Best advice is to not take advice from friends without confirming it.

If a property is owned by a trust you will not get the CGT exemption or the land tax exemption.

Wow, thanks for telling us that.

Also forgot – probably now is not a good time to sell if the area your property is in is down. maybe wait a bit?

It can be a good idea to sell sometimes if you can pay down private debt. But the ideal is to repurchase another property to replace it.

Just think if you sold, how much would the CGT be? If a $120,000 gain, then this figure would have stamp duty and other buying/selling costs taken off . say $15k. gain is now $105,000. You could then get the 50% discount and the gain becomes $52,500. This figure is then added to your other income. if you have nil. then you will pay tax on $52,500.  This may end up being around $10k. very rough figures

Now you also have a $80k loan. Interest on this would be around $4000 per year.

So you basically are spending $10,000 to save $4k per year.

But you probably should also factor in other things too. ie you will have about $30k cash left over. You can invest this.

And, if you go back into property again you will also need to consider paying stamp duty on the new purchase, legals etc.
And also, if you are not working now it may be impossible to get a loan to get a new property.

Many things to consider.

I don't think it is a good time to get into broking. Commissions have been cut dramatically. trails are been more than halved. In the good old days some brokers earned more than heart sugeons.

However, there are not many industries in which you can build a trail income and if you can get the clients it is probably not a bad 'job'. If there is going to be a boom soon, then it is probably a good time to join the industry – so you can get some of the thousands of new loans that come with a boom..

Also, have you considered getting into financial planning ? either on its own or together. There are big monies to be made their too.

if you are in Sydney I would recomend the 2nd Hand bookshop in UTS.

Hi WMF

Having lived in 2 previously is ideal, you could rent one out for up to 6 years without CGT implications. You can even chose which one to count (only get one main residence per couple) – chose the one with the biggest gain!

Yes, i am thining why sell too. If you think there will be capital growth in the future and they are cashflow positive too.

But I would change over to IO as soon as possible. And, have you ever lived in one? If no, maybe consider it, depending on your circumstances though. You can move out and then count the place as your main residence and then rent it for 6 years and still keep the CGT exemption. This would be ideal before the next boom – making all those gains without any tax.

Can you qualify for finance now, and are you sure you will next when it comes time to settle? That is a potential risk these days with finance tightening.

Hi Wide

Where are you living now? Do you have a mortgage on that property? And I see you have some consumer debt.

Why not change all your loans to IO immediately. You should divert the extra money you are paying on your deductible loans to the consumer debt. The faster you finish this the more interest you will save – interest which you cannot claim.

Also set up a 100% offset account on one of your loans and place all spare cash in this (after the consumer debt is paid). This will save you interest on your loans the same as if you had paid into the loan. If you still have a loan on your own home, then set up the 100% offset on this loan as you will save non-deductible interest.

If prices drop in the near future, don't worry too much. It may not matter too much if you are gettting rents, especially positive cashflow. Just hope that prices will rise again!

If you do decide to sell factor in CGT. You may find selling one house will result in less tax. If you sell all in one financial year, you could be slugged with heaps more tax.

Also if you spouse is not working it may be wise to sell during this time (if in her name) as this may mean less CGT.