End of financial year is often framed as a dreaded deadline. For many, it is a scramble to lodge receipts, reconcile accounts, and check in with your accountant before the clock runs out.
For investors who understand how to use the calendar, the lead-up to EOFY is one of the most strategically valuable periods of the year. Markets often see less competition at open homes, more motivated vendors, and clearer tax-saving opportunities.
Few people are better placed to explain this than Johnny Bell. As the founder of Housemark Properties, a rental-only property management business on the Gold Coast, Johnny has closely observed investor behaviour over seven years and more than 3,500 management engagements.
In a recent in-depth conversation with Joe Pullos from COAST Buyer’s Agency, he shared what the current market looks like, what savvy investors are actually doing, and what separates a strong investment property from one that quietly bleeds cash. You can watch the full interview with Johnny Bell here:
Who is Johnny Bell, and why does his view on property investment matter?
Johnny Bell founded Housemark Properties in March 2019 with a clear conviction: property management was the part of the real estate industry that nobody talked about, nobody celebrated, and nobody built a company around. He set out to change that.
He started with zero managements and a cold call from a golf course. His first client, a landlord named Grant, had a property in Redcliffe on Marine Parade that was renting for $320 a week. Johnny drove straight there and signed him up. Seven years later, that same property is getting $800 a week, and Grant now works at Housemark as a leasing manager, having watched the business grow from the inside as a client before eventually joining the team.
Today, Housemark manages more than 3,500 properties across South East Queensland! It is a growth journey Johnny describes as driven entirely by the simple act of putting landlords first.
So, let’s jump into what smart investors do before June 30.
Johnny Bell from Housemark – podcast interview with COAST Buyer’s Agency 2026
1. View end of financial year as a window
Every year, Johnny sees an uptick in investor activity in the months leading up to June 30. This year, he says, it is more pronounced than usual.
The reason is that uncertainty is keeping some buyers on the sidelines. Interest rate speculation, global volatility, and ongoing discussion around potential capital gains tax changes have made a segment of the market cautious. For investors who are watching this, the response is to move, not wait.
Fewer people at open homes means less competition on the day. Vendors who need to sell are more negotiable. Properties that might have attracted multiple offers six months ago are now available with far less friction. As Johnny puts it, the smart investors are reading the headlines as buying signals.
"The more uncertainty on the news, the more change, the more legislation they're trying to change — how good is that? Because the open home numbers come down, and this is when you get the deals."
This is the Warren Buffett principle applied to residential property: be willing to act when others are hesitating. And EOFY adds a further layer of strategy. If you buy before June 30, you can potentially repair, refresh, and claim deductions all within the same financial year.
2. Understand the repair vs improvement distinction
As we all know, not all spending on an investment property is treated equally by the ATO.
A repair delivers an instant tax deduction in the financial year it occurs. An improvement, by contrast, is treated as a capital expense and depreciated over time. The practical implication of this is significant: if you complete repairs before June 30, they will be deducted from your taxable income for this financial year. Cross over to July 1, and you wait another twelve months to see the benefit.
Gutters, air conditioning servicing, a house wash, fresh paint, and new carpet — these are the kinds of expenses that can be deducted immediately, and they also happen to be the things that attract better tenants and support higher rents.
The strategic play is to buy a property that needs cosmetic work, complete that work before EOFY, and walk into the new financial year with an asset that is rental-ready, better-yielding, and partially offset by deductions.
"White paint forgives a lot of sins. Fresh carpet, plantation shutters, sheer curtains, maybe changing out some lights — it makes a property feel really fresh and clean, and it doesn't take a lot of effort."
As Johnny is quick to note, he is not an accountant, and the line between a repair and an improvement is one best confirmed with a qualified tax professional. But the principle of acting before June 30 is one that the savviest investors already know.
3. Know the current rental market
The Gold Coast rental market is as tight as it has ever been. Vacancy sits around one per cent — and according to Johnny, that figure is likely still trending down. Brisbane is tracking around 1 to 1.3 per cent. For context, anything below two per cent is considered dire by industry standards.
What this means in practice is that well-presented properties in strong locations are leasing within days. Johnny’s rule of thumb gives a clear picture of the current landscape: properties up to $1,200 a week are leasing in under a week; $1,200 to $2,500 a week typically moves in two to three weeks; above $2,500, it may take three weeks or more, simply because the pool of qualifying tenants is smaller.
