Commercial Property Investing - Explained

Steve sits down with Matt and Janine, a married couple with two young kids who started buying property in 2018 with no inheritance and no six-figure income. Matt picked up most of his knowledge from property podcasts on long shifts driving fuel tankers around Victoria. Janine did her own self-education until she was on the same wavelength.

Over the next few years they bought in Ballarat, Moreton Bay, Perth and south-east Queensland, refinancing every time the equity moved. The portfolio was worth millions on paper, but it was negatively geared, and they told Steve it was the poorest they'd ever felt.

In 2023, Janine was diagnosed with breast cancer at 38, with no family history. She talks openly about the diagnosis, months of chemotherapy and immunotherapy while still working full time, and how it changed the way she and Matt looked at investing and the life they wanted to live.

In this episode, Matt and Janine walk Steve through their move into commercial, the six-month vacancy that taught them to watch their own leases, setting up an SMSF, and the $2.55 million Canberra purchase. They also explain why they're selling down the residential portfolio to own fewer, bigger commercial assets.

Topics Discussed

• How they bought their first investment in Ballarat in 2018, straight after their wedding, and the podcasts Matt listened to on the road that got them started.
• Janine's "risk radar", and how self-education got her comfortable with taking calculated risks.
• Growing a residential portfolio across Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia by "redlining": revaluing, refinancing and pulling equity out for the next deposit.
• Why each extra negatively geared property pushed financial freedom further away.
• Their first commercial property, a Tweed Heads office on a main road leased to an Aussie Home Loans franchise at about a 5.8% yield.
• What happened when that tenant left in March 2026, the six months it sat vacant, and why they changed leasing agents to land a government tenant.
• Setting up an SMSF, taking control of their super, and buying a simple industrial warehouse in Perth for around $800,000.
• Janine's breast cancer diagnosis at 38 with no family history, found during an unrelated surgery, and why she wants younger women to know it isn't only an older woman's disease.
• How the diagnosis and treatment changed the way Janine looked at investing and lifestyle, and why they left Melbourne to rent on the Gold Coast.
• Selling the Perth property bought for about $405,000 for around $860,000, and using it to fund a roughly 30% deposit on a $2.55 million Canberra building with three shops, one tenant and 14 car spaces.
• Their next goal of about $10 million in commercial property that pays itself down, and Janine's advice for couples to get aligned on their values before they buy.

HOSTED BY:

Steve Palise

Ph: 0403 878 497

Email: [email protected]

LinkedIn: https://au.linkedin.com/in/steve-palise

Resources

Get FREE access to the Commercial Property Institute course - https://www.commercialpropertyinstitute.com.au/offers/BeWDB3GB/checkout?utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email

Get FREE access to the Residential Property Institute course - https://academy.propertyinstituteaustralia.com.au/offers/wmHWoVi8/checkout

Get your FREE copy of Commercial Property Investing Explained Simply - Use discount code PODCAST https://www.paliseproperty.com/book

Get your FREE Commercial Property Paydown Calculator https://www.paliseproperty.com/commercial-paydown-calculator

Follow Palise Property on FACEBOOK for Free Tips Tricks & Insights https://www.facebook.com/paliseproperty/

Steve sits down with Matt from Tasman Finance Partners, a trans-Tasman mortgage broker who arranges lending on both sides of the ditch for New Zealanders buying in Australia and Australians buying in New Zealand. 

Matt set the business up in 2024 servicing Kiwis who wanted to keep their New Zealand home rather than sell into a down market, and over the last twelve months the inquiry has flipped, with Australians now making up the bulk of the pipeline. 

The two of them work through why that shift is happening, covering the exchange rate, the absence of stamp duty, the tax obligations that follow you home, and what the New Zealand lending market actually looks like when you compare it to Australia. 

Steve is buying a New Zealand commercial property himself and will be back with Matt to walk through the deal once it settles.

