Rentvesting vs Selling and buying new

I own a 4 bedder house in Brisbane worth 1.3m with $680k mortgage and $120k in offset. It generates $840 pw in rental income, and expenses include management fees of 7% plus approximately $400 per month for insurance, council rates, water, and maintenance.

The house is not located where I want to live (Toowong area), so I am considering two options:

  1. Sell the house. After selling costs and tax, I would have net proceeds of about $500k. I would then buy a 2-bedroom apartment for approximately $900k or 2 or 3 bedroom townhouses in St Lucia or surrounding areas for 1 or 1.1 mil+
  2. Rent in Toowong. Expected rent and associated costs would be $700+ per week. This would be partially offset by the rental income I receive from my current property.

Financially speaking, is this a good move? I am considering the selling (over 70k) and buying costs (over 30k), negative gearing tax benefits, future growth prospects, and anything else I may have missed. I live alone with yearly income of 144k.

Posted Feb 19, 2026, 9:59 PM UTC

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