Supply is not improving. Construction costs remain elevated, which is suppressing new stock coming to market. At the same time, some investors spooked by interest-rate pressure and economic uncertainty are selling. Fewer rental properties on the market means rents continue to rise. For landlords who hold and manage well, the fundamentals are compelling.
Joe noted a recent example from his own referral network: a property leased through Housemark attracted 34 groups at its first open home and rented at full asking price in a single inspection. Johnny’s response was telling — that is not unusual. For properties that hit the core fundamentals, it is simply what happens at the moment.
4. Separation of a high-performing investment property from an average one
When investors ask Johnny what makes a property easy to lease and easy to hold, his answer comes back to fundamentals every time.
Bedroom-to-bathroom ratios matter more than most buyers realise. A four-bedroom, one-bathroom property will attract students comfortable sharing facilities. A family, AKA the long-term, stable tenant most landlords want, needs at least two bathrooms. A three-bed, one-bath lease is harder to find than a three-bed, two-bath lease. Every time.
Beyond that, the features that attract good tenants are consistent: air conditioning in the master bedroom, ceiling fans throughout, built-in robes, fresh paint, clean carpet, and a well-maintained yard. Two living areas make a significant difference, one for the adults, one for the kids, and an outdoor space with good flow between inside and out. If a pool is present and well-maintained, it is a genuine drawcard.
Properties on main roads, near train lines, or in flood-prone areas are structurally harder to lease, but the tenant pool is narrower, and the tolerance for any shortcoming is lower.
The other factor Johnny raises is rental readiness before the tenant moves in. Smoke alarms compliant, air conditioning serviced, all locks functioning, the property clean and in working order. The first impression a tenant has of a home sets the tone for the entire tenancy. Landlords who understand this attract tenants who, in return, respect the property.
5. Treat property management as a relationship
Housemark exists because Johnny identified a gap: property management businesses that are actually built around property management, rather than bolted onto a sales agency that treats it as a secondary concern.
His analogy is useful: you would not see a GP for heart surgery. The same logic applies here. A specialist who knows their local market, manages their portfolio full-time, and has a financial stake in the business is a fundamentally different proposition from a property manager at a large agency whose principal is focused on commissions.
When something goes wrong, and in property, it will, you need someone you can call. Someone who understands construction, knows the right trades, and has the authority to fix the problem without layers of approval. That person exists at a specialist operation. At a generalist agency, you may get handed to whoever is managing the largest portfolio that week.
Johnny also raises a practical point that many landlords overlook: meet your property manager before you sign, not just the BDM who sells you the service. The person who takes your call on a Saturday afternoon during a maintenance emergency is the one who matters.
The biggest mistakes investors make
The two most common investor mistakes Johnny sees are doing it yourself when buying, and doing it yourself when managing. They compound each other.
An investor without a buyer’s agent goes to three open homes, picks the one they feel good about, and gets talked into paying well above market value by a sales agent whose only obligation is to the vendor. They start the investment journey behind. Then they self-manage to save on fees, choose a tenant without proper screening, and find themselves with someone in arrears, smoke alarms not compliant, and disputes that cost far more than any management fee would have.
Experienced investors build a team — an accountant, a finance broker, a buyer’s agent, and a property manager — and let each person do what they do best. They think about portfolio scalability from the start, which means they are careful about yield. A portfolio of deeply negatively geared properties will cap out. At some point, the serviceability runs out, and the third or fourth property becomes unachievable.
The investors Johnny sees building real portfolios are the ones who prioritise neutral-to-positive cash flow. Not because they do not care about growth, but because yield is what funds the next purchase. Growth builds wealth. Yield builds capacity.
Right now, Johnny argues the Gold Coast offers both. The old assumption that you either get growth with houses or yield with units, but never both, has been dismantled by the current market. Units are delivering strong capital growth, driven in part by the high replacement cost of new builds and ongoing supply constraints. Investors who are flexible on asset type are finding opportunities that investors locked into one approach are missing.
Reframing end of financial year
End of financial year is not a deadline to dread. For investors who are prepared, it is one of the best-positioned buying windows of the year.
The investors who move in this environment are informed, they have their team in place, and they understand that in property, the money is made when you buy. Getting the entry, management, and strategy right from the start is what separates a portfolio that grows from one that stalls.
COAST Buyer’s Agency thanks Johnny Bell for sharing his time and perspective. We encourage you to watch the full interview to hear his insights in full — including his view on the Gold Coast’s most in-demand suburbs, the units-versus-houses debate, and what tenant behaviour is telling us about the rental market right now.
