Advice regarding another purchase

Hello, I'm after some advice. I've been living with my long term partner (not paying much in living costs) and last year bought a house in North Brisbane as an IP. I put a 25% deposit down on a 580k house (excluding 22k purchasing costs). In hindsite I should have borrowed more but I was nervous about taking on to much debt and kind of rushed to get into the market so probably didn't have all the info. I have good tenants and the rent pretty much covers the mortgage (P and I repayments on a 5yr fixed loan). I have made approx 100k equity since buying. Unfortunately my relationship has broken down and so now I need to decide if I move into the house (it's a bit further out than I'd like to live but i would if it financially made sense and whilst the repayments would be at my upper limit I can afford them and may consider finding a flatmate) or whether I buy a unit or cheaper townhouse closer to the city using the equity to make my PPR (probably can purchase up to 500k using equity plus I have some more cash savings of about 30k if needed). My only worry is the current IP will continue to have good growth and my GCT will be high once I sell and the unit or townhouse might not grow as well. (Would this scenario still beat renting though?) Eventually I'd like to purchase a house with land to live in closer to the city but for now i know I missed the boat on that (tough lesson!) so it might be a while yet. Thanks is advance!

 

As a long term partner, you are legally entitled to a property settlement.

Suggest good legal advice.