How to Live the Rentvestor Dream

How one family made lifestyle a priority, and still reaped the benefits from their investment property.

The Chia family aren’t your typical rentvestors, but that hasn’t stopped them from reaping the benefits of this new real estate trend. Rentvesting is a popular property investment strategy, especially with first-home buyers looking to enter the real estate market. As a first-home buyer investment, rentvesting makes sense, as it enables them to buy without having to compromise on their lifestyle, while also opening up tax benefits.

But rentvesting can also be a useful strategy for people who already own. For the Chias, who now rent an apartment in Bondi and have let out their family home in South Coogee, “It just made more sense, less stress,” says David Chia. The Chias downsized from a four-bedroom house to a three-bedroom rental apartment at The Moreton in 2017. David wanted to be closer to the kids’ schools and the city and enjoy the Bondi lifestyle. But he didn’t want to saddle the family with a huge mortgage and be tied down if their circumstances change.

“The property price on a three-bedroom unit in Bondi is probably about $2.5 million,” David says. Add to that around $100,000 in stamp duty and “that’s a lot of money”.

For David, rentvesting allows him to add to his portfolio without taking on too much debt and enjoy the tax deprecation benefits that only apply to new builds.