Investment tip: ‘Hindsight is a wonderful thing’

She shared: “I'm the pusher. I was always first to push. Our first house, I pushed Brendon to buy … When we grew up, my parents bought and sold and built houses, so ... I've had an interest in property since I was really little.”

“Once we'd seen a gain of our own principal place of residence, I said to Brendon, ‘There's something here. We need to get on this, we need to educate ourselves,’” Courtney added. 

The first lesson learned

Their principal place of residence—a 20-year-old three-bedroom townhouse—was bought by the of 2011 in Menai, before the first home owner grant was abolished.

While they thought it was the best purchase at that time, believing it was just exactly what they could afford, Brandon and Courtney can’t help but wish that they bought a different, more high-value property instead.

Courtney said: “In hindsight, we probably could've afforded a little bit more, but at the time when you're going into it and you're really young, you didn't really know what to expect, what our payments would be like.”

Their decision to go through the “conservative route” was due to Brendon’s influence as the more risk-averse person in the partnership.

“She pushes and tries to go big and I pull her back a bit and try to be a bit more risk-averse … be a bit more calculated and think longer-term,” he said.

Despite the undeniable regret, the couple is still happy about their very first property purchase, especially as they saw its value increase by $400,000 in mere four years.

Realising how much wealth-creation potential there is in property investment, they immediately sought education through different resources such as television shows, books, magazines, podcasts, and more. 

The power of hindsight

It took Brendon and Courtney four years’ worth of planning and preparation to finally start their property investment journey.

Aside from learning about capitalising on the strength of a particular area’s property market, they have also learned the value of researching ‘fundamentals’—from demographics to financing.

Brendon shared: “When we bought our place in Menai, the one next door was selling at the same time and ours went for probably about $20,000 ... cheaper than the one down the road … We were looking at both and we always say, ‘We should've bought both.’ ”

Courtney explained further: “We could’ve. If I look at it now, we really could've pushed and put someone in there ... I looked back and did all the sums [and] we were getting a rental return of 5.5 per cent in a Sydney market ... You're lucky to get about [3 per cent] these days.”

“We really should've pushed a bit harder than, but hindsight is a wonderful thing,” she added.

Like many property investors, they wished they bought more than they have, but Smart Property Investment’s Phil Tarrant believed that “if that’s your biggest mistake, then you’re [probably] doing alright”.

The couple’s final advice for budding property investors: Research, educate yourself, get a good team around you, and always keep learning—from books, podcasts, and, most importantly, your own experiences. 

Tune in to Brendon and Courtney’s episode on The Smart Property Investment Show to know more about how they made the transition from being property buyers to being property investors, as well as what they have learned through the properties they bought and how it has impacted each purchase.