and by $7.28 a fortnight for teens aged 13-15.

The baby bonus will increase by $185 to $5185, while childcare benefits for one child using full-time care will increase by $6.50 a week to $180, and the maximum childcare rebate will rise by $278 to $7778 per child per annum.

If you were planning on putting larger sums of money in your transition to retirement in the coming years, I wouldn’t hold your breath with a decrease in the super contribution cap being halved - from $50,000 to $25,000 for those under 50 and from $100,000 to $50,000 for those older than 50. After the past few years, and maybe those to come, you will need to top up that super balance before retirement.

A huge bonus for NSW residents is the NSW Government will cut duty by 50 per cent for people buying newly built properties with a value not exceeding $600,000 from July 1. If you tie that into your $2.88 week saving, you may be going places! Unfortunately, the savings you make up on the stamp duty, will be taken back in parking levies for those living in Sydney with levies doubling as of 1 July from about $950 to about $2,000 near the city, and marginally less in the inner West.

VICTORIA

First homebuyers in Victoria are eligible for up to $36,500 in grants. The Victorian Government will provide up to $22,500 for those buying new houses in regional areas and $18,000 for those buying in metropolitan areas. This is in addition to the $14,000 Federal grant.

QUEENSLAND

not much to write home about in Queensland with rates are also set to soar in south-east Queensland. They will jump 8.7 per cent in Redland, 5.4 per cent in Moreton Bay, 6.45 per cent in Brisbane, 7.5 per cent in the Sunshine Coast and 6.9 per cent in Logan. I suppose that will give the NSW counterparts something to finally smile about once the football season is over.

South Australia

In South Australia stamp duty will be eliminated for mortgages and rentals in a move set to cost its State Government $183 million over four years. So, some very positive news there. Interstate Pollies watching the SA government at all???

So, in the end, there are some very positive cuts in tax and increases in general bonuses, which hopefully will give business the kick along it’s been waiting for.

Is there anything the governments can implement that would dramatically benefit yout local area or demographic?

Have a great New Year.

PD

After the headache of getting all of your payments in on time for end of financial year, now comes the headache of getting all of your deductions together to find out what exactly can you claim.

One such area is investment properties. This form of investment has proved very popular over the past 5-10 years with property prices on the up, so the majority of readers will have some form of property investment. One thing that many of us miss out on, is legitimate claims on items such as depreciation (but this is generally due to a lack of a depreciation schedule prepared by a professional) and smaller items.

Defence Housing of NSW has put together a great article which outlines the important aspects of generating the most from your deductions, with the help of the ATO, so it ‘must’ be true (until they change the rules again). So if you have an investment property, take note as this will be valuable information straight from the horses big mouth.

The Australian Taxation Office’s (ATO’s) Assistant Commissioner, Megan Yong, provides an overview for rental property owners of the “do’s and dont’s” of claiming deductions.

‘Last year more than 1.4 million people claimed over $25 billion in rental deductions in their tax return. Over 200,000 of these people were claiming deductions for the first time,’ Ms Yong said.

With so many people claiming deductions the ATO is continuing its focus in this area to ensure property investors get their claim right.

‘This year the ATO will write to around 110,000 people who have purchased rental properties in the past 12 months with advice on claiming rental property deductions,’ she said.

Here are a few things Defence Housing Australia (DHA) investors should think about when claiming deductions in their 2008-09 tax return.

What you can claim as an immediate deduction

‘There are a number of rental property expenses that can be claimed as an immediate deduction,’ Ms Yong said.

These include:

• interest on a loan to:
  - purchase a rental property or purchase land to build a rental property
  - purchase a depreciating asset for the property like an air conditioner
  - finance renovations like a deck
  - make maintenance repairs or repair damage to the property.

What needs to be claimed over a number of years

‘Expenses that are deductible over a number of years include most borrowing costs and the cost of depreciating assets and structural improvements,’ Ms Yong said.

Borrowing costs can include:

• stamp duty charged on the mortgage
• loan establishment fees, fees for a valuation required for loan approval and lender’s mortgage insurance
• title search fees charged by your lender, costs of preparing and filing mortgage documents and mortgage broker fees.

