The largest sector in the steadily growing superannuation industry of Australia is Self-managed super funds (SMSF). This trend is likely to grow stronger with close to 30,000 SMSFs being set up per year in Australia.

So what has changed? While people have since forever been able to buy properties through SMSFs, the major take away now, and perhaps the key difference is that SMSFs can now also borrow money to function. This opens up the field for a wider audience, because more people are now able to invest in properties than before.

While only buying a property by the means of SMSF should not really be the only reason why people actually choose to set up an SMSF, it certainly is a much better option for the people who want a better control over their super fund.

These are the things you need to keep in consideration, it is important to keep in mind that you have a proper strategy:
1. What are the advantages of an SMSF?
2. What is the SMSF not right for?
3. Enough expertise, time and money
4. How much can you actually borrow?
5. Most importantly, how much money do you actually need to start?

Basically for an SMSF to turn out as an efficient cost-effective option one should have $200,000 minimum as their super savings. This is because under $200,000 the dues on any retail, corporate super fund or any industry turn out to be cheaper.
Banks normally permit around 70-80% of the total value of the property to be present as an SMSF but it is advisable to have 50% possession on your own.

The biggest benefit that you have on an SMSF is that your fund pays off a maximum of 15% tax on the rent that it receives in the form of property. On properties that you want to hold on too for longer than 1 year, you receive a 33.3% discount on any sort of capital gain that the bond makes on sale, this brings down the tax liability of the bond from 10% to 3%.