We’ve all heard about how unaffordable property in Sydney is. Unless you’ve got a million bucks, you don’t even get a look in within cooee of the city.
The thing is, not everyone is throwing their hands up in defeat.
In fact, two Sydney teachers have taken control of their futures by investing outside of the Harbour City – and outside of New South Wales, too.
Starting early
Eight years ago, the Sydney market boom was not even a twinkle in most economist’s eyes.
In truth, its capital city market had been flat for years.
Back then, though, a 27-year-old teacher decided he wanted to get ahead financially so he bought a two-bedroom unit in Concord in Sydney’s inner-west.
A few years later, he bought a block of land in Prospect and built a house where he and his now-wife could live.
They were hoping to start a family soon, Robbie says, so they needed more space.
Lucky they did that, because the couple are now parents to five-month-old twins.
Robbie, now 35, admits his research back then was more about convenience than analysis.
“It was close to work and family. It was in the middle of where myself and my wife grew up. It was a very convenient location,” he says.
The couple decided to sell the Concord unit a year or two later to capitalise on its capital growth.
For a while, they simply deposited the proceeds into their bank account, but Robbie soon realised they needed to make that money work harder for them.
By then, Sydney prices were out of reach, so he began searching for more affordable locations as well as for expert advice.
“We definitely had a lot of trust in what Propertyology was doing and Euan [Propertyology buyers agent] was a great contact and we had full confidence in him,” Robbie says.
“It’s the forensic research that they do and the fact that there was no hard sell.”
“They are 100 per cent transparent with what they do. We liked the fact that they don’t have a vested interest in specific properties and don’t try to sell anything. A few of the other companies we spoke to, you could only buy new [from a product list].”
“We also agreed with their strategy of investing in areas that were affordable because affordability probably is a key to capital growth.”
An easy process
Even though Robbie already had a few property runs on the board, working with Propertyology was something else entirely.
He says once the couple had decided to use the firm, they were 100 per cent guided by them.
“Once you choose them, there is no second guessing after that. You go all in,” he says.
“We followed their lead and they steered us into an affordable capital city location. They sourced a house and negotiated it from start to finish. We were obviously involved and they kept us up-to-date with the progress of the negotiation as it was happening.”
The property that Propertyology secured for these two go-getting teachers was a four-bedroom, two-bathroom house in the middle-ring of a major capital city.
The purchase price was just $429,000, with a weekly rent of $425.
Those numbers just don’t exist in Sydney anymore. You’d be flat out getting a pantry for that!
Robbie calls the entire process “easy” and one where they were welcome to use their own professional contacts, such as a mortgage broker, as well.
The couple is now cooling their property heels so they can concentrate on raising their twins, but one gets the feeling they won’t be on the sidelines for long.
“The mindset definitely is to make the money we earn, earn more money for us. That’s for sure,” Robbie says.
“If we just rely on our teacher salaries – which aren’t that bad – we can be comfortable but if we invest and plant a few seeds then hopefully we’ve got more options in the future.”
“That was the motivation behind it. It does open a few doors and give you a few more options and it definitely puts the money that you earn from your teaching to better use than if we just saved.”
The couple intend to contact Propertyology when it’s time for them to invest again – especially since time is even more precious now than it was before.
There’s no doubt that these two Sydney teachers aren’t prepared to settle for an ordinary life just because they live in Australia’s most expensive city.
In fact, one can presume that theirs will be an extraordinary life because they’re steering their own financial ship towards a better future.
Propertyology is a national property market researcher and buyer’s agency, helping everyday people to invest in strategically-chosen locations all over Australia. The multi-award-winning firm’s success includes being a finalist in the 2017 Telstra Business Awards and 2018 winner of Buyers Agency of the Year in REIQ Awards For Excellence.
