For eye care professionals, property decisions rarely exist in isolation. Whether it’s a family home that has outgrown its purpose, consulting suites that no longer accommodate a growing patient base, or an outdated practice fitout, the choice to rent, renovate, or relocate is rarely straightforward. Dianne Stewart, Head of Commercial Lending – Victoria at Avant Finance, provides a practical framework to help you think through your options clearly, strategically, and with your long-term goals in mind.
Healthcare professionals often have a unique set of financial circumstances – variable income structures, significant equipment investment, and career trajectories – that traditional lenders sometimes struggle to understand. Add to this the reality that many ophthalmologists and optometrists are simultaneously managing residential and commercial property decisions, and the complexity multiplies.
The Three Options at a Glance
Renting can help preserve capital, offer flexibility, and reduce the administrative burden of ownership. For an early career eye care professional (ECP) still building their patient base, renting a home and leasing sessional rooms may be entirely appropriate – offering freedom to move location or scale consulting hours without long-term capital commitment.
Renovating allows you to stay in a location you know while improving functionality, size or quality. About one in every three Australian households participated in some form of renovation in 2025.1 For established practitioners with property equity, renovating can unlock more space without stamp duty, agent fees, and the transactional costs of relocating.
Relocating – purchasing a new home, acquiring practice premises, or moving to a new commercial site – typically delivers the most transformational outcome but carries the highest cost and disruption. It can also offer the greatest long-term upside when the decision is made well.
Residential Property: Rent, Renovate or Relocate?
Most ophthalmologists reassess their residential situation at predictable points. For example, when they are completing their fellowship, moving into private practice, growing a family, or undergoing a relationship change. Optometrists may have similar career and life markers.
Renting makes sense during transition, particularly if you are still determining which market you want to practise in, considering a regional location where eye care services are undersupplied, or are not yet confident in income stability. It can also potentially free up capital for commercial property, investment assets, or practice growth.
Renovating is worth serious consideration if you own a home near your practice, your children’s schools or support networks. In a survey of more than 1,000 homeowners, the most common driver for renovation was improving style and comfort without the cost of moving.2 For many homeowners, the decision often comes down to whether renovation costs are less than stamp duty, agent fees, and the price of a different property. In competitive markets like Sydney and Melbourne,3 the answer is frequently ‘yes’. The key questions to consider are: Can your current property’s limitations be resolved? Is the location right in the long term? Do you have equity to fund the work?
Relocating makes sense when your current property has reached the end of its functional life. For example, it has an irreversible space constraint, is in a location that no longer suits your needs, or in a neighbourhood that hasn’t developed as you hoped.
Commercial Property: Rent, Renovate or Buy?
Advanced diagnostic equipment requires significant investment, plus specific room configurations and infrastructure. Specialist medical fitouts can range from AU$1,000 to upwards of $4,000 per square metre,4 meaning moving a well-established practice often demands substantial reinvestment in fitout and equipment installation, and disrupts patient care. However, visibility, accessibility, and patient parking carry direct commercial weight. A location decision is very much a patient retention and acquisition decision.
Renting suits early-stage practice development, multi-location consulting (common for ophthalmologists splitting time between private clinics and public hospital work), or when you are not yet certain which location will best serve your patient base. Commercial leases at private hospitals are usually between 20–30 years, while medical centre leases typically run five to seven years,5 providing reasonable stability. It should be noted though, that many retail commercial leases contain demolition clauses giving landlords the right to end a tenancy with as little as six months’ notice.6 For an eye care professional where fitout represents a substantial investment, this risk should not be underestimated.
Renovating your current premises – where lease terms permit – can enhance clinical capacity without the disruption of relocation. The caveat: any investment in a leased space adds value to someone else’s asset. For practice owners who already own their premises, renovation is often the most manageable path to expansion while maintaining referral relationships.
