"GE Money will close its operations in Australia with immediate effect, according to inside sources." http://www.lendingcentral.com/2008/10/24/ge-money-closes-its-doors/

hi TomOne thing you may not have considered, is did you know that it is much more difficult to get finance for owner builders? Especially these days. Having your company build would still be classed as owner builder by many lenders too. For the tax issues, have a look at http://www.bantacs.com.au for some useful pdf booklets.

hi Mrs PalmerIf you buy and sell properties you are going to have to pay taxes, whether it be income tax or CGT – assuming you are making a profit. A good way to reduce your tax bill is to use a discretionary trust structure. Have a look into these.

I have found SGB to be one of the best when dealing with trusts but not so with westpac.

You are crazy if you are just taking advice off a forum. Go and see a solicitor before you sign,What happens if you  don't specify the details of the finance ? The vendor could find you a lender at 20% pa and your could be in trouble.

I guess a trust could pay for personal expenses of an individual. It depends on the wording of the deed. Many would be set up this way –  eg if the kid is a loser and the parent is worried he will blow all the money when the parent dies.Or the personal expense payment would be just a distribution.Either way the recipient would have to be tax on…[Read more]

Hi JohannNever pay off a property loan. Use a 100% offset account instead. Once you pay off a loan, especially an investment loan, your money is trapped. What would happen if you wanted to buy a home to live in? You would have used up all your cash and would have to borrow to buy – and pay non deductible interest.

yeah, right.

No Doc loans are generally hard to find and have high rates – you will need decent deposits too.Low Doc loans generally require 2 years ABN these days as well as 1 to 2 years GST registration if your earn more, or declare more than $75,000 pa. ( you would be required to be registered for GST if your turnover is more than this – not profit).Paying…[Read more]

Hi JohannNever pay off a property loan. Use a 100% offset account instead. Once you pay off a loan, especially an investment loan, your money is trapped. What would happen if you wanted to buy a home to live in? You would have used up all your cash and would have to borrow to buy – and pay non deductible interest.

A client told me earlier on, but i didn't believe it until i got the email.

I should add that distributions from a company are the same, you can take that into account for servicing, but a better way to hold shares would be through your discretionary trust too.

Sydney Sider wrote:
That is some fantastic advice. Thank you very much! Opening the offset account and waiting a little while until there's enough $ in there before getting the 2nd loan sounds like the solution! So if I currently have a minimum monthly repayment for my investment loan of $2,000, does this amount still go directly into the loan…[Read more]

magic32 wrote:
So for the guarantor to have no assets in his own name would mean that he would need to show serviceability from employment income? What if the guarantor was a bit more wealthy and no longer had to work, and his income is from his shareholding in a business, and that would not be good for asset protection, what would be a good…[Read more]

roslynnchalwell@yahoo.com wrote:
That is great news especially when my IP loan has just come off a fixed rate of 7%.  I received a letter just before the last rate cut saying that my new rate would be 9.37% now 8.57% still higher than my home loan.  I rang them up to negotiate a better variable rate and was asked if I wanted to fix it again, w…[Read more]

Hi It should qualify as long as the properties are new. I beleive you will only qualify if the property is going to be your main residence and you will live in it withing the first 12months.You can confirm this by ringing the office of state revenue in your state.

Hi OThat sounds like the way most do it. For tax reasons you will need to apportion the interest between properties – tho overall it should be the same, and it is easy to work out as the loans will be IO so it should be a straight percentage used for each property.

Ah, you beat me to it Richard!

Mr Obvious wrote:

Terryw wrote:
2. You should never pay anything off of an investment loan, but place all money in a offset account. So you save the same interest, but still have your funds available without adverse tax consequences. Once your IP is paid off you will be paying tax on the rent and will need a high loan, which won't be…[Read more]

If you borrow money to invest, then it is generally tax deductible. Taking money from a LOC is borrowing money. I would keep the LOC totally separate – no personal use at all if possible. Also look into borrowing from the LOC to pay expenses and keep your cash  available for personal use – put it in your offset on the home loan if you have one.