Indicative projections to help compare a property purchase vs stocks
Comparison pathway
Post-sale net wealth
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What happens over 10 years
Annual cash flow
This chart shows your yearly on the property path alongside what rent elsewhere would have cost you over the same year. We show both side by side so you can see, year by year, whether the property is actually cheaper to hold than simply paying rent and investing the difference.
Cash flow on the property path is already after income tax, and in investment mode the rent you’d still be paying to live somewhere is already subtracted — so when the property bar sits above the rent bar, the property is running cheaper that year than renting.
We always run an at mortgage ±1 percentage point: the small whiskers on each property bar show the range of post-tax cash flow across those rates, so you can see how sensitive the year is to rate moves.
For the underlying numbers — including and , which reduce pre-tax cash but aren’t deducted from taxable rental income — see the yearly table below.
Yearly totals
Year
Property Value
Loan
Tenant Rent
Interest
Disclaimer
The Property Investment Helper is an indicative educational calculator. All figures, projections, tax estimates, and comparisons are produced from the assumptions you enter and from simplified rules. They are not personal financial, tax, legal, credit, or investment advice, and they must not be treated as a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any property, loan, or security.
Australian tax law, interest rates, stamp duty, lending rules, and market conditions change frequently, and this tool may not reflect the most recent changes. Property and ETF returns shown here are hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results, and you can lose money investing in either asset class. Before acting on any output, independently verify the numbers and confirm your circumstances with a qualified Australian financial adviser, tax agent, mortgage broker, and/or solicitor.
By using this site you accept the . The author accepts no liability for any loss arising from the use of, or reliance on, this calculator or the linked news headlines.
Educational summary only — not financial or tax advice. Matches the simplified assumptions in this calculator.
How to use this tool
Australian Property Investment Helper — quick orientation
This page is an interactive calculator for exploring a single investment-property scenario against a simple ETF alternative. The projections run in your browser as you move sliders and change fields—no account or sign-in is required to use the tool.
1. Start in the sidebar
Use Purchase & loan for price, deposit, interest rate, loan term, and interest-only versus principal-and-interest. In investment mode, set tenant rent (and optional tenant rent growth checkbox) under Income & expenses, plus property growth and annual expenses; under Compare to ETF, set rent elsewhere (and its growth checkbox) — that living rent is subtracted in property pre/post-tax cash flows and still drives the headline rent + ETF comparison (ETF after tax minus cumulative rent). In home (owner-occupier) mode, the Income sidebar block is hidden (no tenant rent); set rent if renting elsewhere under Compare to ETF (with rent-growth checkbox there), and holding costs under Expenses. Set year of property sale to match how long you plan to hold; KPIs and charts use that horizon. The Minimum hold time (after-tax) KPI scans sale years 3–30 separately to show when property first meets or beats the rent + ETF (net of rent) comparison.
2. Tax and comparison settings
Under Tax, choose stamp duty by state or a custom rate, enter other income for simplified marginal-rate estimates, and pick property CGT options at sale. Use Model leaving Australia? (in the Tax sidebar) to optionally set leave year and return year — the model splits rental tax and uses either resident-at-sale CGT (sidebar) or a pro-rata discounted gain at marginal rates. Under Compare to ETF, set expected ETF return and how ETF gains are taxed at sale so the amber baseline stays comparable to your property path.
3. Read the dashboard
The KPI strip shows the headline numbers only — tap or click a card for the full explanation. The Projections and Annual cash flow charts show the heading and chart on the page; use Explain this chart for the longer notes. On smaller screens, top actions move into the menu (☰). On large screens, Compare saves the current property pathway to your browser (one slot; overwrites on each save) so you can change sliders and see the dashed Comparison pathway on the line chart; Clear comparison removes it. Interest rate stress (see PI-Wiki) always runs at mortgage ±1 percentage point: a shaded band on the line chart in Net wealth and Wealth views (not in Property & loan), and vertical whiskers on the Annual cash flow chart (min–max post-tax cash flow at those rates). The line chart switches among Wealth, Net wealth, and Property & loan via the radio buttons (home mode hides Wealth). In investmentNet wealth, dashed amber = gross ETF to Sale, solid amber = ETF after tax minus cumulative rent elsewhere (matches the Rent + ETF KPI), dotted green = property net wealth if rent elsewhere were omitted from yearly cash flows, and solid green = the modelled property path. Wealth shows the amber comparison paths plus dotted green only (stress band tracks that counterfactual). The bar chart shows Property Purchase (after-tax cash flow on the buy path) and rent elsewhere side by side. The yearly table lists numbers by year (including pre-tax and post-tax columns).
4. Definitions and snapshot
Underlined terms open short articles in PI-Wiki. The green Recommendation / investment snapshot button builds a plain-language paragraph summary you can copy. All outputs use rounded assumptions (for example 2025–26 resident tax brackets where applied)—they are indicative only, not personal financial, tax, or legal advice. Always confirm results with a qualified adviser before you act.
Privacy policy
Australian Property Investment Helper
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Changes
This policy may be updated from time to time. Continued use of the site after changes means you accept the updated policy.
About
Australian Property Investment Helper
I built this tool initially for my partner and I to help us make a decision about an Investment Property.
We're renting at the moment, and I wanted to compare a property purchase against a base case of continuing to rent + savings in ETFs, to see the impact on two things: our weekly cash flow and our 'net wealth' after holding the property for n years.
It's a simple tool, but my friends found it useful, so I thought it would be useful for others too in the same boat. So here it is. It's free, and no login required. If you found it useful, please consider buying me a coffee.
Terms & Conditions
Australian Property Investment Helper
These Terms & Conditions govern your use of the Australian Property Investment Helper (the “site”). By accessing or using the site you agree to be bound by them. If you do not agree, please do not use the site.
1. No advice
The site is an educational calculator only. Nothing on the site constitutes personal financial, tax, legal, credit, or investment advice, or an offer, solicitation, or recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any property, loan, security, or other financial product. All figures are indicative and based on the inputs you provide and simplified assumptions that may not reflect your circumstances or current law.
2. Your responsibility
You are solely responsible for any decisions you make. You should independently verify all outputs and seek advice from a qualified Australian financial adviser, registered tax agent, mortgage broker, and/or solicitor before acting. You must use the site lawfully and must not attempt to interfere with, reverse-engineer, overload, or misuse the site or its infrastructure.
3. Accuracy and availability
Tax rates, interest rates, stamp duty thresholds, lending rules, property markets, and ETF returns change frequently. The site is provided “as is” and “as available” with no warranty of accuracy, completeness, currency, fitness for purpose, or uninterrupted availability. News headlines and links shown on the site are sourced from third-party feeds and may be inaccurate, biased, or out of date; their display is not an endorsement.
4. Intellectual property
The site’s design, code, and original content are owned by the author. You may use the site for personal, non-commercial purposes. You may not copy, redistribute, scrape, or resell the site or its content without permission.
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6. Limitation of liability
To the maximum extent permitted by law, the author accepts no liability for any loss, damage, cost, or expense (including loss of profit, investment loss, or consequential loss) arising from your use of, or reliance on, the site or its outputs. Nothing in these terms excludes any consumer guarantees that cannot lawfully be excluded under Australian law.
7. Changes and governing law
These terms may be updated from time to time; continued use means you accept the updated terms. These terms are governed by the laws of Australia.
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