From my knowledge:

1) Yes
2) Trustee would have discretion, but to claim a deduction you would have to show that you were investing money with a few of getting an income. If you are not getting any distributions, then the purpose of your investment is in doubt. Not sure if all the mone would have to go to the unit holder though.
3) Not sure
4) Not sure, but the units could possibly be redeemed before the sale, and then the gain could be distributed to any beneficiary
5) Trust could redeem the units, and it would then be a discretionary trust with income being distributed as trustee see fit.
6) Units need to be created at purchase. You will be borrowing money to buy these units.
7) I’ve heard overseas residents pay something like 30%+ tax with no tax free thresholds. A quick check with the ATO site should reveal.
If just buying shares, then no. Shares are not risky in the sense of the owner being sued, but various things can go wrong with a property and the owner could be sued. (eg. tenant dies from faulty electrical wiring which you hooked up)
9) The trustee can be changed, and I beleive the company could be setup later. But this will require loans to be amended, and title deeds changed etc – nominal fees.
10) Your home is your only CGT free asset. Better to keep in in your name I think.
11) For a good accountant based near Sydney, I would recommend Coastymike of this forum. Mike is in Gosford.

Terryw
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Parramatta
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The VFA is only a small organisation with the office holders volunteering their time (i think anyway), so you can’t really expect too much from them.

Terryw
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Lease options are similar to wraps, but are preferrable to wraps, for me anyway, because:
– less problems with finance
– can be structured in many ways
– can still access equity
etc

Terryw
Discover Home Loans
Parramatta
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only if you do not claim any other home as your PPOR at the same time.

Terryw
Discover Home Loans
Parramatta
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Richard is wrapping professionally as a business, whereas I only dabbled in a few. It certainly can work, if you are prepared to put in the effort.

I did purchase Steve’s wrap kit and think you probably should buy this if you are serious.

I think the biggest hassle is the quality of the tenants. Some just don’t want to pay occaisionally. Others are always late etc. You have to factor this in and develop strategies to avoid it.

When I did it the market was growing fast. Most of mine had cashed me out within 2 years, and their properties had doubled almost. I therefore missed out on most of this capital gain in return for a relatively small positive cashflow. I had a small profit and could have purchased more properties to replace those ones, but the market had jumped so much, it would have required a much larger deposit to get back into the market – eating up most of the cash released.

Now the market has slowed, so the cashouts should take much longer to occur.

Other things to think about are:
– difficulties in borrowing
– bad publicity
– legally smart wrappees who may take you for a ride.

Terryw
Discover Home Loans
Parramatta
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Bris

Try Julia at http://www.bantacs.com.au

Terryw
Discover Home Loans
Parramatta
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A hybrid trust may be worth looking at.

Terryw
Discover Home Loans
Parramatta
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Bris,

That may be the case, but I would get a second opinion from a good solicitor.

Terryw
Discover Home Loans
Parramatta
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