Two simple secrets to success for young property investors

Alex, like many property investors, believes that while it’s best to start as young as one could, it’s also never too late to get into the property market. What matters most when beginning a property investment journey is the right planning and preparation through good education and the best mentorship.

The property investor said: “If you buy right and if you buy and get on with it at any stage in life, you can construct a portfolio—it's never … too late.”

“I think it's great to be able to get in the market when you're young, but I think it's also … [good to strike] a balance between doing the things you want to do in life ... [get] the education … and understanding ... the insides [of] … proper portfolio construction,” he added.

Why invest in property?

One of the most important first steps to take when jumping into the business of creating wealth through property is goal-setting. Moving without purpose could be a miserable task, but knowing the reasons behind your efforts and sacrifices will turn out to be a gratifying experience once you finally achieve the things you have worked hard for.

More than making sure that you’ve got enough financial deposit to buy a house, see to it that you will not be depriving yourself of any life experiences once you start your property investment journey.

Phil said: “Don't discount life experiences first and making sure you're not encumbered by debt or hammered by debt from [an] early age. You want to [be able to] go out and have some fun.”

Building wealth is all about achieving freedom—having the opportunity to do what you want while living off of passive income generated by your assets. As easy as it may sound, the journey will require hard work, determination, and sometimes even sacrifices.

According to Alex: “[This should be] something that's close to your heart [because] it's a very big commitment … Educate yourself and ... have a goal and understand where you're going.”

“I think it's good to do the things you want to do before you have those commitments because when you have those commitments, you got to stay with those commitments—it is something you got to be ready to put [your] time to and to be very disciplined [about],” he added.

Buying the first property

For many budding property investors, getting the first deposit and eventually buying the first property is the hard part, then “you sort of slide through” to the investment property purchases that will follow.

Michael said: “If you pick properties that have good capital growth and you then leverage that to get your second or third or fourth property and that sort of builds, it increase that capital base.”

“That for me is my goal—to get that first one locked down and in. And then, I might go, ‘Oh, I'll spend a couple years just not worrying about it’ like you guys did, you know. You jumped in, you went hard for it, and then you let it sit, let it simmer.

“It's a passive investment right, that's the idea,” the young accountant added.

Alex, for his part, bought his first property in 1997, at 29 years old. Two decades later, he proudly holds 18 properties of different types with his business partner Phil.

His advice for budding property investors: “[Just] will the discipline to actually save ... I was very motivated to save from there on in [because] it was too early to leverage off my investment, but I carried on. I saved up and bought another one shortly afterwards.”

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.

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