Selling an investment property before retirement
The cash from a sale is the price less the loan payout, the selling costs and the tax on the gain. The property page's sale estimate runs those steps in order from the property's records. So the figure to compare with keeping the property is the one it shows, not the price.
From price to cash
The sale estimate starts from the PropRetire value or the recorded value. It takes off the lender payouts for every loan linked to the property. It takes off the selling costs at the property's assumption. Then it estimates the tax on the gain.
What is left is Net cash from sale Price less loan payouts, selling costs and estimated tax on the gain. . The strip shows each step, so you can check every one.
The gain is not the growth
The taxable gain is the sale price less the property's Cost base The purchase price plus the costs of buying, improving and selling, less building depreciation claimed. . The cost base is more than the purchase price. It includes purchase costs, capital improvements and selling costs. That is why the property page keeps a table of purchase and improvement costs.
A property bought for $650,000 with $1,500 of purchase costs has a cost base of $651,500 before improvements. Depreciation claimed on the building lowers the cost base, and the depreciation records track it.
Say a person has held the property for more than twelve months. If they sell before 1 July 2027, half the gain is taxed. From that date, indexation of the cost base and a 30% minimum tax replace the discount, unless the new-dwelling election applies. The gain up to that date keeps the old rule. Where the records show the holding period, the estimate applies the rule for the sale's date.
If it was ever your home
A property that was the owner's main residence for part of the time is partly exempt for that time, under the Main residence exemption The part of a gain not taxed because the property was the owner's home. . The estimate reads the use records on the property page. Each one says main residence, rented or vacant, with its dates.
Without real dates in the use history, the estimate can only be rough. Even with them, it is an estimate. The ATO's rules and an accountant decide the actual figure.
Where the cash goes
Net cash from sale lands in the seller's cash account. The position counts it as Accessible now.
The retirement plan runs strategies side by side. One is Keep everything. Another is Sell investments, keep the home. A Custom property timeline sets the age each property sells at. Retirement outcome leads with the strategy whose cash lasts longest.
When the sale happens, record it on the property page with its contract and settlement dates. Then the property leaves the position on the right day, and the financial year review shows the year of the sale correctly.
Read next: Property equity is not retirement income
General information only. Not financial, tax, legal or credit advice.