# $340K Mortgage Paid Off In 2.5 Years! | Katie & Matthew | CHANGING LIVES | Season 4 Ep 35

An episode of [Money Mentor Podcast™](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1632604767), 30 Apr 2026, 1 h 00 min.

Audio: https://episode.flightcast.com/xdaisy0w7hyg3k8wilf0d4dm.mp3

Matthew and Katie, a Hunter Valley couple with two kids, joined the Infinity program in May 2023 and by tightening their budget (monthly FFF from $770 down to $600), selling a family boat, embracing discipline and coaching accountability, they paid off a $340K mortgage in about 2½ years. Paying off $180K in 18 months, then clearing the remainder within a 12 month challenge issued by G. They now hold three investment properties valued at over $2M with $300K reserved for the next purchase. They credit structure, communication, mindset work, and professional guidance for their success.Change your financial future now! 👉 Start by watching the FREE webinar and see what's possible: https://bit.ly/43V2jKN

## Transcript

[0:00] Just felt like we really weren't getting anywhere.
[0:01] Bit of a treadmill.
[0:02] Because realistically we weren't getting anywhere.
[0:05] Yeah.
[0:05] Yeah.
[0:06] So, yeah, so we started with, yeah, $340,000.
[0:09] Yeah.
[0:10] So that was about May, June 23.
[0:13] Mm-hmm.
[0:13] Mm-hmm.
[0:14] What's the balance today?
[0:16] So we're at zero.
[0:17] Zero?
[0:18] We're at zero today.
[0:19] Zero.
[0:19] We're at zero today, yeah.
[0:21] Yep.
[0:21] Money is the root of all evil, the fucking lack of it is.
[0:23] Not money, the lack of understanding money.
[0:27] When I put that into emphasis, when I realised that psychological effect and how it hit our family, I have to be in the fucking way.
[0:33] You are now watching the Money Mentor Podcast.
[0:36] With Graham Holm.
[0:37] Graham Holm.
[0:37] Graham Holm.
[0:39] Before Infinity, Matt and Katie were paying $8,000 a year off a $340,000 mortgage.
[0:46] They knew the numbers didn't add up, but didn't know how to fix it.
[0:50] Raising two boys, careful with money, not getting anywhere.
[0:54] Then came Infinity.
[0:57] After paying off $180,000 in 18 months without selling a single asset, Graham issued a challenge.
[1:05] to clear the remaining 165,000 in 12 months.
[1:09] They sold the family boat, and their kids, watching every move, started selling their own things to help.
[1:16] They finished ahead of schedule, $5,000 in their pocket.
[1:20] 10,000 donated to their charity.
[1:23] The mortgage is gone.
[1:24] Three investment properties secured.
[1:27] A portfolio worth over $2 million.
[1:30] And $300,000 set aside for their next purchase.
[1:33] Two kids who now understand what hard work and sacrifice actually look like.
[1:38] Because they lived it alongside their parents.
[1:41] This is Matthew and Katie's story.
[1:48] Welcome back to another episode of The Money Mentor and the Changing Lives Financially episode themes.
[1:54] Two special guests today.
[1:56] Welcome, welcome.
[1:57] How are we?
[1:57] Thank you, Graeme.
[1:58] How are you?
[1:59] I can't complain.
[2:00] I can't complain at all.
[2:01] Bec doesn't listen.
[2:04] Now, maybe if you could just give all the lists of people that don't know you from not from our community, give them a bit of a background on who you are, where you're from, family size, what we do for work, all that sort of stuff.
[2:15] Not the colour of your knickers, but the overview.
[2:17] Yep.
[2:18] Sure.
[2:19] I'm Katie.
[2:19] I'm 41.
[2:20] Matt, 45.
[2:24] Just turned 45.
[2:25] Yesterday.
[2:26] A couple of days ago.
[2:28] We live in the Hunter Valley in New South Wales.
[2:33] We've got two children aged 10 and 12 and a dog, little Rosie.
[2:40] And I am a psychologist, work in my own... Stop analysing me.
[2:45] Off duty, G. That's a big mess.
[2:51] Yeah, working my own practice up there, which has been running for a couple of years now.
[2:55] So, yeah.
[2:56] Very good.
[2:57] I'm a coal plant technician and part-time emergency services.
[3:01] Very good.
[3:02] So, yeah.
[3:03] Very good.
[3:03] Thank you.
[3:04] Busy, busy.
[3:05] So, tell everyone when, where and why did you find Infinity?
[3:10] Yeah.
[3:11] So we... And who?
[3:13] Who, when, why, where?
[3:14] That was me.
[3:16] Yeah.
