An Australian property tycoon with a portfolio worth $80 million has revealed the one decision he deeply regrets – calling it his $700,000 mistake.
Allister Lewison bought his first property at the age of 22 while working as a night manager at Woolworths earning $22,000 a year. He managed to raise a deposit by pooling money with his brother.
At age 30 and a few investment properties later, he decided to buy a small house on a large block in Melbourne’s outer suburbs for $315,000 in 2005.
His intention was to subdivide and build a semi-detached house at the rear of the block, but he backed out.
Despite investing $180,000 in the new construction, fear of rising interest rates and the global financial crisis scared him and he decided to sell the property just three years later.
Allister Lewison, from Melbourne, regrets selling a property in 2008 as it would have been worth an estimated $1 million today. He paid $315,000 for the property in 2005.
The unit (pictured) was on a decent-sized block and Allister planned to subdivide it and then build a townhouse out back. It was a three-year process and with the looming global financial crisis he decided to sell the property.
He decided to sell the front house first and the back house shortly after.
“I always planned to sell the front property, but after hearing about the GFC I thought I should sell the house too,” he said.
He would like to keep the house, since today it would be worth $1 million, leaving him with an estate of $700,000.
“In mid-2008, the cash rate was 7.25 per cent and the mortgage rate was 9.50 per cent and we were worried that interest rates would continue to rise,” the 46-year-old said.
‘If I had used the capital to buy another property, I would not have paid stamp duty or agent fees, and I would not have had the loss of rental income.
‘Selling was a big mistake. If he had kept it, it would be worth $1 million today.
‘In hindsight I should have bought a new property to begin with rather than building from scratch. I probably would have bought two or three properties at the same time.’
‘Selling was a big mistake. If I had kept it, it would be worth a million dollars today,” he said. Allister now owns properties across the country (pictured, Brisbane investment property)
You have realized that it is more valuable to buy new properties than to build them yourself.
Allister, co-founder of Open Corp, told FEMAIL that when he was younger he didn’t know how to calculate the equity in a property and thought he needed to buy it in the same suburb he lived in.
He started investing to ensure he had enough funds to maintain a good quality of life after retirement, but throughout his real estate journey it has become more than that.
“I think we are doing the government and the people a favor by purchasing investment properties,” he said.
Now he helps other young Australians follow in his footsteps by developing a property plan and executing a strategy.
Allister now helps other Australians follow in his footsteps by developing a property plan and executing a strategy.
‘The best time to enter the market is as soon as possible. “It is becoming increasingly difficult to save a deposit as property prices rise,” he said.
“Do what you can: borrow from mom and dad’s bank, join a sibling, a cousin or a friend to take advantage of the market growth.”
Allister currently has properties in Victoria, Perth, Sydney and Brisbane. Adelaide has also recently piqued his interest.
If you could talk to your younger self, you’d say “something aspirational,” like always looking toward the future.
“Maybe (I would say) something like ‘you have no idea what opportunities will open up to you in the future because you have chosen to invest in property,'” he said.
“The time you now spend with family, the trips and special projects you can do, and the overall flexibility you now have… the hard work pays off and once you get started, everything falls into place.”
Allister says his decision to invest in property had been worth it for him and his family (pictured on holiday)
