While plenty of investors are nervously reading the fine print on the federal budget, Kacey and Lene Inu are relatively relaxed. Not because they've gambled, because of what they bought.
Two years ago, the Everton Hills couple were servicing a home loan with four kids in tow and no real plan. As Kacey puts it, they were living week to week, spending everything they earned and paying the bare minimum off the mortgage.
The structure that changed things
Working with financial firm Infinity, they bought four investment properties in two years, every one of them a new build still under construction, with one held inside a self-managed super fund.
Underpinning it all was something less glamorous: a budget that hasn't moved in two years. Kacey credits it entirely. Stick to a plan, she says, and you quickly see how much money you were quietly wasting without one.
Why "new" matters right now
The upcoming CGT changes, due from July 2027, bite hardest on properties whose prices have outpaced inflation. PropTrack modelling found a New Farm investor selling after 35 years could face roughly $644,000 extra in capital gains tax under the new system.
New builds, though, keep access to negative gearing, sidestepping restrictions aimed at established stock. And the SMSF-held property sits under a separate set of rules the budget left alone.
The catch nobody's talking about
Infinity strategist Rachael Howlett flags the obvious wrinkle: new builds don't stay new. Eventually they're established homes, and the next buyer will think twice.
Her advice for newer investors is blunt, run the numbers harder, and choose your adviser carefully. Not all of them, she says, are created equal.