2026-08-14
– Episode
48

You Don’t Need $1 Million to Buy Your First Commercial Property- Gabby Ingram

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Episode Description

Steve sits down with Gabby Ingram, a martial arts school owner from Melbourne who was told by every buyer's agent she spoke to that she needed at least $1 million to buy her first commercial property. 

She didn't accept it. Gabby comes from a family of property investors, with a mum who has invested for 25 years and a grandmother who has self-managed a commercial portfolio for around 70 years, so she did her own research and found a buyer's agent who agreed she didn't need seven figures to get started. 

She ended up buying a boutique jewellery shop about five kilometres from the Perth CBD for $465,000, with a net yield over 6%, which she manages herself using the systems her grandmother taught her.

In this episode, Gabby and Steve get into why other agents push the million-dollar minimum, how the recent negative gearing and SMSF lending changes are pushing money into the sub-million commercial bracket, what self-managing a retail tenancy involves, and why a nightmare residential tenant on settlement day confirmed that commercial was the right call.


Topics Discussed

  • Why every buyer's agent Gabby spoke to told her she needed a minimum of $1 million for a first commercial property, and why that advice had more to do with their wait lists than her strategy.
  • The strategy she was pushed toward, paying down her home first, and why that would have delayed the passive income she actually wanted instead of getting her closer to it.
  • Gabby's family background, with a mum who has invested for 25 years and a grandmother who has self-managed a commercial portfolio for about 70 years, starting with a factory she still holds.
  • How she and her husband started with a residential townhouse as a stepping stone, always with commercial and passive income as the end goal.
  • The property they bought through Palise, a $465,000 boutique jewellery shop about five kilometres from the Perth CBD, near a train station, at over 6% net yield with rent increases built in.
  • Steve's honest take on why sub-million commercial is harder to source, with only five to ten deals coming up a month, and why he charges a premium for it rather than turning those clients away.
  • How the removal of negative gearing and the SMSF residential lending changes have tripled Palise's lead inquiry and are pushing residential buyers into the commercial bracket.
  • What self-managing a retail tenancy involves, including the intro email to the tenant, which outgoings are recoverable, and why you always pay the insurance yourself and claim it back.
  • Why residential legislation protected the tenant more than Gabby when her rental was trashed on the day her commercial settled, and how that sealed the decision to go all in on commercial.
  • Where Gabby is headed next, setting up an SMSF to buy her second commercial property, and why commercial due diligence crashes about one in five deals before settlement.



HOSTED BY:
Steve Palise
Ph: 0403 878 497
Email:
steve@paliseproperty.com

LinkedIn: https://au.linkedin.com/in/steve-palise


Resources

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