Get Invested: Turnkey or turkey? The new-build rules nobody teaches you with Kate Hill and Alex Dutt

New property can offer compelling advantages for investors, but “new” doesn’t automatically mean “better”.

As Australian property investors reassess their options in the post-Budget environment, eligible new residential property is attracting increasing attention thanks to potential tax, depreciation, maintenance and cash-flow benefits.

But those benefits only matter if the underlying investment stacks up.

This week on Get Invested, Bushy Martin is joined by two property investment specialists from Adviseable, founder Kate Hill and new-build expert Alex Dutt, to cut through the simplistic new-versus-established debate and examine what makes a quality new-build investment actually work.

Kate is a Licensed Buyer’s Agent, Qualified Property Investment Adviser (QPIA), experienced property investor and co-author of the award-winning book The Female Investor. She brings the strategy, location, demand and asset-selection lens to the conversation.

Alex has been investing in property since 2004 and specialises in the new-build and turnkey construction process, helping investors navigate everything from sites, builders and contracts to specifications, costs, finance sequencing, inspections and handover.

Together, they explain why investors need to forget the word “new” initially and first ask whether they would still want to own the property based on its location, demand, scarcity and long-term owner-occupier appeal.

Because tax benefits, depreciation and a shiny new kitchen cannot rescue a poor investment.

They also unpack one of the most misunderstood parts of new-build investing: the difference between a marketed “package price” and the true tenant-ready cost.

Bushy, Kate and Alex explore the risks that can emerge between buying the land and collecting the first rent, including construction delays, variations, builder issues, valuation gaps, finance complications and overlooked inclusions, and how the right process, buffers and independent specialists can help manage them.

The message isn’t that new property is superior to established property, or vice versa.

It’s that superiority needs to be earned by evidence.