Hi Guys,
I am planning to move into a unit I bought a year ago. It was rented out last year. My understanding is that this makes it an investment property. I learned that I need to do a property valuation before moving in and claiming it as my principal residence. I was just wondering if there are criteria on who can do the valuation? Does a free real estate appraisal qualify, or does it have to be someone recognised by ATO?
Thanks.
No - valuation is for date first rented if it was your main residence initially.
In this case, cost base and date is from original buy - but there will be a pro-rata main residence exemption.
No - valuation is for date first rented if it was your main residence initially.
In this case, cost base and date is from original buy - but there will be a pro-rata main residence exemption.
Hi @Facai,
As at Bruce4Tax advised, you need to establish main residence in your property first to use the home first used to produce income rule. As you've used it to produce assessable income from when you first bought it, your cost base is purchase price. So you won't need a valuation done now.
When you sell or dispose of it, you can apply a partial exemption for the time it was your main residence.
15 Apr 2026 · 4 min read time
15 Apr 2026 · 8 min read time
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