Jordan & Alex

Tough love and tough choices. How the right education pulled this young couple out of crippling debt.

A bit of keenness and overconfidence had landed Jordan and Alex in a terrible financial position. This is the story of how the ILRE community pulled a young couple out of trouble, and put them back on the straight and narrow.

Jordan admits that he was “never great with theory.” What he lacks in academic rigour he makes up for in enthusiasm and charm but, unfortunately, when it comes to property, those qualities can only take you so far.

In fact, property can be a dangerous game for the uneducated, and a few ‘rookie mistakes’ had given Jordan and his partner Alex such a heavy debt burden that they were scratching together every cent they could to stay on top of their bills and keep the wolves of debt from the door.

They wanted to move forward. They wanted to live out Jordan’s dream of moving back to the land. They wanted to have the time to do the things that really mattered. However, they had backed themselves into a corner and couldn’t see a way out.

Thankfully, they found the leadership they needed in the ILRE community. They found people who could show them the way out and, more importantly, who weren’t afraid of giving them a bit of ‘tough love’ to force them to make the tough choices they needed to make.

They also found people who believed in them. When they completed their first independent project, a member of the ILRE community was so impressed with what they had done that she asked them to project manage a deal for her (for a share of the profits, of course!)

With the help of the community, in just three years they have freed themselves from debt, and given themselves a decent chunk of equity to continue their journey with property investment – happily now under the watchful eye of the ILRE elders.

How a mess is made

Jordan actually joined ILRE back in 2016, and with Alex too busy with full-time work on top of full-time study, he was left to drive their journey into real estate.

Jordan was enthusiastic. Maybe a little too enthusiastic. He studied the extensive course materials at distance, rushing through the theory so he could get to the practice. He thought that he didn’t need to attend any of the events, or tap into the wealth of wisdom available through the ILRE network. He had an overview of the basics and, so he thought, that was all he needed to get started.

“I’ve always struggled with the education side of things. I want to skip the theory and jump straight into practice.”

Changing course in the middle of a river

Inspired by what the course materials had shown him was possible, Jordan rushed into a subdivision of their principal place of residence (PPR). However, he hadn’t done his research properly, and after several months, and a substantial amount of money, he realised that a subdivision was not going to be possible.

He then pivoted towards putting a granny flat on the back of the block, which was a sensible enough move. However, once the construction of the granny flat was underway, Jordan thought, “Why don’t we renovate the front place while we’re at it?”

With no planning or prior experience – and matters further complicated by the concurrent construction of the granny flat – the renovation blew up in their faces. It took 18 months longer and cost more than twice as much as expected.

What’s worse, Jordan and Alex had leveraged into the deal, and now had $80,000 of personal debt and $50,000 of credit card debt to add to their $300,000 mortgage. Pushed to the very limits of their carrying capacity, Jordan and Alex were forced to move back in with Jordan’s parents. The mess was complete.

“We moved back in with the parents and we were just on survival mode. Every cent counted at that stage.”

Get it done right

It was at this point that Jordan decided that he needed to do the education properly, and he signed up for his first bootcamp in February 2019.

He didn’t want to hear the advice he received, though. Every one he talked to – from experienced investors to the guys at Wizdom Finance – told him that he simply had too much debt and he needed to sell.

Jordan and Alex had just invested too much in that property, emotionally, to simply sell up and walk away. And they refused to take the advice they were given.

Finally, after they completed one of Dymphna’s goal-setting and visioning processes, they realised that their attachment to this property was holding them back from the life they wanted to live. Finally, they bit the bullet, shot the dog, and sold up.

They meet an angel (investor)

After the sale went through, Jordan posted the result to the ILRE members-only Facebook group, as a way of celebrating the big step that they had made.

Someone saw that post, and was so impressed by the job they had done, that she asked them to project manage a similar deal she had already bought into.

This gave Jordan and Alex a share of the profits, but not only that, Jordan and Alex now manage the property as a successful Airbnb listing.

What a good deal looks like

Clear of debt and with equity to work with, Jordan and Alex worked with their mentors to find a deal and to do it properly. They found a relatively cheap regional property for $320,000. Spending $80,000 on the reno, it will soon be on the market for $560,000, delivering a profit of over $100,000. That’s more like it.

The full 180

Jordan and Alex have completed a remarkable turnaround, having gone debt-free and having completed their first six-figure deal, all in just three years. They had to eat a bit of humble pie to do that, but thankfully, the collective wisdom and support of the ILRE community was there for them when they were ready to ask for help.

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“Sometimes it’s the things you don’t want to hear – the tough love – that is really going to set you free.”

These stories and the results in them were captured at a specific point in time. The real estate market and the investing strategies used to succeed are constantly changing. The achievements and results of these investors may have changed since these stories were recorded. Each of these investors engaged in in-depth training, coaching and mentoring to be able to achieve these results. Their results are not typical and should not be taken as a guarantee of the results you may achieve. Your personal results will be in-line with the training, education and hard work that you personally conduct.

“Sometimes it’s the things you don’t want to hear – the tough love – that is really going to set you free.”

Where we were and where we are now  

2016
Debt total: $240,000
Savings: $20,000
No. of properties: 1

2019
Debt total: when sold $0
Savings: when sold $175,000