‘My purchase was discounted by over 50%’
One investor’s pain is another investor’s gain, as Belinda Sinclair found out with her first property purchase.
Real Life
‘My mining town development disaster’
Aileen Wills was on a roll in the property investment industry, picking up three properties in the same number of years. But when her development plans hit a wall, she was forced to make some serious decisions.
‘I made two massive investment mistakes’
When you’re new to investing the number of choices can seem overwhelming, as can the fear of making a mistake. Despite the subsequent success of his property portfolio, Michael Xia still regrets the rookie errors he made.
‘I bought the ugliest house on the street’
Karen Van Ma’anen turned to regional property investing to generate good cash flow on a low budget.
‘My dual income hell’
Bettina Schreiber and her partner like to search for properties with dual income opportunities – but they found out that dual income can sometimes mean double trouble.
‘My rent dropped from $2200 to $580 per week’
Aileen Wills got a few great years out of her three investment properties but with the mining boom on its way down so are her rental returns and property values.
‘I’m getting into investing the long way around’
As a typical 22-year-old working in retail and renting an apartment in Brisbane, Isabel Schmierer is taking the slow road to success.
‘A renovator’s dream turned into my nightmare’
When Mark Katralis purchased an unfinished renovation project in the Blue Mountains, he thought he was on to a winner. Having overcapitalised and facing a depressed market, the plucky young investor learnt a very expensive lesson.
‘I developed a duplex to make my dream come true’
Josh Yeo’s dream is to spend his days volunteering overseas building schools for those less fortunate, so he has turned to property investment as a way to achieve his goal.
‘I gained over $60,000 in equity before settling’
Matthew Preston made an almost instantaneous equity gain as a result of a long settlement period. However, the months of being unoccupied left his investment property in desperate need of repairs.
‘I bought 4 properties in 4 weeks’
When diagnosed with an untreatable disease Vin Govindan took to property investing full steam ahead in order to shore up her future financial security.
‘My Sydney bargain that keeps on giving’
A 22 year-old with a property portfolio? A dilapidated apartment an equity goldmine? Judging a book by its cover is never a good idea, and Nikita Reskakis is living proof of it.
‘Teenagers gutted my property’
His property investment dreams may since have come true, but two years ago Michael Xia spent many a sleepless night wondering whether it was all worth it while desperately trying to figure out who had been trashing his unoccupied house.
‘I saved a deposit on an apprentice's wage’
Young gun Rhys Palmer had his first investment property almost fall into his hands last week at the age of just 22, but he is still unsure exactly what to do with it.
‘I had police crawling through my investment property’
Even the most meticulous planning can’t prevent tragedy getting in the way of a smooth property investment experience. You need to expect the unexpected, as Sharon MacBride found out.
‘We wanted to sell, but our buyer’s agent told us to hold tight’
Stewart and Janelle McClelland wanted to sell their investment property six months ago to start renovations in their family home. They're really glad they waited.
‘I was burnt by a bad builder’
Adrian Socha learnt a valuable lesson when he employed a cheap builder to build his investment duplex and not everything turned out as hoped.
‘My sub-$40,000 salary gave me over $200,000 in equity’
Nikita Reskakis knew he wanted to buy a property when he was 18. With a lot of hard work, plenty of sacrifices and a helping hand from his family, the 22-year-old has already managed to buy two in the lucrative Sydney market.
‘I purchased two properties in two weeks’
Karen Van Ma’anen saw property investment as her only way forward to a comfortable retirement and made a sneaky double purchase to build her portfolio.
‘My tenants cost me thousands’
Darren Leditschke is an experienced investor with many years as a landlord. But when two unpredictable tenants changed their mind about a lease-break, he was fully exposed to the realities of self-managing his portfolio.