Topics Discussed

• How Tasman Finance Partners started by funding deposits through equity releases for New Zealanders moving to Australia, and why the majority of inquiries have now switched to Australians looking at New Zealand.
• The three drivers pushing Australian investors across the Tasman
• The tax picture, including the absence of a capital gains tax or wealth tax in New Zealand, the two-year bright line test that applies on a quick resale, and the point both Steve and Matt make repeatedly that an Australian buyer is still an Australian tax resident and still falls under the ATO. 
• Why you need an accountant with real capability on both sides
• What is the same and what is not in commercial lending
• Entity structures available to Australians buying commercial in New Zealand
• Where the buying is happening
• The office and retail conversation
• Why New Zealand sits roughly where Australia did five to ten years ago on commercial investing culture, with most buyers still owner-occupiers, and Steve's plan to lead with education through the second edition of his book and the new New Zealand module in the Commercial Property Institute course.

HOSTED BY:
Steve Palise
Ph: 0403 878 497
Email: [email protected]
LinkedIn: https://au.linkedin.com/in/steve-palise

CONNECT WITH MATTHIEU:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthieuolowhaanga/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/matt.olo.mortgages/
Website: https://www.tasmanfinancepartners.com/ 

Resources

Get FREE access to the Commercial Property Institute course -  CLICK HERE

Get FREE access to the Residential Property Institute course - CLICK HERE

Get your FREE copy of Commercial Property Investing Explained Simply - Use discount code PODCAST CLICK HERE

Get your FREE Commercial Property Paydown Calculator CLICK HERE 

Follow Palise Property on FACEBOOK for Free Tips Tricks & Insights CLICK HERE

Steve sits down with Gabby Ingram, a martial arts school owner from Melbourne who was told by every buyer's agent she spoke to that she needed at least $1 million to buy her first commercial property. 

She didn't accept it. Gabby comes from a family of property investors, with a mum who has invested for 25 years and a grandmother who has self-managed a commercial portfolio for around 70 years, so she did her own research and found a buyer's agent who agreed she didn't need seven figures to get started. 

She ended up buying a boutique jewellery shop about five kilometres from the Perth CBD for $465,000, with a net yield over 6%, which she manages herself using the systems her grandmother taught her.

In this episode, Gabby and Steve get into why other agents push the million-dollar minimum, how the recent negative gearing and SMSF lending changes are pushing money into the sub-million commercial bracket, what self-managing a retail tenancy involves, and why a nightmare residential tenant on settlement day confirmed that commercial was the right call.

Topics Discussed

• Why every buyer's agent Gabby spoke to told her she needed a minimum of $1 million for a first commercial property, and why that advice had more to do with their wait lists than her strategy.
• The strategy she was pushed toward, paying down her home first, and why that would have delayed the passive income she actually wanted instead of getting her closer to it.
• Gabby's family background, with a mum who has invested for 25 years and a grandmother who has self-managed a commercial portfolio for about 70 years, starting with a factory she still holds.
• How she and her husband started with a residential townhouse as a stepping stone, always with commercial and passive income as the end goal.
• The property they bought through Palise, a $465,000 boutique jewellery shop about five kilometres from the Perth CBD, near a train station, at over 6% net yield with rent increases built in.
• Steve's honest take on why sub-million commercial is harder to source, with only five to ten deals coming up a month, and why he charges a premium for it rather than turning those clients away.
• How the removal of negative gearing and the SMSF residential lending changes have tripled Palise's lead inquiry and are pushing residential buyers into the commercial bracket.
• What self-managing a retail tenancy involves, including the intro email to the tenant, which outgoings are recoverable, and why you always pay the insurance yourself and claim it back.
• Why residential legislation protected the tenant more than Gabby when her rental was trashed on the day her commercial settled, and how that sealed the decision to go all in on commercial.
• Where Gabby is headed next, setting up an SMSF to buy her second commercial property, and why commercial due diligence crashes about one in five deals before settlement.

