How hard was it for you..??

Discussion in 'Investor Stories & Showcase' started by MTR, 11th Jan, 2016.

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  1. MTR

    MTR Well-Known Member

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    I started in 2001 retired seven years later
    my advice is diversify and buy in rising markets, keep learning. If you can make property a business chances are you can continue creating income streams
     
    Last edited: 13th Jan, 2017
  2. Biz

    Biz Well-Known Member

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    Well done. I reckon from when I started to when I can pull the pin it will have taken a good 20-25 years. Clearly I am a scrub not worth listening to!
     
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  3. Big Will

    Big Will Well-Known Member

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    I have been enjoying the thread but first million for someone who was investing 30 years ago to who did it in 5 years is more inspiring than someone who owned 2x IPs in Sydney 5 years ago and made the money. As 1 million today is not a high benchmark, it would be interesting to keep it somewhat even by putting how many years ago to the money amount.

    E.g.
    40 years started - how hard was first 1M - median house price Sydney was ~36k (1976)/~28 houses when started
    30 years started - how hard was first 2M - median house price Sydney was ~98k (1986)/~20 houses (less growth time)
    20 years started - how hard was first 3M - median house price Sydney was ~211k (1996)/~14 houses
    10 years started - how hard was first 3-4M - median house price Sydney was - 521k (2006) (as they wouldn't have been exposed as long as 20 years)~/6-8 houses

    To compare today Sydney median house price is ~ 1M (2016)

    If we did it by the number of median Sydney houses required in 1976 (28) and took the median house price at the time, then the numbers would be;
    30 years - ~2.75M
    20 years - ~5.9M
    10 years - ~14.5M

    I would say very very few 10 years people would of 'made it' but people 30 years ago would likely of 'made' their 3M just took them 20 years maybe to achieve it.

    source: http://www.econ.mq.edu.au/Econ_docs/research_papers2/2004_research_papers/Abelson_9_04.pdf

    1307.8 - Australian Capital Territory in Focus, 2007

    I would think we would have less people saying 'bought in Sydney and profited' and actually took time and persistence to get there.
     
  4. Lewis

    Lewis Active Member

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    Hi Marissa,

    7 years is quite impressive. To me you are one of those we should follow closely. (those who have a track record of making money).

    Have been reading SS and PC and your strategy as an investor is quite unique and dynamic.

    Would you mind me asking how much capital did you start with? Apologies if this is a personal question but it gives perspective to those like us starting in this journey.
     
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  5. GetRIDof5CENTpiece

    GetRIDof5CENTpiece Well-Known Member

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    I started in 2009 with $130K capital and have ~$2M res property assets at 50/50 LVR.
    So on the equity front I have passed the magic million.
    I had no strategy and my first purchase was purely motivated by lifestyle/circumstances and I am rather fortunate to be honest because I can now see how easily a bad initial investment can really slow down your growth prospects... or even worse set you back completely.
     
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  6. 380

    380 Well-Known Member

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    I started investing in 2011, I reached over $1M by September 2016.

    I was able to achieve this relatively quickly as I changed my strategy from buy and hold to developing property and my markets were Sydney and Melbourne, the best markets to play in over the last 5 years. I also Networked with other successful developers and continued to look at other markets overseas.

    I have now injected my profits into the USA property market and I am aiming for the magical $2M in 2017/18, perhaps a little ambitious, but the property market in USA is roaring ahead. Not playing in Australia now as I am finding it far more difficult to source development sites in Australia that makes sense and perhaps this is a sign we are close to peak.

    I have given away the day job and replaced the income, goodbye corporate world:) I think by 2018 I will be relocating to USA and move into a number of markets that are continuing to boom. Trump will be injecting money into infrastructure and mid west should benefit greatly from this.

    Onwards and upwards, I am just getting started...;)
     
    Last edited: 13th Jan, 2017
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  7. Travelbug

    Travelbug Well-Known Member

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    Haha! I don't think so. It's just that I don't need $100,000pa+ cashflow.
     
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  8. MTR

    MTR Well-Known Member

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    who cares, you travel:p
     
  9. Jimmeh

    Jimmeh Active Member

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    Well done all of you. However, I'd like to know, how many of you started on a median income or less, and how many of you did it by yourself (ie. without the combined income/borrowing power of a significant other).
     
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  10. kierank

    kierank Well-Known Member

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    I know this is a property forum but I find questions like this meaningless, especially for people like me who have an integrated investment strategy.

    My investment strategy was to generate net worth using three pillars:- property, shares (domestic and international) and businesses.

    I can offer the following KPIs:

    1. We bought our first IP in 1992. Eleven years later (in 2003), when I got serious about tracking the numbers, our net worth was well over $1M. This was NOT generated solely by property. In fact, I have no idea what portion belongs to property.

    2. When we retired in 2010 (7 years later), our net worth had increased 5 times. Once again, this was NOT generated by property alone. In fact, I have no idea what portion belongs to property.

