From one year to the next, the path of progress is never linear. This true story is testament that the most sustainable formula for accomplishment is the powerful combination of clarity of purpose, discipline, consistency and expert guidance.
This everyday Aussie couple’s story is a great example of what is possible for anyone with motivation and a preparedness to act.
When our relationship with them commenced in 2015, they had no investments. But Daniel and Kylie had a great attitude and, with Propertyology’s professional assistance, their net investment value in Q1 2025 was an impressive $1.5 million.
Over that 10-year period, our team expertly guided this couple of police officers to methodically accumulate a very diverse portfolio of seven (7) properties across four (4) different states.
No, this is not one of those fictitious get-rich fairytales.
As you’ll soon discover, this journey included multiple challenges and moments of adversity. Such is life.
Getting started
Back in 2015, when Propertyology first met Daniel and Kylie, their situation was much the same as a majority of Australian households.
They had a couple of teenage children, busy lives, relatively standard household incomes and their only tangible asset was the family home.
To their great credit, they had always lived within their means, were responsible with discretionary expenses and consistently prioritised paying as much as they could afford off their home loan.
“The next thing you know you’re in your 40s and you’re suddenly starting to think more seriously about retirement,” explained Daniel while recalling his lightbulb moment.
Government statistics confirm that only 2 out of every 10 Australian households ever actually accomplish a quality retirement lifestyle.
Daniel and Kylie were prepared to be proactive in an area where most others are either complacent or full of excuses.
After speaking with several different buyer’s agents, each with varying levels of skill, it was Propertyology’s longstanding track record as Australia’s pioneer of borderless investing which impressed Daniel and Kylie most.
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A no-obligation consultation with Australian Real Estate Hall of Famer, Simon Pressley, helped them open their eyes to a variety of property market myths, misconceptions, falsehoods, opportunities and important strategy considerations.
Establishing a platform…
Their background as police officers is good reason for Daniel and Kylie to not take ‘trust’ lightly.
In addition to empowering them with evidenced-based knowledge, Propertyology provided them with confidence to move forward by embracing the following philosophy:
- using bite-sized pieces of investment capital to purchase multiple properties, as opposed to foolishly placing all of their eggs into one basket,
- making decisions that are supported by bona fide market intelligence, as opposed to personal biases, preferences, generalisations, stereotypes and vested interests,
- minimising risk by leaning on evidence which skillfully identifies cities and townships with proven resilience,
- following a very structured process to handpick suitable properties.
Daniel and Kylie wisely wanted to put the equity in their family home to good use.
They started their portfolio by combining 2-small parcels of their own capital with separate investment loans.
Drawing on detailed assessments of economic growth initiatives and various housing supply metrics, Propertyology uncovered two different cities for Daniel and Kylie.
The buyer’s agent team then put that market intelligence to good use by searching for suitable properties.
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Their first investment property was purchased in June 2015 for $253,900 and a second in August 2016 for $310,000.
The fact that Daniel and Kylie had never personally been to either city, one in Tasmania and the other in regional NSW, has nothing at all to do with the purpose of the decision.
“The locations weren’t something that we had even factored in as a possibility, so we were surprised. Our experience with the first property gave us the confidence to say ‘let’s just put our faith in the team and do what they tell us,” Daniel said.
From small things, big things grow…
Capital growth produced by the first 2 properties enabled them to invest in Property #3 in September 2017.
Periodic reviews conducted by Propertyology gave consideration to Daniel and Kylie’s cash flows, strategic debt structuring, location diversification within their portfolio, the outlook for each city’s property market and other risk mitigation factors.
“If I didn’t engage a professional to assist me, I would have limited myself to probably buying in an area where I thought I knew ‘the neighborhood,” said Daniel.
“Then there would likely be an element of emotion attached to that decision, because I’d be focusing on whether it looked nice, rather than making it purely a financial decision based on good information.”
By mid-2022, repeat efforts of discipline and skill execution meant that Daniel and Kylie’s investment portfolio boasted seven (7) properties, all in completely different cities across Australia.
