How one couple turned a single investment into a $3m property empire

A young couple who feared they had been priced out of Brisbane’s booming housing market has instead built a property portfolio worth almost $3m, while continuing to rent the home they live in.

Jess and Daniel Field, both 32, have used an extraordinary $440,000 equity gain from their first Brisbane investment property to fund two more home builds — bucking the narrative that younger Australians are giving up on property investment.

The parents of two moved from Melbourne to Brisbane in 2023 and initially rented while deciding whether Queensland would become their permanent home.

Jess and Daniel Field are continuing to invest in property despite changes to negative gearing.

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But while they waited, Brisbane property prices surged and the type of family home they wanted became increasingly difficult to afford.

“We were going to be downgrading back to the size of our first property, but paying at the higher end of our budget,” Ms Field said.

“That wasn’t what we wanted to do. We thought having an asset was better than not having an asset.”

Instead, they decided to employ the services of Propell Property to buy a house-and-land investment in White Rock for $744,500, and become rentvestors.

The four-bedroom, two-bathroom home was completed late last year and has been leased for $650 a week from January.

By May, it had been valued at $1.183m — almost $440,000 more than the couple paid.

They have since tapped that equity to buy two more house-and-land investments — one in Flagstone, south of Brisbane, for $918,083 and another at Nambucca Heads on the NSW Mid North Coast for $843,000.

Together, the three properties have a combined purchase value of about $2.5m and are expected to be worth close to $3m once the latest builds are completed.

Michael Pell from Propell Property.

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The strategy comes ahead of sweeping tax changes from 2027 that will prevent mum-and-dad investors who buy established properties from using rental losses to reduce tax on other income, while newly built homes will remain exempt.

Ms Field said that distinction helped influence the couple’s decision to continue buying new properties.

“That’s why we also did it this time around,” she said. “We knew building still wouldn’t affect us too much because (the changes) are only coming onto established properties.”

Propell managing director Michael Pell said the changes could make new housing increasingly attractive to younger investors.

“There’s a misconception that recent policy changes have killed rentvesting, but that’s simply not true,” Mr Pell said.

“New builds continue to receive full negative-gearing and CGT benefits.”

The Fields, who have two children, aged five and seven, still intend to buy a home of their own — but are prepared to wait rather than compromise on what they wanted.

“We do have goals for what we want,” Ms Field said. “We’re just trying to build our wealth so we don’t have to borrow as much for our dream property and don’t have to compromise.”