Home Australia Tradie who once lived in rented granny flats but now enjoys a $6million waterfront home, Lamborghini and 50ft yacht reveals the biggest financial mistake young Aussies are making

Tradie who once lived in rented granny flats but now enjoys a $6million waterfront home, Lamborghini and 50ft yacht reveals the biggest financial mistake young Aussies are making

by Elijah
0 comment
A savvy property investor who owns 20 houses says young people are missing out on home ownership by being too fixated on living in a nice suburb too soon (Daniel Walsh, left, with his wife Sophie)

A property investor who once lived in rented granny flats but now enjoys a $6 million waterfront home has shared his best advice for young Australians trying to break into the tough housing market.

Daniel Walsh, 33, bought his multi-million dollar house near Palm Beach on Sydney’s northern beaches last year.

The married father-of-one also owns a Lamborghini Huracan and a 50-foot yacht on top of his $20 million property portfolio, which includes $14 million worth of 19 rental investment properties in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth.

But instead of saving up for a mortgage to buy the ultimate property, Mr Walsh started his investment journey by buying a four-bedroom house in Thirlmere, 95km south-west of Sydney, for $324,000.

He was able to save up and buy more properties, using the rental income and borrowing against the value of the other houses to keep expanding his portfolio as high population growth pushed up property values.

A savvy property investor who owns 20 houses says young people are missing out on home ownership by being too fixated on living in a nice suburb too soon (Daniel Walsh, left, with his wife Sophie)

A savvy property investor who owns 20 houses says young people are missing out on home ownership by being too fixated on living in a nice suburb too soon (Daniel Walsh, left, with his wife Sophie)

Daniel Walsh, 33, bought a $6 million waterfront house on Sydney's northern beaches, near Palm Beach, last year. The married father of one also owns a Lamborghini Huracan and a 50-foot yacht on top of his $20 million real estate portfolio

Daniel Walsh, 33, bought a $6 million waterfront house on Sydney's northern beaches, near Palm Beach, last year. The married father of one also owns a Lamborghini Huracan and a 50-foot yacht on top of his $20 million real estate portfolio

Daniel Walsh, 33, bought a $6 million waterfront house on Sydney’s northern beaches, near Palm Beach, last year. The married father of one also owns a Lamborghini Huracan and a 50-foot yacht on top of his $20 million real estate portfolio

He and his wife, Sophie, also lived in rented granny flats until he was 28, when he moved house.

How Daniel Walsh started his property journey

2011: Thirlmere, NSW, four-bedroom house, $342,000

2012: Thirlmere, NSW, three-bedroom house, $303,000

2014: Crestmead, Queensland, four-bedroom house, $305,000

2014: Deception Bay, Queensland, three-bedroom house, $259,000

2015: Raceview, Queensland, four-bedroom house, $310,000

2015: Davoren Park, South Australia, three-bedroom house, $182,000

2016: Carrum Downs, Victoria, three-bedroom house, $345,000

2016: Carrum Downs, Victoria, block of land, $50,000

2018: St Albans Park, Victoria, three bedroom house, $380,000

“I was living in a granny flat instead of living in a house and paying a lot more rent,” he told Daily Mail Australia.

‘My wife and I could then save more money for a house – we did that right up until I was 28 years old.

‘I was always about delayed gratification.’

He also said the narrative that young people can’t afford a house was damaging, even though the average house price in major cities is out of reach for most.

“People have to change the perspective to say it’s just too hard,” Walsh said.

‘If you see my journey, I bought two properties two hours out of Sydney and then I couldn’t afford Sydney in 2012 so I had to go to different states.’

The former apprentice auto electrician and freight train driver, who left school at 15, said too many young people made the mistake of saving a 20 per cent mortgage for a desirable home in a nice suburb.

‘They’re saving up to buy their owner-occupied dream house and then when you find out – especially if you’re in more expensive capital cities like Sydney – they’re trying to get a house between £1.5m and £2m. he said.

“They save money, but when they save their money, property prices keep going up, so they save for a decade to try to get into their first property.”

