When a Perth couple sought Momentum’s advice to buy their first home, it was only natural that they would return to us for help buying their first investment property.
First home owners – John and Alison, were previous clients of Momentum Wealth, having reached out to us in 2022 for help securing their first mortgage.
Fast forward to 2024, and the couple returned to Momentum to discuss the possibility of buying their first investment property.
John and Alison were keen to leverage the equity built up in their home, and make their money work harder by investing in a property with a healthy rental stream backed by capital growth potential.
Momentum developed a flexible funding strategy
The first step in the journey saw the couple meet with one of Momentum’s credit advisors to determine their home equity and borrowing power.
Our credit advisor suggested refinancing their existing home loan to a lender offering a favourable valuation as a way of freeing up funds to purchase a rental property while also maximising savings on loan interest. John and Alison were happy to take this approach.
Next, Momentum secured loan pre-approval. This gave the couple considerable flexibility when it came to making offers on a property. We also recommended a lender which allowed a competitive finance clause of five business days to strengthen their offer.
Finding the ideal property off-market
With finance sorted, John and Alison turned to our buyer’s agency team for help finding a property that ticked their boxes for strong rental income plus excellent capital growth potential.
Given Perth’s highly competitive property market, this proved to be a sensible move for the couple due to the intense buyer competition for competitive quality properties. According to CoreLogic the median selling time for Perth dwellings was just 10 days in the three months to July1.
Our team took a front-foot approach by tapping into extensive industry contacts with a view to giving John and Alison a head-start in the market.
It was a strategy that proved highly successful. Our buyer’s agent was able to secure an off-market property just 24 hours before the official listing was set to go live.
This gave the couple a valuable competitive edge. The property, located in sought-after Karrinyup, was beautifully updated with new carpets and fresh paint, and was in picture-perfect condition with staging furniture already in place – which would remain in place for a period post sale.
By taking a collaborative approach, our finance team, buyer’s agent, and the listing agent were able to finalise the deal quickly and efficiently, helping John and Alison outpace other buyers, and beat future price rises.
Rental income that exceeds expectations
With the property secured, John and Alison were referred to our property management division to prepare the property for rent prior to settlement.
By acting promptly, we were able to arrange professional photographs while the staging furniture was still in place. This helped the property attract high-quality tenants.
Our property management team had the rental listing up and running prior to settlement, ensuring zero vacancy period following settlement, which was a plus for John and Alison’s cash flow.
What particularly impressed the couple was the way our property management team beat initial expectations of weekly rent in the mid-$600s, by signing a tenant to a long term lease at $700 per week.
The verdict
As first-time investors, John and Alison enjoyed a seamless, stress-free experience that delivered a trifecta of benefits:
- Competitively-priced funding
- Access to an in-demand property ahead of other buyers, and
- Higher-than-expected rental income.
The Momentum team was able to demonstrate the value of strong relationships and strategic negotiations in securing a prime investment property, with John and Alison sharing a positive experience at every stage.
Like many of our clients, the couple plan to keep growing their property portfolio, backed by the holistic support of Momentum’s team of experts.
Client names were changed for privacy.