Coppick Property Advisory · for people posted to Townsville

Posted to Townsville? Here's what to sort out before you sign anything.

You've got orders, a date, and a town where fewer than one rental in a hundred is empty. Plenty of people will tell you to grab the first thing going. This is what I'd want someone posted here to know first.

I'm Ryan Coppick, a licensed Queensland real estate agent (licence 4961592) who works only for buyers. I'm paid by the buyer. I take no money from sellers or developers, and no referral fees from any broker, solicitor or anyone else I send you to. I'm a buyers agent and Townsville is my patch: at the open homes most Saturdays. My record is twelve in one day. Most of what's in this guide is free public data, sources at the end, so you can check every number yourself. When I'm working on an actual property for a client, I add the paid and the private: sales history and comparable sales, the title search, the overlays on the exact lot, the building and pest report, and the answers you get from the selling agent when you ask the right questions. It's general information, not financial, credit, legal or tax advice. Your borrowing is a broker's job and your tax is an accountant's.

If you only remember one thing: two houses in the same suburb can be miles apart on flood, insurance and break-ins. One's up the rise, one's down by the drain. Check the actual block before you get attached to the house.

The trap that costs the most. Under the ADF pay and conditions rules, signing a contract to buy before your posting order is issued can make you ineligible for HPSEA (the allowance that reimburses part of your buying and selling costs) on that home. Confirm the timing with Defence before you sign anything. The ADF Home Purchase and Sale team is reached through 1800 DEFENCE (1800 333 362).

Find yourself

The checks are mostly the same for everyone. What you sort out first isn't.

First homeYou or your partner have never owned. Deposit's small. Lots of help you may not know about. Family home, moving inBuying a home to live in from another posting, probably without being here. InvestingBuying to rent out, or buying to live in and rent out when you're posted again.

First home

First-home members can get up to four kinds of help. Together they can cut what you need upfront and what you pay each month. Each one has conditions, so check which apply to you.

Buy now, or rent a year first? Be honest about the odds you'll be posted out of it. If that's likely, you're buying something you'll later rent, so it has to work as a rental too: what it would fetch, who'd manage it, and the tax point under "If you're posted again" below. Sometimes the honest answer is rent for a year, get to know the town, buy at the next posting.
Your real number, before any listing. Four things can stack: the First Home Guarantee (5% deposit, no lenders mortgage insurance, no income caps or place limits since October 2025, but a price cap of $700,000 in Townsville and you must live in the home); DHOAS, if you've served long enough to qualify; HPAS, a one-off payment for eligible members buying a first home (confirm the current amount and the conditions with the Home Purchase and Sale team); and Queensland's first-home stamp duty concession. A broker who writes DHOAS loans tells you what all of that comes to. Not a website calculator.
Stamp duty: new or established makes a big difference. On an established home a Queensland first-home buyer pays no duty up to $700,000, then it climbs: about $6,500 at $730,000 and about $21,850 at $800,000, where the concession runs out. On a brand-new home or vacant land to build on, first-home buyers pay no duty at any price (since May 2025). Both need you to move in within a year (two years if you're building on land) and live there at least a year, so if a posting could mean renting it out early, ask your conveyancer what that does to the concession.
The block. Council's flood map for the exact lot, the bushfire overlay if it's out on the edge, an insurance quote in writing on the address before you offer, and a look at what's being built nearby. A lot of buyers get the insurance quote after they've signed. Get yours before. On a low block it can be thousands a year more.
What it costs each week. Loan, rates, insurance, upkeep, written down against your pay, with a month of no rent allowed for if it ever becomes a rental. If that weekly number makes you feel sick, walk. Doesn't matter how good the kitchen is.
Offer subject to building and pest, then inspect. In Queensland you usually make the offer with a building and pest condition and inspect under it. A bad report can be your way out; your conveyancer words the condition. Recent sales in the street set the price, not what the agent says the seller wants.

What I do here: work alongside your broker, who confirms your finance and entitlements; screen the suburbs you're thinking about on flood, ownership mix and crime; check every block you shortlist; and do the negotiating, using what the street has actually sold for. Found one already? Send me the listing and I'll check flood, whether insurance is likely to be a problem on that block, and the price, for free.

Family home, moving in

Buying from another state without being here is common, and it's where most of the avoidable mistakes happen.