    3. After being fully retired (by this I mean, we don't work at all and live totally on passive income - no part-time work, no active investor gigs, etc) for 6 years, our net worth has NOT changed. Go figure!! Yes, we are living the good life (some might say, the very good life). But our property portfolio has increased considerably (we bought more investment property) and our debt has gone up even more (in percentage terms).

    To me, a dollar of net worth in property looks the same as a dollar of net worth in shares which looks the same as a dollar of net worth in business.

    Just my $1 worth.
     
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  11. Cactus

    Cactus Well-Known Member

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    Took 2 years. $50k equity. 1 salary supporting wife and 2.5 kids. Salary around $150k avg. but I'd rather have a salary of $60k on my own....
     
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  12. MTR

    MTR Well-Known Member

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    to be honest I think it was pure luck 100% when I started in 2001, read a book on property investing Jan Somers, fortunate to jump into the Perth property boom in 2001, riding on the cusp of the mother boom mining cycle of WA

    These were the days of low doc/no doc loans therefore as long as you had the deposits you continued buying, servicing was not an issue, it was a ripple effect, property prices rose for 6 years and I kept buying. I built land and house packages 4 per year and also sold land which continued to rise

    Someone asked about my capital, started with a property worth 500k. I will keep it short.....this property continually rising each year due to market and an area which was very much sort after. Therefore I kept accessing equity each year and buying property's abd building in Perth was amazing times, prices doubling within 12 months and land was in demand, I used a few strategies to make money. The market crashed in 2006/2007 and I saw an opportunity in Melb market which was booming in 2008 GFC, I puchaded 5 development sites and a double fronted Californian bungalow in inner city location, I also put together a DA no experience what so ever, I must have been taking drugs, but it worked out, I put together 8 unit development DA and on sold to a builder and made around 40%'in 12 months

    The other properties pretty much doubled in 18 months due to crazy booming msrket

    It was not all sunshine and roses, my husbands business went belly up after the mining boom in 2010. We had a manufacturing business employing 18 people, we lost large contracts due to mining slow down, and we lost personal funds of $1M that was 6 years ago.

    Picked up the pieces and jumped into USA, recovered and moved forward. Increased wealth now $5m, and moving forward, lots of ups and downs

    MTR:)
     
    Last edited: 14th Jan, 2017
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  13. pwt

    pwt Well-Known Member

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    @MTR and @Be Developer Interested to hear how you get started in USA, ie what made you look there and how did you start your search. I find it difficult even to look at interstate at the moment, much less in a different country!
     
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  14. MTR

    MTR Well-Known Member

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    Cash flow, USA properties give me around 140k gross income per year

    My recent purchases estimates for 2017 will give me 500k gross profit as long as We keep the builders on track..lol, a totally different strategy we are flipping check out @Be Developer posts. What I did in 2011 won't work today because property values have trippled
     
    Last edited: 13th Jan, 2017
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  15. skater

    skater Well-Known Member

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    We started on well below the median income. The full story is over at SS. We were broke, completely broke. Did it all on one income and putting the whole family through an expensive sport. The early years were tough, really tough, and we only bought cf+ properties, because that's all we could afford. More income came in the later years, but the groundwork was set earlier on.
     
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  16. MTR

    MTR Well-Known Member

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    We started with combined income. Though the financial environment was very different when I started, we had low doc/no doc, servicing was not the issue but still needed partners income
     
  17. Noobert

    Noobert Well-Known Member

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    Thanks for sharing the struggles as well MTR. It's easy to forget people have real struggles on their journey, and you had some really major upsets you and your husband had to overcome.

    Reading all the tales of people doing well is inspiring, but stories of the other side of the coin is sometimes even more powerful :)
     
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  18. Redwing

    Redwing Well-Known Member

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    This $28,000 'Fixer Upper' Home Is On Sale for Nearly $1 Million :eek:

    A Waco, Texas, home that appeared on the HGTV show Fixer Upper is now on the market for nearly $1 million.

    The "Shotgun House" appeared on the show in March 2016, according to Business Insider, when the owners bought the house for $28,000.

    The owners are now cashing in on the renovation work of show hosts Joanna and Chip Gaines by listing it for $950,000.

    The couple began their show, which features home renovations throughout central Texas, in 2013.
     
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  19. MTR

    MTR Well-Known Member

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    Life is like that...throws you low curves
    My mother died of cancer about 4 weeks ago.

    ...But wow what an inspiration she was, she had one brilliant life. Involved in charity work most of her life, living on the pension and never stopped her having an amazing lifestyle. She always wondered why people complained about living on the pension. We did not know she even had $75,000 in her bank account.

    She really did not need money to be happy, seems cliché I know but she was proof of this, can learn so much from this. Went on her bus trips, last trip was Israel where she was the oldest person 84 years. Just shows you can have pots of money but if you don't enjoy today you have nothing really. One of her quotes....."Money is everything and money is nothing"... I liked that one

    MTR:)
     
    Last edited: 4th Jul, 2017
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  20. Sackie

    Sackie Well-Known Member

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    @MTR sorry hear . Sounds like she lived a very full life indeed. Lots of wisdom in that last post. Got me reflecting.
     
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