Hello,
My girlfriend has been offered the opportunity to buy her parents property for $405,000 which she is going to go ahead with. I have a couple of questions as I am unsure of the legalities. She is going to go to an accountant but she hoped that she may get some useful advice here also. We both could buy the property and have our names on the title but by doing that we both then lose out on the first home owners grant which I understand you can use when you build (as long as its your first property). Therefore she is going to buy it on her own but I will help her with saving for the deposit required. Is it legal for her to have the property title in her name only and then draw up a contract by a solicitor completely separate which basically indicates that the property is split 50 50 between us, costs profit etc etc. Then the next property would be a build using the First home owners grant and in my name only with again a separate contract between me and her in the background. Ethically it doesn’t seem right to me, but if it is legal then that is what we plan to do.
The next issue at hand. We are both being relocated mid october to central australia. We currently rent on an informal basis (no lease) her parents investment property and when we leave for work there, her parents are planning on moving new tenants in until we are ready to buy. Is there a way that she can buy the property and have it as owner occupied as it would be her home but she is working away? Would she need the property to be vacant upon purchase and then get tenants? My knowledge is restricted to – if you have a property owner occupied and are then relocated due to work you can keep the property as owner occupied with tenants in for up to 6 years. The difference here is that she will already be working away at the time of purchase. The reason for wanting it to be owner occupied is that it is of our understanding that the interest rate will be lower, plus with it being a favourable purchase there should be alot of equity in the property in a couple of years and we do not wish to lose out on the capital gains tax.
If you could advise that would be great. Thanks for your time.
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