Hi, we invest in property and currently have 2 investment properties plus our own residence. What we did was wait until we had reasonable equity in our first home and then borrowed against it to buy the 2nd house and then did the same with the 3rd house. The thing you need to watch out for being a SAHM is that if the loans/investment properties are in both names then even though your not employed you still need to declare your income to Centrelink & the ATO. You need to include any interest you receive from the bank and 50% of the rental income. This amount then affects what FTB A & B you receive. Currently with both our investment properties I only receive $21 a fortnight which includes both FTB A & B so you need to make sure that you can still afford on one wage your own mortgage costs as well as those of the investment property plus the extra additional loan costs and then you have the management/maitenance costs of the rental and then your usual bills and shopping etc.

We got a financial advisor and have our tax done by an account who specialises in property investments. We are currently in the process of changing over our investment properties to just being in hubby's name as with no wage the deductions that I claim are pointless but if hubby claims the whole 100% then it lowers his taxable income down so that we can still claim a small amount of FTB A & B from Centrelink & we don't have to pay as much tax. It's well worth spending the money on a financial advisor who can advise what is the best way to go for your current situation and also explain whether it's better to positive or negative gear for your current circumstances. I also find the property magazines a great source of info for tax implications & rental laws in different states and if you get a subscription it can be claimed as a tax deduction if you do own an investment property.