Expert Advice with Todd Hunter. 26/08/2016
My first book was written to let you all have a read on how I achieved my personal goal of 50 properties by the age 31. But that was ten years ago now… so what’s happened since – A lot!
For those who know me, know that I am an open book. And that’s the reason I decided to let everyone know what I have been doing for the past ten years.
So the last ten years have been good to me… yes I’m now 41 and many will say I’m being self generous here but I’ve put on a good 10 kilos too. Part of my goal for the next 12 months is to get that down, I’ll keep you posted on that one.
Capping off my last book, it ended with the purchase of my home, which I bagged for a tidy discount - $600k off the list price. Right in the middle of the GFC.
I can quite confidently say it was the ‘waterfront steal’ that local real estate agents spoke about for the next two years in the Sutherland Shire. The bones of the house were fantastic but it had been a rental property for 10 years and I can honestly say, that there were no quarterly property management inspections EVER done there.
The next six months after settling, I spent simply cleaning up the yard. And when I say clean up, I mean that we filled 11 x 6m skip bins up with garden waste only. Yes, 11 bins. And that didn’t include any palm trees or any of the other trees we disposed of. The property was literally an overgrown jungle. The pool had a growth island something Shrek would have been proud of. One hundred litres of concentrated chlorine later and we had something that resembled a pool. That work alone would have added $100k to the value instantly.
Anyway, 7+ years on and the reno’s are still going. Don’t worry, I’m not the sort of guy that lives in a torn down house for the rest of time. We are doing it, in stages. You need to do reno’s in stages when the renovations will cost between $1 million and $1.25 million in total. To date, we are around half way into that figure. And the property is turning heads.
Baring in mind, I have continued to buy investment properties as well.
Not long after buying my home, I also purchased my office within my Self Managed Superannuation Fund (SMSF). I can honestly tell you that it was the hardest mortgage I have ever written. The positive outcome from this was that I had a brand new office in the most prestigious office block in Cronulla, with a balcony overlooking the mall. It was one of the most satisfying business decisions I have ever made. The fact that we are on the mall with many coffee shops, cafes and restaurants around for lunch or after work, has definitively improved my work/life balance.
And it was around this time my girlfriend and I decided to call it quits. With our portfolio number somewhere in the early 30’s (as we sold approx. 20 properties to buy our home with cash) meant that our parting of the properties was a huge task. And as we were still friends we were able to do this with very limited help from solicitors, but boy wasn’t the separation document thick.
To download the full free story and see how I got that number back up to 50, and beyond, go to: www.wheregroup.com.au
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Todd Hunter is director, buyer’s agent and location researcher for Sydney-based wHeregroup. He is an active property investor himself and amassed a portfolio of 50 properties by the age of 31. For more of Todd's musings, visit the wHeregroup blog.
Disclaimer: while due care is taken, the viewpoints expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Your Investment Property.
