Working hard equals money equals what you want to do, simple.
We started very young, in 1977, by buying a then, mid range, cheaper project house for $26000.00. It was a struggle, because we had both turned 20,had decided to start a business. and had a baby on the way. My husband received a lawn mower for his 21st birthday! We never wanted to rent.
We deviced a strategy to hold for 5 years, improve the property with our own labour( he had just finished his trade), and then sell.
I always had an eye for decorating (I became an interior decorator later) and the man had turned out into a darned good tradesman.
We would take a good 2 month overseas holiday after each sale- just by closing the doors of the business, and as soon as we returned we were onto our next property.It wasn't easy, it wasn't fast tracked,the interest rates were terrible, but we still did it.
The first property, bought at $26k sold 5 years later for $56K.We had to pay back the loan, which was still at about $26K.
We were the first house owners in a brand new subdivision, surrounded by canefields and cow paddocks.
It was a basic house on stilts, open underneath, and we took 4 years to finish it, living upstairs, in comfort( I refused to live in a dump!)People alway commented on how nice the completed areas were. It was sold on the day we listed it, in 1982( today it is valued at $400K) Now it is part of the thriving northern suburb.
We immediately bought an other block just around the corner for $16K, which was a lot at the time, because it was "on the right side " of the road. By that time the energy was replenished from 2 months of trecking and partying overseas ( my parents looked after our son) and we ploughed into the next house, designing it and building it from scratch.It looked like an architects project. We did the same thing, however, working on areas as the years went by.I cooked in the laundry for the first year, we bagged the blocks on the outside ourselves, we painted,landscaped etc.Again, no living in a mess, just organised into different areas of work.It was a mansion for people our age to own.The upstairs bathroom wasnt finished, the tiling still had to be completed, we only had a half finished staircase, but peopel from the street couldn't see that.We also returned back to the business and swung that into overdrive, had an other baby, and sold it after 5 years, doubling our money.Sold it for $130K in 1987-(today it is valued at $500K)
Interest rates were still not much better, but we didn't focus on that. Only the plan, and the holiday at the end! By this time, our business was going very nicely and we managed to employ a relative to run it while we went overseas,this time for 3 months.We bought an other block of land , a bit higher on the hill, around the same area before we left.-$25K and very expensive in 1987. We knew the area well, and new this was still the best part of town to be.
We managed to rent a house just at the bottom of the street, and flew to the Gold Coast to get ideas.The house was way beyond our means, but we decided not to care, and just plunged into the building process. Again, the formula of building ourselves, then moving in and completing, paid of. In this property, we lived without a kitchen for 12 months, had boards nailed in front of the garage to close it of, and had orange plastic around the bathroom, which was floor to ceiling glass, for ages. But the finished rooms were finished to a high quality. It took 4 years to complete this one, whilst working, whilst raising 2 small kids.
I started dabbling at that point and thought. " hmm. if we bought an other property and did the same thing, the profit could go to paying out our loan.
So we bought a tumbled down little weatherboard house for $80K, did it up, and sold it after 2 years, after the tenants kept giving us major headaches.I didn't even understand how the bank allowed us to buy the 2nd property. The bank manager was like a God,we thought.We did make a profit. and put it towards our own house.
We owned it ( paid out the loan)by the time we were 30, and had a huge celebration.
We had had a $130K loan, P and I.The neighbours used to look at us funny and there were rumours that we were involved in illegal activities, because there was just no way people of our age could own a house like that.People would drive past in the weekend and take photos.\, and knock on our door to ask what colour this wall was, or what kind of tiles we had used.
In 1994, it sold for $400K, which was one of the highest sale figures for a property in the area.( todays value $900k)
During this time, we had no idea about investing, and didn't think about retirement, or property portfolios. We just wanted to own our own home.Silly realy, in retrospect, but the property game wasn't realy that well known and it seemed that only the very wealthy owned realestate for investment.
A lot of others were getting into it at that time, living in sheds whilst building, or just giving up everything for their projects. That was something we were never prepared to do. We had to live in a nice environment, be able to take our holidays and do the same things others our age did, and basically, we just never realy worried a great deal about the interest rates.
Working hard equals money equals what you want to do, simple.
I sometimes think that we should never have sold, and that we were silly, but, on the other hand, to do it young and not miss out on all the fun, holding on would not have worked for us.But the moral of the above story is, you can have your pie and eat it too. You dont have to live in squalor for years, and never take holidays.It's all dependant on how hard you are prepared to work!
From the age of 30, and owning our own house, things changed. We continued the same strategy, buy land, build our own house, etc, but we bought a few more along the way, as we didnt have a cashflow problem and no PPR mortgage.We now own 15 properties,share portfolios, and quite a few luxury items, valued close to $10million dollars, and we are only 50 years old.
Now , we just buy for fun and challenge.And we still love to party and go on adventures (the man is a surfer for crying out loud!)
Anyone can do it. When you decide to do it, however, do it well! Don't fret about the interest rates, don't get in over your neck, and be prepared to work hard, whilst also having fun.
And my major last bit of advise would be, learn how to present yourself and present your properties. Learn a little about design, learn a litttle about decorating, and gain some knowledge about "good taste". It makes everything so much easier if you surround yourself with a nice, organised space, easy on the eye, whilst you are working. The end results are always far better, and your bottom line will show the difference.