u/KnowTrident

## The Problem

Every week, you're probably spending 3 to 5 hours chasing lenders for updates you should already have. Emails buried in your inbox. Calls that go to voicemail. Deal status you can only guess at. That time gap is not just annoying, it is expensive. Here's the math.

Australian mortgage brokers carry an average trail book of $150M to $250M in settled loans. Trail commission sits at roughly 0.10% to 0.15% per annum. That means your trail income is $150,000 to $375,000 yearly, assuming clients stay on your books through refix cycles. But they do not. Not all of them.

When lenders miss turnaround windows, deals settle late. Refix dates get missed. Clients get frustrated and call around. Some switch brokers. Some go direct to the lender. Each client who walks costs you roughly $2,000 to $4,000 in lifetime trail value, based on a $600,000 average loan size over a 5-year retention window.

## The Solution

Brokers carrying $150M+ in trail books are losing $30,000 to $60,000 annually through avoidable client churn caused largely by lender turnaround delays that go unnoticed until it is too late. The problem is not the lenders. The problem is visibility.

Here is how to fix it in four steps.

Step 1: Map your current state of silence by listing every deal in your pipeline with lender, expected turnaround time, last update received, and current status.

Step 2: Build a Gmail filter system that surfaces what matters by creating folders and auto-labeling for each major lender.

Step 3: Automate weekly digests using n8n to pull lender updates into a consolidated Notion view.

Step 4: Set up a weekly Notion digest that flags deals in yellow or red zones before they become churn risks.

Automation Stack:

n8n,

Gmail filters,

Notion weekly digest

Real Result: Weekly lender research from 4 hours to 20 minutes

Note: AI helped to write this content

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What the 2026 Federal Budget means

for property investors

The 2026 Federal Budget has introduced some of the most significant changes to residential property

investment policy in recent years, fundamentally reshaping Negative Gearing and Capital Gains Tax treatment

for future property investment.

While the objective of these reforms is to improve housing affordability and encourage investment into new

housing supply, there are widespread concerns around the longer-term impacts these changes will have on

investor confidence, rental supply and housing availability, particularly in already undersupplied markets.

What’s changed?

Negative gearing

When an investment property costs more to own than it makes in rent, this loss can be deducted against an

investor’s personal income. While making a loss might seem counterintuitive, investors are willing to accept

short-term losses in the expectation that the property’s value will increase over time.

From 1 July 2027, this will change for established properties. Losses on established properties can no longer

be deducted against salary or other income; they can only be offset against rental income or future capital

gains from residential property. Excess losses can be carried forward.

There are three categories worth understanding:

Properties purchased before 7:30 PM AEST on 12 May 2026 are fully grandfathered, which means

negative gearing continues unchanged for as long as the property is held.

Properties purchased between 7:30 PM AEST on 12 May 2026 and 30 June 2027 can benefit from

normal negative gearing until 1 July 2027. Afterwards, new rules will apply.

“New builds” are fully exempt from the changes. Negative gearing is preserved regardless of when they

are purchased.

Capital Gains Tax (CGT)

The Budget changes the way capital gains tax is applied to future investment property sales. Previously,

investors who held property for more than 12 months received a 50% discount on their capital gain.

From 1 July 2027, the treatment differs depending on what you buy:

1.Established properties

From 1 July 2027, the 50% CGT discount will be replaced with an inflation-indexed system, a return to the

pre-1999 system. This means investors will be taxed on inflation-adjusted gains rather than automatically

receiving a flat 50% discount. The inflation-adjusted gain is then taxed at the investor's marginal rate,

subject to a 30% minimum tax.

Gains arising before 1 July 2027 are unaffected. The 50% discount continues to apply to any growth

accumulated up to that date.

New builds

Investors purchasing eligible new-build residential property will be able to choose between the existing

50% CGT discount or the new arrangements, whichever produces the lower tax bill. This flexibility is not

available to established property investors and means new build investors are protected regardless of the

inflation environment when they sell.

2.What do these changes mean for the market?

The intended consequence of these changes is to soften price growth by shifting investor activity toward

new builds. The idea is that established properties will pass from investors to owner-occupiers over time,

but what remains uncertain is how long this will take. Grandfathering means existing investors have little

incentive to sell immediately, so the transition, if it occurs, is likely to be gradual.

Whether new investor demand translates into actual new housing supply depends on factors the tax

system cannot fix. Constraints around planning approvals, construction costs, labour availability and

infrastructure remain.

The more significant market impact is likely to be on rents rather than prices. As investor demand shifts

away from established properties, rental supply in those areas is likely to tighten, particularly in suburbs

where new development is limited.

