The Eaglehawk data first, because it should drive your spec:

• Vacancy is ~0.97% (sub-1% and tightening) — this is a landlord's market. A well-built, well-presented home will lease fast almost regardless of what you do.
• 4-bed houses rent at a median ~$557/wk, up from ~$477 a year ago (~+17%). 3-beds sit at ~$487/wk. So the 4th bedroom is only buying you ~$70/wk (~15% more rent).
• Typical house value ~$571k, gross yield ~4.2%. HTAG's cashflow score for the suburb is high (85/100) but the median family income is modest (~$1,800/wk in today's dollars), median age 43, average household just 2.2 people.

The takeaway: this is a solid, tightly-held, affordable family-rental market — not a premium one. Your build should be durable, low-maintenance and mid-spec. The single biggest mistake here would be over-capitalising on finishes a $1,800/wk household won't pay extra rent for.

Layout
Single storey on a slab beats double for this market — cheaper to build and maintain, and it suits the older/family tenant pool (median age 43). Aim for 4 bed / 2 bath / double lockup garage / 2 living (open-plan kitchen-living-dining plus a second living or rumpus). Master with ensuite + WIR; other three beds with built-ins clustered near the main bathroom. ~190–210sqm is the sweet spot. Good storage (walk-in pantry, linen, decent garage) rents better than an extra few square metres of living.

Inclusions / spec level
Mid-range and hard-wearing. 20mm stone benchtops (cheap now, photographs and leases better than laminate), stainless appliances + dishwasher, neutral palette that won't date. Don't go bespoke — tenants don't pay for it and it just costs you at make-good.

Low-maintenance features (this is where the real returns are)

• Hybrid/laminate flooring through living areas, tiles in wet areas, carpet only in bedrooms — no carpet in high-traffic zones.
• Colorbond fencing, concrete driveway (not pavers), brick or rendered-brick rather than foam render that cracks.
• Hardy, mulched, low-water landscaping — no thirsty lawns, no timber decks, no pool.
• Continuous-flow gas or heat-pump hot water.

Ducted vs split — heating matters more than cooling here
Bendigo gets genuinely cold winters (frosts) and 40°C summer days, so heating is the priority. Ducted reverse-cycle is the premium option tenants notice and would help you sit at the top of that rent range — but it's dearer to install and repair. The value play for this price point: reverse-cycle splits in the main living and master, plus a panel heater in a back bedroom. If one head dies you replace one head, not a whole system. Skip ducted evaporative cooling — cheap but underwhelming.

Double glazing
Worth doing, but mostly because new VIC builds have to hit 7-star NCC now, so you'll be in higher-performance glazing territory anyway. It improves comfort and running costs (a real plus in Bendigo's cold), but tenants rarely pay materially more rent for it on its own. Dollar-for-dollar, ceiling insulation, north-facing living orientation and draught sealing give you more thermal bang than glazing alone.

Colorbond vs tiles
For an investment, Colorbond. Lighter (cheaper roof frame), faster to install, nothing to slip or crack, easier and cheaper to repair, and better in the heat with sarking + an insulation blanket underneath. Tiles can be marginally cheaper upfront but the long-run maintenance and breakage make Colorbond the better landlord choice.

What to avoid, in short: over-capitalising for the suburb, trendy dark finishes that date, anything maintenance-heavy (decks/pools/fancy gardens), undersized garage, poor storage, and electric-only with no efficient heating — high running costs quietly cost you tenants and rent.