We all have our own stories in life.
Some have had the good fortune of being born into privileged families. Others aren’t quite so fortunate. They have to scrape and claw for everything they get in life. But with a lot of hard work (and a little bit of luck) anybody can pull themselves up from a bad situation.
That’s exactly what John did, with the help of I Love Real Estate.
Though he was born in Australia, John’s story actually starts in Vietnam. His Vietnamese parents had escaped that country to come to Australia as refugees.
With barely a dollar to their name, they started life in Australia in a council flat. Then John was born, and his parents dedicated every waking moment to helping him build a better life.
His mom put him through school by sewing other people’s clothes in her living room. And his dad worked his fingers to the bone to provide for his son.
Thanks to their hard work, John got a good education. He graduated from university and eventually got a job as the manager of a pharmacy.
Everything seemed to be going well…until it all changed.
The problem with a “steady” job is that it’s never quite as secure as you think it is.
Unfortunately, John found that out the hard way. After a mix-up between his boss and a neighbouring doctor’s surgery, the business he worked for went under.
John was out of a job. And to make matters worse, his girlfriend left him high and dry just when he needed her support.
Alone and concerned about his future, John started to look for a recession-proof profession.
John settled on property as the answer to his problems.
Thanks to his old job, he was able to get a loan of $170,000, which allowed him to buy a property in Victoria. And he started off better than many investors, as that property generated a positive cash flow of $3,000.
But he certainly made some mistakes along the way. John began his journey into property alone, which meant he never learned about asset protection. He owned his properties in his own name, which put him at risk.
He also took on a loan with an 8% interest rate for his first property. As a result, he lost more money to interest payments than he should have.
Still…he’d gotten bit by the property bug.
And when he received an email from ILRE, he jumped at the opportunity to learn more.
John learned about the concept of manufactured growth. Specifically, he learned about how he could use subdivisions to increase his rental income from his properties.
Beyond that, he also learned about Airbnb and how he could use it to generate cash through holiday rentals.
John got to work on building his portfolio. That first property success gave him a little bit of equity that allowed him to buy the next one. And with ILRE, he learned about alternative funding strategies, such as vendor finance, that he could leverage.
Year by year, John evolved from a novice property investor into a guru in his own right.
Today John has a portfolio that’s the envy of many investors.
He owns 42 properties and has a staggering $8 million in equity. But best of all, those properties provide him with a positive cash flow of $350,000 per year.
Simply put, John has the freedom to do whatever he wants in life. He can continue to live off the passive income his portfolio generates. Or, he could sell it all tomorrow and use the money to fund an early retirement.
The choice is his…and that’s the true beauty of property investing.
There are plenty of lessons to learn from John’s story. Here are three that all new investors need to hear.
While his parents worked hard to provide for him, John didn’t have the most fortunate upbringing. Still, he pushed himself at school and graduated from university. John didn’t allow his start in life to dictate where he would end up.
The message here is that everybody starts from a different position. Even if you don’t have a ton of money, you can become an investor. You just need the right strategy and support.
John could have used losing his job and his girlfriend as reasons to give up. And we’re sure that he had his moments of self-pity and doubt during that tough time.
However, he used those experiences as the fuel for his fire. John rose from the ashes to create a property empire. The simple lesson here is that everybody goes through tough moments in life. The key to success is learning from those moments and using them to grow.
John knows how scary dealing with the big numbers that come with property investing can be.
Don’t allow that fear to hold you back. John says that finding a great mentor who’s done it before and can offer guidance is the key.
That’s what he found when he joined the ILRE community. John didn’t reinvent the wheel to develop his portfolio. He learned from successful investors and figured out a strategy that would work for him.
You just need to have the drive to transform your life.
John’s journey with ILRE shows what’s possible if you educate and push yourself. He had to overcome a difficult beginning and a rough middle portion of his life.
But now, he’s riding high with an amazing portfolio that has made him a millionaire eight times over.
