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When we spoke last, you asked me straight out whether selling Vasse was the right call. I said I'd run the real numbers once your statements came through. They're below.
This page shows what Vasse actually costs you to hold, what a sale would leave in your hand after the loans and tax, and how keeping it compares with selling it over the next five years. The figures in the yellow boxes are yours to change, and everything updates as you go.
Straight from your CommBank statements, July to September 2026, turned into a full year. Then the tax you get back, because Vasse runs at a small loss on paper once the interest and the building write-off are counted.
Move the sale price to whatever your agent thinks it will fetch. The loan balances are my estimates from your repayments, so check them in the Athena app and change them here if they're different.
The tax line is an estimate only, using this year's tax rates, the 50% discount for owning Vasse more than 12 months, and the cost base above. I've used $480,000 as a starting point (the land at $218,000 in 2008 plus an allowance for the 2014 build) because I don't hold your actual figure. Your accountant will give you the real number, and any building write-offs you've claimed over the years lower your cost base and raise the tax.
Five years takes you to 68, around when you said you'd want to tidy things up anyway. Both sides below assume you spend exactly the same each month. If you keep Vasse, that money goes on the loans and holding costs, as it does now. If you sell, the same money goes onto Wanneroo until it's paid off, then into savings.
Pick how Vasse might grow:
Both sides count what you'd have left after paying out every loan on both properties and, for "keep", after selling Vasse in five years and paying that tax. Your Wanneroo home is the same either way, so its value is left out, but what you still owe on it is counted. Rent and holding costs rise 3% a year. Vasse's interest, holding costs and building write-off are tax deductible and Wanneroo's interest isn't, and the page gives you that tax back at your tax rate. The write-offs claimed over the five years lower your cost base, so the tax on a sale then is higher, and that's counted too. Savings earn 4% a year before tax. This is an illustration, not a forecast.
Settlement is still expected around Q2 2027. Here's how each choice affects it.
Clearing about $470,000 of debt helps your borrowing more than losing the rent hurts it.
Your income matters most, and a permanent role at Northern Star helps a lot.
Your deposit is paid. We'll sit down once you have a few weeks of pay behind you.
I'm not your agent, your accountant or your property manager, and I don't gain anything either way. Here's how I read your numbers.
Vasse pays its own way. If it grows the way Busselton has over 30 years, keeping comes out well ahead.
A sale could clear most of Wanneroo. At 63, a nearly paid-off home is worth more than a spreadsheet shows.
The answers to the first two go straight into the yellow boxes above, and the tax lines update. The super question is worth asking your financial adviser too.
What is my actual cost base for Vasse, after the building write-offs I've claimed?
How much building write-off do I claim on Vasse each year?
Can I claim the interest on the Wellbrook deposit loan before Wellbrook settles?
If I ever lived in Vasse, does any of the main residence exemption apply?
Would the tax be lower if the sale fell in a year I earn less, such as after I retire?
Could extra super contributions in the year of the sale bring the tax down?
Any offers so far, or the price your agent is now guiding you towards.
A screenshot for both Vasse loans and Wanneroo, so the numbers are exact.
Once your accountant has them, pop them into the yellow boxes above.
Your contract and first two payslips when you have them, for Wellbrook.
This page gives general information only and is not personal financial, tax or legal advice. It's based on your bank statements from July to September 2026 and the assumptions shown, all of which can change. Please speak with your accountant and financial adviser before deciding to sell.
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