The rental market is also not a static pool. Australia’s rental demand continues to grow through population

growth, migration, workforce mobility and changing household circumstances, while many renters are

neither in a financial position to purchase property nor seeking to do so in the near future. These pressures

mean the reforms are likely to be felt well beyond investors alone. Other key concerns include:

Increased pressure on established rental markets

Investor demand is expected to shift more heavily toward new developments and apartment projects,

reducing future investment activity in established residential markets. In already undersupplied suburbs

and cities, this is expected to place additional pressure on rental availability, tenant competition and rental

pricing.

Regional markets becoming more exposed

Many regional areas already face limited new development opportunities, high construction costs and

extremely low vacancy rates. In these markets, reduced investor participation in established housing is

expected to tighten rental supply without sufficient replacement stock being delivered.

New-build competition intensifying

While the reforms are designed to improve affordability for first-home buyers, they will also intensify

competition within the new-build sector. First home buyers are already concentrated in new housing due

to grant settings and stamp duty concessions, while the retained tax advantages for new builds will

continue attracting domestic investors, build-to-rent operators and eligible foreign capital toward the same

limited pool of properties. This convergence of demand toward a limited pool of new properties risks

pushing up new build prices over time, partially offsetting the affordability gains the policy intends to

deliver.

3.Labour mobility and workforce pressure

Many Australians rent close to employment hubs, schools, healthcare and major infrastructure. Reduced

rental availability in established areas is expected to create additional pressure on labour mobility, particularly

for key workers and essential services employees who rely on access to stable rental accommodation close to

where they work.

Rentvesting becoming more difficult

Many Australians have used rentvesting as a pathway into the property market by purchasing investment

properties in more affordable locations while continuing to rent closer to work, family or lifestyle hubs. With

future tax incentives now tied to new-build property, that pathway will become more difficult for many

younger investors.

Supply challenges remaining unresolved

The budget's $2 billion infrastructure fund and apprenticeship incentives are positive steps, but they work

slowly. Australia's target of 1.2 million new homes over five years remains well out of reach, and without

resolving planning, labour and construction constraints, the supply response the government is counting on

is not guaranteed.

New builds become established on resale

A property is only new once. When an investor eventually sells a new build, the next buyer is purchasing an

established property without access to the same tax treatment. Over time this narrows the resale market for

new build investors and creates a two-tiered property market with different liquidity characteristics.

4.What does this mean for investors?

These changes are undeniably significant and will lead many to reassess portfolio strategy, future acquisitions

and long-term investment plans.

While the direction of the reforms is now clear, they still need to progress through the legislative process

before implementation, and aspects of the policy may continue to evolve as further legislation and

implementation details are released.

It’s important to remember that properties held before Budget night retain their current tax treatment under

the grandfathering provisions until sold, meaning many existing holdings will continue to carry significant

long-term value under the previous framework.

Although tax settings have always played an important role in property investment decisions, long-term

performance has historically been driven by a broader combination of asset growth, rental income, debt

reduction, portfolio structure and time in the market.

More than ever, the Budget framework highlights the importance of understanding where your portfolio sits

in relation to your overall investment strategy, including:

Portfolio cash flow and rental performance;

Ownership structures and taxation planning;

Lending arrangements and interest rates;

Depreciation opportunities and value-add strategies;

Vacancy management and rental optimisation; and

Long-term hold versus acquisition strategies.

For many, this represents a shift toward more active portfolio planning. Rather than reacting to short-term

uncertainty, the focus should be on understanding how the changes affect individual circumstances and

ensuring future decisions are aligned with long-term financial goals.

At the same time, many of the underlying fundamentals that have historically supported residential property

investment remain unchanged, including ongoing population growth, persistent rental demand and continued

housing supply constraints. Residential property remains an important long-term asset class for many

Australians, and for investors with well-located properties and a long-term horizon, the structural case

remains intact.

What will happen to old properties coming on to the market? Why will people buy IP if they don't get negative gearing? Not many go for first homes.

Also those grandfathered existing IPs, when people want to sell, no Investor would buy them as they won't get negative gearing? Will sales be low and days on market be very high going forward?

@PK what do you Think.

Corrected: My friend just had their home loan On Hold by the bank because their broker flagged their payslip as AI generated...

it wasnt!!! like what is even happening out there??

has anyone else had a perfectly legit document get rejected like this and how did you deal with it?

Update: Bank approved the loan post income proof submissions. Although, They did not reveal why they marked the document incorrectly as AI generated. So The banks system is not fool proof.

My accountant just told me they need to start charging extra fees from July because of the new AML anti money laundering laws coming in...

seriously how much extra are people paying for this??

has anyone else been hit with unexpected fees from their accountant lately and did you just cop it or push back?

Where do you think the money comes from for landlords paying these rate hikes?

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Its the tenants