HOSTED BY:
Steve Palise
Ph: 0403 878 497
Email: [email protected]

LinkedIn: https://au.linkedin.com/in/steve-palise

Resources

Get FREE access to the Commercial Property Institute course -  CLICK HERE

Get FREE access to the Residential Property Institute course - CLICK HERE

Get your FREE copy of Commercial Property Investing Explained Simply - Use discount code PODCAST CLICK HERE

Get your FREE Commercial Property Paydown Calculator CLICK HERE 

Follow Palise Property on FACEBOOK for Free Tips Tricks & Insights CLICK HERE

Steve sits down with Engelo Rumora, an Australian investor who sold down his residential portfolio 15 years ago and moved to the United States to chase a once-in-a-lifetime buying window after the global financial crisis. 

Engelo started by picking up houses for 15 to 25 thousand dollars and selling them for around 60, and from there, he built a business that flipped over a thousand properties and now manages roughly 400 single-family homes out of Toledo, Ohio. 

He talks candidly about the burnout that came with running 17 staff across property management, flipping, sales, legals and accounting, the sabbatical that pulled him back from the brink, and why he has deliberately shrunk the operation down to a lean, automated team. 

The conversation covers how the US market actually works for foreign investors, the A, B and C class system, why scale matters when you invest there, and where Engelo thinks both the US economy and property management are heading as agentic AI moves in.

In this episode, Steve and Engelo discuss:

• How Engelo went from a 45K labouring income and ten over-leveraged properties in regional Australia to liquidating everything and moving to Kansas City, then Ohio, in 2011 when the Aussie dollar was at parity, and US prices were at rock bottom.
• The numbers behind his model, buying distressed and foreclosed homes for 15 to 25 thousand, putting 10 to 15 thousand into renovations, and selling them tenanted at fair market value to passive investors, he would then manage for.
• Why he scaled a business up to 17 staff across five service lines, burnt out around 2020, and made the deliberate decision to pull back to a small automated team rather than chase every ancillary service.
• How foreigners can actually buy in the US, owning in a personal name or through an LLC with no real restrictions, and why your network matters far more than finding an accountant first.
• The A, B and C class area framework, why B class is the sweet spot between safety and cash flow, and why D class areas are a different and far riskier game entirely.
• Why you need 15 to 20 properties to make a US portfolio worth the tax and legal overheads, and how buying in bulk and at scale lowers your risk rather than raising it.
• Engelo's warning on the US fiscal deficit, why he thinks the system has passed the point of no return, and what a reset would mean for the worldwide banks holding US treasury bonds.
• The Florida opportunity after Hurricane Ian, where canal front homes that sold for 400 to 500 thousand could be picked up for 50 to 100 thousand, and why insurance costs are currently holding that market back.
• How his team has automated leasing entirely with digital lockboxes and identity verification, removing the need for leasing agents, and why he expects property management fees to race to the bottom as agentic AI takes over.
• The shift from helping other investors build portfolios to keeping 70 percent of his deals for himself, plus his thoughts on giving anonymously, the influence of Chuck Feeney, and where human connection still matters in an automated world.

HOSTED BY:
Steve Palise
Ph: 0403 878 497
Email: [email protected]

LinkedIn: https://au.linkedin.com/in/steve-palise

CONNECT WITH Dr Dan

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/engelorumora 

Buy His Book: https://therawtruthbook.com/ 

Resources

Get FREE access to the Commercial Property Institute course -  CLICK HERE

Get FREE access to the Residential Property Institute course - CLICK HERE

Get your FREE copy of Commercial Property Investing Explained Simply - Use discount code PODCAST CLICK HERE

Get your FREE Commercial Property Paydown Calculator CLICK HERE 

Follow Palise Property on FACEBOOK for Free Tips Tricks & Insights CLICK HERE

Steve sits down with Dr Daniel Lamp, a Sydney-based GP and host of the Passive Income Doctors podcast, who built a 12-property portfolio in under a decade on a starting salary of $62,000. 

Dr Dan went against the advice of parents, friends and colleagues who told him to buy blue-chip Sydney real estate, and instead bought interstate in Brisbane, Perth, Darwin and regional Queensland before those markets ran. 

This episode covers his full portfolio timeline, the markets he chose and why, the mistakes he made early on, and the borrowing power and cash flow lessons that shaped his approach. 

Steve and Dr Dan also get into why doctors tend to make poor property decisions, the case for rent-vesting, when to sell and when to hold, and how AI and telehealth could reshape both the medical profession and the property market.

