On the cusp of her 30th birthday, Erin Thompson plans on retiring by the end of 2015. Barely settled on her first investment property, she's already got property number two in her sights.
“When I settled on my home in Melbourne’s outer north last year I knew that it was only the beginning. I’d been reading about property investment for a long time, and I was certain that it was the key to transitioning away from my nine to five job in the healthcare sector.
It’s not that I have a particular issue with my job – it’s just that I know that it will never truly offer me flexibility and financial freedom.
Pushed out by the crazy Sydney and Melbourne markets, and lacking experience, I decided that I wanted to enter a joint venture with someone more experienced who could help me build my portfolio fast.
I came across my joint venture partner, Emily Greenaway, by reading her profile in Smart Property Investment.
She had a lot of experience buying in the Ballarat area, and I knew that regional hubs were where I wanted to start, so together we identified a four-bedroom house there which we’re hoping to settle on in the coming weeks. The house is in close proximity to the Mt Helen campus of Federation University, and we plan on leasing each of the four rooms out individually to students.
I’ll be self-managing this property, and I plan to do this for the rest of my portfolio. It should be a good learning experience, and it will be a way to stay engaged when I do transition out of the workforce.
We negotiated the Ballarat property to a price which we estimate to be $35,000 under market value, at $202,000. It should be instantly cash-flow positive, which is what I need to launch into my next investment. I used the equity in my residential home in Craigieburn to enter into this property (I covered the deposit and stamp duty), and I’ll be relying on constantly re-evaluating and re-structuring my financial situation to keep the momentum going this year.
I already have my eye on another joint venture project which is under market value and pre-approved for subdivision, but I’ll keep you posted on that. I want to keep a diverse portfolio, whether it be a quick subdivide and sell off land or a three month cosmetic renovation.
I want to be financially free and working nine to five won’t do that for me. When it comes to anything in life you can dip your toes in forever and not get anywhere, so you may as well go in head first. That’s the ethos behind my purchase strategy.”