[3:17] So we actually found you back in May.
[3:20] We joined with you in May of 2023.
[3:24] We'd been, I guess, looking for, you know, something with some structure.
[3:28] We'd always been interested in property investment.
[3:31] um clearly not an expert in in any of that um so yeah we'd always sort of just on some you know looking around ourselves um and then yep your wonderful face came up on a on a facebook feed social media yes yeah yeah so that's where it started
[3:48] And so we started with the free webinar which was amazing.
[3:53] Got a lot out of that.
[3:54] Took many pages of notes.
[3:55] Really enjoyed that.
[3:57] Good.
[3:57] Very studious.
[3:58] Yep.
[4:00] And then I remember coming out that night.
[4:02] I think you'd...
[4:03] I was on day shift.
[4:04] Got home that night.
[4:06] Straight home and Katie was like, I need you to come in here.
[4:09] I'm like, I found this guy.
[4:09] I'm like, okay, I'm not really in the mood.
[4:14] Anyway, went in and pretty much ran through everything that you had gone through the day.
[4:19] On the master class?
[4:21] No, on the webinar.
[4:22] On the webinar.
[4:23] So I was talking him through the notes that I'd taken.
[4:26] Pretty much straight away I was like, wow.
[4:28] Because we had been previously talking over the last few years about trying to get some type of structure.
[4:33] Right.
[4:34] We felt like we had the structure but we didn't have someone to guide us.
[4:37] Yep, okay.
[4:38] We come across you and we went, wow.
[4:41] Okay.
[4:42] Yeah.
[4:42] So we were looked.
[4:44] So no sceptic.
[4:44] There's usually a sceptic in the relationship.
[4:47] No, we're pretty well on the same page.
[4:48] No, we were kind of, yeah.
[4:49] Okay.
[4:50] Right time, right place.
[4:51] Absolutely.
[4:51] Definitely, yeah.
[4:52] Okay.
[4:53] So when did you do masterclass?
[4:55] Gosh, it was only a week or two weeks after that it was quite close.
[4:59] And this was 2023?
[5:00] 2023.
[5:00] Okay, so a couple of years now.
[5:03] Yeah, yeah.
[5:05] So, yeah, did the master class for the weekend.
[5:07] That was great.
[5:09] And then, yeah, we were fortunate enough to join.
[5:12] So, and very soon after that, I think it was in, within a couple of weeks, wasn't it?
[5:17] We went to REM.
[5:20] Louis.
[5:20] Yeah.
[5:22] Oops, that's two I've got in the last two days.
[5:26] Louis is under the bus.
[5:29] Got him good.
[5:30] Okay.
[5:32] Sorry, not sorry, Louis.
[5:34] He's been doing so well lately.
[5:36] We had like 850,000 people in the last room and only one couple were there under 90 days.
[5:43] Oh, really?
[5:43] I was trying to get him to sit down.
[5:44] Sit down.
[5:45] Sit down.
[5:46] Shut up.
[5:46] Shut up.
[5:48] Very good of him.
[5:50] So you guys, so May 23, ran pretty quickly.
[5:56] What was our finances like pre that?
[5:58] So what was the home loan balance, remember roughly?
[6:00] Yeah, so we had a home loan balance of $340,000.
[6:05] And we had really tried, we thought we were doing well in trying to accelerate payments.
[6:12] and then just became so frustrated, to be honest.
[6:14] And that I think was probably one of the big reasons that we were looking for some structure and guidance.
[6:21] I think we'd only paid off, I think it was about $8,000 in principal in one of the years.
[6:26] Having said that, looking back on statements, as I said, we were accelerating payments for principal and interest and just felt like we really weren't getting anywhere.
[6:36] Bit of a trivial.
[6:37] Because realistically, we weren't getting anywhere.
[6:39] Yeah.
[6:40] Yeah, so...
[6:42] So we started with $340,000.
[6:43] So that was about May, June 23.
[6:48] What's the balance today?
[6:50] So we're at zero.
[6:52] Zero?
[6:52] We're at zero today.
[6:53] Zero.
[6:54] We're at zero today.
[6:55] Wow.
[6:56] How's that feel?
[6:58] A little surreal.
[6:58] I know a lot of people say that.
[6:59] We were talking about that before, weren't we?
[7:02] Yeah, yeah.
[7:03] It hasn't quite sunk in.
[7:04] We just kind of structured people.
[7:06] We run through the motions and that's when we kind of said, look, we need to try and celebrate this.
[7:12] So, yeah, April is going to be our...
[7:15] Our family holiday.
[7:16] Where are you going to go?
[7:16] We're actually coming on the Gold Coast.
