Learn a few specific areas: How to interpret a balance sheet, a project finance text, discounted cashflows & npv. Basic areas but critical in your understanding. Check out the tafe bookshop (either property or accounting sections).

Long and short of it – you have to be lucky. Privacy laws prevent the agent disclosing either the name of the owner or the lessee name. RP data may give you the owners name (possibly not due to a recent court case), then some legwork to match the owner with the address & a contact number of the owner who may disclose their agent.

It is a matter of conditioning in the current market – some sectors are still performing quite strongly however in others there has been a major correction. Those who can least afford it, being forced to sell (to stem their losses).

Buyers are wary of higher interest rates, rising cpi and a slowing economy and aware of what this means to them so they are seeking value out of their purchases.

Other factors also weigh in to the equation with fewer new properties being completed, which means the top end of each market has fewer sales. This is reflected in a lower median price as the sales are more reflective of resales of the general market rather than that of new premises skewing sales prices.

It all depends upon your own situation. If you consider that a property trust generally works with 60% borrowings vs 40% deposit, it means that there is a positive return under most circumstances. The one thing it doesn't consider is the opportunity cost of that deposit.

If however, you have sufficient income to justify a high level of gearing so that expenses exceed income, then it may be worthwhile to use the losses as an offset agent your higher wages in order to reduce your tax burden.

You must weigh up your propensity for risk – ie if you lose your job, your spouse is out of work, the property is vacant, someone has time off work for a child/looking after a family member – are you going to survive or struggle?

Structural work as defined in the BCA – you will need a DA from council, body corporate approval and the list goes on.

It is call extinguishment of a lease. A tenant, or sub-tenant who buys a property that they occupy effectively extinguishes the lease, likewise it cannot be done in reverse. You may have to 'move' the property into a trust, have the trust rent it to the company and inturn to yourselves.

If you own a second unit, then you have twice as many voting rights as the others when it comes to body corporate. You have all the more reason to be involved with the BC etc. If it is a good block of units, the sums stack up then you might as well consider it.

The only way around paying stamp duty on the purchase price is to purchase the property as an 'option' – you pay SD on the option price not the purchase price.

As for cgt, you pay at your marginal rate of tax ie $30K x mrt (less if you hold it for one year or longer).

A couple of small points – LVR is around 60% (usually pretty comfortable), good level of equity.
Gross rent – 4%, pretty low return considering other factors.
As we don't know your full situation and exposure to cgt, risk profile (but assume you prefer lower risk levels) etc would you consider diversification into other types of property which have a better cap rate eg commercial, retail or industrial? To do this, you may consider divesting one property and seeking other opportunities or simply pay down debt.
You could also consider refinancing to a more effective rate (unless you have gone low doc and still can't provide docs).
Are you maximising your 'non-cash' losses eg depreciation?

You should also keep in mind that an IO loan operates best in a rising market as your property value increases your loan remains static and your LVR decreases whereas in a falling market the risk is your loan may outstrip your capital (PI will at least contribute towards stabilising the LVR).