In this episode, Steve and Dr Dan discuss:

• Dr Dan's background growing up in Western Sydney, saving $100,000 through university, and funding his first deposit on a $62,000 intern salary.
• Why doctors tend to make poor property decisions, from being time-poor and overconfident to getting funnelled into off-the-plan apartments for tax benefits.
• His first Brisbane purchase in 2017-2018 for $570,000, which nearly doubled to $1.1 million, while the equivalent Sydney unit only reached $800,000.
• The mistakes he made early on (land-and-build headaches, an emotional owner-occupier purchase) and why Steve believes early setbacks actually make better investors.
• Expanding interstate into Perth in 2023 and Darwin in late 2024, buying into flat markets with strong yields before they ran, and why he now regrets not going even more affordable.
• Selling Brisbane properties to restructure into a trust, free up borrowing power and redeploy capital into the next cycle, and why the old "never sell" advice no longer holds.
• The rent-vesting case for junior doctors, and why buying a home too early in training often costs more in stamp duty and opportunity cost than it returns.
• Borrowing power management: the LMI waiver for medical professionals, why owner-occupier debt hurts more than investment debt, and knowing when to change brokers and accountants as a portfolio scales.
• Why residential beats commercial early in the accumulation phase, and Steve's view on where commercial is heading (industrial, large land blocks, farmland).
• GP practice ownership economics, the telehealth and AI discussion, and Dr Dan's $300,000 passive income target to eventually step back from full-time clinical work.

HOSTED BY:
Steve Palise
Ph: 0403 878 497
Email: [email protected]

LinkedIn: https://au.linkedin.com/in/steve-palise

CONNECT WITH Dr Dan

LinkedIn: https://au.linkedin.com/in/daniellamp 

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@passiveincomedoctor 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/doctorspropertynetwork/ 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/passiveincomedoctors/ 

Resources

Get FREE access to the Commercial Property Institute course -  CLICK HERE

Get FREE access to the Residential Property Institute course - CLICK HERE

Get your FREE copy of Commercial Property Investing Explained Simply - Use discount code PODCAST CLICK HERE

Get your FREE Commercial Property Paydown Calculator CLICK HERE 

Follow Palise Property on FACEBOOK for Free Tips Tricks & Insights CLICK HERE

NOTE: This episode was filmed before the 2025 Federal Budget announcement. Some of the tax changes discussed may have since been confirmed, modified, or scrapped. Please speak to your accountant for advice specific to your situation.

Episode Summary

Steve sits down with Davie Mach, founder of Box Advisory Services and one of Australia's most-followed accountants, with over 50,000 subscribers on YouTube. In a conversation that covers everything from the proposed federal tax changes to the structuring mistakes costing investors hundreds of thousands of dollars, Davie breaks down what smart investors are actually doing with their portfolios right now, and why the advice you got five years ago might be costing you today.

In this episode, Steve and Davie discuss:

• The three proposed federal tax changes on the table: reducing the CGT discount from 50% to as low as 25%, the potential removal or grandfathering of negative gearing, and the idea of applying a 30% withholding tax on trusts.
• Why Steve and Davie both believe the CGT discount change won't meaningfully shift investor behaviour, because investors will simply pivot to purchasing through companies and other structures.
• How the federal government is eyeing property sale revenue as a way to get its share of what state governments already collect through stamp duty.
• The real risk of negative gearing changes for high-income earners, and whether removing it could push demand away from premium stock and into more affordable, positively geared assets.
• Why structuring is one of the most expensive mistakes property investors make, from buying in your personal name on a high tax bracket, to setting up a company when your personal income is low, and the property is positively geared.
• The hidden land tax trap in New South Wales: buying in a family trust means no tax-free threshold, which can cost $16,000+ per year on properties with land values over $1 million, and how some investors don't find out until the state government sends a bill for multiple years at once.
• Why buying your principal place of residence in a family trust is almost always a bad idea, because the property loses its main residence CGT exemption the moment it sits inside a trust structure.
• The common loan structuring mistake is where investors put a large deposit on the investment property and carry a bigger loan on their home, flipping the tax deductibility and turning a negatively geared investment into a positively geared one unnecessarily.
• Division 7A and why business owners who draw profits from their company without treating it as a formal loan risk being taxed at 47% on top of the 25-30% company tax they've already paid.
• Bucket companies explained: how business owners can invest retained profits through a separate company at a flat 30% tax rate, and why that structure works well when your personal income is high and the goal is long-term reinvestment.
• Buying commercial property through an SMSF, including why some investors buy in their personal name first and transfer later when their super balance is large enough to fund the deposit and loan.
• The case for (and against) business owners buying their own commercial premises in an SMSF. Davie argues that if you can guarantee the tenant (your own business) will always pay rent and never negotiate, the risk profile changes completely. Steve pushes back, noting that office tenants in particular need to ask whether the property would still stack up if they weren't the tenant.
• Why minimising tax isn't always the right move. If the goal is growth and you need borrowing capacity, paying more tax now can unlock the next property. The strategy should match the stage of life, not a blanket rule.

