Thnx all for your responses. I will follow your suggestion Terry for calculating the amounts, as ‘ball park’ is close enough for my purposes. And yes Benny I can find the amounts to work off in the previous tax returns, so will get my hands on them. Dark Knight I’m a bit embarrassed to admit that yes it has been neg geared all that time. I started out with it too highly geared and it is now lowly geared, and probably the last few years it would have been neutral except for totally unforeseen large expenses due to termite damage- ouch! I think they are beaten now- fingers crossed! As a property investor I make a good social worker, and that’s about it :)

Yeah. This caught me with my pants down- all due to a long service leave payout, which of course I think is a bit rough. We have never earned enough income previously for this issue to come up at tax time. It's about 2k additional payment to the ATO on both me and my wife combined this year. Thanks again for your input. If you have any magic wand type ideas to share re possible deductions I would be most grateful IJC

All three props are on the Sunny Coast. No need to upgrade the PPOR and no need for large amounts of cash. The offset account idea could work but the interest rate is higher on the loan to have this facility, which may negate a benefit. I was wondering if you are not paying off a PPOR does it actually make sense to start paying down one of the other debts, and if so, which one of the two. Not sure what others do in this position?

Am I understanding correctly?- An investment property originally built for resi purposes in 1986 is depreciable over 25 years @ 4% and let's say a pergola was added as a capital improvement in 1990 that would depreciate at 2.5% over 40 years. Also, with depreciable items inside the residence like carpets, blinds etc. are they costs that must be estimated by a QS, as is the case with the building? Just drilling down on this as I have an investment property I've had for 6 years where I may have done the incorrect thing and I'm a bit worried about it now re: ATO requirements  Your advice would be appreciated.

Thanks 'posters' for your input- I really appreciate the 'helping hand'.

Sorry Grunter- Did not receive any advice unfortunately. Please let me know if you do. I saw your post and response to it re: the Goldy option. I actually want someone I can sit in front of myself so if I do get any good oil I will let you know.

Thank you so much for your advice Steve, Regina and Vincent. Steve I appreciate you breaking the issue down like that for me- you have provided me with the yardstick I was looking for. I do have some redraw available on my home loan that I will now use for a deposit to get started, with a more realistic head on my shoulders. I’ll also feel safer doing it because I was feeling some anxiety myself about being too leveraged. Thanks again, Ian.