Reducing transfer amount means reducing loan which means less interest and less money freed up for the new ppor.

You will need a valuation for stamp duty purposes too

I should add that my balance on that 3.99% for the life of hte loan was $24k. I just paid it out because rates had dropped and I rang up to close the card. They offered to send me a cheque for $24k and give me 3.99% for the life of that repayment of the $24k. They are hoping you will be tempted to use the card for something else and then get on the 20% pa cycle. I declined their offer.

You will find anything except a cash advance is a transaction that qualifies for the interest free period. You could buy a car or a house on credit card (one of my clients had $250,000 in credit cards!) but when you buy the merchant will charge you a fee of around 1%. So on a $200,000 house the fee would be $20k which would defeat the saving of interest.

Just remember the more money you chip into the purchase on an investment the less you will have for private purchases. This means you will have to borrow more to purchase your PPOR down the track. More non-deductible interest.

In that case, then since the first property and the second property will become an IP it doesn't really matter which way you go. You would take the money from the offset or from the paying in and redraw.

Is there any chance one will become a main residence at some stage? If so you may want to aim at reducing this loan and maximising the other.

Ideally
1. no
2 no
3 no

Borrow the deposit if you have the equity.

You could possibly avoid CGT depending on the circumstances

Trusts are usually set by by a settlor giving a trustee $10 or so and asking them to hold it on trust for a group of beneficiaries. The terms of the trust are documented in a deed and this deed governs the actions of the trustee and specifies what they can and cannot do – such as borrow money, mortgage trust property, invest in businesses etc

The deeds are not registered. It is just a private arrangement really. In some states such as NSW stamp duty must be paid on the deed and this is $500 if the settled sum is just $10 or a nominal amount. This is done at the Office of state revenue. You post or take your deed there and they will stamp it on the spot. They don't read it or keep a copy.

Where a deed needs to be stamped will depend on the location of the parties. I think the rule is that if any one of the original parties residies in NSW then the deed needs to be stamped here, eg settlor, or trustee etc

Each state has its own legislation regarding trusts – Trustee Act in NSW, Rules are different in each state too. So the trust deed needs to specifiy the governing laws – ie which state. This is separate from the stamping and could be different.

I believe that trustees do get a separate land tax threshold in qld but am not sure on the details. In Nsw a discretionary trust gets no threshold so using a trust may result in more land tax there.

Trust assets don’t belong to you. So they don’t form part of your will. You need extra planning on succession with a trust when you die but there would be no cgt or stamp duty. There would t be any either if held in your own names. One advantage in your own name is that Eli could pass on to your kids in their own names so that they could live in the house cgt and or to a testamentary trust at death which may have more tax advantages.

Many other things to consider too

You haven't given enough information to make an informed assessment.

But, think long term. Consider all issues, such as land tax, income tax, CGT, death, asset protection etc.