[7:18] We're coming here.
[7:19] Are you?
[7:19] Love the Gold Coast.
[7:20] So taking the boys up.
[7:21] Taking them to a few theme parks and just explore around here.
[7:26] Very cool.
[7:27] Really looking forward to it.
[7:28] Because I remember we do like monthly coaching calls and lots of stuff.
[7:32] I remember we were on a coaching call and we sent you a bit of a challenge.
[7:34] You did.
[7:35] Remember, what was the challenge?
[7:37] Well, at that point, so that was the 13th of November 2024.
[7:43] And at that stage, from where we'd started with you until that particular point, we'd paid off about $180,000.
[7:51] Wow.
[7:52] I remember you were almost choking on your water when...
[7:56] When we told you that.
[7:57] And I get surprised sometimes.
[7:58] Yes, you do.
[8:00] And so you set us a challenge of paying the remainder off in a 12-month period.
[8:07] So originally we had an out-of-debt date, which wasn't due until about the 10th of November 2026.
[8:16] And you had asked us to, you know, work as hard as we could to pay the remainder off by the end of November 2025.
[8:26] And so we accepted the challenge.
[8:28] What was the challenge?
[8:30] Well, we had to pay the remainder.
[8:31] And what did you get?
[8:32] What did we get for the challenge?
[8:34] Yeah.
[8:34] For getting there?
[8:35] Yeah.
[8:36] You were very generous in providing us with a $5,000 donation to us personally.
[8:43] But, and whilst we were incredibly grateful for that, I think for us, the most important element of that was that you had donated and agreed to donate $10,000 to a charity of our choice.
[8:55] Yeah.
[8:56] So that was the most.
[8:57] I gave more to the charity than you are.
[8:58] You did, which was completely fine.
[9:00] That's cool.
[9:02] So, yeah, that was a really special charity for us, wasn't it?
[9:05] And which charity did you pick?
[9:07] The Jane McGrath Foundation.
[9:10] How did you go on the challenge?
[9:12] Well, in terms of how hard was it?
[9:14] Yeah.
[9:15] It was tricky.
[9:16] And how much was it again?
[9:18] We had about $168,000, $170,000 left to pay.
[9:19] In how long?
[9:19] 12 months.
[9:20] Okay, and how did we go?
[9:24] Well we did it.
[9:25] We did it.
[9:26] We got there.
[9:27] But it was, yeah.
[9:28] It was tough.
[9:28] We didn't think we were going to get there at one stage.
[9:30] And yeah.
[9:34] Yeah.
[9:34] It was really a bit of a struggle at times wasn't it?
[9:36] But we done it.
[9:39] So did you sell toys, cars, houses, underpants?
[9:42] How did you – feet pictures or something?
[9:45] How did you get there?
[9:46] The only really thing asset-wise that we sold was I had an old Quintrex boat.
[9:52] Yep.
[9:52] And pretty much I didn't – I said to Katie, I said, I'm going to have trouble selling this.
[9:57] You loved it?
[9:58] I'd done it up.
[9:59] I spent a bit of – probably too much money on doing it up to make it that little family run around.
[10:05] And, yeah, I kind of wanted to hang on to it and then I'm like, no.
[10:08] No.
[10:09] i don't want to do that i just want to get rid of it so yeah advertised it um probably took about three or four weeks and i had a hit from a fellow that wasn't too far from where we lived yep um and he's like yep and he was actually looking at for his dad and i'm like sweet so we
[10:27] We came to a bit of a deal and, yeah, sold that dog.
[10:31] Yes.
[10:34] Sold that dog.
[10:36] Yeah.
[10:36] So, 340-odd thousand gone since May, June 23.
[10:40] So it was two and a half, well, two years in really, two and a half years in.
[10:44] Two and a half, yes.
[10:46] Does it feel real?
[10:47] No.
[10:48] No.
[10:49] No, it doesn't.
[10:50] What budget are you guys operating on?
[10:53] So with our FFF, we started at $770.
[10:58] And we very, very quickly decreased that to $700.
[11:01] Okay.
[11:02] So throughout probably the first six months, we then decreased again.
[11:08] to 650 and then when you had issued the challenge to us we decreased again to 600.
[11:13] Fine tune a little bit more.
[11:15] Let's just wander back a bit.
[11:17] Just tighten a little bit.
[11:18] Yes.
[11:19] And yeah it's at 600 now.
[11:21] And it stayed that way.
[11:22] You left it there after.
[11:23] We're pretty comfortable at that yeah.
[11:24] Even after the mortgage is gone.
[11:27] Wow.
[11:28] Why?
[11:29] Because it works.
