Paul

That may be the case concerning an assignment. An instalment contract is really a normal contract with the settlement period extended from the standard 42 days to about 30 years, with some other conditions such as the right to occupy before completion.

But there would probably be other provisions in the mortgage conditions which may prevent an instalment contract as it affects the lender's security for the loan. If there is nothing which prevents one, then it is open season. if there are conditions and you do instalment contracts then you may run the risk of having the loan called in for breaching the conditions.

(I heard a rumour that this happened to a big wrapper years ago)

One of the requirements for a contract involving land is that it be in written form. And for a contract for land to be valid it needs to identify the land in question somehow, such as an address or a title reference or a name (eg. of a farm) etc.

Generally banks will only lend to someone who is not on title if:
a) they are a spouse (married or DF); or
b) they are getting some benefit out of it, such as the controller of a unit trust (this is rare now).

But they would require guarantees from the title holders as well so this wouldn't help serviceability much.

What you could do with this is to get your mum to buy as trustee for yourself or you and yourwife. This would be a bare trust where you and your wife are the ultimate beneficiaires and mum is the trustee. It needs to be properly documented up front and then you could avoid stamp duty later on (in most states) when your mum transfers title to you. Along the way you would be paying tax and claiming as if you were title holders.

The only problem is the loan. Most banks these days want to know if someone is acting as trustee for someone else. If they find out they may not lend, or they may insist on assessing the serviceability of the ultimate beneficial owners

Not really Paul

Most say that you need permission from the bank to rent the property, but that if the rental is a standard residential lease then no permission is required. You obviously need the lenders permission to sell as they hold the property as security and title couldn't be transferred without their permission and with minor changes to the property permission wouldn't be required.
 

Don't forget you cannot access the equity in a smsf owned property.

For trusts there are basically 2 types units and discretionary. Trust Magic is a nice general intro, but it doesn't go into the topic in any depth. For that you will need the trust structure guide which costs a few hundred.

I don't know about that. That could still possibly trigger stamp duty on the assets of the trust and possibly CGT if it is considered a resettlement. You would need an expert trust lawyer to advise.

Why not just leave the funds there and have the o/s trust loan funds to the australian trust? That would probably be safer from an asset protection POV and possibly tax – though being a tax haven would mean you have to be careful.

yes, I think it would be a capital expenses and so you could only claim depreciation.

The interest on any loan used for an investment may be deductible – but be careful not to have other non deductible expenses on the card or it will get messy.

 a deposit is not claimable at all. It is a capital expense.

you may be able to claim interest on the deposit money, depending on your circumstances.

I never take fixed loans because of the loss of ability to move easily.

But it is not the end of the world. You can still access equity with the same bank, set up a LOC for example later on.

The Bank of Japan is, I believe, the japanese version of the reserve bank. They don't actually lend individuals money. So although the official rate may be 0%, or maybe 0.25 – 0.5% the rate for borrowers of housing loans is around 2-3% I think. there are some vendor finance type deals with low or no interest for the first few years though.

Secondly, it would be almost impossible for a non resident to borrow in Japan for Japanese property, let alone foreign property. It you were working in Japan and earning Yen you could borrow from an Australian bank based there, with low rates, say 2 to 3%, but the LVR would be 70% or less and the loan would be called in if you ever moved away from Japan and/or stopped earning income in Yen.

japanese lending policies are extremely strict because of the bursting of the bubble many years ago. So it is not easy to get a loan there.