Let me tell you the story of one of my clients — let’s call her Cathy.
Cathy wanted to buy a property, but she was also very realistic. With her budget, she knew that buying a home she’d genuinely enjoy living in wasn’t going to be easy — especially if she wanted to stay in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, where prices are simply out of reach for most people in their early 30s.
So instead of forcing a compromise that didn’t sit right, she made a smart call: invest first, grow her position, and keep her lifestyle. She chose the rentvesting strategy.
With a demanding, client-facing role, Cathy had very limited time to inspect properties — mostly weekends only. She spent four months dedicating her Saturdays looking around the eastern suburbs, but too often prices weren’t disclosed or were heavily underquoted. The process was exhausting. She was chasing growth but only got buyer's fatigue.
Seing her struggling, someone mentioned my name to Cathy— and that’s how we started working together.
Cathy’s brief was clear: growth -- on a very tight budget, too tight for the Sydney market.
The thing is: Cathy is a very intelligent lady, with a growth mindset and logical thinking.
Based on her brief, her budget, her risk appetite, etc I shortlisted a few locations that I thought would work well for her. I walked her through the data, she absorbed the information and understood them.
Cathy secured a property in a regional market with genuine growth fundamentals (backed by several industries, economic development drivers, social growth, positive outlook etc) returning a 4.8% yield immediately — a strong enough yield that she wouldn’t be living on instant noodles for years.
It's been three months, and that property has already increased in value.
Cathy is on track to generate enough equity to go again and purchase her second property within the next 24 months.
By choosing to rentvest, she is giving herself a chance to someday buy a home in an area she wants to live in.
And this is the reality for many first-home buyers today:
they buy investment properties first, with the hope of one day being able to buy back into an area they actually want to live in. This trend contributes to why we’re seeing investment loans outpace owner-occupier loans.
If buying a home to live in didn’t mean leaving family, friends, and communities behind because property prices are too high, perhaps fewer people would need to start their property journey investing in regional markets.
PS: yes this image has been generated by AI to illustrate my real story.