HOSTED BY:
Steve Palise
Ph: 0403 878 497
Email: [email protected]

LinkedIn: https://au.linkedin.com/in/steve-palise

CONNECT WITH DAVIE MACH

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davie-mach/ 

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DavieMach/ 

Website: https://www.boxas.com.au/ 

Resources

Get FREE access to the Commercial Property Institute course -  CLICK HERE

Get FREE access to the Residential Property Institute course - CLICK HERE

Get your FREE copy of Commercial Property Investing Explained Simply - Use discount code PODCAST CLICK HERE

Get your FREE Commercial Property Paydown Calculator CLICK HERE 

Follow Palise Property on FACEBOOK for Free Tips Tricks & Insights CLICK HERE

In this episode, Steve sits down with Jo Natoli, a property manager, developer, and business broker who has seen the industry from just about every angle. Jo grew up around property investing in Wollongong, started her own property management agency at 22, and graduated into mid-to-large-scale development alongside her husband, a builder.

Their projects scaled from a six-unit build on a site so narrow the architect designed it as a joke, through to a 35-unit, eight-storey mixed-use tower on Crown Street in Wollongong CBD. That final project was meant to be their last. It was fully leased on the commercial side, with strong pre-sales and record-setting rents. 

Then the Global Financial Crisis hit, the banks slashed their valuation by 40%, and the financier pulled the pin. Jo and her husband walked away with $60,000, their cars, and their clothes. 

This conversation covers the full arc of a development career, the mechanics of how deals are structured, and the uncomfortable reality that you can do everything right and still lose.

What We Cover

• How growing up around property investing in Wollongong shaped Jo's approach to development, and how she fell into real estate through a traineeship she almost missed.
• Starting a property management agency at 22 as the first Sydney firm to specialise exclusively in residential property management.
• The transition from property management into development, teaming up with her husband (a builder) and why their complementary skill sets made the partnership work.
• Four development projects in detail: a six-unit build on a 2.5-metre-wide site in Hurstville, a 12-unit-plus-retail conversion of an old bank in Wanoona, 22 units and a shop on Victoria Street, and the 35-unit Crown Street tower.
• Why Jo never negotiated on price but always negotiated on terms, and how a two-year put-and-call option gave her the time to design, approve, and fund the Crown Street project without putting significant money down.
• The DA process, subject-to-DA contracts, and what happens when community backlash doubles your approval timeline from 12 months to 24.
• The Global Financial Crisis hitting one week after project completion, wiping out all pre-sales, and how the bank slashed the valuation by 40% before eventually forcing administration.
• Why incorrect structuring (no special purpose vehicles, no siloed entities) meant Jo and her husband lost everything they had accumulated across four projects.
• Walking away with $60,000, picking up a small building contract within two months, and slowly rebuilding from there.