If these amounts are less than $100 in total they can be deducted immediately, otherwise they are generally deductible over five years or over the term of the loan, whichever is less.

‘Major renovation costs and costs to repair damage, defects or deterioration upon purchasing a property can’t be claimed as an immediate deduction.

‘These costs generally must be claimed as either a deduction for decline in value over the asset’s effective life, or as a capital works deduction over 25 or 40 years,’ Ms Yong said.

What you can’t claim: avoiding common mistakes

According to the ATO website, there have been a number of common mistakes identified in the income tax returns of rental property owners. Below is a list the ATO has compiled of common mistakes to avoid.

Construction costs

Certain types of construction – including extensions, alterations and structural improvements – can be claimed as capital works deductions. However, the land on which a rental property is constructed cannot be claimed. Instead, the land forms part of the cost for capital gains tax purposes.

Deductions can be claimed for the decline in value of some types of depreciating assets in residential rental properties (for example, curtains, blinds, dishwashers, refrigerators, stoves, television sets and hot water systems). However, construction costs are not depreciating assets.

For more information on deprecation, click here to read this month’s Industry insight from quantity surveying firm, Turner & Townsend.

Common depreciation claim mistakes include:

• claiming the cost of the land component as part of the cost of constructing the rental property,
• claiming construction costs as a decline in value of depreciating assets deduction instead of a capital works deduction.

Refer to Rental properties for a comprehensive list of residential property items and whether they are depreciating assets or capital works.

Interest

Taxpayers sometimes use their loan facility for both investing and private purposes—for example, to purchase or renovate a rental property and to buy a motor boat.

The interest expense on the private portion of the loan (the motor boat) is not deductible.

A common mistake is to claim a deduction for interest on the private portion of the loan.

Travel expensesWhere travel related to your rental property is combined with a holiday or other private activities, you may need to apportion the expenses. You may be able to claim local expenses that are directly related to the property inspection and a proportion of accommodation expenses.

A common mistake is to claim a deduction for the cost of travel when the main purpose of the trip is to have a holiday and the inspection of the property is incidental to that.

Deductible borrowing expenses

The correct way to claim borrowing expenses of more than $100 is to spread the deduction over five years or over the term of the loan, whichever is less. If your borrowing expenses are $100 or less, you can claim the full amount in the income year they are incurred.

A common mistake is to claim all deductible borrowing expenses in the first year they are incurred.

Ownership interests

If you purchase a rental property as a co-owner and are not carrying on a rental property business, you must divide the income and expenses for the rental property in line with your legal interest in the property. This is despite any written or oral agreement between co-owners stating otherwise.

A common mistake occurs when a property is purchased by a husband and wife (as co-owners) and the income and expenses are not split in line with their legal interest in the property.

Refer to Rental properties for more information on how rental income and expenses should be split between co-owners.

What records do you need to keep?

You need to keep proper records in order to make a claim, regardless of whether you use a tax agent to prepare your tax return or you do it yourself. You must keep records of:

• the rental income you receive and the deductible expenses you pay - keep these records for five years from 31 October or, if you lodge later, for five years from the date your tax return is lodged.
• your ownership of the property and all the costs of purchasing/acquiring it and selling/disposing of it - keep these records for five years from the date you sell/dispose of your rental property.

More information

The ATO website has detailed fact sheets outlining what expenses you can and can’t claim for your rental property,’ Ms Yong said.

These include:

Rental properties – avoiding common mistakes
Rental properties – claiming borrowing expenses
Rental properties – claiming interest expenses
Rental properties – claiming repairs and maintenance expenses
Rental properties – claiming capital works deductions

If you would like to talk to someone at the ATO about tax deductions for rental properties call 13 28 61.

Disclaimer: This information has been sourced from the Australian Taxation Office via the Defence Housing of NSW website, which contains some great information at www.dha.gov.au  DHA property investment is subject to the terms of the lease. DHA investors retain some responsibilities and risks. Investors should seek professional and independent advice.

Almost a Happy New Year, but thee is still the last minute things you need to strike off your list, such as pay all of your outstanding work related bills before tomorrow to enable you to claim it as a tax deduction. To maximise your dedutions, I’ve comprised a short list with links of what you should look at to make this tax time a little easier.

