How to Start Property Investing in Your 20s (Australia)

I wish I bought my properties. I wish I pulled the trigger sooner. Inaction is probably the biggest thing that holds people back. She was actually crying on the phone to me about how much she felt like she was left in the dark. Walking her through how we do it a bit differently was something that, you know, she sought a lot of security.

You know, this is more than just buying good properties. It's just not a one-size-fits-all. Having that team of guidance around them is what sets them up for success quite well. I could go down the hill from here and I'll still be okay. That kind of security is, I think, really what's going to free me up to maybe take some other risks, just really make sure I can do whatever makes me happy.

In today's episode, we're doing something different. So on The Property Nerds, we've got Ben McDonald from the InvestorKit team. Now, he's a property consultant at InvestorKit. And as part of this episode and more like it, we're going to be going behind the scenes to meet some of the team at Foreca Financial, at InvestorKit, so you can learn more about what they do, why they chose this industry, what are they passionate about, and even some of their things that they do as investors, meaning their own investing journey, where they're taking it, where they're up to. So you can see all of those things to learn more about the team that you may be speaking to, but also what professionals do in their lives and how they think about going through investing.

So Ben is our property consultant at InvestorKit. Let's have a chat. A 25-year-old investor who's kicked off their journey in property investment and now not one property, but working on a second, who should hit it through this calendar year, which means before he even turns 30, he'll likely be on his third and fourth investment, if not beyond. That is some special trajectory. Let's hear straight from him, see what he does, how he helps others, and the difference he can make for other 20-year-olds tuning in to know how to get on the ladder.

Nerd alert! Property nerds, the home for data-driven property investors, where we uncover Australia's hot and cold markets, latest headlines and trends. Ben, from InvestorKit, mate, welcome to the show. Thank you very much for having me. Well, we're excited to go a bit behind the scenes at what we do at InvestorKit, talk to the people behind the magic that helps customers change their lives.

But before we go into that, I want to go back to you in terms of what made you feel this industry, this role, was something that really excited you about being a part of it all. Yeah, yeah. So it was actually quite a funny story. It was something that I fell into without really too much thought. So our head of sales actually headhunted one of my friends who was in the buyer's agency space.

My mate was happy where he was, but he turned around and said, hey, look, I've got a guy, he's got some good sales experience, go and have a talk to him. And so, yeah, we caught up. There was a lot on offer. The company had a really good reputation as well. And yeah, it was something that I was pretty excited to give a try and dive into.

Awesome, mate. And when it comes to this industry, was there anything in particular in the industry itself that was something that made you go, yeah, that feels special to me? Yeah, yeah. So I think that one of the big things was just how quick it was growing, how much more people were using a buyer's agent to actually help build their portfolios. And I think as well that it was something that could really help myself personally too, educating myself in the space, growing my own wealth out as well.

And of course, yeah, the professional development too. You just wanted their staff benefits, hey? That's it, mate, that's it. Well, I mean, there's many roles in buyer's agency and your particular one is the first conversation, the face of it all. And when it comes to what we call appointment setting or the property consultant role, what makes that role in particular something that you enjoy or like about it?

Yeah, look, I love being able to talk to so many different types of people, different stages in their journey, and just be kind of that guiding voice, help them cut out the noise, figure out what direction they need to go in, and really just make sure they're making the best decision for themselves. Ben, with your role, you're talking to so many potential clients and having that conversation or that initial conversation with them. What do you enjoy most and how do you sort of stay motivated as well in your role? Yeah, it comes back to sort of that, yeah, just being able to really genuinely help people. A lot of people are stuck in their research, stuck in hearing all this different noise out there.

And I think just being an outside voice to sort of point them in the right direction, really cut out the information and give them good advice based on what they need, really just helps them get in going in the right direction. And it's really fulfilling from my end as well. So, mate, you speak to a lot of customers. What do you think that they do? What do you think successful investors do well early on?

And what are the common mistakes that you hear people making? Yeah, well, from my perspective, and I'd probably like to hear your perspective as well, because you'll see it from a different lens, right? But I think the big thing is that people do well is realize they don't know what they don't know. So being able to find people who do know more than them and getting help and guidance from them is usually what sets them up for success quite well. And then on the other side, for every person I hear who's sort of stuck in the decision-making process or whatever it is and just putting off the decision, I talk to someone at the other end who's really regrets not doing more, for example, saying, I wish I bought my properties.

I wish I pulled the trigger sooner. So I think inaction is probably the biggest thing that holds people back. Yeah. In those initial conversations, do you think it's like you've kind of got to sell InvestorKit and the services? How do you find that goes, the reputation that the company has with those people you're speaking to?

