How this investor diversified her property portfolio

According to them, the primary motivation for jumping into the venture is the desire to sustain a comfortable lifestyle even when they choose to stop working.

“We don't want to retire on the pension. We want to have a lifestyle that's a little bit better than the pension. It doesn't have to be extremely glamorous but just a little better than the pension,” Ms Francis highlighted.

With one to two market cycles ahead of them, the couple is hopeful that they will see significant growth on their properties and ultimately enjoy the benefits of having created a stream of passive income.

Diversification

For a while, the couple was ‘cruising along’ and just trying their best to find the right property with the help of their financial advisor, who suggested checking out Newcastle.

They went and looked for opportunities, only to realise that they don’t actually know what they should be looking for because, until then, they haven’t been exposed to property markets other than the one in their own area.

According to Ms Francis: “We looked each Saturday but we walked away just going, ‘Actually, we don't know what we're doing.’ We realised we needed to get educated so that was what we did.”

The couple eventually became members of a property mentoring organisation, where they learned how to navigate the property investment landscape.

“We walked away from there going, Actually, we know what to do now. We can do this. We can buy a property,’ and so we did,” she said.

Ms Francis and her husband bought properties in Tasmania and Canberra—far away from their home in Sydney.

The investor described their decision to invest in the said areas as ‘very conscious choices’.

After all, one of the most valuable lessons they have learned in the mentorship program is the importance of doing due diligence.

Ms Francis shared: “We looked into the area, looked at its infrastructure, called the town planning, the councils, checked out what's going out, the population movement, employment so see that the area is actually growing.”

“The idea for us, of course, is to get in at a price that's affordable for us and be able to let the property sit there and grow. We've picked places for capital growth and decent yield,” the investor added.

For most of their journey, the couple also worked with real estate agents and property managers to ensure that they are going down the right path.

The knowledge that these professionals have, especially the rate of supply and demand in an area, ultimately helped them make the best decisions for their growing portfolio.

At the end of the day, it’s about knowing as much as they can and making the most out of all available resources, Ms Francis highlighted.

“It's always a challenge to pick spots because there's thousands and thousands of suburbs in Australia, but it always comes down to those fundamental drivers which are going to influence the growth of the asset,” according to her.

Lesson learned

Ms Francis’ investment story is a testament to the power of education and mentorship.

While purchasing four assets in different locations within the span of a year seems like a hard feat, she was able to accomplish her goals because she didn’t go in blind.

Aside from the knowledge she carries within her, she was also guided by the expertise of the professionals she surrounded herself with.

The investor said: “If I had a time machine I would've gone into the mentorship program earlier because it’s really about the education. It just keeps you tightly focused on where you're going and it takes out all the fear. It's great to learn it all through continued mentorship.

“You can come away from those things and go. ‘There's so much more I can do. We are the ones in control,’” Ms Francis concluded.

Tune in to Greta Francis’ episode on The Smart Property Investment Show to know more about her approach on education and how it will empower her as she implements her long-term investment plan.