Initial Help – FHOG & partnering with Friends

Hi All,

Thanks everyone in advance – this site (+ books) have proven to be a godsend in uncluttering things so far!

(Quick background -> 4 friends looking to invest in property together. All put in an upfront bulk deposit and then committing to monthly additional cash input – we figure that we can build the portfolio much quicker as a group than as individuals?!).

So, I’m pretty new to all this and would appreciate some direction on a couple of issues.

As said, myself + 3 friends are looking into PI and in doing some initial research it has been difficult to work out the answers to a few questions.

1. What is the best set-up if four friends are interested into partnering for property investment?
– Trust/partnership/Company/other?

It seems that the discretionary/unit Trust is the way to go – is this true?

2. How would this approach affect any single person within the group in being able to then qualify for the FHOG separately?
– Would we all be immediately ineligable for the Grant?
– Is there a way of setting things up so that we are still eligable?

3. Some-one (apologies I forget who now) seemed pretty strong on advising against what we’re thinking of doing – i.e. going into PI with a group of friends?
– What are other peoples opinions?
– Main concerns?

4. How does money lending/loan set-up work for a trust/partnership – is everyone individually responsible for securing a loan, or can a trust get a mortgage?
– What are the provisos for this (on an individual level in terms of approval)?

– Any basic questions/advice that anyone can think of that we should definnitely not leave unanswered?

OK – I feel I’ve overloaded this already, so look forward to some feedback and ‘after’ that it might be a better time to ask more questions!

Thanks everyone in advance (again)

Cheers, John