Free Guide • SMSF Property Strategy

What it actually takes to hold property inside your own super fund

A self-managed super fund can own an investment property. Whether it should is a different question - and it depends on your balance, your timeframe and how much responsibility you want to carry. The free guide walks through both sides, sent straight to your phone.

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The idea

Your super, holding a real asset you can point at

Most people's super sits in a pooled fund they never look at. A self-managed super fund puts you in the trustee's seat: you decide what the fund holds, and one of the things it can hold is residential or commercial property, borrowing part of the purchase price under a limited recourse arrangement.

That is the appeal. The guide is mostly about what sits underneath it - because an SMSF is a legal structure with real obligations, not a product you sign up for.

Be clear-eyed

What running your own fund actually involves

This is the part most SMSF marketing skips. We would rather you read it before you fill in the form than after.

You are the trustee. The legal responsibility for the fund's decisions and compliance is yours, not your accountant's.
It has to have a documented investment strategy, and the fund's holdings have to match it.
Annual audit and reporting are compulsory, every year, whether or not anything happened.

Running costs are largely fixed, so they bite hardest on smaller balances.
A single property is a concentrated position. One asset, one tenant, one market.
Liquidity matters. The fund still has to meet its outgoings, and you cannot sell a bedroom.

Who it can suit

It tends to work best when

There is enough in super, often across a couple, to carry the costs comfortably.
Retirement is far enough away to ride out a property cycle.
You want a say in what your super owns, and you will actually use it.
You are comfortable with paperwork, deadlines and being accountable for them.

Who it does not

It is usually the wrong tool when

The balance is small enough that fixed costs eat the return.
Retirement is close and the fund would need to sell to pay a pension.
You want it hands-off. This is the opposite of hands-off.
The plan only works if everything goes right.

What's inside

The guide, in plain English

The structure

How the pieces fit

The fund, the trustee, the holding trust and the loan - what each one is for and why the arrangement is shaped the way it is.

The numbers

What it costs to run

The costs that recur whether or not the property performs, and how to work out the balance at which they stop making sense.

The obligations

What you sign up for

Your duties as trustee, the annual cycle, and the questions worth asking a licensed adviser before you commit to anything.

Your next step

Read it first. Then talk to someone.

Get the guide, take your time with it, and if it still looks like a fit we will sit down and run your actual numbers - free, and with no obligation. If it is not a fit, we will say so.

Text me the guide Book a free strategy session

This is general information, not advice. An SMSF property strategy is complex and is not right for everyone. Establishing and running a self-managed super fund carries legal, tax and reporting obligations that sit with you as trustee, and the rules governing super and property change over time. Nothing on this page or in the guide takes your objectives, financial situation or needs into account, and Freedom Strategy Management is not providing personal financial, tax or legal advice here - obtain licensed advice before acting.