Gazza I'm pretty inexperienced myself so I don't want to tell you something that sounds like wisdom when it's not but as nobody else has answered you yet I may as well get the ball rolling. 

In relation to the FHOG, I looked into this in Tas a few years ago. Back then the rules were that you could buy an IP if it remains as an IP and you don't claim the FHOG for it. Down the track when you do buy a PPOR you can then claim the FHOG. Doing that though is counting on the fact that the rules will be the same at that time down the track when you do buy the PPOR. There is no guarantee that the rules won't have changed by that point. I just contacted the State Revenue Office in Tas and asked them about it. There were a few people there who gave me vague answers to the effect that it was not possible, so I kept contacting different people until I got a clear answer ie someone who clearly knew what they were talking about, cited the relevant legislation etc. I suggest you call the equivalent office in WA and ask them about it, and don't accept vague answers from the receptionist who thinks he knows what he's talking about. Some mortgage brokers may have a bit of an idea too.

At the end of the day though, not taking any stamp duty implications into account (which I don't know about anyway), it's only $7k, and a well chosen IP should make up for this. 

There is a discussion somewhere on this forum of buying PPOR v renting and putting the money towards IPs. I can't find it now but it's on here so have a bit of a look. Basically though, most people agreed that renting and buying IPs is the way to go. 

In regards to the question of buying in a trust/corporation setup is this to try to help you claim the FHOG? I don't know how it would affect you in that sense – take it up with the State Revenue Office. There are different tax rates for companies than for individuals, but there are also implications for asset protection. People often use a trust/corporation setup to protect their investments so that if someone breaks their neck on one property and sues the landlord for all he's worth, they can only actually get at the one property. If you're planning to build a big portfolio it is very smart to think about it from the beginning because it is much harder to change the structure later on (and can cost you money). If that's the way you're going though you really need to see professionals who are familiar with that area, ie a lawyer and an accountant who understand property investing. Perhaps some of our WA friends can give you a few leads. 

Hope this helps, good luck. 

Hi Pagey,

Have you spent much time around Strahan? It is a nice area but it's pretty remote and I can't say I've heard of people moving out that way to retire. The main thing going for it is tourism, but that's very seasonal and it does tend to die through winter. The weather out on the west coast can get pretty brutal too so I'm not sure that retirees would be drawn to it necessarily. Personally I'd be sticking a bit closer to the bigger towns, especially in Tasmania where the economy's struggling a bit as it is, and where prices are already pretty cheap anyway. That said I haven't had a good look into the rental market there so if you're researching it and finding out some good things about it, I could stand to be corrected.