Steve and Sarah are like many other couples in their forties. They have always understood the importance of investing in their future and, while they spent years undertaking property research and attending courses, had never taken the final leap into property investment.
“Regardless of how much study we were doing, which was a lot, there were still too many uncertainties and we really needed the surety of someone that had a lot more knowledge, skills, and access than we did,” Sarah said.
So, the couple set about researching experts who could help them achieve their property investment dreams.
In 2018, Steve came across one of Propertyology’s well-regarded charts; it illustrated an intriguing connection between economic performance and property markets. It instantly captivated him.
“When I actually that first Propertyology graph – I think it was displaying internal migration movements – I became glued to Propertyology’s content. When I saw that graph, I was like, “Right, this is good and I want more and more of it,” Steve said.
While everyone seems to have opinions about real estate, Steve admires Propertyology’s objectivity, that they use data and evidence to substantiate opinions. “They don’t allow personal bias to interfere.”
“It just made a lot more sense compared to everything else that’s out there. That first graph left me wanting more. It prompted me to follow Propertyology’s commentary closer. I couldn’t leave their information alone.”
Steve and Sarah love Propertyology’s ability to turn facts and figures into useful graphical pictures, often creating clarity from what might otherwise have been quite complex.
After a while, Steve and Sarah reached out and established contact with the Propertyology team. They quickly learned that their initial attraction to the firm was backed up by solid strategies that considered 100 per cent of Australia. They understand the importance of borderless investing.
Portfolio Foundations
Soon, the couple was receiving guidance from the firm to build the foundations for their future property portfolio. Steve and Sarah learned a lot about strategy options, finance considerations, the impact of using different combinations of investment capital and cash flow, risk mitigation considerations and location diversification.
“Among other things, that helped us to review our lending options, which lowered the risk for us,” Steve says.
Propertyology is well-known for having a truly national focus and for their detailed analysis of property market fundamentals. They take pride in not getting seduced by a location purely because it is a capital city or because there might be considerable media hype.
Sarah says that they were true professionals, they never felt pressured and that she appreciated the time taken by the firm to explain its property market philosophy.
“In the end, we were 100 per cent committed to trusting them on their location suggestions. It just made sense,” she said.
“Then it was a matter of them finding the right property. On both occasions, we could see quite clearly why they’d chosen the property.”
Sarah says delegating the important selection process to the firm was vital given the couple’s time constraints and past history of a little bit of analysis paralysis.
“That’s a huge part of why it was so important to us to find such a well-respected and reputable company to take us through,” she says.
Team Effort
The couple said it is clear that Propertyology operates as a cohesive team, with a few specialists whom each have a specific skill set to guide them at a few key junctures in the property investment process.
Sarah says buyer’s agent Bryan Loughnan not only understands potential investment areas inside and out but has strong local networks in each location.
“I think that enables Bryan to act really quickly on suitable properties and, buying frequently in the one area gives him a solid reputation and level of negotiating power and access that most people wouldn’t have,” she says.
Propertyology Property Acquisitions Coordinator, Mandie Young, was also instrumental in Steve and Sarah’s success.
Mandie took on the due diligence for the couple, which meant a massive reduction in time and stress as well as a thoroughly streamlined process.
Steve said Mandie was “crucial” in their property investment success. “She is like a pillar of support,” Steve says.
“Mandie basically project-managed both transactions, with a very high level of professionalism and was incredibly prompt.”
“When under a lot of demand, she’s always smiling on the other end of the phone, so we could do it with just a lot of confidence and efficiency and were just really happy to be communicating with her.”
Skin in the Game
With their strategy and finance structures in place, Steve and Sarah originally had a goal of buying two investment properties within six months. With the expertise of the Propertyology team they were totally thrilled to have achieved their aim in just four months.
Their first property was purchased in November 2019. Bryan found and negotiated the purchase of this solid 3-bedroom, 2-bathroom house on 640 square metres block for a very affordable $336,000.
The major regional city that Propertyology helped them invest in is of national significance and has an incredibly diverse and expanding economy.
Believe it or not, despite the health pandemic, this city had more jobs advertised in October 2020 than immediately before Covid.
The city currently boasts one of the tightest housing supplies in all of Australia. In the 12-months subsequent to purchasing their first property it had already attracted seven percent capital growth.
After paying a small 10 percent deposit to purchase this property, the impressive 6.35 rental yield means that Steve and Sarah do not need to put their hand in their pocket for anything from year-to-year.
Their second property was purchased in February 2020, another 3-bedroom house for $373,500. The vendor had recently completed a high-quality renovation. The house was easily rented and achieves a rental yield of 5.1 percent.
As with all good investment strategies, their portfolio incorporates diversification by deliberately selecting a completely different city and state to their first investment.
Even though it settled just 1-month before the coronavirus national lockdown, they have seen approximately 10 per cent capital growth over the first eight months.
Steve is very complimentary of the ongoing (fee-free) communication which they continue to receive well after the settlement of both investments.
“Propertyology send us regular market updates with details on our locations and how they are performing. Our confidence grows each time we get an update. Both locations are performing well,” Steve says.
Dreams Realised
Within less than a year of first contacting Propertyology, the couple have created a solid two-property portfolio, which is a result that they admit sometimes seems like a dream.
“I don’t think the fact that we’ve achieved it has properly sunk in yet – for me anyway,” Sarah says.
Steve says the overwhelming positive experience meant they could now work towards growing their portfolio even more in the years ahead.
“The next goal is we’d like to keep growing the portfolio as opportunities arise,” he says.
“So, we’re going to look at options to release equity from the results that we’ve already achieved in the two diverse locations and see if we can basically continue to build.”
Related article: Analyse, diversify and achieve
There’s no question that the couple believe their financial future has been changed by the Propertyology team – which all started from being captivated by one insightful chart within an online report.
“Simon is a prodigy, he’s a genius, and he’s really into the stuff that we hate dealing with – data and figures and tables and graphs and things like that,” Sarah says.
“We find it interesting to look at from the outside, but actually being into gathering that information with so much drive and excitement, well, you can’t buy that – but we have.”
GET IN TOUCH WITH US: Propertyology is a multiple-award-winning buyer’s agency and Australia’s premier property market analyst. Every capital city, every non-capital city, we analyse fundamentals in every market, every day. We use this valuable research to help everyday Aussies to invest in strategically-chosen locations (literally) all over Australia. Like to know more? Contact us here.
