There are many things to consider here, no just the asset protection aspects. Firstly you will probably want a company as trustee for a trust. The trustee is the legal owner and its name goes on title. If one of the 6 wants out, title deeds can remain the same. If you had 6 names on title, then it would be a nightmare. secondly, you should use a t…[Read more]

Since your mum is an owner of the property the loan must be in your name and hers – or maybe your name only with a guarantee from your mum.Lenders are also very fussy about giving money out without knowing the full reason and, sometimes even controlling the payment of the funds. "investment purposes" won't make it anymore – it used to be ok.

A trust is not really an entity. The trustee of the trust is the legal owner of the property and so the title goes in their name – a personal name or a company – or a combination.

I think QLD is the only state that charges more stamp duty for an investment property

Simplying refinancing and increasing a loan will not do since deductibility depends on the use the borrowed funds were put to.One spouse buing out another generally works well, but the benefits will depend on what state your property is in. Some states allow spouses to transfer title between themselves without stamp duty – but may states impose…[Read more]

GST only applies to new or substantially new residential property so I think it will depend on the extent of your renovations.Or maybe you meant CGT. If you are conducting a business then the houses may be considered as trading stock and so CGT wouldn't apply, but income tax would – I think this were turning over property within 12 months then the…[Read more]

If you are doing it as a business then you may not be entitled to the main residence CGT exemption at all = CGT or income tax on your main residence. But you are likely to be able to argue you are not doing it as a business for the first few.Thereafter you should consider using a discretionary trust to purchase the properties. This will allow the…[Read more]

Jim, you may also want to consider requesting the release of the deposit paid by your purcahsers so that you can use it for your next purchase if need be. Another option is a deposit bond.

I have a property in Japan in Osaka. It is true that properties lose value there – it is like buying a new car. As soon as you live in it the value drops. The construction there does not seem to be duriable either. Also, generally, prices have been declining since 1990. A few years ago there was news that prices had risen by 0.10%. Not sure if…[Read more]

Hi CazzieYes, income from one source can be used to offset a loss from another ,such as a negative geared property if both are held in the trust. Just think of the trust as a separate person for taxation purposes. All their income and expenses are taken into account and then any profits are distributed.Just be wary of running a business in a trust…[Read more]

Samsons wrote:
Hi all,Very interesting forum! I have one question. As per my previous question whether I could transfer my own home to make it an investment property and reading that that is not possible, what if you have a family trust? Can you transfer your home to it and rent it out through the Trust then any profit made, couldn't you…[Read more]

SamYou can gradually improve your tax position by borrowing to pay your investment loan interest. This will help build deductions while paying off your home loan faster. It is a dangerous strategy so you will need professional advice from a tax advisor.

They need to consider various other issues too such as asset protection – it is potentially dangerous to have a lot of assets. They should also consider taxation, centrelink and estate planning issues.

The is the settlor.The settlor is the person that hands over the initial thing to the trustee to be held on trust – this is what starts it off. It is usually just $10, but could be anything really.There are various rules about the settlor not benefiting from the trust – so it should be someone unrelated who will never have the possibility of being…[Read more]

Often the wording of the deed means that any coompany in which a primary beneficiary has shares, is an office holder of etc, is also a beneficiary of the trust – without actually needing to be named.

balniks wrote:
Hi all,I'm currently in the process on refinancing my 2 loans. On my PPOR i have about 120k owing, and on the investment about 105k. Value of both together is approx 400k. So i have a bit of equity in them. I'm currently paying interest only on them, and want to continue paying IO as i am planning to rent out my PPOR in the next…[Read more]

You can include anyone as a beneficiary – but there are taxation issues that need to be considered if money is distributed to a non-resident (for tax purposes) as they get no tax free threshold and pay a higher rate of tax.You probably should not put a non resident as trustee as you may have problems with the trust being controlled by a…[Read more]

you should be able to delay settlement – if you settle the removal of tenants becomes your problem

Lefty, do a search – this question comes up almost weekly these days

Thats an idea – plan ahead now, get ABNs etc ready