Great Feedback there HGwells – good to know of a real example like that.

I toyed with the idea a year or two ago, but they are great at pricing them and structuring the rent so that it just does not add up in my calculations, especially as you have no say really while the properties are leased, and neg- meanwhile. 
That said, when they had units in Darwin with free stamp duty a year or two ago, might have been a good buy as far as long term growth!

Sorry to disagree with that, but there is no problem paying interest only on a PPOR home loan – whether doing so on the whole loan or either as a loan split, or even a line of credit. Just as there is no problem doing P&I on an investment property if one so chooses…..all depends on what the borrower wants to achieve really.
An option I have seen a few use (and is not a bad idea depending on an individuals plans etc) is to do an interest only loan on an owner occupied home, but actually pay P&I on it – thus giving a small breathing space if any emergencies or unforseen bills/costs may arise.
The only reral differerence between an investment loan and a 'normal' (?) loan is that in generally (there are exceptions – with conditions) while you can borrow up to 100% (or more -yikes) for your PPOR loan, 95% is the usual for an IP.
That said, in the current financial climate, having a minimum of 5% deposit (ideally 10%) if you cannot fund a 20% deposit is the way to go.
And, welcome to the forum!

If you are looking long term, and have been happy to fund the difference with the neg gearing, it makes sense to hang on to it – as you have obviously done the 'hard yards' and bought it in the first place. If you do hang onto it, and are looking long term, once you have finished reading this run out and find a good fixed interest loan for a few years!  All the best.  (PS. Make sure it is one you can pay a bit extra off too – some lenders still do not offer this flexibility, and who knows what you may need down the track)

Use it wisely! 
Just another point in addition to the above, if you buy a property outright for 'cash', which of course gives you some serious negotiating power, you can always borrow against this later, (up to 80% would be my max suggestion/preference) and as long as you only use the borrowings then for income generating/investment purposes you will still receive the tax deduction benefits you would have if you borrowed the 80% initiailly. Of course, it does depend on your plans, and what you intend to do property wise. If you don't have your own home, but want one, buy that for 'cash', or pay off your current loan (if you have one) outright, then borrow against your own home for purchasing additional investment property then……
All the best.
(Alternatively, give me some, and spend the rest!)  Cheers.

A great example of win win Lisaa – thanks for sharing that with us, and a BIG congratulations. I'm sure this will go well for you in the future. Cheers

It certainly is a bit of a vicious circle – On a valuation requested by (and ordered by) a lender, the valuer essentially has to be able to show that the property is worth at least the sell price – this is done primarily based on comparitive sales figures. So……..if someone was to buy a house that supposedly was worth say $400k (it may have even had an 'independant valuation' done prior to confirm this) but the vendor was desperate, and sold it for $350k privately, if the house you were looking at is identical, but perhaps not quite as nice (say 'value' of $375k 'in theory') the valuer would see the other house as only being 'worth' $350k, because that is all it sold for, meaning your new '$375k house' will not be worth that much if comparing with the sold one. It can be a bit dissapointing sometimes, but in a down market, or where some houses have been bought well or sold cheaper, this unfortunately can often be the result. Generally 3 or 4 comoparitive sales are what is used, to 'even things out a bit'. Clear as mud? Cheers.

There have been quite a few posts on Margaret Lomas , including a recent one on her company/buisness 'Destiny Financial Solutions'. Do a search and you will find some more info – a lot of varied opinions of course as you get, but certainly advocates property (moreso CF+) as a way to successfully having 'growth assets & building wealth.
Her books and stategies do indeed present well.

All the best.

HI. Yes, I believe none at all. If you have an abn and can show you are running the whole portfolio as a business it may be different. Even on that though the ATO website has incidents of cases where people have 'tried and lost'.  You can probably appreciate / understand, that if you were claiming gst on expenses, you would also be paying it on income too.
Cheers.

We generally allow pets in our propertys – as we too have a dog and have had issues renting in the past. We specify that we dont want them inside (dogs) , and that no Jack russels and yap yap dogs purely as a courtesy for the neighbors – but other than that I think you are more likely to get an 'average/normal' type tennant, either as a family or older single/couple that will hopefully be more inclined to really feel 'at home'.
Just my thoughts…..*** While I think of it, we once rented a place ourselves, and simply made the suggestion we would be happy to pay an additional bond. We did, with the only conditions being we had to get the yard and house sprayed etc after vacating (even though our boy is an outside dog only) . No drama at all – and the next guy put up a nice fence for our dog to keep him in as a result of the good 'feedback' from the last property manager.  (Also because we are nice and he was frightened of the dog perhaps? )

Nope. Prices are not really much less in Taswegia now than the 'mainland'. Growth is 'steady' – what else do you need I reckon. I think you will find some of the problem is not much sales data has really been available for Tassie, making it hard to know what really is going on over there.  .A lot of the guys like rp data (could have changed since I last looked) don't do tassie post codes I notice. It was great when API magazine started including Tassie in the house and unit price date every few months.Last months had one.  One of the few places you can get the info. The REIT has a bit of guff 'for sale' but it is very generalised.
All the best.
Cheers