You should also just approach the Australia banks in the country where you are working. eg NAB in Tokyo etc.

NAB used to too. not sure if they still do

Do you really need landlords insurance? Is your mum likely to trust the place or run off without paying the rent?You don't really need a contract in written form, oral should be fine. But oral contracts on property are unenforceable. I don't think the ATO is concerned with this however, as long you can establish it is market rates.

You cannot claim a deduction for buying capital items. Same as a person. If you had made $250,000 and purchased a $250,000 house you can't claim the house as an expense.Since you are making so much money (great news!!!) you should really talk to a tax specialist asap as there are a few things you can do to minimise it and structure it more safely.

That is terrible. $7000 is a lot of money, especially for a FHO

Generally not a good idea to buy your own home in a trust as you will lose the land tax exemption, main residence CGT exemption and will end up paying tax on the rent you pay to your trust.But it can be a good idea in some cases, such as where  you already have another property which you are claiming as your main residence and only intend to be…[Read more]

Not really.Trustmagic.com is a book of trusts for the average property investor.There is a lot to it. Actually a trust can be set up in mins very simply but  setting one up in an effective way requires careful planning.You need to consider many issues such as:- who will be trustee or who will be director of trustee company?- should you have a…[Read more]

Thanks for all the comments. I agree with them all. There are some shocking fin planners out there charging a fortune for doing little.

What about getting a second job, even temporarily?

Why not look at accessing equity and then repeating the process with another property while staying in your one?If you are doing this professionally as a business then you will not get any main residence tax exemptions anyway.

The standard is that you can sue them for 10% – but this will depend on the wording of the contract. Did u have a special condition in there saying you will accept 1.5% but the full 10% deposit is due at settlement? You can also sue for costs.But, as Banker says, you can get a judgment but this won't mean much if they have no cash or other assets.…[Read more]

A unit trust is a good way to proceed. You may be able to transfer the units without stamp duty (in NSW) as of next year.But some things to consider. Who will be the trustee? A company is ideal – but then who will be the directors? Ideally one person only should be director to limit the risk. Banks will generally want personal guarantees from all…[Read more]

newdawn2001 wrote:
"You would also want to slowly increase this loan by paying the interest on it by borrowing from LOC1. Place all spare cash into the offset account…." Terryw I don't really understand how this works?

You use your cash, wages and rents to save you interest on your home loan. This is not deductible.Insteat of paying the…[Read more]

newdawn2001 wrote:
Do you think it is a problem keeping this all with the same bank? 

Actually, you need specialist tax advice on what I am suggesting. You will end up saving considerable amounts of tax and the ATO could attack it as a scheme to minimise tax. For this reason having the two main loans at different banks would make your case…[Read more]

newdawn2001 wrote:
Thanks Terryw; I appreciate your experience and advise. Just a few questions. Loan C: Why LOC as opposed to IO with offset? I am under the impression that LOC has higher interest rate and the same flexibility can be achieved with IO with offset. Why do you suggest two LOC loans? Is it to keep separate expenses/ deposit /…[Read more]

No, poor people benefit too.

Since you won't be borrowing money to pay the bills then i don't think you will have any issues. Best to have all money going into an offset account and to pay direct from ther i think.

Not much you can do if you cannot demonstrate serviceability. Best to try different lenders as all of their servicing calculations differ

For tax, just treat everything at arms length and you should be ok. Consider if you were audited, could you justify rents etc.Legally the assets are not your's, they belong to all the beneficiairies of your trust. The trustee has a duty to act fairly towards all beneficiaries and shouldn't just favour you. So make sure the trustee can justify the…[Read more]

There is less asset protection by having personal trustees. If the trustee is sued his or her personal assets are at risk. Also less flexibility with changing things – if you want to change trustees, then the title will need to be changed and theloan will need to be changed. There may be stamp duty consequences too. But it does give some asset…[Read more]