Purchasing Property in your SMSF – A Timeline

Sep 9, 2015 | Accounting, Investment, Self Managed Super Funds

property

Having received all the appropriate advice (from your friendly financial planner here at Silvan Ridge) you have decided to establish your own Self Managed Super Fund (SMSF) to purchase a property.  You have found the perfect property and wish to get everything underway.  How long is it going to take and what is involved.

Having been involved many times in assisting clients purchasing a property in their SMSF, the main factor to be aware of is the timeframe involved.  Nine times out of ten, it will take a lot longer than what you would expect.  Below is an outline of what is involved and the estimated time frame involved.  This is based on establishing a new SMSF and rolling over existing superannuation.  It is also assuming that the appropriate advice has been sought and given.

  1. Establishment of SMSF – 1-5 days for establishment of the fund, including signing all the appropriate documents.
  2. Application for ABN and TFN – According to the ATO website you should allow up to 28 days for the ATO to issue a new ABN
  3. Rollover of existing funds from current Super fund to new SMSF – 5-14 days.  From experience you need to allow up to two weeks from the date the ABN is issued.  Funds will not transfer money until the new SMSF has an ABN and the appropriate documentation to confirm it is a complying superannuation fund.
  4. Establishment of a Bare Trust – 1-5 days.  The Bare Trust is the legal documentation that allows the fund to borrow to purchase the property.
  5. Apply for loan from a bank or lending institute – 10-30 days.  Given the nature of the investment this could take anywhere up to 30 days, depending on the bank and their experience in lending to an SMSF

From the numbers above you can see that it could take up to 82 days from the day you decide to set-up an SMSF until the loan has been approved for the purchase of the property.  This is probably worst case scenario, but needs to be taken into account when deciding to purchase a property within a SMSF.

For more information please contact one of our SMSF experts on admin@silvanridge.com.au