Key takeaway: The post-budget investor playbook replaces buy, hold and hope with strategies that ease cash flow. Ben Plohl, founder of BFP Property Group, says investors are adding value through cosmetic renovations, granny flats and dual occupancy, and buying small regional unit blocks at around 6 to 7% gross yield, which can sit close to cash flow neutral even when 100% borrowed.
In this episode of Geared for Growth, Mike Mortlock is joined by Ben Plohl, founder of BFP Property Group and a seasoned property investor with over 20 years of experience buying real estate across Australia.
With the dust settling after the Federal Budget, Ben shares what’s really happening on the ground, and how investors are being forced to rethink their strategies in a cash flow-constrained environment.
From dual occupancies to regional unit blocks, this episode dives into the practical ways investors are adapting to maintain growth while managing risk.
Ben says a simple buy-and-hold approach now risks a hefty cash loss, which makes cash flow the biggest pressure point. In his view negative gearing isn’t disappearing, it’s being pushed to a later date, because losses can be used once the property becomes profitable. He also notes investors are buying at elevated interest rates, and expects that when a rate-cutting cycle comes, lower costs and rising rents will push these assets into profit.
Ben buys small unit blocks on one title, then, where council will allow it, completes a strata title subdivision. Due diligence matters, such as checking the units have fire-rated walls. Once subdivided, the units can be sold one by one, or the bank will value them as individual assets, which can deliver an instant equity uplift. He says his team has done close to 10 of these for clients this year alone.
Ben’s business still focuses on established properties so clients can add value and create additional dwellings, but he says he isn’t anti-new. He thinks a house and land package in a heavily supplied greenfield estate is highly unlikely to do well. If new suits you, he suggests an infill development in an established suburb rather than areas like Box Hill, south-west Sydney or Melbourne’s fringe, though those opportunities are few and far between.
Ben says sub-$600,000 is ridiculously hot in certain cities, while parts of Sydney and Melbourne over $2 million have been decimated. In Geelong, small villas and townhouses under about $650,000 attract both first home buyers and investors, and assets his team bought in late 2025 and early 2026 have already grown. As a property manager, he finds some lower socioeconomic areas have among the better tenant profiles.
This is general information from the podcast, not financial advice.
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