this is a grey area of tax law if your paint the rooms straight after purchasing the property it is a capital improvement as you are improving the property from the state that you purchased the house at. If the paint job is required because of wear and tear from a tentant you should be able to justify it is a repair. If you paint the entire house this will be deemed as an improvement. If you paint it after purchasing the house it is an improvement. For information on this goto
http://www.ato.gov.au/content/downloads/NAT1729-06.pdf
http://www.ato.gov.au/individuals/content.asp?doc=/content/42782.htm&page=13
if in doubt ring the tax department on
Personal tax enquiries – 13 28 61
they are very helpful to deal with
or check with your accountant as the tax law on depreciation is not black and white.

think about what your tax rate is as say its 47.5% you have to lose 52.5% to get 47.5% from your outlay. also how much of your income is in the 47.5% tax margin as it would need to be at least 550 per month other wise the tax refund will be less as it is in a lesser margin rate.

I have no job at the moment but I recently visited my bank’s loan manager and asked how much I would need to earn from a future job to be able to borrow $300,000 . The loan manager worked it out for me and gave me a printout. As Steve’s masterclass DVD suggests ask the bank while you do not need it and also keep in mind that the bank makes its money from lending out money.

it is not a 20% discount it is a 10% discount it was 20% but it changed
when the scheme changed from HECS to HELP see
On 1 June 2006, a payee’s accumulated HECS debt became an accumulated HELP debt.
http://www.ato.gov.au/individuals/content.asp?doc=/content/12115.htm&page=1&H1

http://www.ato.gov.au/individuals/content.asp?doc=/content/12115.htm&page=4&H4
the debt is charged at CPI rate
It used to be worthwhile paying off the debt when it was 20% but it is only 10%
I have a HECS debt that I can’t pay off as I have no employment from my wonderful university course.
I would wait if I was you until you earn a high wage as promised by the government that will help you pay off your help debt

are you paying principle payments as you might be able to talk to bank and change to interest only loan. Maybe able to extend loan out .
maybe you could do some improvements to property like a carport or a garage a bit of paint and increase the value of property and recapitalise loan. need to talk to bank about this option.
If other owner takes over your half CGT could be liable and stamp duty.
Maybe you could ask other owner if you can sell him 20% of your share and be tenants in common rather than joint owners just to get you out of trouble. Maybe you could try to sell 30% to another investor and change ownership to tenants in common.
I am not sure if this is possible you probably need to check with a solicitor.

you could get a portfolio loan instead of mortage on ppor home. This releases some of your $320,000 in equity and you cna then seperate loan for example $80,000 mortage plus say $40,000 on portfolio loan for deposit on investment loan. This is sometimes called a line of credit however you need to make sure $40,000 is used for deposit rather than for personal items.

This is general advise and not financial advise. I am not aware of your personal circumstances .
I have added this facility to one of my investment loans. For either a deposit or to buy shares I haven’t decided yet.
[suave3]

as steve says – look into home loan finance while you do not need a loan. You might find a low or no deposit type home loan at the moment as banks have less people borrowing money. St George bank is one bank I do know offers no deposit loans but you have to pay mortage insurance as LVR is not 80%. You have to be in the game as prices will increase while you save deposit.
As steve says think laterally when it comes to investing

I was watching TV and Mr Howard came on with a special announcement that people should spend less and not borrow too much money to buy their houses and buy consumer products.

If you do not increase the rent the tenant will think they are on a good wicket and will not want to leave. You can end up by not increasing the rent for 7 years that you have to increase the rent by a greater amount later. It is like cooking a lobster if you throw a lobster in boiling water it will scream. If you gradually increase the temperature each year the lobster will get used to the increase. if the lobster doesn’t like the temperature increase you get a lobster that can tolerate the increase.
I made this mistake over a 7 year period and when I finally increased the rent by $5 a week the tenant did a runner and the house got trashed as it was vacant.

If one of the investment properties has a lot of equity in it consider this scenario. I did somthing very similiar as I have 2 twin daughters and one salary now. Wait till next financial year when income is less for child carer. Sell investment property and CGT if joint names or Carers name will be less. Pay CGT and pay difference into PPOR house. Thus bringing down costs of non deductible interest payments on PPOR. beware of centrelink !! Capital gain will be considered income for carer and will affect family payments . Also any negative rental loss (negative gearing) will be deemed income by centrelink for working out threshold income levels. Have you ever tried to buy food at the supermarket with a rental loss. Total absurdity !! A loss is income ?