Your property might be hiding your next one.
Most investors buy their second property with equity, not savings. Change the two numbers and the figures move as you type. Then the connected LINK team turns roughly into exactly.
A recent appraisal, a comparable sale down the street, or your best honest guess.
The current loan balance, not the original amount borrowed.
How the maths works
- Usable equity is 80% of the property's value minus the loan balance. Lenders will generally release equity down to 80% without mortgage insurance.
- The next purchase figure treats that equity as a 20% deposit plus costs, so it multiplies by four.
- Neither number knows your income, and income is what a lender actually assesses. That's the conversation LINK Advance has with you.
Usable equity (indicative)
$270,000
80% of $900,000 is $720,000. Take off the $450,000 still owing and that's what's left to work with.
Could put you in the market for
$1,080,000
Using that equity as a 20% deposit plus costs. Your income and your lender set the real number, and LINK Advance confirms it properly.
Indicative only and not financial advice. Figures use rules of thumb, not your circumstances. Speak to LINK Advance for actual borrowing power, and to your adviser before acting.
Usable equity, by property value and loan balance.
Every figure below comes out of the same function the calculator above runs: 80% of the property's value, minus what is still owed. Where the loan is already above 80% of the value there is nothing to release, which is why some cells read as nothing usable.
| Property value | $200,000 owing | $400,000 owing | $600,000 owing | $800,000 owing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $700,000 | $360,000 | $160,000 | Nothing usable | Nothing usable |
| $850,000 | $480,000 | $280,000 | $80,000 | Nothing usable |
| $1,000,000 | $600,000 | $400,000 | $200,000 | Nothing usable |
| $1,250,000 | $800,000 | $600,000 | $400,000 | $200,000 |
| $1,500,000 | $1,000,000 | $800,000 | $600,000 | $400,000 |
Usable equity = (property value x 0.8) - loan balance. Lenders release equity to 80% of value without mortgage insurance; above that, insurance usually applies.
What that equity could buy next.
The same equity again, this time treated as a 20% deposit plus costs on the next purchase, so multiplied by four. It is a ceiling set by deposit, not by income: your lender assesses what you earn before any of this becomes real.
| Property value | $200,000 owing | $400,000 owing | $600,000 owing | $800,000 owing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $700,000 | $1,440,000 | $640,000 | Not yet | Not yet |
| $850,000 | $1,920,000 | $1,120,000 | $320,000 | Not yet |
| $1,000,000 | $2,400,000 | $1,600,000 | $800,000 | Not yet |
| $1,250,000 | $3,200,000 | $2,400,000 | $1,600,000 | $800,000 |
| $1,500,000 | $4,000,000 | $3,200,000 | $2,400,000 | $1,600,000 |
Next purchase budget = usable equity / 25 x 100. Indicative only, not financial advice, and it takes no account of income, expenses or lender policy.
Roughly is where it starts. Exactly needs the whole team.
A second property touches four desks at once. At LINK they sit in one building, so the answer arrives as one plan rather than four opinions.
Living finds and manages the property
Advance handles the finance
Advisors handles the structure
Wealth handles the long game
Working out what the next one would cost to hold? The negative gearing calculator prices it a week at a time, under the rules that apply after the 2026 change.