[11:30] Yeah.
[11:30] Yeah, it works.
[11:32] Actually, our eldest asked me only a couple of days ago, he said, Mum, if you've paid the house off, why are you still on a budget?
[11:39] You know, it was a great question.
[11:40] It's a fair question.
[11:41] Very fair question.
[11:43] Yeah.
[11:44] And it's because it works and, you know, we've got, I guess, some goals and plans, you know, that we'd like to work towards and that's part of the plan.
[11:53] What are those goals and plans?
[11:54] Yes.
[11:55] We'd like to probably do some more holidays, wouldn't we?
[11:58] A bit more family holidaying when we can outside of the grind that we do with our jobs as well.
[12:06] Finding that balance for us as well.
[12:09] We still appreciate the hard work.
[12:11] We're always going to be like that.
[12:12] Yeah.
[12:13] But I think as the boys are getting older, you know, some things that we've had to sacrifice between our families as well.
[12:23] And as they get too old, they don't think mum and dad are very cool anymore.
[12:26] No, that's right.
[12:26] They don't really.
[12:27] They take them on holidays before they don't want to go on holidays.
[12:30] That's right, yeah.
[12:31] So spending that time together I think is important, finding that balance.
[12:34] Yeah, and create those memories and moments and experiences.
[12:37] Yeah.
[12:38] And look, they were a really critical part of that process, you know, for us in the last couple of years.
[12:44] We really, really kept them in the loop around what we were doing, why we were doing it.
[12:49] You know, that was sort of something that...
[12:51] We were certainly looking for, you know, when we started with you... ...was around that, you know, building that sort of education... ...around financial literacy.
[12:57] So they've been fully involved in the process?
[12:59] They have.
[12:59] To the point, G, where last year when we had that challenge... ...we sacrificed for that whole time we were doing the challenge...
[13:08] not doing any holidays, not overspending, just bulk saving and sweeping whatever we could.
[13:14] And the kids knew.
[13:15] The kids knew to the point where they must have been inspired, weren't they?
[13:19] So they basically got a big bit of plywood and we got spray painted on it, Hot Wheels cars for sale.
[13:26] Yeah.
[13:26] So then they went out with their little Hot Wheels car cart.
[13:29] They boxed up little sachets of Hot Wheels in bags of five.
[13:33] Yeah.
[13:33] And they started advertising them as people drove past.
[13:36] Selling them.
[13:36] Yep.
[13:37] So.
[13:37] Wow.
[13:38] They'd just get.
[13:39] The hustle is real.
[13:41] The hustle is real.
[13:41] Yeah.
[13:42] It's funny.
[13:43] I was at Melbourne for the Formula One last week, maybe the week before.
[13:48] Yeah.
[13:49] And I very rarely have cash, but I just did in case I couldn't get an Uber or cab or whatever.
[13:53] Yeah.
[13:55] And on the way in and out both – well, a couple of days, four days, there was kids with lemonade stands.
[14:02] Mm-hmm.
[14:03] And I just gave them 20 bucks.
[14:05] And they were like, oh, no, no, no, just good, well done, kids.
[14:08] And I mean, I don't – you see people on social where they film that stuff.
[14:12] But I just gave it to each of them.
[14:14] And one of them was really impressive.
[14:16] It was actually one of the hospital children's was a thing.
[14:20] But all the money was going to the hospital, to the charity.
[14:23] The kids were running the stand and the parents were just sort of observing.
[14:26] And I was like, how good.
[14:28] I think that's the old school principles that these days it's –
[14:33] yeah isn't it phones, iPads all that stuff yeah but you've got to teach them the value of a dollar otherwise easy come easy go so important for them to understand how many hours work does it take to buy the car or the shirt or the video game or
[14:50] Yeah.
[14:51] And I think that was really, that was a lesson that they sort of took from that exercise themselves.
[14:55] Good.
[14:55] You know, they've, you know, they came away, you know, with a little bit of money.
[14:58] It was a little bit over $100, which is really great, you know.
[15:02] And realising that, you know, the next time they went to the shops and they're like, oh, but, you know, we'd have to spend all of that.
[15:07] Yeah, they hustled to get that $100.
[15:08] They didn't want to spend it anymore.
[15:10] Yep.
[15:11] But now I think.
[15:13] seeing what we've done and learning at that age, they're now going to appreciate what we went through and to build that up in the next few years as they get older.
[15:22] Just so I'm going to say, what's the ages again?
[15:24] 12 and 10.
[15:25] 12 and 10.
[15:26] Yeah.
[15:27] So it's a pretty interesting age as well, especially like entering high school, that sort of stuff.
[15:31] Yeah.