Of course, consult a qualified accountant if you are self employed, or are still unsure of what you can and can’t claim. Hopefully some of it will be a bit easier to learn yourself by going through these points.

Your tax time checklist

To help you get the best tax return possible, here’s a few things to tick off your “to do” list today:

1. Are you eligible for the Superannuation Co-contribution? If so, it’s up to $1,500 of free money.

2. If you use your car for work, don’t forget to estimate your motor vehicle expenses.

3. A 20% tax offset is available for out of pocket medical expenses over $1500.

4. Sponsor a child through a donation which is tax deductible.

5. The cost of having your tax return prepared is also an allowable deduction.

6. Income Protection insurance premiums can also be a tax deduction.

7. Small business owners who are selling business assets can take advantage of extremely generous “small business CGT concessions.”

8. You can claim up to $300 of work related expenses without the need to have written receipts. However once your claim exceeds $300 you must have receipts for the full amount.

9. Don’t forget all those miscellaneous work expenses such as union fees, seminars, trade journals, software and home office expenses. Even an appointment diary can be deductible.

10. Check the deductions fact sheet for your specific occupation to ensure that you are claiming everything that you are entitled to.

I hope this helps make your tax time a bit easier to keep track of.

PD

With an ageing population, more people are starting to look seriously at the prospect of how much they will actually need once they ‘retire’. There are many areas to take into account when considering retirement. Like, which fluffy shoes to buy for your mid morning stroll to the front lawn to pick up your newspaper, looking for the next holiday destination in your new motor home.

My guest writer for this topic is Sean Prosser , from Lighthouse Financial Advisers based in Sydney. Sean is an experienced financial planner and specialises in retirement planning and wealth creation.

The question about how much you need to live on in retirement is an old chestnut, where “old” is probably the operative word. Studies in the US show that life expectancy could reach 100 years of age by 2030. If that is the case  if someone were to retire at age 65, that means 35 years in retirement.
So it’s not just a question of having enough income each year in retirement, but also one of whether you will outlive your retirement savings.
The Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia, together with Westpac, found that to have a comfortable lifestyle, retired singles who live in their own home need to spend $36,607 a year and couples $48,648.

Recent life expectancy figures issued by the Australian Government Actuary estimate that a 55-year-old woman has a 35 per cent change of reaching 95 years and a man of the same age has a 19 per cent chance. But 71 per cent of 55 year old women will live till they are 85 and 58 per cent of men.

On average a 55 year old woman has a life expectancy of 89.7 years and a 55 year old man 86.2 years. So that’s quite a number of years that people will be spending in retirement.

Compulsory superannuation at nine percent a year will not get you that sort of money, so you will need to make additional contributions along the way.

So while it makes sense to get as much of your retirement savings into super so you can enjoy the tax-free environment, you will need to adopt a steady-as-she-goes strategy to achieve this end.
What that means is you should be looking at making additional super contributions from your 30s onwards rather than leaving it until the last moment.

Aside from the tax-free status of money drawn down from super after you are 60, there are plenty of other incentives to encourage you to make additional contributions, such as the tax concessions available during the accumulation phase of super.

The most accurate way of assessing your retirement needs is to work out a realistic budget. However, if that’s a daunting prospect, a good rule of thumb is approximately 60%-70% of your pre-retirement income.

So how much do you need in dollar terms per annum?

Click for larger image

Once you have determined your required annual income, you then need to establish exactly how big your retirement nest egg needs to be to provide that level of income for life.
The table below shows the savings you will need at retirement for some income levels, assuming retirement at age 65 years and that the income will be paid for an average life expectancy.
Click for larger image

This is general information and everyone’s needs and requirements are very different.
So if you are at all concerned with your retirement plans, talking with a qualified financial planner may be a good idea, it’s never too late to start planning.

To ensure you are on the right track to retirement, and having enough funds to get you there, Sean has offered an hour of his service at no cost to readers of this blog. This offer is only available to 50 readers, so you need to be quick. Sean can be contacted by EMAIL or visit his website at www.lighthouseonline.com.au