Navigating Property

Where are Australians moving along the East Coast, and what does this mean for property investors in 2026?

Most investors watch price charts. Far fewer watch migration data, yet it’s often the earlier signal of where demand and growth are heading next. In this solo episode, Ben Plohl breaks down the latest Regional Movers Index to show where people are actually relocating and what that means for your next purchase.

We cover:
• Why the shift from capital cities to some regions is structural, not a pandemic hangover
• The established regional favourites: Sunshine Coast, Greater Geelong and the Lower Hunter (Lake Macquarie and Maitland)
• Two deep dives where migration and price data are confirming each other: Albury-Wodonga and Hobart
• Where this data can mislead you, including Toowoomba’s 236% headline figure and why Wagga Wagga is growing without the migration
• Three practical checks you can run on any region before you buy

Not a list of suburbs to buy, but a guide to reading the numbers properly so you can spot real opportunity before the price charts do.

Figures from the Regional Movers Index (CBA and Regional Australia Institute) and Cotality’s Home Value Index.

Commercial property yields look higher than residential, but are you comparing the same thing? In this episode, Ben breaks down why commercial property works completely different from residential property, and why the lease not the building, is the real asset you're buying.

Ben covers the six key differences between commercial and residential property investing: why the tenant pays the outgoings, why vacancy is rare but far more costly, why "5+5+5" lease terms aren't what they seem, and why commercial finance works nothing like a standard home loan.

He also dives deep into self-managed super funds (SMSF) and business real property, the specific exception in superannuation law that lets your SMSF buy commercial property from, and lease it back to, your own business. For business owners currently paying rent to a landlord, this is one of the most valuable structures in Australian property investing, and Ben explains exactly how it works, where it goes wrong, and what the ATO watches for.

The episode closes with five red flags to check before buying any commercial property, where Ben sees the best opportunities right now (industrial, medical, and strip retail), and one practical move you can make this week.

In this episode:

• What commercial property actually is, and the one equation that governs its value
• Why commercial yields are higher, and why that number isn't what it looks like
• The 6 ways commercial property investing differs from residential
• How business real property lets your SMSF buy and lease back your own business premises
• 5 red flags to check before buying: fake yields, hidden incentives, periodic leases, discretionary-spend tenants, and site contamination
• Where the opportunity sits right now: industrial, medical, and retail

This podcast episode is general information only, not personal financial or superannuation advice. Speak to your accountant or financial advisor about your own situation.

Learn more or book a time to chat with Ben at bfpproperty.com.

Most investors spend months choosing a property, then hand the keys to whichever property manager the selling agent recommends. In this episode, Ben talks with Kayla Brown, who leads the property management team in Albury Wodonga, about why that choice matters just as much. Kayla covers tenant screening, balancing rent increases against vacancy, preventative maintenance, fees, and the red flags that show your PM is underperforming, plus the questions to ask before you sign one up.  

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Navigating Property is hosted by Ben Plohl, founder of BFP Property Group and Chartered Accountant with 22 years of personal property investment experience. Each episode covers the strategies, decisions, and market insights that serious property investors need to know.Work with BFP Property Group

Whether you're building a portfolio, reviewing what you already own, or looking to buy your next investment property — BFP can help.

📅 Book a free strategy call: ⁠⁠bfpproperty.com⁠⁠

Connect with us

🌐 Website: ⁠⁠bfpproperty.com⁠⁠

📱 Instagram: ⁠⁠@bfppropertygroup⁠⁠

📘 Facebook: ⁠⁠facebook.com/bfpproperty⁠⁠

💼 LinkedIn: ⁠⁠BFP Property Group⁠⁠

How do you know the buyer's agent you're about to pay $15-25K is actually going to deliver? For a long time, size and visibility felt like proof enough big teams, national reach, a strong social media presence. But several well-known buyer's agencies have recently gone into liquidation, leaving active clients exposed mid-transaction, some losing fees paid upfront with no way to recover them.

In this episode, Ben Plohl draws on his background as a chartered accountant and CFO to break down exactly why this happens: revenue models built on full upfront fees, growth outpacing revenue, quietly mounting ATO debt, risky purchase guarantees, and a volume-over-margin mindset that pressures agents to keep transacting regardless of what's right for the client. Ben makes the case that good property advice simply doesn't scale and that industrialising it is where these businesses go wrong.

He also shares the seven questions every buyer should ask before appointing a buyer's agent, covering who actually does the work, how fees are structured, transaction volume per agent, and whether the agency can point to a time they walked a client away from a deal. If you're evaluating a buyer's agent or wondering whether the one you're using is built to last this episode gives you a practical framework to find out.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Navigating Property is hosted by Ben Plohl, founder of BFP Property Group and Chartered Accountant with 22 years of personal property investment experience. Each episode covers the strategies, decisions, and market insights that serious property investors need to know.Work with BFP Property Group

Whether you're building a portfolio, reviewing what you already own, or looking to buy your next investment property — BFP can help.

