I'm in a very similar situation to James as an Australian Permanent Resident  (US Citizen) and want to decide best way forward–trust or no trust.  I could personally put 20%+ down on my desired properties but have looked for family/friend investors to quickly reach my goal of occupying the property short-term, but being cashflow positive thereafter.  I have verbal commitments from family (US citizens / US dollars) and a trusted friend (Swedish citizen / Australian dollars) to co-invest.  What are tax and other implications of accepting money from family/friends and buying as an individual as opposed to setting up a trust and buying as a trust?  I am also interested in simple… i.e. since I believe I'd qualify individually for the loan I need, would prefer to deal with bank as an individual, rather than have them check credit of my partners (who are likely principal only contributors).

Any advice appreciated.