The Best Type of Investment Properties to Buy (and the Worst)

People always ask me, “JP, what’s the best type of investment property to buy?”

So here it is.

The clearest way I can explain it.

Some assets quietly build wealth in the background.

Others drain your time, money and future borrowing capacity.

Let’s keep it simple.

Ranking investment properties, best to worst:

1. 80’s brick home on 600 sqm

The GOAT. Solid construction, sensible floor plans, big blocks, owner occupier suburbs, stable demand, proper land value, actual scarcity.

These are the types of properties that underpin my own 7.2M portfolio and the 55 plus client purchases I’ve made. They just work.

……..

999. House and land package

Developer margins, inflated pricing, tiny land component, heavy depreciation, poor resale demand and no real scarcity.

Almost all upside is taken before you ever walk in the door. Looks good on a brochure, terrible on a balance sheet.

1000. Off-the-plan apartment

High density, low land value, investor-heavy buildings, long settlement risk, weak resale markets and often worth less on completion than the contract price.

If you want to donate your future capital growth to a developer, this is how.

Why the huge gap?

Because property isn’t magic.

It performs based on fundamentals.

The closer you are to the top of the list, the more you’re buying:

• meaningful land value

• scarcity

• low density

• owner occupier demand

• proven streets and suburbs

• established infrastructure

• capital growth drivers

• value-add potential

The further down the list you go, the more you’re buying:

• marketing

• speculative oversupply

• depreciation tables

• glossy renders

• builder margins

• investor-driven stock

• assets that banks don’t love

One group builds wealth.

The other holds you back for a decade.

Why the 80’s brick home performs so well

The 70s, 80s and early 90s were peak Australian residential construction.

Brick and tile. Decent parcels of land. Sensible layouts.

Homes built before everything became “maximised” to squeeze profit instead of livability.

These homes have something the bottom-tier investments can never manufacture:

Scarcity.

You can build more houses.

You can build more apartments.

But you cannot build more land in established, owner occupier suburbs.

This is why long term portfolios that actually grow tend to share the same DNA.

And why the bottom stays at the bottom

House and land packages and off-the-plan apartments are designed to look irresistible.

That’s their job.

But fundamentally they underperform because:

• the land value is tiny

• supply is abundant

• the competition is identical

• the price includes developer margins

• the buyer pool is weak on resale

• they’re built for marketing, not longevity

These assets look shiny at the start and stale five years later.

If you want to understand why some investors feel stuck after ten years, look at what they bought first.

The takeaway

Good investment properties aren’t flashy.

They aren’t trending on Instagram.

They don’t come with marble splashbacks or brochure lighting.

Good investment properties grow.

Quietly. Consistently. Predictably.

Buy closer to the top of the list.

Avoid the bottom.

Your future self will thank you.

Author

Written by JP Ghabriel

Founder and Buyer’s Agent at Investr

7.2M personal portfolio

50 plus client purchases

Focused on long term, growth-first property strategy