📅 Book a free strategy call: ⁠⁠bfpproperty.com⁠⁠

Connect with us

🌐 Website: ⁠⁠bfpproperty.com⁠⁠

📱 Instagram: ⁠⁠@bfppropertygroup⁠⁠

📘 Facebook: ⁠⁠facebook.com/bfpproperty⁠⁠

💼 LinkedIn: ⁠⁠BFP Property Group⁠⁠

Every downturn plays out the same way: most people wait for the bottom. But by the time it's obvious the market's turned, so has everyone else's confidence and the leverage you had is gone.

In this episode, Ben Plohl makes the data-backed case for why a correction is exactly when serious buyers get to work. With national values now down four consecutive months and Sydney and Melbourne sitting well below their 2026 peaks, Ben breaks down what real negotiating leverage looks like right now: longer settlements, finance clauses actually being accepted, inspections no longer waived to win a bidding war.

But this isn't a "buy anything" episode. Ben's just as direct about the catch: this correction is concentrated in Sydney and Melbourne, not universal,  Perth, Brisbane and Adelaide are still posting double-digit annual growth. He walks through why cash-flow numbers still need real scrutiny even at a discount, and what BFP is actually seeing on the ground vendors genuinely negotiating, off-market opportunities re-emerging as competition thins.

If you've been sitting on the sidelines waiting for "the right time," this episode makes the case that waiting for certainty might be the most expensive decision you make.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Navigating Property is hosted by Ben Plohl, founder of BFP Property Group and Chartered Accountant with 22 years of personal property investment experience. Each episode covers the strategies, decisions, and market insights that serious property investors need to know.Work with BFP Property Group

Whether you're building a portfolio, reviewing what you already own, or looking to buy your next investment property — BFP can help.

📅 Book a free strategy call: ⁠⁠bfpproperty.com⁠⁠

Connect with us

🌐 Website: ⁠⁠bfpproperty.com⁠⁠

📱 Instagram: ⁠⁠@bfppropertygroup⁠⁠

📘 Facebook: ⁠⁠facebook.com/bfpproperty⁠⁠

💼 LinkedIn: ⁠⁠BFP Property Group⁠⁠

Every buyer's agent gets this question: "We've got $700K, what can we buy?" Most people treat that number as the whole answer. In this episode, Ben Plohl breaks down why it's actually just the starting point of a much bigger conversation.

Ben walks through three real options a $700K budget could buy right now, a freestanding home in a regional city like Albury or Bendigo, a villa unit in a lifestyle market like Geelong or Newcastle, or a 1970s red-brick walk-up in Melbourne and makes the case for each, honestly, including where each one falls short.

But the real value is in how BFP actually decides. Ben unpacks the four-lens framework the team uses with every client: what the portfolio needs right now, risk and liquidity tolerance, serviceability and cashflow reality, and value-add potential. It's the difference between picking a market and picking the right asset for the right person.

If you've ever wondered whether your budget is "enough," or which of these strategies actually fits your situation, this episode gives you the framework to answer that yourself.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Navigating Property is hosted by Ben Plohl, founder of BFP Property Group and Chartered Accountant with 22 years of personal property investment experience. Each episode covers the strategies, decisions, and market insights that serious property investors need to know.Work with BFP Property Group

Whether you're building a portfolio, reviewing what you already own, or looking to buy your next investment property — BFP can help.

📅 Book a free strategy call: ⁠⁠bfpproperty.com⁠⁠

Connect with us

🌐 Website: ⁠⁠bfpproperty.com⁠⁠

📱 Instagram: ⁠⁠@bfppropertygroup⁠⁠

📘 Facebook: ⁠⁠facebook.com/bfpproperty⁠⁠

💼 LinkedIn: ⁠⁠BFP Property Group⁠⁠

Three months ago, the federal budget rewrote the tax playbook for property investors: negative gearing was abolished on established properties, the CGT discount was replaced, and a new minimum tax was imposed on trust income. Panic set in and investor activity changed. 

In this episode, Ben breaks down what actually happened in the market versus what the headlines predicted and why the data tells a far more nuanced story than "investors are fleeing." From the sharp divergence between blue-chip Sydney and Melbourne suburbs (some down 6-9% in three months) and regional markets quietly posting gains, Ben unpacks exactly where the opportunity is hiding in plain sight.

