Hi @Lishy
If you are an Australian resident, generally your main residence is exempt for capital gains. If you then move out of the property, you can continue to treat it as your main residence as long as you do not have any other main residence. If the property is used to produce income, you can continue to claim the main residence exemption on the property for up to six years. You cannot make this choice before the property becomes your main residence.
This means if you purchase a property which is tenanted, you will be liable for capital gains on the time from the contract to acquire the property until you move in to the property. There are no exemptions for this. If you wish to avoid being liable for capital gains on the property, you will need to look at properties that will not be tenanted when they become yours for CGT purposes. For property, the CGT event is the contract for disposal/acquisition, not the settlement date. Keep this in mind when negotiating.
You can read about treating a dwelling as your main residence after you move out on our website.
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