Property investment tip: ‘Don’t be in a race to grow your portfolio’

“I understand that there's more opportunities outside New South Wales, but, I think some people don't get that there's other ways to create wealth other than just buying a home,” he says. 

While some people his age choose to save in order to buy a home straight away, he prefers to spend his 20's living a lifestyle he enjoys and placing his investments where he can afford to do so.

“I'll go rent on the northern beaches or somewhere there and just enjoy my life, get in a bit of a surf, bit of fishing. Then I'll place my investments where I can actually leverage them right—it might be Brisbane, it might be Tassie, it may be Victoria.”

Goal-setting

More than crafting the right strategies to create wealth, property investment is about understanding what you’re buying, why you’re buying it, and how all of it aligns to lead you towards where you want to go and help you ultimately achieve your goals.

According to Alex, who has successfully built an 18-property portfolio with Phil, your property investment journey is only as strong as your goals are clear.

“How is a property going to fit in your overall play? Some people are going to want, and need, to have a reasonable portfolio to do the things that matter to them uniquely in their lives. Other people might need only a couple.

“If you don't know where you're going, your portfolio plans may end up becoming a burden. If you end up with too many properties too fast with too many debts and you don't really know why you're doing it, that's not necessarily a good thing. Equally, if you go too slow you might realise that you should have, maybe, bought more earlier." 

Taking your time to know your goals as well as your capabilities and limitations as a property investor is the perfect first step to begin your journey towards creating wealth through real estate assets. After all, property investment is a long-term play—not a competition of who can get most over the shortest period of time.

Phil advises young budding investors: “Unless you can afford that, don't be in a race to grow up too quickly. Just enjoy your 20's. If you get into your 30's and you start going, ‘Hey, I want to start getting serious about property investment,’ you can sort it out.”

“It's never too late,” Alex concluded.

Tune in to Michael Johnson and Alex Whitlock’s episode on The Smart Property Investment Show to know more about the day-to-day operations of an 18-property portfolio, as well as the impact property managers have had in steering property investment journeys into success.