Sir. Walsh, the founder of the Your Property Your Wealth buying agency, said when he couldn’t afford a house in Sydney, he bought houses in affordable outer suburbs of Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth that were within commuting distance of the city center .

“I was focused on smaller investment properties — buying houses for $400,000,” he said.

‘I like to have commuting distance to a major CBD if I can.

“Typically, I want to buy houses on the outskirts, because as the population grows, most people are generally looking for houses to settle down in with their families.

‘By buying the affordable stuff, the properties will continue to increase in value as people continue to move into these areas.’

Instead of saving up for a mortgage to buy the ultimate home, Mr Walsh started his investment journey by buying a four-bedroom house in Thirlmere, 95km south-west of Sydney, for $324,000.

Instead of saving up for a mortgage to buy the ultimate home, Mr Walsh started his investment journey by buying a four-bedroom house in Thirlmere, 95km south-west of Sydney, for $324,000.

Instead of saving up for a mortgage to buy the ultimate home, Mr Walsh started his investment journey by buying a four-bedroom house in Thirlmere, 95km south-west of Sydney, for $324,000.

Sir. Walsh didn’t buy his first home to live in as an owner in 2021 when he bought a home in Camden, in Sydney’s south-west, for $1.35 million – and sold it two years later for $1.85 million.

“Until then, I’ve been ‘rental vesting’ my entire journey,” he said.

Someone on an average full-time salary of $98,218 could only buy a $639,000 home with a 20 percent deposit.

This is well below Sydney’s median house price of $1,396 million, Melbourne’s midpoint of $942,779 and Brisbane’s $899,474, CoreLogic data showed.

But there are pockets of value 25km to 55km away from the city center if you look beyond Sydney.

Frankston North has an affordable median price of $596,656 and is 55km from Melbourne city centre.

“To some extent Melbourne is undervalued right now – prices are quite affordable in the outer suburbs,” he said.

This suburb near Port Phillip Bay is also close to much more expensive suburbs and has the potential to gentrify despite a higher unemployment rate.

On either side of Brisbane are suburbs in Logan, including Slacks Creek, where the average house price is $653,257, despite being only 25km from the city.

“When you look at Logan, for example, economically, population, everything is very super strong around there – you’re halfway on the freeway between Brisbane and the Gold Coast,” he said.

In the Moreton Bay area, Deception Bay, 46km north of Brisbane, has a median price of $634,325.

When it comes to buying in outer suburbs, Mr Walsh advised against buying a property in areas such as Broadmeadows in Melbourne’s north, pointing out that tenants would be less reliable.

“I would be careful about going too hard – there’s just too much housing commission,” he said.

He also advised against buying somewhere with an older population like Bribie Island north of Brisbane, arguing that areas like that had weaker economic growth.

“I probably wouldn’t go to Bribie Island: too many pensioners, it’s not really an economic centre,” he said.

Instead, he advised potential buyers to focus on buying an investment home – but not a unit – where population growth was likely.

He and his wife Sophie also rented in granny flats until he was 28 when he switched to renting a house

He and his wife Sophie also rented in granny flats until he was 28 when he switched to renting a house

He and his wife Sophie also rented in granny flats until he was 28 when he switched to renting a house

“I always look at where people are moving and I always cross-reference the number of building approvals against the population moving in,” he said.

‘If I can see 100,000 people moving into an area but I can only see 20,000 building permits in a state for example, I know that supply is getting harder and harder.’

A record 518,000 migrants moved to Australia in the 2022-23 financial year.

This meant house prices in the capital rose by 11 per cent in the year to February, despite the Reserve Bank raising interest rates for the 13th time in 18 months in November, taking it to a 12-year high of 4.35 per cent.

Sydney’s median house price rose 11.7 per cent, but in Perth, a recipient of interstate migration, values ​​rose 18.6 per cent to a still relatively affordable $718,560.

In January, Mr. Walsh’s new book Six Principles to Retire Younger and Richer by Major Street Publishing.

You may also like