He also walks through BFP's current acquisition playbook in detail, house-and-granny-flat combos, income-producing dual occupancies, undervalued villa units, and why commercial property deserves a serious look for investors wanting to diversify. Plus, real numbers on how a $1M house-and-granny-flat strategy can lift a 4.2% yield to 5.7%

If you've been sitting on the sidelines wondering whether now is still a good time to buy or what the reforms mean for your portfolio, this episode gives you the unfiltered, data-backed view of what's really going on, and how to best position yourself.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Navigating Property is hosted by Ben Plohl, founder of BFP Property Group and Chartered Accountant with 22 years of personal property investment experience. Each episode covers the strategies, decisions, and market insights that serious property investors need to know.Work with BFP Property Group

Whether you're building a portfolio, reviewing what you already own, or looking to buy your next investment property — BFP can help.

📅 Book a free strategy call: ⁠⁠bfpproperty.com⁠⁠

Connect with us

🌐 Website: ⁠⁠bfpproperty.com⁠⁠

📱 Instagram: ⁠⁠@bfppropertygroup⁠⁠

📘 Facebook: ⁠⁠facebook.com/bfpproperty⁠⁠

💼 LinkedIn: ⁠⁠BFP Property Group⁠⁠

The property investing landscape just changed overnight. In this special episode, Ben Plohl is joined by Richard Morgan from Freedom Funding to break down the massive proposed changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax. Forget "buying and hoping"—the days of lazy investing are over. Ben and Richard unpack why it's time to pause and plan, how carried-forward losses actually work, and why savvy investors are shifting to active strategies like granny flats, commercial properties, and company structures to stay ahead of the game.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Navigating Property is hosted by Ben Plohl, founder of BFP Property Group and Chartered Accountant with 22 years of personal property investment experience. Each episode covers the strategies, decisions, and market insights that serious property investors need to know.Work with BFP Property Group

Whether you're building a portfolio, reviewing what you already own, or looking to buy your next investment property — BFP can help.

📅 Book a free strategy call: ⁠⁠bfpproperty.com⁠⁠

Connect with us

🌐 Website: ⁠⁠bfpproperty.com⁠⁠

📱 Instagram: ⁠⁠@bfppropertygroup⁠⁠

📘 Facebook: ⁠⁠facebook.com/bfpproperty⁠⁠

💼 LinkedIn: ⁠⁠BFP Property Group⁠⁠

In today’s episode, we’re talking about something most people forget after they buy a property:

The Post-Purchase Review.

Buying the property is just the beginning, smart investors know that what you do next determines whether your property performs over the long term.

We'll cover:

• The 5 key things you should always review post-purchase

• Common mistakes and missed opportunities.

• A few real examples of how post-settlement reviews helped our clients.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Navigating Property is hosted by Ben Plohl, founder of BFP Property Group and Chartered Accountant with 22 years of personal property investment experience. Each episode covers the strategies, decisions, and market insights that serious property investors need to know.Work with BFP Property Group

Whether you're building a portfolio, reviewing what you already own, or looking to buy your next investment property — BFP can help.

📅 Book a free strategy call: ⁠⁠bfpproperty.com⁠⁠

Connect with us

🌐 Website: ⁠⁠bfpproperty.com⁠⁠

📱 Instagram: ⁠⁠@bfppropertygroup⁠⁠

📘 Facebook: ⁠⁠facebook.com/bfpproperty⁠⁠

💼 LinkedIn: ⁠⁠BFP Property Group⁠⁠

Whether you're buying your first home, your next investment, or just exploring the market, understanding the actual steps involved, and the risks at each stage, can save you serious time, money, and stress.

Here’s what we’re covering today:

• First, we’ll unpack some of the most common mistakes we see buyers make, and how to avoid them.
• Then, we’ll walk you through our Pro Buyer Playbook, how professionals approach the entire process from strategy to settlement.
• After that, we’re sharing a few real-world buyer horror stories in our segment What Could Go Wrong, uick, powerful lessons from the field. 

By the end of this episode, you’ll have a better understanding of how the buying process actually works, and how to avoid the expensive traps most buyers don’t see coming.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Navigating Property is hosted by Ben Plohl, founder of BFP Property Group and Chartered Accountant with 22 years of personal property investment experience. Each episode covers the strategies, decisions, and market insights that serious property investors need to know.Work with BFP Property Group

Whether you're building a portfolio, reviewing what you already own, or looking to buy your next investment property — BFP can help.

📅 Book a free strategy call: ⁠⁠bfpproperty.com⁠⁠

Connect with us

🌐 Website: ⁠⁠bfpproperty.com⁠⁠

📱 Instagram: ⁠⁠@bfppropertygroup⁠⁠

📘 Facebook: ⁠⁠facebook.com/bfpproperty⁠⁠

💼 LinkedIn: ⁠⁠BFP Property Group⁠⁠