You just have to work out what is best for your situation. And go with what suits you.

Trusts don't pay any tax (unless the income is not distributed), they just distribute income to the beneficiaries. So if a CG is distributed to an individual they would be entitled to the 50% discount (if asset held for more than 12months). If to a company, then no discount.

There is no real way around it. You have paid down a loan so any redraw would be classed as new borrowings and the interest will only be deductible if you use the funds for investment purposes. That is why it is best to use only IO loans with a 100% offset account attached to at least one of your loans with any extra cash going into this account.

Talk to your accountant about borrowing to pay for investment expenses such as insurance and rates. You can also ask them about capitalising the interest on the investment property. eg. Set up a LOC and pay the interest from this account. THis will free up your cash for using on the new home loan,

The ATO site is back up

http://ato.gov.au/individuals/content.asp?doc=/content/20046.htm

Income of individuals under the age of 18

Warning: This information may not apply to the current year. Check the content carefully to ensure it is applicable to your circumstances. Income of minors A minor is a person who is under 18 years of age. Special rules apply to the income of minors. Under these rules, certain types of income received by minors may be taxed at higher rates. However, minors who are residents of Australia do not have to lodge a tax return if they earn less than $1,334 in 2006-07. This is because the low income tax offset of $600 offsets the tax payable on income less than $1,334.

Hi Frosty

Wage earner's could still be sued. One of my friends went crazy on her credit cards. She is being sued by various banks and will lose all her properties. If they were in a trust they would have been safe. Or you may have had some a drink and then have an accident, insurance may not cover you if drinking etc. And then there is the famous story about someone being hit in the head by a golf ball during a charity event. Insurance didn't cover the course during the charity event and the individual was sued.

If you distribute money to people from the trust they must declare the money as income, so you will need to liase with them about it. What compensation you give them is up to you and your situation. I have various relatives which I could use and don't because of the complexity, but it would be possible.

You could keep on buying negative geared properties to offset any positive geared income from other properties. But it would be a time bomb as rents would be continually rising. You may never need to sell, you could just keep borrowing and lving on equity, but your heirs may have to pay CGT eventually.

With a trust there is an 80 year life so you will eventually have to sell their too. But 80 years is a long time.

The ATO website is down atm, so I am not sure about the kids income, but it was approx $1200 last year.

I did find these legal cases on Trusts and the taxation of children 
FCT v Whiting (1943) 68 CLR 199 
Taylor v FCT (1969) 119 CLR 444 
Truesdale v FCT (1970) 120 CLR 353 
Hobbs v FCT (1957) 98 CLR 151

Paying PI and paying extra means you probably could afford to buy another. Just cut back to IO.

BTW< if you still have a loan on your main residence, then you should not be paying PI on an investment. I wouldn't pay PI on any loans myself.

Ring up and complain. Have a read of your agreement and see what it says – probably doesn't mention a time frame on when your house will be advertised, but I would complain anyway.

Yes, you can make a claim via the administrator. Find out whot that is, maybe do an ASIC check and give them a call to see if they can tell you over the phone, or you may need to request the relevant documents. Once you find out who they are contact them. Also read you r guarantee contract – it may say something like the guarantee ending if the company goes into administration . If the company was stil lsolvent, that means they have money to pay their bills. This may not be the case at the end of the day, especially after the administrator takes their huge fees out. So you may have to share the left overs with other creditors.

Sounds good as long as the properties don't go back in value – otherwise you have lots of equity just sitting there being wasted.

What about offering some form of vendor finance – you lend them the deposit and/or pay their stamp duty etc.

There are loans called No Doc loans whereby you do not need to declare an income. You just need 30% deposit. with $100,000, you could buy up to $400,000 worth of property. Whether this is a good idea or not will depend on your situation.

Do you currently have a home loan on your main residence? If so putting the money against that loan may be a good idea. You can then reborrow it for investments later.