Buying provides security of tenure: no rent increases, no lease negotiations, no risk of non-renewal. Additionally, eligible medical professionals through some lenders may be able to borrow up to 100% of the value of practice premises and secure repayment periods of up to 30 years.* In some cases this can bring repayments to a level comparable with leasing while building equity. There are also potential tax advantages to ownership that health professionals can discuss with their accountant or financial adviser, including holding premises through a self-managed super fund (SMSF).
A Decision-Making Framework
Time horizon. How long do you plan to remain in this home or practice location? The shorter the horizon, the less financially rational a major capital investment becomes.
Capital position. Do you have the equity, savings, or borrowing capacity to fund the change? Finance specialists familiar with medical income structures can often identify capacity that standard bank assessments may overlook.
Operational disruption. What is the realistic cost and clinical impact of a move? Factor in equipment relocation, patient communication, staff transition and potential revenue loss.
Location lock-in. Is the location genuinely right for the long term – whether a residential suburb or a commercial address – with the right referral network?
Long term versus short term. A decision that appears cheaper today may carry a higher long-term cost. Consider doing a model of both scenarios over 10 years before concluding.
Involve the Right Professionals
No significant property decision should be made without a team that understands your profession.
For residential property, you may want to consider a:
- Medical finance specialist,
- Conveyancer / solicitor,
- Buyer’s agent, and
- Accountant / financial adviser.
For a practice property, you may want to consider the same team of professionals, with the addition of a practice fitout specialist. However, it’s important to make sure your buyer’s agent has specialist knowledge of the medical property market, and your accountant or financial adviser is equipped to assess ownership structure implications, including an SMSF.
Summary
For ophthalmologists and optometrists, the rent-renovate-relocate decision – for your home, your practice, or both – is one of the most significant financial choices you will make. No single option suits everyone. What is consistent across all three is the value of planning early, engaging the right professionals, and taking a long-term view rather than reacting to short-term pressures. As a medical professional, you bring exceptional diagnostic rigour to every clinical decision. The same methodical approach, applied to your property choices, will serve you well.
Dianne Stewart is the Head of Commercial Lending – Victoria at Avant Finance. She brings over 30 years of specialist expertise partnering with medical professionals to build and grow successful practices. With a deep understanding of the unique challenges healthcare professionals face, Ms Stewart guides practitioners through the complexities of practice start-ups, financial structuring, and long-term business strategy.
*Loan-to-value ratios, repayment periods, and eligibility criteria vary by lender and are subject to individual assessment, credit approval, and applicable terms and conditions.
The information in this article does not constitute legal, financial or other professional advice and should not be relied upon as such. It is intended only to provide a summary and general overview on matters of interest and it is not intended to be comprehensive. Persons implementing any recommendations contained must exercise their own independent skill or judgment or seek appropriate professional advice relevant to their own particular circumstances. mivision, Avant Finance, and their related entities are not responsible to any person for any loss suffered in connection with the use of this information. Information is current as of 7 April 2026.
References
- Magic new family homes. Home renovation statistics 2025: what Australian homeowners are spending, building and regretting. 2025. Available at: magicnewfamilyhomes.com.au/home-renovation-statistics [accessed April 2026].
- Budget Direct. Home renovation survey and statistics 2024. Available at: budgetdirect.com.au/home-contents-insurance/research/home-renovation-costs-survey-statistics.html [accessed April 2026].
- Bondaddio D. Why Australians are renovating instead of moving house realestate.com.au. 21 March 2026. Available at: realestate.com.au/news/why-australians-are-renovating-instead-of-moving-house [accessed April 2026].
- Unita. Medical and healthcare fitouts. Available at: unita.com.au/sectors/medical-healthcare-fitouts [accessed April 2026].
- Ross K. The pros and cons of investing in medical facilities. Commerical Real Estate. 2024. Available at: commercialrealestate.com.au/advice/the-pros-and-cons-of-investing-in-medical-facilities-2-1328853 [accessed April 2026].
- Solo A. Demolition clauses in commercial leases: Australian business essentials. Sprintlaw; 2025. Available at: sprintlaw.com.au/articles/demolition-clauses-in-commercial-leases-australian-business-essentials [accessed April 2026].
