For an established investment property the deposit requirement is meaningfully higher than for an owner-occupied home, set by the Reserve Bank and varied by lender appetite. New Builds sit under different rules. The current numbers move, so the right answer for you depends on what’s in force when you apply and which lender we go to.

This is one of the first things I check in our initial conversation. I’d rather give you a current accurate number for your situation than quote a figure on a website that might be out of date by next quarter.

Often, yes. If your home has gone up in value or you’ve paid down a chunk of the loan, you may have usable equity to release as a deposit on an investment. The mechanics depend on your lender, your servicing capacity, and what the property is worth.

The conversation usually starts with a current valuation estimate and a look at your existing loan structure. From there we can model what’s available to release and what an investment purchase would actually look like.

Depends on your strategy, your tax position, and your timeframe. Interest-only keeps cashflow higher and may suit certain tax treatments, but you’re not paying down debt. Principal-and-interest builds equity faster but pulls more cash from your monthly position.

This is a question I always work through with the client (and often their accountant) before recommending a structure. There’s no universal right answer.

Debt-to-income rules are part of the lender environment now, with specific thresholds that vary by lender and property type. Combined with the servicing test (how lenders assess whether you can afford repayments at a stress-test rate), they shape what you can actually borrow, not just what you’d like to borrow.

Two lenders applying the same rules to the same applicant can reach different answers because of how they treat rental income, existing debts, and stress-test rates. This is exactly where having access to 25+ lenders matters.

Interest deductibility settings for residential investment property have changed multiple times in recent years. The current position is what’s in force at the time you ask, and it directly affects the after-tax economics of an investment loan.

I’m not your accountant (you’ll want to involve one for tax positioning), but I do keep current on the settings because they affect the loan structure I recommend. Talk to me first, then we loop in your accountant for the tax-specific work.

Depends on your residency status, your visa class, and the type of property. Some classes of buyer are restricted under the Overseas Investment Act. Some lenders won’t lend to non-residents at all. Some specialise in it.

Worth a conversation early to confirm what’s actually possible before you fall in love with a property. The eligibility question is the first one to settle.

The honest answer is: as many as your servicing capacity supports under the rules in place at the time. There’s no hard cap, but lenders apply tighter criteria as your portfolio grows. Some lenders cap their own exposure to any one applicant.

Strategic structuring (which lender holds which loans, how cashflow is presented, how rental income is documented) makes a real difference at the third, fourth, fifth property. This is where the work upfront pays off years later.