How being ‘pedantic’ helps this property investor achieve his goals

“Originally, our plan was, we just wanted to be debt-free at the age of 50—no mortgage, no nothing… [Have our] own home… not having to think, moving forward, in terms of repayments and jobs… That was our plan, and I think we can safely say now that we'll probably achieve that by 45,” John shared.

However, their simple goals suddenly changed when the couple saw the opportunities in different markets and the many ways they can take advantage of them to help them succeed in the business of creating wealth. Right now, the couple is looking into more sophisticated strategies to generate a continuous stream of income through property investments.

“Now we're going, ‘Yeah, you do use your PPI's [payment protection insurance] as leverage. You know the collateral’s there but that can be made up in other ways when it's done right in terms of repaying that sale,” John explained, “That's the plan—have a healthy income stream, which we're now achieving.”

This transition in their journey could not have gone as smooth as it did had John failed to be “pedantic” about being on top of his finances.

“I'm quite pedantic. I've got a spreadsheet there on each property, and I know all the ingoings and outgoings, what it's costing us, what it costs us per annum for the whole portfolio. There's [also] the tax component come tax time,” John said.

After dabbling with small-scale units, off-the-plan apartments, and National Rental Affordability Scheme (NRAS) assets, John and his wife are now looking into investing in a block of units and developing a duplex or a townhouse.

This confidence to explore is now driven not only by the desire to be debt-free but to provide a legacy that is a financially secure future for their twin children.

“While we can, let's just make the most out of it now rather than [procrastinating] ... The whole property thing, it's all baby steps [until you] get to a real solid figure,” John concluded.

Tune in to John Martinovic’s episode on The Smart Property Investment Show to find out more his diverse portfolio and how he turned property investing into a major hobby.