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Refinancing an SMSF loan takes a lot longer than refinancing a traditional loan and can take between four and six weeks from application to settlement. This is because SMSF lending is a highly specialised area of lending which requires a lot more documentation than a regular home loan.
According to the ATO, a trustee can use a limited recourse borrowing arrangement (LRBA) to fund the purchase of a single asset (or a collection of identical assets that have the same market value) to be held in a separate trust. Any investment returns that are earned from the asset then have to go to the SMSF trustee. If the loan defaults, the lender's rights are limited to the asset held in the separate trust, which means there is no recourse to the other assets held in the SMSF.
If you purchase residential property through your SMSF while you are working, you can only rent it out as an investment property, provided it is not rented out to any member of your SMSF fund or a relative of a member of the fund. This situation changes when you retire only if the property is transferred to you, meaning it is no longer owned by your SMSF.