After experiencing some “ups and downs” in the property market, this investor decided to engage professional help. The result was 3 properties purchased in 18 months, and there’s more to come.
Mark started investing in property in 2003 and said he’d had a mixed experience going it alone, choosing “some good areas and some bad areas”.
“I soon realised that it’s not just about investing anywhere, you have to find the rights pockets within the right suburbs,” he said, also noting that individual property selection was key as well.
Based in Boddington, Western Australia, Mark decided to seek professional advice and engaged Momentum Wealth in 2013 after booking a free consultation with one of the company’s consultants.
At the time he wasn’t sure how many properties he wanted to acquire or how fast he wanted to grow his portfolio.
Mark said he just wanted to “go for it”, so he enlisted the help of Momentum Wealth’s buyer’s agents to find him his next investment property.
Subsequently, he bought a 3-bedroom, 1-bathroom villa in Dianella in May 2013.
“Using the buyer’s agency service takes the headache out of doing your own research, because its hours and hours of time that I just don’t have,” Mark, who is a small business owner, said.
Highly impressed with the outcome, Mark purchased two more investment properties in 2014, again using Momentum Wealth’s buyer’s agency service.
This time he bought a 4-bedroom, 1-bathroom house in Forrestfield and a 3-bedroom, 1-bathroom house in Thornlie.
“I wasn’t scared to max myself out and see how far I could go,” he said.
Since then, Mark has built an ancillary dwelling, commonly known as a granny flat, at the back of his Thornlie investment property.
The ancillary dwelling allows Mark to receive two rental incomes from one property (one from the main residence and one from the ancillary dwelling), which significantly boosts the rental yields.
While he utilised Momentum Wealth’s planning and development team to oversee the construction of the ancillary dwelling, Mark wasn’t scared of doing some of the heavy lifting himself, including renovation works to the main residence and landscaping on the property.
As the owner of a painting business, Mark was also looking for various ways to reduce his taxable income.
Property investment proved to be an effective solution, according to Mark.
He said since purchasing the properties he has cut his tax rate to close to one-fifth of what he was previously paying.
In addition to using the buyer’s agency and planning and development services, Mark also utilised Momentum Wealth’s finance brokers to adequately structure his loans.
“The finance team went over and above what they were supposed to do,” he said.
“If we had any issues with the bank or we were not quite sure, they sorted it out for us, which was brilliant.”
Looking ahead, Mark said he wanted to continue to purchase as many investment properties as he could.
“I’d like to have 10 properties within the next 6 years,” he said.
After purchasing 3 properties through Momentum Wealth, in addition to two other investment properties he already owns, he’s now at the halfway mark to achieving that goal.
Mark said he’d be referring to his Property Wealth Plan to help him along the way.
“That’s basically our bible,” he said, referring to the Property Wealth Plan, which was prepared by a Momentum Wealth property strategist.
“We quite often pull it out and have a good read. Even now when we’re looking forward to the next stage it helps us know exactly where we’re going.”
If Mark’s recent investment history is anything to go by, his next purchase shouldn’t be too far away.
* Client name changed for privacy.