HOSTED BY:
Steve Palise
Ph: 0403 878 497
Email: [email protected]

LinkedIn: https://au.linkedin.com/in/steve-palise

CONNECT WITH JO NATOLI

LinkedIn: au.linkedin.com/in/jonatoli 

Resources:

Get FREE access to the Commercial Property Institute course -  CLICK HERE

Get FREE access to the Residential Property Institute course - CLICK HERE

Get your FREE copy of Commercial Property Investing Explained Simply - Use discount code PODCAST CLICK HERE

Get your FREE Commercial Property Paydown Calculator CLICK HERE 

Follow Palise Property on FACEBOOK for Free Tips Tricks & Insights CLICK HERE

In this episode, Steve sits down with Liam Carmody, General Manager of Palise Property, and Mark Zreika, a commercial developer who has worked on projects across Dubai, Qatar, and Australia, including Dubai Airport, Dubai Metro, and Riyadh Metro.

Mark's background is not your typical Australian developer story. He skipped the house-and-granny-flat apprenticeship and went straight into commercial, specifically industrial warehousing, after spotting a gap in the mid-tier market post-COVID. No giant tier-one developers, no small-time flippers, just a space most people weren't filling.

They get into the real mechanics of commercial development: how to find sites before the market catches on, why access and driveway width matter more than gross floor area, how construction loans above 10% change the math, and why the feasibility study most people do first is usually wrong.

What We Cover

• Why Mark chose commercial over residential from day one,
• How one client bought an older eight-unit warehouse for $1.4M, spent $200K on fencing, roller doors, and lease restructuring, and sold it 18 months later for $2.6M.
• The true cost of a construction loan above 10%, and what happens to your margin when a project runs from 18 months to 36.
• Why Mark set up his own construction company after getting burned on communication and cost blowouts from tier-one builders.
• Pre-sales, tier-one versus tier-two lenders, and why the difference between 100% pre-sales required and 25% can make or break a project timeline.
• The childcare development trap: why a DA-approved site is sometimes a warning sign, not a green light.
• How to read a site for access and why a warehouse with a single-lane driveway turns into a body corporate nightmare fast.
• Leaseback deals: when they work, when they're inflating a sale price to cover a below-market yield, and how Palise Property stress-tests the numbers.
• Why Mark always pays subcontractors first and what he thinks about developers who don't.

HOSTED BY:
Steve Palise
Ph: 0403 878 497
Email: [email protected]

LinkedIn: https://au.linkedin.com/in/steve-palise

Liam Carmody

Email: liam@paliseproperty,com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/liam-carmody-06b10172/ 

CONNECT WITH MARK ZREIKA

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-zreika-6592365b/ 

Resources

Get FREE access to the Commercial Property Institute course -  CLICK HERE

Get FREE access to the Residential Property Institute course - CLICK HERE

Get your FREE copy of Commercial Property Investing Explained Simply - Use discount code PODCAST CLICK HERE

Get your FREE Commercial Property Paydown Calculator CLICK HERE 

Follow Palise Property on FACEBOOK for Free Tips Tricks & Insights CLICK HERE

Steve Palise sits down with Liam Carmody  to break down the pros and cons of buying property through a self-managed super fund. They cover how SMSFs actually work from setup through to purchase, what finance looks like inside super, the differences between buying residential vs commercial, and why so many investors are shifting toward commercial property in their SMSFs right now. Liam also shares his own SMSF investment story, including what he bought, where, what it's worth now, and his plan to turn a $260K super balance into a serious portfolio through strategic buy-sell-upgrade cycles.

What We Cover

• How SMSFs actually work (and what they cost) 
• Obtaining finance inside an SMSF
• Why commercial is overtaking residential in SMSFs 
• The tax stuff (not financial advice) 
• The contract and bare trust setup 
• Don't sacrifice property quality for a tax saving 

Key Takeaways

• Your super fund is another bucket of money that's not yours right now anyway. The question is whether you're maximising it while you've got the time.
• Most people overestimate what they can do in the short term but vastly underestimate what they can do in the long term. 
• You don't need to find a unicorn. The stuff that was yielding 6% at the time hasn't performed the way his "boring" 5% net yield asset has.
• If you're buying residential in super, have a clear exit plan. At some point it's never going to give you cash flow, so you'll have to sell it in retirement anyway.

