Over the years, we’ve seen the Australian property market go from strength to strength. Even with some setbacks in 2019, it’s still a hugely attractive option for many investors.
However, you may assume that you need to actually live in the country to find success.
That isn’t necessarily the case.
While living in Australia makes things easier from both the legal and logistical perspectives, it’s not a prerequisite.
I Love Real Estate community member Nathan shows us more…
Originally from Adelaide, Nathan has spent most of his career working for a security company. But this isn’t any old job. Nathan’s role requires him to visit all sorts of different countries as part of his work.
And for the last 10 years, he’s lived in Dubai to account for the logistics of his job.
Still, he’s always thought that property investing would be his key to financial freedom. And when he heard about the ILRE guarantee, he decided to give it a shot.
What is that guarantee?
If you can replace your income in three years thanks to property investing, we’ll give you your money back.
How’s that for an incentive to get going?
Nathan discovered ILRE while lying in bed.
Every night, he’d spend hours looking at Australian properties to try and find something to invest in. He had five properties in his portfolio already. However, they had a combined negative cash flow of $33,000.
He’d almost given up on succeeding as an investor while living in Dubai.
That’s when Dymphna Boholt turned up on his computer screen. Through her, he learned about ILRE and the educational materials that they could provide him with.
Nathan made the decision – he would join the ILRE community to continue his investment journey.
After attending one of our sessions, he knew that he needed to take a close look at his own portfolio. With our help, he identified two properties that just weren’t cutting it for him.
And he got rid of them!
Now with a three-property portfolio, Nathan was in a good position to start rebuilding.
From there, he started to look into new deals. And he started with a beachfront property that he fell in love with.
Nathan bought the property, made a host of improvements, and put it up on Airbnb. In just nine months, he’d generated $62,000 in rental income from that property alone.
With that success under his belt, Nathan decided to move into development. He found a property in South Australia and put an option on it so he could conduct due diligence. After finding out what renovations he could carry out, he made the purchase.
That property’s now generating $320 per week in rent.
From there, he turned his focus to a four-bedroom property that he already had in his portfolio. Nathan decided to split the lounge into a couple more bedrooms.
That property went from generating $9,000 per year in positive cash flow to generating $26,000!
Other deals have followed and Nathan’s slowly building a portfolio of positive cash flow properties.
When Nathan started with ILRE, he had a negative cash flow position of $33,000.
Today, he has a positive cash flow of $56,000. And he’s managed to build that in just 18 months of working with ILRE.
That’s an $89,000 turnaround in less than two years.
But perhaps most importantly, Nathan’s replaced his income from his security job with income from property investing.
That means he’s the first ILRE client to ever manage to claim back his refund!
And now, he’s in a position to keep building his portfolio. He may even be able to move back to Australia when all’s said and done.
Nathan’s story teaches us a few interesting lessons from an investor who’s anything but normal!
There’s no denying that living in Australia makes buying properties in the country much easier. You’re able to travel to the location and scope it out. Plus, you can negotiate deals and speak to lenders in person.
Nathan didn’t have those privileges because he’s based in Dubai.
However, living thousands of miles away doesn’t make investing in Australia impossible. You just need to make sure you have the right knowledge and a great team at your side.
The lesson here is to never assume that your situation makes it impossible to invest.
Many an investor thinks that the key to success is to buy as many properties as possible. It doesn’t matter if they’re negatively geared. Eventually, they’ll come good and start generating an income.
That’s what Nathan thought about his portfolio. And it’s also why he found himself paying $33,000 per year to keep his portfolio going.
His turnaround started when he re-examined his existing portfolio. After getting rid of the two properties that drained his resources, he created a much stronger position for himself.
Sometimes, you’ve got to cut the dead weight so that you can move forward.
Nathan’s greatest success came from a property that he puts on Airbnb. That’s proof that you don’t need permanent tenants to create a cash flow positive investment.
Yes, securing long-term contracts with tenants creates more security. However, that desire for security should not blind you to other opportunities.
Sometimes, a property’s style and location make it ideal for Airbnb. And in many cases, you’ll be able to charge holidaymakers more than you’d charge a permanent tenant.
Nathan may not be the typical Australian property investor. However, his desire to learn, coupled with his adventurous attitude, means that he’s a successful one.
His story once again shows us that it doesn’t matter where you start your investment journey. With education and determination, you can create a strategy that works for you.