Jointly owned property - partial buyout?

I'm hoping to tap into the wealth of experience of the members here to examine a bit of a problem I have.

Seven years ago I bought a 3 bed, 2 bath, 800m2 property in Altona (Melbourne) with my brother as tenants in common. Now he lives in Brisbane and wants to buy a PPOR there so he also wants to sell our Altona property to help fund it.

I think that Altona still has good prospects and would like to hold on to it but after talking to my broker I can't borrow enough to wholly buy out his share based on the current value (estimated at $1.2m). The current loan balance on it is $400k.

Has anyone ever been in a similar situation? Perhaps I could try a partial buyout so that he can get some cash for his new property and I can increase my holding in the Altona one. Are ownership percentages noted on the title at all or if there are two names is it automatically assumed to be 50/50?

I was also considering purchasing another investment property in Werribee or Hoppers Crossing as I think it's got growth potential, but to do so i'd need to sell Altona. This would also provide some leftover funds do some other things i've been waiting to do (e.g. renovations, new car, get married).

Overall I have a few main questions:
1) Is a partial buyout of the Altona property really feasible from practical perspective?
2) Would there be any complications with stamp duty or capital gains tax?
3) Do you think it's better to hold the Altona property or sell and purchase in Werribee/Hoppers Crossing?

Thanks for any advice.

 

1. Yes possible. But his serviceability may not change.
You could possibly buy out the remaining portion at some future date though and do a partial now to give him some cash.
2. No, just the normal CGT and stamp duty would apply.


4. Yes ownership % are noted on title