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Frequently Asked Questions
If you decide to turn your home into an investment property – for example, because you upgraded to a new home or moved overseas – you’ll need to refinance and take out an investment loan instead.
While refinancing does have attached costs, like discharge fees, you might even save money by securing a lower interest rate (especially if you’ve accrued equity since you first took out your home loan).
A negatively geared asset has expenses (including interest expenses) that are greater than the income it produces. Negative gearing allows you to deduct the loss produced by the asset from other forms of income, which can help reduce your taxable income.
For example, if you had a mortgage on an investment property that costs you $600 a week to manage and maintain, but only produces $500 a week in income, that property would be negatively geared by $5,200 per year. You could then deduct $5,200 from your taxable income.
Negative gearing is generally most effective if you anticipate capital gains on your property when you sell. High appreciation (an increase in the asset’s value) can make the losses incurred through negative gearing worth it.
Generally, you’ll need a deposit equal to 20% of a property’s value (80% LVR) to take out an investment loan. While you can take out investment loans with a smaller deposit, your lender may require that you pay lender’s mortgage insurance (LMI).
Lender’s mortgage insurance (LMI) is insurance taken out by your lender to cover them if you are unable to pay back your loan. LMI is insurance for the lender, not you, but you’ll normally be charged a one-off LMI fee if your lender requires that LMI be taken out.
LMI is generally only required if there is a higher-than-usual risk of default. Typically, loans with an LVR above 80% will require LMI.
Loan-to-value ratio is the value of your property loan compared to the value of the property itself (as assessed by your lender). It’s expressed as a percentage and is often used during loan applications. The lower your LVR, the more likely you are to get financing.
For example, if your lender assessed an investment property as being worth $800,000, and you had a deposit of $150,000, you’d need to borrow $650,000 to purchase the property.
In that case, you could calculate your LVR by dividing $650,000 by $800,000, then multiplying the result (0.8125) by 100, which gives you 81.25%.
Generally, an LVR below 80% is desirable. If your LVR is over 80%, lenders view your risk as being higher; you may be required to take out LMI and face higher interest rates and less favourable loan conditions.
Yes, you can leverage usable equity in your owner-occupied home to buy an investment property. If you’ve been rentvesting, for example, you might use accrued equity in your investment property to help purchase a house; alternatively, you might already own both a home and an investment property, and be interested in using equity to keep building your portfolio.
Rentvesting (‘renting’ + ‘investing’) is an investment strategy that involves purchasing an investment property while continuing to live in a rental property.
Rentvesting can be a useful strategy because it allows you to do things like:
- buy more expensive properties (because your tenants will be servicing the loan, not you)
- buy in areas that are projected to appreciate strongly (rather than only buying where you want/need to live)
- make tax-deductible property improvements.
You can find out more about rentvesting with our guide for first-time investors.
While refinancing an existing home loan to buy an investment property is a valid investment strategy, it isn’t always the right decision. Before refinancing, you should seek personalised financial advice from your mortgage broker. If your mortgage broker advises that refinancing is a suitable approach for you, you’ll generally need more than 20% equity in your current home to use it as a deposit on a new property (unless you want to pay LMI). Other considerations include:
- Refinancing comes with its own costs. Make sure the potential benefits outweigh any expenses.
- Make sure you can actually afford to pay back two property loans. You need to calculate the costs associated with maintaining and managing an investment property, whether it’s negatively or positively geared, and whether you can get tenants.
- Unlocking equity is important. If possible, try to invest in properties that are likely to appreciate (go up in price) over time, as this will help you unlock more equity.
Always talk to your broker or another qualified financial professional before making any decisions.
Loan-to-value ratio is the value of your property loan compared to the value of the property itself (as assessed by your lender). It’s expressed as a percentage and is often used during loan applications. The lower your LVR, the more likely you are to get financing.
For example, if your lender assessed an investment property as being worth $800,000, and you had a deposit of $150,000, you’d need to borrow $650,000 to purchase the property.
In that case, you could calculate your LVR by dividing $650,000 by $800,000, then multiplying the result (0.8125) by 100, which gives you 81.25%.
Generally, an LVR below 80% is desirable. If your LVR is over 80%, lenders view your risk as being higher; you may be required to take out LMI and face higher interest rates and less favourable loan conditions.