The wealth-building move more doctors and dentists are making in their 40s
For medical professionals in Australia, the 40s tend to mark a specific inflection point. Practice income is typically at or near its peak, personal debt is more manageable than it was a decade earlier, and superannuation balances have had time to accumulate. It's also the period when a growing number of GPs, specialists, dentists, and allied health practitioners are looking at the premises they lease and asking a different kind of question.
According to ATO data as at December 2024, approximately 11.2 percent of all SMSF assets in Australia were invested in non-residential commercial property, within a sector now holding over $1 trillion in total assets. For medical professionals with established practices, commercial property held inside an SMSF is an increasingly common structure, and one that carries specific tax and structural considerations worth understanding in detail before proceeding.
Each week we speak with practitioners at exactly this stage: strong income, clear financial position, and a practice that has outgrown its early uncertainty. This article outlines what the finance strategy for purchasing medical practice premises actually looks like, including the structure options that are most relevant at this stage of a professional's career.
Why medical professionals are well-positioned for commercial finance
Medical practitioners carry a lending profile that most commercial lenders view favourably. Stable, high income. Long professional operating history. Consistent patient revenue that is largely recession-resistant. These characteristics don't change the mechanics of commercial finance, but they do mean that serviceability assessments tend to be straightforward where the application is properly structured.
The key variable for medical professionals is not usually income. It's structure. The question of whether to purchase in personal name, through a company or trust, or via an SMSF is one that intersects finance, tax, and estate planning in ways that require careful coordination between your broker, accountant, and financial adviser.
A specialist commercial broker can outline the finance implications of each structure clearly, which gives you the right framework for that broader conversation with your advisory team.
Personal name, company or trust, or SMSF: what the finance considerations look like
These are not financial advice recommendations. They are the finance-level considerations that are relevant to each structure, and which inform the broader decision you make with your accountant.
Personal name. The simplest structure from a finance perspective. Lenders assess your personal income directly, and the application process is relatively straightforward for a practitioner with strong income documentation. The trade-off is that gains on the asset are taxed at your marginal rate and the asset sits in your personal estate.
Company or trust. Introduces an additional layer of structure that some lenders are more comfortable with than others. A specialist broker identifies which lenders on the panel are suited to trust or company borrowers in the medical space, which can meaningfully affect your available LVR and rate.
SMSF. Purchasing commercial property through a self-managed super fund using a Limited Recourse Borrowing Arrangement (LRBA) is a well-established strategy for medical professionals with sufficient fund balances. Net rental income within an SMSF is taxed at 15 percent, compared to a practitioner's marginal tax rate outside super, which can be as high as 47 percent. Capital gains tax reduces to 10 percent for assets held longer than 12 months. The structural complexity of an LRBA requires the arrangement to be established correctly before purchase. A specialist commercial broker who understands SMSF lending selects lenders with active SMSF products on their panel.
The SMSF pathway is generally more relevant for practitioners in their mid-40s or older with fund balances sufficient to meet deposit requirements without overconcentrating the fund in a single asset. Your financial adviser and accountant are the right people to assess whether the fund balance and structure support this approach. The broker's role is to identify and structure the finance once that decision is made.
Conversation from the Desk
A specialist physician in her mid-40s had been leasing her consulting suite for seven years and was approached by the building owner about a potential sale. Her income was strong, her practice was well-established, and she had an SMSF with a balance that her accountant had flagged as suitable for a property purchase. The question she brought to us was about structure and timing. Could the SMSF support the purchase without requiring significant additional contributions, and what would the finance look like from a lender's perspective given the asset type? We mapped out two pathways: a personal name purchase using equity from her residential property as the deposit, and an SMSF purchase using a Limited Recourse Borrowing Arrangement. Each had different implications for the deposit requirement, the loan term, and the lender panel available. We outlined both clearly so she could take the comparison back to her accountant for a recommendation on structure. The finance for either pathway was well within reach given her income and fund balance.
The rent displacement calculation for medical practices
One aspect of medical practice finance that differs from general commercial is the nature of the occupancy cost being displaced. Medical practice rents in well-located suburban and fringe-CBD positions have increased consistently over recent years. For a practitioner paying $6,000 to $12,000 per month in rent depending on location and footprint, the displacement saving is material to the serviceability assessment.
A specialist broker presents this calculation clearly to the lender, framing your application around the net additional cost of ownership rather than the gross loan repayment. In many cases, this changes the effective cost picture significantly.
Finance for medical practice premises in Australia
Ardent Capital Group works with GPs, specialists, dentists, and allied health practitioners across Australia on the finance strategy for purchasing practice premises. We understand medical asset valuation, SMSF lending structures, and how to present a medical professional's financial position to lenders who are best suited to the asset class. If you're mapping out your options, a conversation with our team is the right starting point.
Written by
Nick Chong
Director & Founder, Ardent Capital Group
Nick Chong founded Ardent Capital Group to give business owners and investors direct access to commercial finance done properly. He works across purchase, refinance and equity release, structuring deals with the right lender for the situation rather than the first one to say yes. If you want a clear read on your borrowing position, that conversation starts with a call.