The house you're leaving. This is the first decision and it's often skipped. Selling it may bring HPSEA into play (see the warning box: timing against your posting order matters). Keeping it as a rental brings in DHOAS rules if it's subsidised, the six-year tax rule, and, if you bought it after 12 May 2026, the 2027 negative-gearing change. Talk to your broker and accountant about the old house before you look at a new one.
Your budget. From the broker, with HPSEA and any DHOAS entitlement on the new home included. Then the weekly holding number: rates, insurance, upkeep and the loan, written down.
School and the drive. Where the kids will be, and how long the run to Lavarack or the hospital takes at 7am. That builds the shortlist before any house does.
The suburb, measured. The Census shows what share of each suburb is owner-occupied versus rented; in Townsville's eastern and southern suburbs it ranges from about a quarter rented to well over half (ABS Census 2021). Police data shows break-ins by division. I put the division figure and the ownership split next to each suburb on your list before anyone looks at a house.
The block. Flood map on the lot, bushfire overlay, insurance in writing, what's being built nearby. Parts of the Ross River corridor fall within council's 2019 flood mapping. That doesn't rule those suburbs out. It rules out the low blocks in them.
What it sells for again in ten years. A flat, usable block the house doesn't swallow. Not on a main road or facing a T-intersection. No easement through the yard. In an older suburb a big share of what you pay is the block, and the block is usually what holds value.
Offer subject to building and pest, then inspect. Same as every path.

What I do here: I'm here. I walk the streets and the opens, run the suburb screen with the numbers next to each name, check the block before you fly up, and handle the agent so a family three states away isn't negotiating blind. I'll tell you when a house is a no. That's half of what you're paying me for.

Investing

On an 80% loan at this year's rates, with the costs on my published sheet, I haven't found a Townsville property that covers its own costs before tax. If you live in it first under DHOAS and rent it out when you're posted, the subsidy can change that sum, so get your own number. You can still buy. Just know what it costs you every week before you sign, not after.

Why you're buying it. Income in ten years, something to hand on, a step toward stopping work, or a home you'll rent out when you're posted. The right property for each is a different property.
New build or established: the 2027 rules decide more than you'd think. The law passed in June 2026. From 1 July 2027 the 50% capital gains discount is replaced by indexation with a 30% minimum, for gains from that date. And for an established home bought after 12 May 2026, a rental loss can be claimed only against rental income and gains, with the rest carried forward, not against your wage. New builds keep the negative-gearing deduction (what counts as "new" is still being finalised). So: a new build keeps the deduction but you're mostly buying building, in the estates where the new supply is; an established house usually has more of its price in land but you can't claim its losses against your pay. Work that out with your accountant before you choose.
Your borrowing, and how much of it to use. There's no universally correct loan size. A first investment, a conservative builder, someone near retirement and a portfolio builder borrow differently. Your broker gives the number; how much of it you use is your decision with them, and I'll put a weekly holding cost on whatever level you're weighing up.
The real yield, labelled. Rent over price is the gross yield the listing quotes. Take out rates, body corporate if it's a unit, insurance, the manager, a couple of weeks empty and some upkeep, and a 7% gross usually lands somewhere near 4 to 5% net before the loan, lower again for a unit with a body corporate. My floor is 3.5% gross; below that my default is no. Over five years, a 4.5% gross yield needs less than about 2% a year of growth, after costs and before tax, to come out ahead of a 7% gross yield that never grows. That's maths, not a prediction. Nobody knows if the growth will come, and finding the places where it's likeliest is the job.
Land over building, bought under the market. I aim for land to be at least 60% of what you pay, checked against the Valuer-General's land valuation and recent land sales, and I want a margin on price: recent sales in the street, a motivated vendor, or something the market's overlooked. Over time the land usually does the rising. The house needs repairs.
The block, the insurance, the manager, the exit. Same checks as everyone, plus who manages it when you're posted and what the next buyer sees in ten years.

What I do here: a written strategy before any listing, the cost sheet on every property you shortlist, the lot checks, the negotiation, and the honest "walk away" when a deal only works if growth shows up. My fee is fixed. I earn nothing extra for a higher price, or for this property over the next one.

Been sent a deal that sounds too good? Send me the listing and I'll run it through the same cost sheet and show you the working. Flood, whether insurance looks like a problem on that block, holding cost, price against the street. No charge. What you do with it is your call, with your broker and accountant. 0400 223 862 · [email protected]

When you're paying me, this is what you get

I run the numbers on every house you're serious about, the same cost sheet, and I show you the working. I pull the sales history and the comparable sales so the price is based on what the street paid, not what the agent says. I order the title search and get the council overlays on the exact lot before you offer, not after. I line up the building and pest (you pay the inspector direct, as with any purchase), read the report with you, and tell you what it means for the price or for walking away; anything structural goes back to the inspector. I handle the agent, the offer and the negotiation, and I'm the one who says "walk away" when a deal only works if growth turns up. Then I see it through to settlement, with 30 days of support after. You can still ring me after that; anything more than a chat is a new job, quoted up front.

How working with me goes

Step	What it is	Cost
Free call	15 minutes. Where you're up to, what you're trying to do, whether I'm the right person.	$0
Strategy Session	90 minutes, then a written strategy you keep: what the property's for, your criteria, a weekly number for what a purchase should cost you to hold, the areas that fit and the ones that don't, the finance sequence with your broker, a twelve-month plan. Thirty days of email support after.	$899. No GST applies. Credited in full if you engage me within 30 days.
Full engagement	I find it, check it, negotiate it and see it through to settlement.	$11,500 fixed. No GST applies. Half when you sign my appointment, half when your purchase contract goes unconditional. Refund terms are in the engagement letter.