SMSF Disclaimer: The information provided in this video is for educational and informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, investment, legal, or taxation advice. Self-Managed Super Funds (SMSFs) are complex financial structures subject to strict Australian Tax Office (ATO) regulations, compliance obligations, and eligibility requirements. Any strategies or information discussed should not be acted upon without first seeking independent advice from a licensed financial adviser, registered tax agent, accountant, and/or legal professional who can assess your individual circumstances. Past performance is not indicative of future results. The hosts and contributors of this content are not responsible for any financial decisions made based on the information presented. Always conduct your own due diligence before making any investment decisions.

HOSTED BY:
Steve Palise
Ph: 0403 878 497
Email: [email protected]

LinkedIn: https://au.linkedin.com/in/steve-palise

CONNECT WITH LIAM 

Liam Carmody

Email: liam@paliseproperty,com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/liam-carmody-06b10172/ 

Resources

Get FREE access to the Commercial Property Institute course -  CLICK HERE

Get FREE access to the Residential Property Institute course - CLICK HERE

Get your FREE copy of Commercial Property Investing Explained Simply - Use discount code PODCAST CLICK HERE

Get your FREE Commercial Property Paydown Calculator CLICK HERE 

Follow Palise Property on FACEBOOK for Free Tips Tricks & Insights CLICK HERE

In this episode of Property Investing Explained, Steve sits down with Terry James, a Brisbane business owner and first-time commercial investor, to unpack the strategy behind securing a $4.65 million industrial asset with significant built-in upside. What began as a frustrating experience with another buyer’s agent ultimately led to a carefully selected property in one of Perth’s most tightly held industrial precincts.

Terry has spent two decades building a successful commercial plumbing business in Brisbane after a pivotal redundancy in his late twenties pushed him into entrepreneurship. Over the years, he accumulated shares and residential property, gradually refining his investment philosophy. As he began thinking more seriously about long-term income and eventual retirement on the Gold Coast, commercial property emerged as a logical replacement for business cash flow. The transition, however, required clarity, patience and a willingness to ignore noise.

The property Terry ultimately secured is a dual-tenanted industrial asset in Maddington, Perth, positioned on approximately 1,000 square metres of land with two tilt-panel warehouses and established operators in place. What stood out was not the headline yield, but the mispriced lease. With one tenant significantly under market rent, the deal offered immediate equity creation through a structured rental uplift. For investors concerned that “all the good deals are gone”, this conversation demonstrates how disciplined underwriting and market knowledge still uncover opportunity.

This episode covers:

• Why under-rented industrial assets can create immediate equity without relying on speculation
• The importance of lease rate benchmarking within tightly held precincts
• How a 30% rental uplift was negotiated through a market review
• Why tenant quality and location often matter more than chasing a higher yield
• The lending realities of lower-yield assets and how LVR shifts at sub-6% yields
• The strategic case for buying one larger commercial asset instead of multiple smaller ones
• How commercial property can replace business income in a structured retirement plan
• Why patience and disciplined deal filtering lead to better long-term outcomes

Following the settlement, Terry successfully negotiated a new five-year lease with a 30% rental increase for one tenant, lifting annual income from approximately $271,000 to over $314,000. With CPI growth and future reviews, projections indicate the property could generate close to $460,000 per annum within a decade, with debt substantially reduced or cleared. 

For Terry, this is not about endless scaling. It is about replacing active income with reliable, compounding passive cash flow.

This episode is particularly relevant for business owners, high-income professionals and experienced investors considering their first substantial commercial acquisition. It offers a grounded look at risk management, capital allocation and the discipline required to secure quality assets in competitive markets. Listeners will walk away with a clearer understanding of how to identify mispriced leases, structure long-term income, and build commercial exposure with intention rather than haste.

Get FREE access to the Commercial Property Institute course -  CLICK HERE

Get FREE access to the Residential Property Institute course - CLICK HERE

Get your FREE copy of Commercial Property Investing Explained Simply - Use discount code PODCAST CLICK HERE

Get your FREE Commercial Property Paydown Calculator CLIC