Hello, and welcome to the Financial Freedom by Forty blog!
My name is Kellie, and together with my husband, Ryan, we’re sharing our journey to financial freedom.
We’re a couple of regular kiwis with a big goal of achieving financial freedom by the time we are forty (less than two years away).
Our main focus so far has been building wealth through property investment, but as time is ticking we’re working to add further income streams to speed up our progress!
We wanted to share our journey so you can see what works and what doesn’t work, and to show you that if a couple of regular people who started the journey with $0 to their names like us can achieve financial freedom, then you can too!
Our property journey
We started our property journey in 2008 with the purchase of our first home (aged 22 and 23). Interest rates were in the 9s and the GFC was just about to start.
Between 2008 and 2012 we DIY renovated our own home.
By 2012 we had heard a bit about property investment so started looking. We got a lending pre-approval from our bank and started looking.
Then went to our first auction as buyers. We didn’t win, but the process was a bit of a bit of a learning curve and we realised we knew nowhere near enough about investing to be buying yet. We invested in education instead and signed up for a property investment course with Property Apprentice.
During 2012-2013 we started looking for our first rental! This was made a bit easier when I went on maternity leave, albeit that we also had a baby!
With a baby in a front pack, I made the most of my maternity leave going to lots of open homes and making lots of offers. We purchased three rentals by the end of 2013 (all in Auckland, all three bed, one bath, cross lease in Clendon Park. Price ranging between $219-246k ish).
In April 2014 we settled properties four and five, which were two three bedroom, one bathroom properties, cross lease and separate titles but together on their own site.
We launched into our biggest renovation ever. Two houses, aiming for 6 weeks renovation time including two new kitchens, two new bathrooms, two new roofs, full interior and exterior paint and new flooring.
Soon after we started a started to feel really sick, and we found out baby #2 was on the way! Great timing!!
Our big renovation project took more like 8 weeks, but we got there.
We then started to prep for baby 2… and our next property deal, which we settled when baby #2 was about 2 weeks old!
That was probably our best deal. Again, two dwellings but on one title. A 3 bed house, and a one bed unit.
The unit was near new, but hadn’t been wired as a second dwelling so we had to do some electrical work and a bit of plumbing (with council consent), to upgrade it to a minor dwelling.
Since 2015 then we’ve been in a phase of consolidation, with our main focus on being paying off our existing debt so that we can increase our passive inceome.
Where to from here
Property is still a very big part of our strategy, but we’re not presently looking to grow our portfolio. We’re soon planning on selling some of our properties so that we can pay off debt. This will increase the amount of passive income we have coming in from our property portfolio.
We’re also working to add extra income streams so that we can fast track our progress. Right now that looks like:
- Growing our YouTube channel so that we can monetise that.
- Increasing sales of my children’s book and adding e-book income.
- Finalising an online course I’ve been working on for a while and getting that online for sale.
- Growing our share portfolio and increasing the income that we receive from that.
It’s a journey, and we’re learning along the way, but we can’t wait to share the progress with you!
Make sure you follow along on Instagram to keep up with what we are working on.