[15:32] Most kids are like, I want an iPhone, I want an iPad, I want all the cool clothes.
[15:35] Well, in fact, our eldest actually approached us the other day with an idea.
[15:41] And we were actually just very blown away by how much he had researched it.
[15:47] But he talked about, you know, I'd like to go around and mow people's lawns.
[15:51] Really?
[15:51] Yeah.
[15:52] But he went through and said, well, you know, these are the laws around...
[15:56] you know, how old I'd have to be.
[15:57] You know, I have to blow the grass up onto the grass and not in the gutter.
[16:00] And these are the streets that, you know, could be the most appropriate ones.
[16:04] I got home from work the other night because I'm on a rotating roster.
[16:07] Yeah.
[16:07] I finished a day shift.
[16:10] I come home and he's like, oh, Dad, I've gone into the shed tonight and started setting up for those jobs I was talking about.
[16:17] I'm like, righto, mate, what have you done?
[16:18] And he's basically set my workbench up.
[16:20] He's gone into my shed.
[16:21] He's got all my gear out.
[16:23] He set it in line with what he was going to do for these jobs.
[16:26] And I'm like, righto.
[16:27] So he's rethinking about how he's going to prepare himself.
[16:31] At 12.
[16:31] I'm like, wow.
[16:32] At 12, yeah.
[16:33] More structured than most adults.
[16:37] So has he started yet?
[16:38] Has he put any pamphlets out or flyers?
[16:41] Not yet.
[16:41] So we're at very early stages.
[16:46] That was a great idea for him.
[16:48] We just appreciated the initiative and the fact that this was an unprovoked idea.
[16:53] and look let him see it through if you can because absolutely you'll get no business you'll get some business some people don't pay and some people will like it's a great experience good learning curve hey great learning curve yeah and i mean it's the sort of thing these days that it's so rare now that someone gets that you know you can vista print instead of you know you can run them on vista print they get delivered in a few days and drop them all and even that out in the sun and drop them all or the rain and
[17:18] someone calls or doesn't but that whole process that journey yeah yeah so cool and i know if i get that in the letterbox i'm like come on in because it's so rare now yeah so rare so that's do you think that quality was always there or it's more prevalent now from the journey for yourselves over the last two or three years i think
[17:39] the journey over the last few years they've probably obviously seen the sacrifices that we've done yeah the last few years especially last year when we're trying to just get rid of it yeah and then they've yeah they're really like oh wow mum and dad are trying to do something different here and then i think yeah lawson's definitely started to pick up and develop a learning and so you've got a couple years now you've done a couple of the christmas parties
[18:03] So we did the first one, the first year.
[18:05] The fancy one.
[18:05] The fancy one.
[18:06] That was a mistake on my behalf.
[18:08] Man, was I sweaty.
[18:10] Who does black tie shit these days?
[18:13] It was cool.
[18:13] You looked amazing.
[18:14] Yeah, except for the sweat.
[18:15] It was a lovely night, yeah.
[18:18] So we were lucky enough to go to that one.
[18:20] But that, in fact, has sort of formed part of the sacrifice for us for the last couple of years because we haven't been to the 24 or the 25 Christmas party.
[18:28] We've got to come this year.
[18:30] Look, we're hoping to.
[18:31] We'd love to do that.
[18:32] But, you know, it sort of fell into that, you know, we could go.
[18:35] Yeah.
[18:36] But we could also just keep on track with what we were trying to do.
[18:40] So, and that was a big call, wasn't it?
[18:42] Yeah.
[18:42] Did you guys come to Branson the next day as well?
[18:45] Correct.
[18:45] We did.
[18:45] Yes, yes.
[18:48] That was awesome.
[18:48] I really didn't think that through because then I was like, you know, so many people there and it was probably, I don't know, 4,000 in the room.
[18:56] And I think we had like 800.
[18:57] So everyone was like, yeah.
[18:59] And I'm like, thanks, Mum, for bringing the bingo club.
[19:01] As soon as you're coming up.
[19:02] Yeah, I was like, what's going on here?
[19:04] It was actually kind of weird, but it was cool.
[19:06] It was very cool.
[19:07] But it was weird, right?
[19:08] It was a great event.
[19:09] It was a good event.
[19:10] So, okay.
[19:11] So what's the big goal for you guys now starting to invest?
[19:15] We've got some investments.
[19:16] What's happening?
[19:18] So we've got some investments.
[19:19] We were lucky enough when we went to REM to be offered some properties.
[19:26] One of the big takeaways for us actually at REM was when, you know, you were talking about, you know, I suppose that conservative versus, you know, more aggressive, I guess, approach.
