Renting where you want to live and buying where the numbers work is a legitimate strategy.
Rentvesting means renting where you want to live and buying an investment property where the numbers work. Yes, but it is assessed and taxed as an investment, not a home. Buying an investment first can rule them out later.
Lenders count around 80 per cent of the rent and your own rent as a living cost, and the NSW stamp duty exemption, the First Home Owner Grant and the 5% Deposit Scheme need you to live in the property.
Part of the investment property loans guide.
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Book my free callWill the rent cover it?
The first question every Sydney investor asks, repayments against rental income, the way a lender sees it.
A gap isn’t a dealbreaker, negative gearing, interest-only periods and offset structure change the cash-flow picture. That’s the conversation.
Estimates only, rates, vacancy, costs and tax change the real picture. Not credit or tax advice.
Confirm your numbers.
Charles and the team recently assisted me with the refinance of my investment property.
As a first home buyer, I was pretty overwhelmed at the start, but Charles made everything much easier. He explained the process step by step and helped me understand my borrowing options. His professionalism and responsiveness were excellent.
Charles Touma from Links Property Finance was a great help with buying my first home. I had plenty of questions and he took the time to explain things clearly without making me feel rushed. He kept me updated throughout and made the process much less stressful. Really appreciated his patience and would happily recommend him to other first home buyers.
Charles Touma, Mortgage Broker.
When your preferred suburb is years out of reach and a different market is not. When your work or life requires you to be somewhere you cannot afford to buy. In each case the strategy is solving a real problem rather than being clever.
When you want to be in the market while you decide where you want to live permanently.
You are a landlord, with the obligations, vacancies and maintenance that involves. You are exposed to a market you may not know well, which is why buying somewhere purely because it is cheap rarely ends well. And you are giving up benefits designed for owner-occupiers.
None of that makes it wrong; it makes it a decision that deserves the full arithmetic, including tax, which is your accountant's territory.
Four differences from buying a home to live in.
It depends on the specific benefit and on your circumstances. Stamp duty concessions and the guarantee scheme generally require you to live in the property, so buying an investment first commonly means forgoing them, and it can affect your status for later purchases. The rules are specific enough that this should be checked properly rather than assumed.
Yes, as an ongoing living expense, which is the part most rentvestors underestimate. You are being assessed on carrying a mortgage and paying rent simultaneously, with the expected rental income discounted. That combination is why rentvesting borrowing figures are often lower than people expect.
Generally yes, both in rate and sometimes in deposit requirement. The gap varies between lenders and over time. It is one of several reasons the arithmetic should be run properly rather than on the assumption that a cheaper suburb automatically makes the numbers work.
It depends on how far your preferred suburb is out of reach, what waiting costs you in rent, and whether you are comfortable owning a home you do not live in. There is no general answer, but the arithmetic is worth doing before you commit either way.
Investment property carries deductions, capital gains consequences and sometimes land tax, none of which are lending questions. They can materially change whether rentvesting works for you, and they belong with your accountant rather than your broker.
Rentvesting means buying as an investor first, so our investment loan FAQ is worth a read for the questions that come with that.
Charles can run both paths on your numbers, including what you would give up on the schemes.
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General information only, not credit or financial advice. Professional lending policies, eligible occupations and loan-to-value thresholds vary by lender and change over time. Eligibility is confirmed against current lender policy in an assessment; nothing on this page is a promise that any lender will approve any application.
Official sources for the figures on this page: Revenue NSW, First Home Buyers Assistance Scheme · Housing Australia, 5% Deposit Scheme · Revenue NSW, First Home Owner (New Homes) Grant · Housing Australia, Help to Buy. Scheme rules change; the official pages are the final word. Checked against these sources on 12 October 2026.
