Good investment strategy?

Hi Folks,

I'm new to these forums but have learned a ton in the short time I've been reading. I've been a homeowner for the last 6 years now. I bought my first property in 2001, which has since grown in value by at least $120,000. Being young and naieve, at some point around a year after purchase I decided to access some of my equity (about $30,000) for a few reno's, debt reduction, holiday etc. Since then, I've put almost the entire amount back into the mortgage as advance payments and, save for the interest hit I took, am wiser as to how the whole mortgage thing works.

6 months ago I moved to Melbourne and purchased a new property. This is my PPOR, and my existing house is an IP that I am about to start renting (there were some issues moving out, hence the downtime).

I want to be as smart as I can about this investment, however I have limited knowledge of property investment. I feel that I'd like to invest in the area of Melbourne that I've moved to (Point Cook) as I can see a lot of expansion occuring and I feel there's some room for appreciation. My existing property is now well and truly CF+ due to the difference between my existing mortgage payments and the rent in this area.

Would it be particularly smart for me to find a higher valued property in Melbourne to purchase using the existing equity I have in my IP, plus some extra cash that I will need to save (and possibly a 100% mortgage, depending on finances) as a negatively geared IP? I don't mind contributing an amount of my pay to the mortgage each month and I am aware that the rents here do not cover mortgage repayments, but I feel fairly confident of the appreciation in the area. This way, I'd cover the tax on the principal payments for my current IP at the cost of having some ongoing expenses, which is a godsend for me as I'm not yet all that prudent with finances and I'll find it a LOT easier to make the regular repayments then to deal with a potentially large tax bill at the end of the FY.

Also, related to this question – If I was to buy into an area with body corp. rates, would these be tax deductable for the property?

Thanks!