[19:35] You spoke about, you know, we can offer you this much or we can offer you, you know, this much.
[19:39] Depends on your comfort level.
[19:40] Absolutely.
[19:40] Yeah, yeah.
[19:42] And so I guess for us, you know, we've been very careful for, you know, forever.
[19:47] Probably would describe ourselves as more conservative.
[19:50] Risk adverse more so.
[19:51] Yeah, absolutely.
[19:53] So being presented with what we were presented with was fairly mind-blowing.
[19:58] But you know what?
[19:59] A bit of schmink the bugger.
[20:01] Definitely.
[20:01] You had to psychoanalyse yourself.
[20:04] That's exactly right.
[20:05] I did a lot of work on myself that night.
[20:07] That's for sure.
[20:10] But we said yes and, you know, we jumped in, you know, because it was something that, you know, we just wanted to give our all.
[20:19] Yeah.
[20:20] And, you know, obviously very grateful for that opportunity to be able to do that.
[20:24] Are the kids excited by that?
[20:26] They know you're investing as well?
[20:27] They do.
[20:28] They do know.
[20:29] Yeah.
[20:29] Yeah.
[20:30] That's part of the journey that we're going to try to teach them, isn't it?
[20:33] Absolutely, yeah.
[20:34] So part of our upcoming family trip up here is to show them.
[20:39] Show them around.
[20:40] To really help them understand this is...
[20:42] It's hosted in the group.
[20:43] Yeah, that's right.
[20:45] That will be really, I think that will, I know, that will be very eye-opening for them.
[20:49] Yeah.
[20:49] Because it becomes real and touch and feel and tangible.
[20:52] And it's like, oh, okay.
[20:54] Because then it's like, well, no, we're not doing this because of this.
[20:56] It helps it really, I guess, solidify why.
[20:59] That's right.
[21:00] That's right.
[21:00] Yep, yep, yep.
[21:01] Yeah.
[21:02] Okay.
[21:03] Tell me, what's been the hardest part of the journey?
[21:06] A couple of things that were hard.
[21:09] Like the fear or the paperwork or the...
[21:13] Look, I think initially there was a little bit of fear.
[21:17] There was a little bit of, gosh, are we doing the right thing?
[21:20] Yeah.
[21:21] It's a big call.
[21:23] Look, the paperwork was a lot in the beginning, but we understood that that was... ...administratively that was part of that process.
[21:31] So I guess getting through that side of things.
[21:34] ...probably there's been a bit of a wait for us... ...in terms of a couple of the properties through the construction phase.
[21:44] So waiting for that has been... ...we've just been eager to see them completed... ...and come to that sort of the end point.
[21:53] But look, certainly naturally it's always challenging, isn't it?
[21:57] What about the budget?
[21:58] How hard was that?
[22:00] Do you know what?
[22:02] Do you know?
[22:03] I know what you're going to say.
[22:04] This will be interesting.
[22:12] I'm a bit of a bargain hunter, G. Okay.
[22:14] You know, I love a good bargain.
[22:16] I generally don't spend money on anything, to be very honest with you.
[22:19] So you're a tight ass.
[22:21] Yeah.
[22:21] Well, you could put it that way, absolutely.
[22:25] And proud of it.
[22:26] And proud of it, yeah.
[22:28] So I guess in that respect it was actually fulfilling for us that, you know, each sort of week, you know, we hit the target with the budget and that was a sense of accomplishment, you know, for us.
[22:39] So I think that also helps, you know, to propel you forward because it's like, you know, every week you're sort of, you know, you're getting the green light, so to speak.
[22:48] Okay.
[22:49] Mm-hmm.
[22:50] um what's been the easiest what's just like oh yeah i think just having that original once we started up the structure yeah the fff yep of knowing this is where the money's going this is what we're spending it on um just having something in place where where we come from before yeah we never had that so you're not worried about what day's payday or pay fortnight or week or i mean it's like it's sort of autopilot
[23:19] Pretty much.
[23:21] We know where our money's going each month with our jobs.
[23:25] We know that we haven't got any things outstanding.
[23:28] We know we've got money to cover it.
[23:32] That's probably one of the...
[23:34] Yeah, I think it builds that confidence as you go.
[23:38] So it's very open in the household now.
[23:40] Like the whole family is aligned.
[23:42] It's an open topic of conversation.
[23:45] Where you're headed and you're headed together as a family unit by the sounds of it.
[23:48] So we...
[23:50] We regularly have chats between Katie and myself every couple of days of where we're at with things, whether we've got something coming up.
[23:59] We obviously work off rosters, so we're constantly coming and going, night shift, day shift.
