CGT is one disadvantage that springs to mind.

Hi Benjamin, what's the standard % deposit a SMSF has to contribute to a property?  And are the banks currently being less difficult in lending to an SMSF rather than an individual?

What suburb is it in?

Why wouldn't land have an income for up to 2 years?  I got a house and land package, and from the time of signing to the time of moving in was 6 months.  It would have been faster had the time not spanned Christmas, when tradies shut down for a couple of weeks.  It was a great acquisition for me.  I bought land really cheap in a new housing estate.  There was virtually no stamp duty because there was as yet no dwelling on the property.  And I got a nice new place

The ability to get finance for an empty piece of land with no particular immediate plan for construction and earning rent would need to be addressed with the bank.  I also read somewhere that you can't get the dwelling on a fixed interest rate – that it had to be on a variable rate until construction is complete.

You are right that if you are no good at, and do not enjoy being a handyperson, don't.  But it doesn't mean that your property can't be renovated.  Outsource the tasks to the pros.  Painters and such like.  And if you are not creative and can't think up a nice look for the new kitchen that is needed, steal ideas from display homes (take your camera along!).  Go and look through houses that are up for sale when they are "open for inspection" and see what other people are doing with kitchen renovations.  Get ideas from magazines.  Then simply show the picture of what you want to the relevant tradie and say "do this.  This is what I want it to look like."  Also their invoices will be tax deductable.  And also they can get paint and other supplies far cheaper than you could.  And they'll do the job faster than you could

Anyway, it is awesome that you've picked up some tips from everyone's comments   Never be afraid to say "what's that, I've never heard of that!" if someone mentions something that sounds new to you.  There's also the factor of "you don't know what you don't know", so if a particular process seems overwhelming, sometimes throwing the question out there of "why is this so hard, here is how I've done it, am I missing something?" can produce some great educational tips from others

I don't know much about Mernda or Craigieburn, though Craigieburn is supposed to be quite a growth area with good rental yield.

Tarneit and Wyndham Vale will have new train stations by 2014.  They are nicely positioned smack in between Melbourne and Geelong, so great for commuting to major employment centres.  Tarneit is within a 5min drive of Werribee Plaza ( a large Westfield Shopping Complex, due for further expansion ).  Wyndam Vale has some shiny new spots with new shopping centres complete with cafes and so on.  The newest areas are around Manor Lakes.

Can they just not be bothered to edit and reprint the contract?  Your solicitor will probably be able to put a line through the clause and handwrite whatever clause you prefer to see.  Talk to your solicitor

Hi

I went along and drilled "McDonald Ross" the other day.  They seemed good.

But does the subject to finance bit say "subject to finance acceptable to the purchaser"?

Also, has the bank seen this building inspection report?  Would the finance still be available to you if they saw it? (I wouldn't recommend offering to show it to them without first discussing the idea with your solicitor).

What is a part 9?