Thanks Richard – yes my concern was having trouble getting a deposit together which is why I've been saving extra, rather than paying extra off the mortgage. We'll keep working at that one

Ok, so you're saying that one way to do it would be to put the 20k towards the mortgage – then loan it out again for tax benefits… and use that as the deposit still (but that it probably won't be quite enough… depending on the IP we buy & other costs)?? Just trying to make sure I understand what you are saying.

I know there are many other factors, but do you think we would get a 95% loan for an IP even though we have such a high mortgage on our current house (I think we'd aim for only an 80%max loan anyway, so more reason to work towards a higher deposit)?

I realise it would be wise to chat to a financial planner for specifics, however thought I'd get a few opinions from here first – so thanks for your response.

Alex