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Most investors don’t think about tenancy until after the build is done.

You find the land, settle on a design, get through construction, and then you start thinking about who’s going to rent it. That’s just how investment property works. You build the home, and then you find the tenant… Right? 

In some cases, yes. But in remote markets like Broome, that thinking is exactly why investors go months without seeing a cent in returns. Why? The problem is, you’re paying for the gap between finishing a build and having someone actually move in. Loan repayments don’t pause while you’re waiting. Holding costs keep accumulating. And if the rental market doesn’t respond the way you expected, that gap starts to stretch in ways that are hard to plan around from another state. Most investors just accept that as part of the process. 

A few months ago, though, a conversation we were having in Broome challenged that assumption with one simple question: What if the tenant came first?

Starting With Demand Instead of Design

Broome has a real shortage of housing for essential workers – teachers, nurses and police officers. The region needs them, but without somewhere for them to live, attracting and keeping those people becomes increasingly difficult. 

A government housing provider manages housing for those workers across the community, and they plan well ahead. During our conversations with them, one example that came up was an expectation of around 100 additional police officers needing housing in Broome over the coming years. The question was simply whether suitable homes would be ready for them.

One of our directors already had a working relationship with the housing provider through his own investment properties, and out of those conversations a question started to take shape. They knew exactly what they were looking for. How big the rooms needed to be, how much storage, how the living areas needed to work day to day. Could we build homes specifically around what they needed? And if we did, would they commit to a lease before construction even started?

It took around six months to work through. Getting the designs right meant satisfying what they were looking for while still building homes that actually suit the way people live in Broome. Anyone who has spent time up here knows that outdoor living is part of everyday life. The flow between kitchen, living and alfresco matters in a way that doesn’t always come through in a floor plan drawn up somewhere else. We needed the homes to genuinely work for the people living in them, not just tick the right boxes on paper.

What we ended up with were two four-bedroom designs, both approved, that work for the housing provider and feel right for Broome. 

What This Means in Practice

If you’re interested in building one of those homes, here’s how it works.

Before construction starts, your block and your chosen design go through a review with the housing provider. They check that everything is right. If it is, they commit to a 10-year lease, and you have that in writing before you sign a building contract.

So instead of finishing a build and hoping the rental market lines up, you’re going to the bank with a confirmed 10-year lease from a government housing provider before a slab has been poured. The tenancy is sorted before construction begins, because the demand was there before the design was even chosen.

For anyone who has ever felt uneasy about the gap between completing a build and seeing rental income start, that changes the picture considerably.

The Trade-Off to Understand Upfront

Building these homes does cost a little more than a standard investment build. Some of what the housing provider needs adds cost that wouldn’t otherwise be there. Overhead kitchen cupboards, for instance, aren’t something you’d necessarily include in a standard build, but they’re part of what the housing provider requires.

That’s worth sitting with before you decide. Spending more on a build is a real consideration, and it’s not something to gloss over.

What you’re weighing up is whether the certainty of a 10-year lease from a government housing provider justifies the additional cost upfront. For some investors it will. For others the numbers won’t stack up the way they need to. You could build one of these homes without ticking every box, and the housing provider might still rent it, but not on the same terms. You’d be looking at shorter lease arrangements rather than a 10-year commitment.

One Other Thing

This arrangement took around six months to develop. Working through what was needed, refining the designs, getting everything signed off. It doesn’t exist with anyone else in Broome right now, and it wouldn’t be quick for someone else to replicate even if they tried. For out-of-town investors looking at Broome, that’s just useful to know going in.

Before You Commit to Your Next Project

Building in a regional area isn’t the same as building in a capital city. What tenants need, how freight works, how long planning takes, how trades are sequenced – all of it shapes how a project unfolds and how quickly rental income starts flowing. And those things aren’t always obvious when you’re looking at a market from another state.

That’s why we put together The High-Cashflow Property Investor’s Guide: What Investors Don’t Realise About Building in Australia’s Highest-Yield Property Markets.

If you want a clearer picture of what’s involved before committing to your next project, it’s here if you want to take a look.

Frequently asked questions

Thinking about a pre-leased investment build in Broome? Talk to our custom home builders in Broome, or call the H&M Tracey team on (08) 9192 1437 to see whether the numbers stack up for you.

For general guidance on residential building standards and what to expect from a builder, industry bodies such as Master Builders Australia are a useful starting point.