It is worth noting that, during the 10-year window of the above graphic, big profile cities like Sydney, Melbourne and Perth each produced a decline in real estate values in 3 of those years.
Umpteen decades of proof confirms that capital growth rates always vary widely from one city to another.
Skillfully spreading Daniel and Kylie’s investment capital across a diverse range of cities was as much about identifying superior opportunities for overall portfolio growth (and respecting their cash flow) as it was about minimizing the chances of their investment portfolio value stagnating.
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It is never a ‘bad time’ to invest in one’s future…
The general view of the media and how they choose to report ‘news’ is “if it bleeds it reads.” Truth never gets in the way of an opportunity to produce another doom-and-gloom story.
There certainly was no shortage of ‘crises’ that could have been used as excuses for ‘waiting for a good time to invest’ during each of the 10-years of our relationship with Daniel and Kylie.
But they refused to become yet another victim of social media Group Think.
The timeline outlined in the below image highlights that, at the start of their investment journey, the gospel according to Group Think foolishly anticipated a widespread property market ‘downturn’ would be attributed to threats of negative gearing being scrapped, to the progressive introduction of onerous rental legislation and to various natural disasters.
As the years rolled on, the doomsayers preached that the global health pandemic and declining population would create an enormous ‘property market crash’.
That jibberish was quickly followed by new fearmongering associated with rising interest rates and that utterly nonsensical ‘mortgage cliff.’
The back end of the 10-year period was shrouded with negativity regarding another layer of property taxes, by global inflation, a so-called ‘cost of living crisis’ and Trump’s tariffs.
Daniel and Kylie deserve great praise for maintaining their composure and, with Propertyology’s professional guidance, using bona fide evidence to objectively evaluate the probable impact on property markets (and their own situation).
During the decade in question, the property market of every single location (capital cities and regions) had multiple years of either no growth or negative growth.
That’s quite normal.
No location is immune to periods like that, including the locations that Daniel and Kylie invested capital in.
But, while the trajectory displayed in the above graphic is far from linear, the overall value of their investment portfolio produced growth every year.
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From zero investments in 2015 to a portfolio with a net value of $1.5 million 10-years later, that’s Daniel and Kylie’s reward for exercising discipline, for being prepared to invest as soon as they could afford to, and for skillfully executing a sustainable strategy.
With time, seeds become trees that bear fruit…
The legacy of planting multiple seeds and allowing *time* for compounding growth to do its thing is that, 10-years after they started their journey, this wonderful client now has an ‘orchard’ that will continue to feed them for years to come.
“We certainly are pleased with what we have been able to achieve,” he said to Propertyology in January 2025.
Whilst still in their 40’s, the total combined gross value of this Gen X couple’s investment property assets at the beginning of 2025 was approximately $4.1 million.
If the existing portfolio produces an average growth rate of 5 percent over the next 5-years, the power of compounding would see the asset value increase to $5.25 million, or a net value of $2.65 million by 2030.
According to Daniel, “Between our property portfolio, our superannuation and what we are now doing in the share market, what once felt like a dream of being in a position to stop working at 55 now feels like it is simply a matter of time.”
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When reflecting on the events that occurred from 2015 to 2025 and the results produced by Daniel and Kylie, their true story is testament that Propertyology’s philosophy is one with inbuilt resilience and sustainability.
For those whom are currently in the early stages of their investment journey, the main difference between investing in 2025 versus in 2015 is that the purchase price of a well-chosen property in a skilfully selected city is (understandably) higher.
The strategy does not change though.
As Australia’s premier property market analysts, Propertyology is adamant that it is no longer possible to execute a truly intelligent property investment decision with a budget of less than $650,000 (and often closer to $750,000).
Propertyology’s Head of Research does acknowledge that there are more affordable alternatives.
However, going down those pathways would require acceptance of inferior asset types and / or investing in locations with identifiable higher risk profiles.
Our own wisdom does not allow us to make such compromises.
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Propertyology are national buyer’s agents and Australia’s premier property market analyst. Every capital city and every non-capital city, Propertyology 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.
