Jinglebell,

I agree with the comments above. From the information you have provided, I would recommend moving into the house when you buy it, doing the renovations, then renting it out for a few years.

The benefits are, being eligible for the FHOG, claiming depreciation on the renovation costs, and the property can remain CGT exempt for 6 years after you move out (if you are not claiming another PPOR for CGT purposes).

Regards,

Cubez

Matt,

FHOCG is now only available for off the plan or newly built homes. And you would need to live in the home for a period of 6 months within the first 12 months of ownership. If you go 50/50 with someone else then only one of you may claim the grant, and if the other person has owned all or part of a place before than you wont get the grant. I'm not entirely sure about living in it and renting out rooms, but I think it should be okay as long as you are living there. (might have to research that one further)

Also another benefit of living in the home after purchase is that you can claim it as your PPOR for tax purposes for a further 6 years. What this means is that if you don't have another PPOR, then after 6 years you can get your house revalued and not have to pay CGT on the rise in value.

I also used my parents property as security for my first real estate purchase, the only problem with it was that my parents had to wait for me to build 20% equity to release their property before they could secure finance for renovations. I'm not sure what the alternative is that Richard mentions but he knows far more about finance than I ever will.

You should also get some advice on how to structure your loan correctly.

Regards,

Cubez

Sunshine Coast would be a medium to long term proposition. Although I wouldn't be looking for any huge rises in the short term.

A charter company operating out of the airport is seeking contracts from Qld mining companies to operate FIFO to mine sites. The idea is to turn the area into a location that miners and their families can live on the coast, in SE Qld, with a better quality of life and FIFO to work from there. Not too sure at what stage the contract talks are.

Also a feasibility study is about to commence into the possibility of a Sunshine Coast Light Rail Project. However this is just the feasibility study and whether or not the project eventually gets the go ahead is anyones estimate really. Although personally I think it has merit and would be a great asset to the Sunshine Coast.

The construction of the Kawana Hospital has been widely reported and a couple of months ago the area was tipped to become a bit of a hot spot. Although I'm never one to jump on bandwagons.

Regards,

Cubez