Yeah, the reputation is really good. I think what's really important is how we structure the service around our clients. Obviously, approaching it in a really tailored way is important because everyone comes to us at a different stage. Everyone needs a different thing from property investing. So there's just not a one-size-fits-all.

So having that tailored approach, having that team of guidance around them is something that a lot of people really, really seek. Yeah, Benny, that point's actually a really big one. Just personally to me, a big reason why we segmented the team in so many layers and divisions was that I didn't want to grow the company and feel like everyone just had this one bucketed solution for everything. We could attack it with tailoring because we needed specialization in each area. Like the strategist division, when someone gets there, they're not presenting properties, they're not doing a few things, they're not focused on just the deal to close it or anything like that.

They're isolated to something that means something to a customer. And obviously, the role you play in that first segmented position being the property consultant allows that all to happen because if everyone was trying to be the one stop for everything, well, guess what? It's too hard to be tailored. You're just going to find a singular way to do it all the time. So I love that you mentioned that because no matter how big we grow, that's one thing I never want to take away from it is that tailoring because of specialists in each and every role that just know that area and they can figure out what it is in that area.

So I know that wasn't a question, but it's something that I felt like it was important to me and I'm glad that you touched on. Benny, when it comes to your journey, both professionally now and as an investor, talk to us about your journey personally as an investor and how that's come to light now being in this industry. Do you feel like that's made a big difference also being in the industry? Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, I mean, rewind not too long ago, I was quite against property, to be honest with you, right?

I was very heavy on the shares and other markets and all that type of stuff. And it was really just because I didn't understand what was possible through property and getting into a point where I'm learning every day, I'm talking to so many different people. There's obviously a great load of resources behind me and a great team. So yeah, just being able to have the confidence, know what's actually achievable and what we can do to make it as successful as possible just really became a no-brainer for me to then sort of make the transition into property investment as opposed to what I was doing in the past. Well, mate, you're an investor now, you know, and you're trying to go not just to your first but multiple properties.

Firstly, I mean, I hope you don't mind sharing this. How young are you and how does that feel being on that young journey, being an investor now? Yeah, yeah. So I just turned 25. How good.

That's epic. Well done. Congratulations, mate. Do you love how I said how young, not how old? Yeah.

We're trying to keep you that youthfulness for as long as possible, right? Yeah. Look, it's really good. It's something that I'm really proud of myself for, really happy that I pulled the trigger on and got started with. Yeah.

So, you know, I managed to Yeah, I didn't have to do anything. Everything was taken care of for me at a really high quality, right? So obviously knowing a lot of depth about the process that our team is going through, I did have the confidence already, right? But I think that, yeah, just seeing in the back end like the resources behind it, the effort that the acquisitions team was going to to source me a really good property, sending me properties at one o'clock, two o'clock in the morning to look at, checking it the next morning sort of thing. Yeah, and just, you know, I was treated like a client at the end of the day and it was a very, very reassuring experience.

Well, what tip would you give to other 20-year-olds now who are listening to this and be like, I want to get on the ladder too and I want to get on the journey too? And just be like, hey, that's inspirational, Benny. In a city like Sydney where everything's like super costly, I didn't know this was possible, but what tips do you have for them? Yeah, I think just figure out what path you need to get on to get towards it. So really understand, you know, what the finances are going to have to look like, who you're going to get to help you, do as much research as you can, talk to as many people as you can, understand really what you want to get into it for as well to kind of help with that path and just do whatever you can to get in there.

Now, Jackie, you did and the team did Ben's finance as well to build his portfolio from the team at Fouracre Financial. What did you guys notice in terms of like when you look at maybe habits or when you look at, you know, risk or mindset? Like, was there anything that stood out? Because you also serve others in their 20s who are growing their portfolio. Ben's now on that list of people that are starting it.

What do you feel it is that's getting them that, you know, leg up in that space? I'm not just saying this, but I wish all clients were like Ben. Like there was very little resistance. I think dealing with someone who is somewhat in the industry and gets it, there's very little resistance in like you're asking for something, they give it to you, like pretty techie, like they know how to download a statement. Like you'd be surprised how difficult it is for some people to get transactions.

I'm pretty bad at that stuff as well. Spend five minutes on a Zoom with me, I'll get you there. It's pretty easy. Yeah, I'm horrible with that stuff. Please fix, send, not sure, help.

Yeah, I think that's the main thing, man. Just like dealing with the younger generation, it's pretty quick with the, like getting documents, but also just understanding that, you know, we're dealing with a bank as well. It's not just us. Like sometimes a bank can throw stuff at you and it's out of our control and just to react to it as quickly as possible. It's like willing to be guided.