If you're posted again

Many members who buy here are posted again before they sell. Five things to do before the removalist, not after.

Tell the lender first. If your loan is under DHOAS, the subsidy can continue when you're posted after moving in in good faith; you lodge a change of circumstances with the posting directive before you move. One lender's process, as relayed to me through a DHOAS broker in October 2026: if the loan's more than 12 months old it becomes an investment loan and the subsidy continues; under 12 months there's some flexibility by submission; buying another home to live in ends the subsidy on the first, and you apply for it on the new one. Other DHOAS lenders may differ, so get yours in writing. Skip the process and you may be asked to repay. Scheme rules: dhoas.gov.au.
The six-year rule, to your accountant, before you move out. If you lived in the home first, the ATO may let you keep treating it as your main residence for up to six years per absence while it's rented, which can reduce or remove capital gains tax if you sell inside that window or move back in. Conditions apply, including not claiming another main residence for the same period.
The 2027 point. If the home runs at a loss once it's rented, and it's an established home bought after 12 May 2026, that loss may not come off your wage from July 2027. Ask your accountant what that does to the weekly number.
A property manager who knows Defence tenants and the Townsville rental market, appointed before you leave.
Insurance switched to landlord cover the day you move out, in writing. Home policies can stop covering a house left empty.

The checks, in order

Flood and bushfire overlay on the lot, from council. A lot inside the high-risk flood or bushfire overlay is a no. A suburb on a flood list means every lot in it gets checked first.
Insurance quote in writing on the address. Home and contents in North Queensland averages about $3,117 a year and can be far more on a low block. Insure from the day you sign; your conveyancer confirms when risk passes to you.
What's being built nearby. Nearly nine in ten of last year's 1,151 approvals were houses, and council signed off a record 1,255 new blocks, almost all in eight outer suburbs. There's almost no new land left close in.
If it's a unit: sinking fund balance, the last special levy, the body corporate's insurance. (One bit of good news: strata premiums in North Queensland are back near the national average, per the ACCC.)
Offer subject to building and pest, by a licensed inspector, report back before the condition date.

Questions for the selling agent

How long has it been listed, and has the price moved?
Has a contract fallen over on it?
Is there an existing building and pest report I can see?
What do similar homes in this street actually rent for, in writing?
Is the lot in the flood or bushfire overlay?
If it's a unit: sinking fund balance and the last special levy.

Some of these an agent can't answer without the seller's permission. That's their duty to the seller, not dodging. Note which ones get a straight answer.

Where Townsville sits, in five numbers

Rental vacancy 0.9% (REIQ, June 2026). Fewer than one rental in a hundred is empty.
Median house about $700,000, up about 75% since 2022-23 and flat since March (REIQ).
1,151 homes approved in 2025-26, nearly nine in ten houses (ABS); a record 1,255 blocks, almost all in eight outer suburbs (Townsville City Council). Defence Housing Australia is adding around 500 new homes near Lavarack over the next few years (Defence minister, 2024-25).
Holding costs moved this year: council rates up 6.8% for the average home (Townsville City Council, 2026-27 budget), four cash-rate rises to 4.60% (RBA), home and contents insurance in North Queensland about $3,117 (ACCC).
Break-ins: district-wide down about a third from the 2022-23 peak, still above 2019 and still among the highest of Queensland's police districts (QPS). Division and suburb figures differ. Drive the street at night.

Ryan Coppick · Coppick Property Advisory · 0400 223 862 · [email protected] · coppickpropertyadvisory.com
Buyer's side only. I take no money from sellers or developers. QLD Licence 4961592.

Sources. REIQ Queensland Market Monitor and vacancy release, June 2026. ABS Building Approvals, Townsville LGA, 2025-26. Townsville City Council: development and lot approvals 2025-26; flood mapping (2019 event, 2024 climate mapping); bushfire risk mapping 2025; 2026-27 budget. Defence minister media releases on Defence housing in Townsville (December 2024, September 2025); Defence Housing Australia. ACCC Insurance Monitoring Report, June 2026 (home and contents, North Queensland; strata). Queensland Police Service open data to August 2026. RBA cash rate decisions 2026. Queensland Revenue Office, transfer duty rates and first-home concessions (established-home concession to $800,000; new-home and vacant-land concession from 1 May 2025). Housing Australia, First Home Guarantee (price caps from 1 October 2025). ADF Pay and Conditions Manual (HPAS, HPSEA). DHOAS conditions, dhoas.gov.au; one lender's posting process as relayed to me through a DHOAS broker, October 2026. ATO, treating a former home as your main residence. Treasury Laws Amendment (Tax Reform No. 1) Act 2026, Royal Assent 26 June 2026. ABS Census 2021, tenure by suburb. General information only; not financial, credit, legal or tax advice.