STORY ACCREDITATION: The Border Mail, February 23, 2026 | WRITER: Hana Humboldt
Table Top’s Bob Geddes is investing in both his future and community with his recent commercial property purchase. Picture by Hana Humboldt
When you think about investing in property, you almost always imagine the residential kind, rarely a commercial venture.
That is not the case for this Table Top resident, who believes so much in the Border, he is staking his retirement on it.
Bob Geddes comes from a sheep farm at Yerong Creek outside Wagga, which has been in his family for more than a century.
“My son leases it at the moment,” he said.
“He has got cattle on it, but it’s been sheep for 110 years.”
The site of TJM Albury in South Albury will continue its lease for another two years under the new owner. Pictures supplied
Calling Table Top home for the last 12 years, he has a self-managed superannuation fund (SMSF), which includes commercial properties, having just sold one he held for more than a decade for $592,000.
Mr Geddes put that money to another portfolio addition and purchased the building housing off-road accessories store TJM on Townsend Street at auction for $715,000, on Friday, February 20.
Dixon Commercial Real Estate dubbed the property an “entry level industrial investment“, and as far as Border examples go, director Oscar Dixon said it “ticks all the boxes”.
“Price point is a big one,” he said.
“But a good tenant, good central location, good showroom here with a bit of warehouse area out the back.
“If these guys were to move out, there’d be a tenant that could move straight in – that’s just the nature of this type of market.
Father-son duo Andrew and Oscar Dixon co-ordinated the heated exchange between two on-site bidders and one phone-in contender. Picture by Hana Humboldt
“That’s why it’s so attractive to first-time investors, and even people like Bob who are wanting to add to their property portfolio.”
Mr Dixon said the property fielded many inquiries, but only three bidders on the day.
“There’s obviously the rhetoric of a bit of vacancy on Dean Street and retail struggling,” he said.
“But in terms of the investment market, and in particular, this sub-million-dollar bracket on the industrial side of things, it is as strong as it’s ever been.”
Investing in NSW, but not Victoria
When it came to choosing an investment opportunity to grow his SMSF, Mr Geddes chose the NSW side of the Border as being more profitable.
“Victoria’s got more taxes coming on,” he said.
Playing both director and beneficiary of an SMSF can be tricky, but Mr Geddes said, “I haven’t had too much problem, but they’re changing a lot of the rules now”.
“I do most of it to myself, but the accountant helps, of course,” he said.
TJM Albury will continue its lease for another two years, ending April 7, 2028, with the option to renew for an additional year.
Mr Geddes said he was happy for the tenants to stay where they are.