How a couple in their early 30s built a portfolio of 3 properties and counting in just 4 years.

Lizzie and Eli came to Investor Property looking for insight into what was possible for their future investments while they were part-way through their home renovation on their own home. 

They knew they wanted to invest in property but didn’t know what to invest in, how to finance it or when was the right time to get started. They assumed they’d have to finish off the renovation but then were worried about not having any money left for a deposit on an investment having spent all their money on the renovation. 

While meeting with our lead strategist Mal Cayley, they realised very quickly (within a few minutes of chatting) that they could actually invest in more property right now. In fact, they could lock in two properties straight away without doing a single thing more with their renovation and no need for cash savings for a deposit. This was mind-blowing for them.

The reason this was possible was because they already held a lot of equity in their Mooloolaba home, had two steady incomes, minimal other debt and a few other assets to their name. These circumstances enabled them to use an equity unlock strategy to finance a deposit and gave them the capacity to borrow more than they originally thought.

Mal mapped out a strategy of a sequence of property acquisitions and demonstrated how these might be financed with ideas and questions for them to take to their mortgage broker about loan structures and account setups to enable future purchases and not hinder their borrowing ability.

Being quick decision makers, this couple decided that they wanted to explore the specific properties available to them to suit their budget and their investment strategy. They wanted to do it immediately so the initial strategy session turned into a road trip visiting property from Maroochydore to Aura and at the end of the day saw them sign up for an off-the-plan apartment and a house and land dual key property. 

While they could use equity to get the ball rolling on the house and land purchase and get the loan approval process underway for an imminent build commencement date, the financing was a little different for the off-the-plan purchase. Due to the build of the apartment not commencing for at least 12 months, it was too early to apply for a loan, and they did not have cash for a deposit so instead a deposit bond was used to secure the apartment and then the financing of the purchase was done when the developer advised a month or two prior to the handover.

This strategy session and property search all took place in 2019 and saw the clients secure excellent investment properties at good prices with cash flow protection programs in place. Then as the market grew as predicted due to a growing undersupply of property and increasing demand for homes in the region, plus the extra interest the region received with COVID lockdowns making the region even more attractive, the value of these investments also grew. 

At handover of the apartment 12 months later, the couple already had significant equity in the property. 

The house and land dual key property was tenanted (both sides) as soon as the property was handed over from the builder and has not had a period of vacancy since, but had a rental assurance program in place to cover any period of transition between tenants so that the investors would not miss out on any rental income.  

The apartment was also tenanted from handover and has been ever since. The developer had provided a rental guarantee for the first 2 years, providing a top up payment to the rent received by the tenants.

The rent from these properties has been collected in a bank account that offsets their principal place of residence so their home mortgage has been slightly reducing too, between investment loan repayments.  

Now with income from three sets of tenants (two from the dual key and one from the apartment) plus the equity in both properties on top of their original assets, the couple are now in a position to purchase their next property with an equity unlock for the next deposit. 

When taking all this to their accountants for tax time, the couple were armed with depreciation schedules, rental statements and future projections to enable efficient tax planning. At the strategy stage of the investment plan the couple ran the numbers by their accountant who thought the figures were a little exaggerated but was happy for them to proceed, but when it came time for their first tax return post-investment the accountant was beyond surprised at how well the first investment had performed. The property hadn’t just achieved the projected figures, but far exceeded them and the accountant was excited for future tax returns when two properties would be claimable. 

We are so proud of what we could help Lizzie and Eli achieve through property investments and all our advice and support came at no cost to them, all they had to do was finance their properties and we took care of everything. 

If you’d like to book in your free strategy session to get your property portfolio started, expanded or reviewed please get in touch with our team and we’d be happy to explore the opportunities with you.

Lizzie & Eli’s review: 

“My experience with Investor Property was outstanding. They began by listening to my husband and I – our goals, our current situation and our assumptions. We were then guided and educated on the options that were available to us and we were shocked and impressed that we could actually invest in more, far sooner than we had thought even though we were part way through a renovation and had very little savings. Utilising equity in our home we’ve been able to purchase two investment properties over the last couple of years that are both cash positive and increasing in value. Before we committed to the investments we were provided with lots of information that was easily digestible, and I ran it all by our accountant and financial adviser, they both thought the numbers looked good but were perhaps a bit exaggerated, however they were happy enough with even a fraction of the predicted amounts to eventuate for us to proceed. I’m so glad we went ahead with it all as our first trip back to the accountant to do our tax return after purchasing our first investment property saw the accountant say “wow the numbers are even better than what was predicted, and next year will be even better, that’s incredible”. So yes, we (and our accountant!) are very happy with the investment guidance we received and we’ve been recommending Investor Property to all our family and friends!”