The man with a plan

31/10/2018

Boasting a $20m property portfolio, Rocket Property Group CEO Ian Hosking Richards confesses that he's done 'nothing special' to scale the heights of property success.

He shares the process he's followed to build wealth – and explains how you can follow in his footsteps.

Fifteen years ago, I was working as an unskilled labourer in a warehouse in Artarmon, Sydney, on an annual salary of $35,000. I don’t really feel that I’ve done anything extraordinary, or achieved anything that no one else could achieve. On the contrary, I am confident that most people could replicate what I have done, but the reality is that very few people ever will.

For me, it all began with a plan I came up with about 20 years ago. I decided that I wanted an expensive British hand-built car, a great place to live and cash to burn – and I worked out how I could use property as an investment vehicle to pay for all these things. I followed the plan, which involved reinvesting all my equity growth back into property, until after 12 years of investing I was able to start accessing cash to fund my lifestyle.

The results that our investors achieve by following our property recommendations speak for themselves. The past 12 months have been fantastic. Our clients who purchased on the Sunshine Coast have all achieved a significant uplift on their purchase prices, and our investors in Geelong are looking at up to $100,000 growth in a relatively short time. We’ve also managed to negotiate some great deals for our investors on completed stock in various strong growth areas. One investor who purchased a duplex in Newcastle for under $900,000 has just had it revalued at $1.2m, with a rental rate of $970 per week. You’ve got to be happy with that kind of result!

"I don’t really feel that I’ve done anything extraordinary … on the contrary, I am confident that most people could replicate what I have done"

As these markets are now significantly more expensive than 12 months ago, we are setting our sights on new areas that are more affordable and offer better value for new investors who are just getting ready to enter the market.

Rocket Property Group has been growing consistently over the past few years, thanks largely to word-of-mouth referrals. Due to the nature of our industry and the boutique nature of our business, we are not a big player, but our emphasis has always been on the quality of our service rather than chasing large volumes.

"We are setting our sights on new areas that are more affordable and offer better value for new investors"

Our service is very much tailored to the individual investor, their expectations, and their longterm financial goals. Our team are great at asking the right questions so that we can give each investor the best help and guidance possible. The tools that we use are deliberately user-friendly, in order to make property investment as easy and stress-free as possible. But at the same time our approach is very strategic and directed, and the education process is ongoing. Often the best learning opportunities are gained by going through the process of purchasing a property, rather than reading about it, so we make sure that investors have enough education to help them make a good decision, being careful not to overload them with masses of detail before they get started. Ultimately, we aim to offer a very high level of service for our investors at each step of their property investment journey.

My investments now allow me to live in an incredible apartment in Sydney City, drive a Rolls Royce and generally have a ‘millionaire’ lifestyle, but for me the biggest gift has been the ability to spend my time how I choose to. My personal property portfolio has afforded me financial freedom, and it is very rewarding to be able to give back – since 2015 I have been supporting various humanitarian projects in the Solomon Islands.

Being able to contribute to the social development of a wonderful people who simply do not have access to the level of services that we enjoy, such as education, medical treatment, electricity, or even paid employment, has been life-changing for me. And that is the power of property investing – it really can change people’s lives in so many different ways.