You can never have too much equity!!

If you have a house fully paid off then you are in a really good position. If you have an average income then you should be able to go far.

Slow but sure. Make sure you set up your strategy and structure yourself to maximise benefits.

Key, why are you transferring between trusts?

If only you had held the property in a unit trust – you could then just transfer the units, possibly without stamp duty too

You are in a very dangerous situation. If you do not settle on time you could be served with a notice to settle and then you will have just 14 days (usually) to settle or you could lose your 10% deposit and be sued.

The vendor may be ready to settle on their new property on the day you settle on theirs. You not settling could have a domino effect.

What state is the property in?

I don't mean to scare you but read this case:
South Sky Investments Pty Ltd v Luppi  [2012] QSC 27
http://jade.barnet.com.au/Jade.html#sy=261412

The purchaser did not complete the purchase and was ordered to pay more than $400k in damages to the vendor.

You should have used a solicitor who could have added the extra conditions. Its too late now if you have signed contracts.

At least go and see the property and do the final inspection. Take details notes and photos. Check to see if appliances (the ones you will own) work.

You are lucky – in QLD there is no stamp duty on the trust formation. in NSW it is $500.

Trusts can be set up and run pretty cheaply, but they are complex and usually cost money in getting tax and legal advice down the track.

There would also be stamp duty on transfers to the trust. It is probably not worth doing for equity of $100k.

If the main residence is in VIC then you may want to look at one spouse buying out the other as this could be done without stamp duty. This can increase borrowings and free up cash for the new PPOR.

Hi Joe

Just worried that you will be missing something if you do it yourself. The contracts for NSW and other states are standard. But that doesn't mean nothing needs to be added to them. Special conditions are in each contract that I have seen. So if you do it yourself how are you going to draft these special conditions? How are you going to know if a search you have included is valid and therefore how do you know your contract is even valid?

Joe, what about my comments? Seems you don't understand.

Sounds like your accountant doesn't understand structures very well – or you have misinterpreted him/her.

It is certainly not a good idea to use a company to hold appreciating assets for a number of reasons.

A discretionary trust is totally different however.

a mere profit of $2000 in a trust could make it all worthwhile. eg. a property in your name at the top rate rate with a $2000 profit could result in almost $1000 in tax. Whereas if it was in a trust could result in no tax at all.

Then consider the future growth as well.

As for asset protection it is not just as simple as setting up a trust it is but how it is set up and how you use it. I can think of around 10 ways that a trust could be attacked if done incorrectly.

If you know a lot about property law you could draft your own contracts. But what if you leave something important out and then go to your solicitor after the purchaser has signed – you will be locked into a costly mistake maybe. eg. You come to the settlement period and the purchaser says they don't want to proceed now and is rescinding. You having relied on the money from this sale coming through to settle on the next one and then that falls over too.