Thinking about buying an investment home, but not sure where the best places to look are? Your specific goals will determine the most appropriate suburbs or regions to concentrate your search, whether you're looking for capital gains over a number of years, or you want to increase your passive income with sound rental yield. You might even be looking at an investment property for an SMSF, and your structure for this might change what the best strategy for your investment is.

Investing for capital gains means you should look to growth suburbs for options – the success of your investment will only be realised when, and if, you sell the property for a profit. Investing with rental yield in mind means not overspending on a property that won't have great returns for weekly rent costs, and buying in an area that will be popular among tenants for years to come. An SMSF investment might take either of these strategies on board.

So, what are you investing for, and where should you look around Australia for the best spot?

On the (treasure) hunt for capital gains

Buying for capital gains means looking at suburbs that are going to show strong growth over a number of years. You'll buy at around the current median price (hopefully), and sell down the track when the median price has increased. The higher the increase, the better your profits.

These are the current strongest growth suburbs around Australia:

• Clareville, NSW – 49.79 per cent growth in the past year.
• Bodalla, NSW – 49.39 per cent growth.
• Red Hill, ACT – 49.21 per cent growth.

The avid Australian geographer will recognise that the only suburb in that list anywhere near a major city is Red Hill, which has a median house price of $1,240,000, according to Smart Property Investment (SPI). If you can't afford inner-city prices, you'll have more success looking in the major regional centres for capital gains nearing 50 per cent year-on-year.

Boosting your passive income with rental yield

Rental yield is the amount of money you'll receive from a year of a tenant paying the average weekly rent price in a suburb, as a percentage of the cost of the home as the median value. The higher the rental yield, the more money you'll be getting from tenants.

Here are the best suburbs for rental yield in Australia, according to SPI:

• Katherine East, NT – 21.09 per cent.
• Loch Sport, VIC – 20.49 per cent.
• Collinsville, QLD – 18.91 per cent.

The median house price in Katherine East is just $127,000! You could buy here and rent it out for a great boost to your income with very little initial expense, compared to buying in the rest of the country.

Whatever you're buying for, make sure you consider all of the options, and don't just settle for something nearby, or cheap. It might not perform as you'd expect. For help getting the appropriate investment property loan, get in touch with Mortgageport today.

There's a thing or two that landlords must consider when investing in property. One of the most important is making sure that yours is in line with current laws – as if it isn't, the penalties could be severe.

Let's have a look at a few of these laws and the costs of ensuring your property is legal.

What are the landlord's responsibilities?

The landlord's most essential duty is to ensure that the rented investment property is safe and comfortable for tenants to live in. According to Tenancy Check, the following are essential in doing so:

• Upkeep of the houses structure.
• Ensuring that all utilities are working: such as gas, electricity and water.
• Appliance maintenance and safety.
• Treat issues with the home that could cause health problems.
• Anything else in the tenancy agreement.

The specifics of tenancy law vary from state to state, but the general theme described above remains true nationwide. But what does it really cost to make sure you don't fall afoul of investment property law?

What's the cost of keeping your property legal?

Each property is different and many factors will affect how much it costs to keep your investment property in line with current law. For example an older home is more likely to require improvements to insulation, or structural maintenance. To give you an idea of how much common costs may set you back we've pulled some numbers from Archicentre's Cost Guide:

• Gas leak: gas fitters go for between $46 and $61 per hour, and fixing a gas leak could take several.
• Rising damp: estimated at $150 to $180 per linear metre for a single brick home.
• Pest management: the Australian Pest Control Association estimates $2,000 to $5,000.
• Tree removal: $300 to $1600 per tree.
• Replacing fibreglass insulation: from $2,120 to $2,850 per/sqm.
• Repainting a single room: $650 to $830.

This is just an example of a few common costs, and the expenses that arise from your investment property could vary wildly.

What's important is that you leave wiggle room in your finances, so that if issues do occur you're financially able to deal with them as quickly as possible.

To make sure your mortgage leaves room for the unexpected costs of property investment, talk to a mortgage broker at Mortgageport today. We know how much property investment can cost, and we're experts at tailoring loan products to your personal needs and exact situation.