Advise on re-structuring our finances

Hi All,

I am just starting out in the property investment arena after being inspired by Steve’s book(0-130 in 3.5 yrs). To begin with, I am thinking of restructuring my personal lifestyle home before I setup a family trust.

I bought a townhouse for 680K that got settled in January 2016, 10% deposit arrangement. The property was valued at 730K during settlement, with current LTV at 83.86% (it was 84.52% during settlement). According to the bank, there is some room to top up, but I haven’t availed it yet. Currently there is only my name on the title. Following are the things I am grappling with:

1. Can I include my wife’s name in the title now and make it jointly owned? I guess the answer is yes, though there could be some cost involved.
2. Assuming the answer to 1 is yes, will I be able to transfer the loan to my wife with me as her guarantor? She has just begun a career and her salary is at this moment nowhere near sufficient to service the loan, but I read in Steve’s book that banks might still lend upto 80% if I can use my income as guarantee. Does this apply to living-in home loans as well or does it happen only in case of investment properties/trust scenario? The idea is to shift my position from a loan payer to a guarantor which would place me better once I set up the trust and would clear the way for me to act as a guarantor for loans sought by my trust company, eventually ensuring ongoing borrowing ability for my trust company.
3. In case both 1 & 2 are not doable, what will happen if I go ahead and setup the trust anyway? To what extent will I be able to guarantee loans taken by my trust if the current scenario stays as-is?

Any feedback/advise is much appreciated.

Thanks
Bala

• This topic was modified 7 years, 10 months ago by  Bala.
• This topic was modified 7 years, 10 months ago by  Bala.
• This topic was modified 7 years, 10 months ago by  Bala.