Why the Australian property market appealed to this Chinese investor

Tell us a little bit about how your family moved to Australia.

William Leung: I first came to Australia with my parents, from the humble beginnings. Typical at that time, being Chinese, they are really afraid of debt … It was '88 and the interest rate was quite high and the currency was quite high. My parents, before they determined to move to Australia, they actually came to visit Australia—Sydney particularly—12 months beforehand.

By the time we moved to Australia … we [have] sold our assets in Hong Kong … [but] we couldn't afford to [buy] where we want to live. That's in, let's see, in Strathfield. Now, Strathfield is like multimillion dollars, but at that time Strathfield wasn't that expensive. Probably $200,000.

Where did they end up buying your principal place of residence?

William Leung: My parents, they could afford it, but they didn't want to borrow money because of [the] uncertainty of jobs, [the] uncertainty of the interest rate. They just put all [their] ... lifetime savings and [bought] a property in Guildford.

If you look at [the] Sydney market … or anywhere closer to the city, [there is] better transport. [Properties] probably double the value every seven to 10 years. Guildford [properties] probably double the value in 20 years, so there's a big catch.

Your family came from Hong Kong, not from mainland China—how difficult was it to adjust?

William Leung: From Hong Kong … I was 13 at the time … [and I went] straight [to] high school.

All of a sudden, you get to face all these new people that you can only hardly understand. The good thing about it is, at that time, there are not many Chinese immigrants living in Guildford. Which is good, [because] that means I had to force myself to adapt to the situation. You can either adapt or you can just walk out. It's one way or the other … [And I wanted to stay because] I believe ... Australia is probably the best country on earth.

[It] is a great place to live … You have to settle in here before you can make your career or do whatever you want to do.

What jobs did your parents take after arriving in Australia?

William Leung: My mum is a nurse … The difference in ... culture background is, in Hong Kong where she's a nurse, she doesn't have to do a lot of all this physical handling [of] the patients. In Australia, you have to do [that a] lot. She probably couldn't ... She tried her best, but at the same time, it's a struggle.

Same as my dad. My dad [came] from [a] humble beginning as well—he was a warehouse supervisor. In Hong Kong, warehouse supervisors ... can just tell people what to do, but in here, you actually have to move everything … You've got to do it yourself. You've got to learn how to drive a forklift, you've got to move all the goods and stuff like that … They all struggled.

What job did you take after finishing school?

William Leung: I studied civil engineering at uni[versity]. Now I'm working as a contract administrator … I'm working on one of the biggest infrastructure project[s] in Sydney at the moment.

At the beginning, I studied engineering [and] thought that I would be the cool guy doing the design … but then, I learned the hard way [that] not many engineers can design. You have to go through lots of steps and lots of boundaries. At the [very] becoming, an engineer is … actually doing is more like QS [quantity surveying] and more like pushing the work ahead and all that. I don't quite enjoy this all but I find that a lot of people ... don't look at the fine details of numbers. I just educate myself into that and then try to make a career of it.

How did your experience inspire you to invest in properties?

William Leung: Where we came from and how we got started [are my inspirations]. Over the years, we see how our other relatives are going and where they are, how much a property’s value has gone up, and all that.

I [also] met a few mentors in my life while I was working [and] they all point me to the direction of property. Property is one of the ways to increase your wealth.

Basically, when I was younger, I [tried] everything like shares, derivatives, options—you name it. Like anything in life, if you don't put in the hard work, you won't gain the reward. You can make money in shares, you can make money in options, absolutely, but you have to be in touch with the market. [You have to be] hands-on.

What is it about property that is so attractive to Chinese people?

William Leung: It's an asset you can see, you can touch, you can feel. Whereas shares, it's just a number ... You're buying something but you don't actually physically own it. You can't physically touch it. The good thing about shares is you can keep up to date every day. The bad thing about it is you [need to] keep updated every day and it controls [your] emotions.

[In] property is ... you can buy it [and] time will help you smoothen out some of the mistakes that you've done. Also, time gives you the advantage [of the fact] that, overall, it will appreciate in time.

Tune in to William Leung’s episode on The Smart Property Investment Show to know more about the Hong Kong and Chinese mindsets on investing and debt, the importance of goal setting and cycles, and why property investors should learn to love numbers.