Hi Propertypower

Thanks for a quick reply, my comments as below

Rs

2. Make sure you have interest only loan on your current property.

My current loan is p+I and is fixed at 7.5 % and i do not want to touch that as rates are very high now. I took this out before i spoke to my accountant () . My accountant told me since i am moving into it in 5 monts or so – should be ok and i should pay off the loan.

3. With regards to structure, you should consider trust. You will need to speak to an accountant to discuss different types of trusts and which one suits you best. If you are in Melbourne, I can recommend a very good accountant. PM me, if you want.

My accountant has recommended HDT (Hybrid Discretionary Trust) as my structure where as i can get the -ve gearing on the interest and wife can get the income from the rent. Just to cross verify i spoke to another financial planner http://www.cr.com.au who used to do the same type of HDT, now he mentions that the govt has made a ruling against such HDT and its not safe anymore.

Result – I am confused. Any advice?

4. With depreciation, obviously the newer the house the more depreciation you can claim. You can claim depreciation on houses built after 1987. If you are looking for an inner city apartment, you should consider buying in a block < 20 years old.

Thanks will keep in mind.

5. With your current property, given it is an investment property at the moment, look at opportunities to do maintenance now rather than after moving into it. That way you can claim those maintenance expenses.

Thats a good one. Thanks. I wanted to put floorboards in the current property, can i do that while the tenant is in ? If i do that after he moves out, and after the work is over, i move it. will it be claimable ?

If i decided to buy land and build a house and rent it out, will it make good tax saving for me ? any thing i need to watch out for if i do this?

Hope this helps and good luck