Like if I'm just, you know, outside of lens seeing the relationship we've had and your buying journey and then also working with the team at Fouracre, it's like your willingness to be guided is something quite rare, I find. I feel like in an information, and this is no dig at other 20 to 30 year olds, I fall in category of just in the early 30s, but I feel like also the upside of information heaviness carries one downside is that you can feel like you know everything and you can feel like you have depth in everything. And as a result, you question everything. And the downside of questioning everything is you move slower, you likely overanalyze decisions, or as a result of those two, you just don't make decisions at all because you stay stuck in information side. So where do you feel that's come from for you, Benny, where it's like trusting, willing to be guided, want to be led?

Like where has these things come from for you? Is there anything in life that's maybe triggered, helped, supported these type of thinking? I don't know. I think a lot of it just comes down to, you know, I think everything's going to work out eventually, right? You know, stuff might not go to plan, but you just got to give it a go.

And I think, yeah, just finding people who you can trust, who, you know, and just being able to sit back and realize what you don't know. I mean, even in my role and where I'm at at the moment, the more I learn, the more I realize there is to learn. So yeah, seeking guidance from people in their own, you know, professions and own expertise is really something that is pretty attractive to me. And I think that is a more productive way to go about anything, to be honest. Yeah, humility, man.

That's what I'm hearing. Humility is like, I don't know what I don't know. And that's a key part. Adrian, I want to come over to you for two parts on this, or one part on this, which is strategy. Like, Benny's getting started on the journey at age 25, picked up his first property with us and for Acre.

He's now searching for a second. We're going to get it done soon. Won't be long. Very soon. But searching for the second, again, at 25, what difference does it make to someone's passive income goals when they're starting and actioning not one but two assets in their 20s versus someone in their 30s, 40s kickstarting, which funnily enough is when most people commonly do.

Like, does it shave off the need to have two or three more properties? Like, what does it do? Yeah, I think it has a massive impact. And I think what a lot of people think about of when they delay a purchase is that they're delaying it 10 years, therefore it should cost them 10 years because they've delayed it for that amount of time. But when we think about investing, we think about the numbers and compounding.

Realistically, it shaves off a lot more than 10 years if you do leave it 10 years. So, you know, I think something that I've said is, you know, if you want to have results twice as fast, you have to work four times as hard because that's how compounding works. It's not just, hey, 10 years, leave it 10 years. That's how much you need to catch up by. It's actually probably double or twice as hard there.

Yeah, absolutely. And I think what I've noticed as well working mapping scenarios with yourself, Adrian, Benny, for you is like the 30s and 40s and kickstarting then, I know it sounds crazy, but like that's the norm. And you're here starting so much earlier. I started at 22, right, my first property. So being in the 20s, I can just tell you right now, like having done the mapping, you know when people have slogans of like we can get you 10 properties or 10 properties in 10 years.

I'm not saying anything bad against their slogans, but I'm just saying it's catchy. And with that saying, like it might be true for someone in their 50s because they aggressively need a lot of wealth to build ASAP to get that compounding because their time is short. But I think three to four well-positioned properties for you plus your superannuation, your retirement's likely set. And you're already halfway there and you haven't even touched 30. I mean halfway there by Christmas, we'll get you the second one.

But how does it make you feel just hearing that? Yeah, yeah, really good actually. This is something that I was sort of thinking to myself about the other day and I was like, you know, I could go downhill from here and I'll still be okay. So that kind of security, you know, to have in the background already, you know, being so young is, you know, I think really what's going to free me up to, you know, maybe take some other risks, try some different things. And yeah, just really make sure I can kind of do whatever makes me happy.

Yeah, that's so true. Like what you just said then of like it frees your mind up for more risk-taking. I think I look back at my property investing journey, I totally agree. It's like you just go, you can make a certain decision now because you go, oh, look, that's there. So yeah, that makes total sense, Benny.

I really feel like that's a big impactor. Benny, we were just talking earlier before about some funny client calls that you've had. If we were to think about all of the calls that you've had with potential clients and some real standout calls, what was, you know, one that might have been a positive one, maybe one that was a bit more challenging, even if it was a recurring challenging client who has come back multiple times, you know, what's a good story there that you have to share? Yeah, well, I mean, I could probably, you know, write a one-off every single day, right? But one that actually did stand out to me was a very, very early on conversation I had starting here and it quickly made me realize how powerful what we do is.

So it was this really, really lovely lady. I'd used another buyer's agent, like one of the big name ones, and she actually got like a property and it performed really well, right? But she was on the phone really emotional. She was actually crying on the phone to me about how much she felt like she was left in the dark. You know, it was very transactional.