[24:04] Katie's appointments with her business.
[24:06] So when we have the opportunities, we basically sit down and we go through finances all the time, really, just having chats between the family.
[24:14] And then the boys come in and, oh, yeah, yeah.
[24:17] So what do you think's stopping most families in Australia from getting off the hamster wheel and getting to where you are now?
[24:25] What's in the way?
[24:28] What was in the way for you guys prior to finding us?
[24:31] Look, I think it was...
[24:32] It's the unknown.
[24:33] It's the unknown, yes.
[24:35] Yeah.
[24:36] And I think that sort of worry of being able to trust somebody.
[24:40] We did many years ago work with a financial advisor.
[24:44] That wasn't the right fit for us.
[24:46] And I think for a really long time that created a little bit of apprehension because it sort of didn't set up that process with as much security as what we would have liked.
[24:59] It could leave a bad taste for it.
[25:01] It leaves a bit of scar tissue.
[25:02] Never get back on the bike or get back on the bike.
[25:05] I think, gee, too, there's a lot of people that are in the industries where we work around that are so used to doing the same routine all the time because they don't know.
[25:15] It's like, oh, let's stop at the server and we'll go and get a pie.
[25:18] A white monster and a pie and a sneakers.
[25:20] And there's $40, $50 later.
[25:23] There's a lot of that.
[25:24] And there's a lot of people that will buy all the toys and not really, oh, could we use this money for something else?
[25:30] Not knowing.
[25:32] I suppose you don't know what you don't know.
[25:35] So if you don't know there is a better way, it's easier just to be ignorant to it, right?
[25:38] Just continue on in the grind.
[25:41] Yep, yep.
[25:42] Okay.
[25:44] If you could give some advice to somebody, let's assume they can't afford us, you know, they've done the free stuff.
[25:51] What are the real big wins, like the simple wins for you guys that they could apply themselves?
[25:57] I was going to say, the food's obviously one of them.
[26:02] The cost of living at the moment is ridiculous, plus fuel.
[26:05] But simple things like just seeing what you're buying each week, do you really need two streaming platforms?
[26:11] Yeah.
[26:13] Or any.
[26:13] As well, or any.
[26:14] Maybe cut that completely.
[26:16] Look where your money's going.
[26:18] Have the sheet out like we've done before.
[26:20] This is what we're spending on.
[26:22] Get rid of it.
[26:23] Budget.
[26:24] Communicate with each other.
[26:27] I think initially sort of determining your why.
[26:30] And we talk a lot about that, don't we?
[26:31] Yeah.
[26:31] That sense of understanding why you're doing this in the first place.
[26:35] What does this mean for you?
[26:36] Yeah.
[26:38] Yeah, the why has to be strong enough.
[26:39] It does.
[26:40] Especially like for you guys who put the challenge, it's like, okay, we're going to literally do a year of just balls to the wall, like no distraction here.
[26:49] Exactly.
[26:49] Literally not break like a...
[26:51] the wrong weekend away or take out or like you guys were super committed.
[26:55] But I mean, hey, you got rid of your home loan entirely in a couple of years.
[26:59] Yeah, definitely.
[27:00] It's crazy.
[27:01] And I think understanding, you know, what you what you see value in, you know, for us, it's always been about, you know, education for the kids and sporting opportunities for the for the kids, you know, but certainly that building that generational wealth.
[27:14] So that that for us, you know, seeing the value in that really helps that process along for you.
[27:21] But I think, you know, realistically there isn't a magic wand to things, you know.
[27:25] That would be money magician.
[27:26] That's exactly right.
[27:30] So I think that awareness of, you know, this is something that takes discipline, you know, and hard work and motivation.
[27:36] If it was easy, everyone would be doing it.
[27:37] That's exactly right.
[27:38] And everyone that's whinging about it hasn't even tried it.
[27:40] That's right, yeah.
[27:41] Just have a crack.
[27:42] Yeah.
[27:43] If you really want something, work your ass off for it.
[27:46] Just go for it.
[27:47] Yeah.
[27:47] I think too, like realistically the years are going to come and go and, you know, I think it's sort of something that you might as well say yes to opportunity.
[27:57] Yeah, just get it done.
[27:57] Yeah, get in there.
[27:58] So I say just get it done, get it done, get rid of it and then guess what, you own your home.
[28:02] Even if you don't invest, just get rid of it.
[28:03] Just get the debt done, away you go.
[28:05] But like you said before, at least talk to someone.
