LINKLiving

For investors

Your first Brisbane investment property: the full playbook

Updated July 2026

First investment properties are bought with equal parts spreadsheet and nerves. This is the sequence we walk new investors through, from finance to first rent payment, including the parts most guides skip.

Get the finance and structure right first

Borrowing capacity, loan structure and whose name (or trust) the property sits in are decisions that echo for decades, and they're cheapest to get right before you buy. This is where LINK's connected model works in your favour: Advance handles the lending, Advisors the structure and tax, and Living the property itself, all talking to each other.

Buy the tenant, not just the property

Before you offer on anything, know who rents in that suburb and what they pay. A beautiful property in a thin rental pocket is a worse investment than an ordinary one where demand queues. Ask for a rental appraisal on any property you're serious about - we provide them free, before you buy, with vacancy and demand context for the suburb.

Budget the real numbers

Rent minus loan interest is not your cash flow. Count rates, body corporate, insurance, maintenance, management and a vacancy allowance. A property that still works on the full numbers is an investment; one that only works on the optimistic ones is a hope.

Set it up to run without you

Landlord insurance from settlement day, compliance sorted before listing, professional photos, accurate pricing and proper tenant screening. The first tenancy sets the property's pattern: start at market rent with a quality tenant and the next decade is easier.

Want the answer for your property?

Get a pre-purchase rental appraisal