BKH, I'm not really sure what happens to ACT properties after 99 years.
If you were buying in Gungahlin, I'm sure it would not be an issue there.
I seem to remember something vague about the issue coming up in Yarralumla- properties which only had 30 years to go. My vague memory is that the 30 year lease was being renewed. But that was a long time and many schooners ago.
The stamp duty on an investment property is claimable in the first year. That's the plus.
But the minus is that, for a rental property, land tax is payable, no matter if that's the only property you own in the ACT.
I just received my land tax and rates notices yesterday.
The Unimproved land tax has gone up 30%- expected in this climate I guess.
Land tax is based on the new value (or the last 12 months, or something). But rates are based on the average value for the last 3 years. So in a rapidly climbing market as we've had, land tax is a big hike as compared with rates.
I have friends who buy a property in the ACT to live in. But they rent it out for 12 months to claim back the stamp duty deduction, and move in after that.