If someone was to ask me how I got into property investing I’d probably struggle to give a good answer. I can’t say that I started with a grand plan at all, more of an expectation to give something a shot and to get my foot on the property ladder. At the time of my first purchase in 2001 I certainly was not in a position to be buying a property to live in for myself and was very much used to living as a tenant myself (I still do!). I knew I wanted to do something with my money as I had just started working full time after graduating from university so I started to read up on investing.  I had been living in Melbourne for a number of years already however had grown up in a regional city just over an hour away. I was very familiar with the suburbs in my hometown as well as what you could get for your money as far as property went so at the time it was a matter of the right price at the right time.

After my first purchase (amazingly for about the price of an imported car) I was more than pleased with myself and decided to go and work overseas for a year and ‘set and forget’. Fortunately the property was still standing once I returned to Australia after having a great experience although not coming back exactly flush with cash. It took another year or so until I worked up the nerve (and the money) to invest again and purchased my next property, again in the same area. It was around this time that I started to read more about the practicalities of investing and realised that I had a lot to learn. One thing I always recall reading early on is that most investors will only purchase one property, a much smaller percentage will purchase 2 and a very small amount will get more than 2 investment properties. Reading this was probably one of the best things that ever occurred. It set me a challenge that I was ready to take on, a challenge I have been pursuing to this day and plan to continue well into the future.

Over the past 15 years I have continued investing in a variety of properties and I’ve learnt a huge amount along the way that I think is valuable to share with others starting out on their own journey. Together with my partner Michael, we now have a portfolio of 12 properties and in 2014 we were recognised with an award in the Investor of the Year Competition run through Your Investment Property magazine. You can click on the thumbnail to the right to view the magazine article and get a full overview of the journey so far.

I look forward to sharing our stories (good, bad and ugly) and to provide a forum for the sharing of experiences of others on their own property investing journeys.