How Sydney couple bought 4 properties worth $2.2m

Raphael Tripet and Kate Chen see buying up properties as a way of becoming “financially free”.

The Sydney couple have already amassed four properties worth a whopping $2.2 million and they don’t want to stop there.

Their first purchase was a two-bedroom apartment in Sydney’s southern suburb of Miranda which they snapped up for $565,000 in September 2015 and is now worth $700,000 – a place where they also currently live.

But in the space of six months they went on a spending spree securing three more properties — all of them sight unseen.

There was a house in Goulburn in NSW which was purchased for $470,000 in September last year.

They rent out the three bedroom house with a three-car garage for $440 a week and it has already jumped in value to $530,000.

In January this year, they bought a four-bedroom house in Baldivis in Western Australia for $448,000 renting it out for $350 a week. It’s value has gone up $7000 in just four months.

Next up they headed to Queensland to buy their most recent property in Rangeville in Toowoomba for $468,200 that rents for $430 a week.

Since February, the four bedroom property’s value has increased to $480,000.

The 35-year-old couple were helped on the journey by buyer’s agent Rasti Vaibhav from Get Rare Properties.

But Mr Tripet, a software engineer, admitted he was nervous about borrowing so much money initially.

“My experience with home ownership is I always wanted it or I knew that from my parents and family having a home, it is a goal in itself, but I was afraid of making a big mistake as it’s a lot of money,” he told news.com.au.

“I saved a lot of money without investing anything and then Kate was coming from a Chinese background where she is more comfortable to acquire properties and she had to change my mindset.”

Together, the couple have a goal of building a property portfolio worth $5 million as part of their retirement plan.

“It’s all about creating some passive income to ensure that when we retire we can be become financially free, but now we also don’t need to depend on our corporate job or superannuation for retirement, as we know it’s not going to sustain the lifestyle that we currently have,” Mr Tripet added.

Ms Chen said it wasn’t just about the passive income but also about having a number of assets to their name and with one that is guaranteed to increase in value over the coming years.

“In a way its also to offset the impact of inflation because having cash on hand in the bank account is the worst way to preserve your wealth,” she said.

“To have some assets and real estate is a great way to preserve your wealth and then keep your wealth valuable.”

She said her parents gave her the money for the deposit for their first home, but with lockdowns during the pandemic they saved the $50,000 deposit for their initial investment purchase in NSW.

But both admit it wasn’t easy competing in a seller’s market at the time and they missed out on a number of properties in QLD and WA.

“At the time we were looking for those properties we were buying with cash home buyers or first home buyers where they were desperate to find a home, so they may be able to find something and they were determined to have it even though they knew are paying a little more than the value of the property,” said Ms Chen.

“While we had a buyers agent and we were not emotional, we were looking to find the right deal at the right place and eventually we were able to sign the contract.”

The accountant said it was particularly important to have positive cashflow from the properties with the NSW making them $5755, close to $10,000 for WA and just over $5000 for QLD.

“One thing which was really helpful for me, because it is a lot of mortgage and debt, is knowing our numbers and knowing how much we are spending on mortgages and receiving on rent. Kate is an accountant and has done a nice cash flow spreadsheet and it gives a lot of peace of mind to know where we are gong and if we can afford it,” Mr Tripet said.

“One of things you should do before investing and acquiring new properties is looking at the purchase price and whether you will be comfortable with the mortgage and potential rent.”

Both denied that buying up multiple properties was a “greedy” strategy but said it was an investment mindset just like purchasing shares or cryptocurrency.

“I think there is different ways to grow people’s wealth. Some people have the opinion that they prefer to do the stock market or they are crazy about crypto but based on my background I am more familiar with investment properties,” Ms Chen said.

“I feel like this is not a get rich within a month scheme, it’s not like a get rich quick method, but I think it's pretty reliable and I don’t mind this and I think if people have the same mindset and preference they should look into it.”

The soon-to-be mum added that having multiple income streams could also help shield people from things like an unexpected job loss.

View the article as published on News.com.au here