[28:09] you know at least seek help don't just sit there and think oh I'll just keep going and doing the same thing because you're not going to go anywhere just don't keep refinancing every three years please don't do that you need a bit of a plan but you're right like see the team UG or see the you know somebody locally that you trust family friend whatever see someone that's suitably licensed and just check out what they have to say just don't be just sold a new structure that doesn't get you ahead but definitely get some advice yeah
[28:37] And I think too, you know, you never really know what you're capable of until you actually give it a go.
[28:42] You guys have achieved.
[28:43] Yeah, well, and, you know, it was sort of something that, you know, I know my parents have always instilled that in me.
[28:49] You know, hard work is something that's really, I guess, important, you know, in many, many families.
[28:56] But you're not doubting yourself and actually just applying, you know, the opportunities that you have.
[29:01] So, yeah.
[29:04] I'm going to go work mode for a minute.
[29:07] How much psychology do you think is involved in people's financial results?
[29:13] I think it's a huge amount.
[29:15] I think it's a huge amount.
[29:16] It's really interesting actually when I sit with my own clients now and since being an infinity client and
[29:25] there is just so much psychology involved in things.
[29:28] And there's so much stress that's actually generated in a lot of people's lives because of finances.
[29:33] And do you think with your expertise and background, because I'm not suitably qualified, do you think a lot of it stems from some sort of trauma success at a much younger age or a life event at any age?
[29:45] Do you think there's some stuff in it?
[29:47] Because I notice a lot of people...
[29:49] They can't let go of things or they can't change things or they're still attached to a thought or feeling or the motherhood statements, easy, money doesn't grow on trees.
[29:59] I feel like there's so much attached to something historical that almost just keeps them stagnant.
[30:06] Absolutely, yeah.
[30:07] And I definitely find that for many people that there is often that fear that creates that resistance to change and resistance to try something new.
[30:18] Yeah.
[30:19] Any practical steps you could...not treatment here... ...any practical steps you could give somebody to help... ...mentally, emotionally try to overcome some of those barriers at all?
[30:30] Yeah, look, I mean I think that something that's often really important for people...
[30:34] you know, stepping out of your comfort zone and realising that, you know, we talk a lot about, I suppose, that the locus of control.
[30:41] And I think for a lot of people in this type of process, they can often feel like I'm trying to gain control, but it also feels like I'm a little bit out of control because I'm doing something really different.
[30:53] And often the way that our brain is wired is that often when we do something different, it activates the fear response system in the brain, which sort of says to us that, gosh, that's really dangerous.
[31:02] Go back to what you were doing.
[31:03] That's right.
[31:04] Or don't even start.
[31:05] Yeah, exactly.
[31:06] It's much easier to say that's bullshit than the fear of trying and failing.
[31:11] That's right.
[31:11] And I think it's that overwhelm almost, right?
[31:14] It is, yeah.
[31:15] Okay.
[31:16] Yeah.
[31:16] How have you guys gone with…
[31:19] friends and family and the kids friends like obviously you guys have been really disciplined on this journey has that affected relationships at all or people have been cheering from the sidelines or people like oh you idiots like has what sort of feedback have you received good and
[31:35] Yeah, so with friends, we're only a tight circle within our friends where we have – we basically keep to ourself a lot of the time.
[31:47] Everyone, I find that whenever something comes up about money, everyone's an expert about, oh, you've got to do this, you've got to do that.
[31:54] And I get it all the time.
[31:55] So most of the time I just – Shut up.
[31:58] I just shut my mouth.
[31:59] I'm like, righto, mate, no worries.
[32:02] Or I just...
[32:03] Especially on a work site or a job site.
[32:04] Yeah, I'll just let them go.
[32:06] I'm like, righto, no worries.
[32:07] Like I've raised things before and they just talk over you or they know everything.
[32:13] Family-wise, yeah, pretty supportive.
[32:16] Yeah, good.
[32:18] Yeah.
[32:19] Good.
[32:19] Yeah.
[32:19] So.
[32:22] And what's the big, big picture goal?
[32:25] Like top of the mountain, like dream scenario, like shoot for the stars.
[32:30] Mm.
[32:32] Choice.
[32:33] Having choice.
[32:33] Oh, I like that.
[32:34] It's a very simple word.
[32:35] It is.
[32:35] Choices.
[32:36] But it means a lot.
[32:37] Choices.
[32:37] Yeah, choices.
[32:38] Yeah.
[32:40] Okay.
[32:40] Yeah, having choices, you know.
[32:43] And I think that, you know, some of the things that sort of fall under that umbrella for us, as we mentioned, was, you know, the holidays with the kids.
[32:52] But we also would like to do a couple of renovations at home as well.
[32:55] We've parked that as well.
[32:57] You know, there were things that...
[32:58] we would have liked to have done and decided just to... Oh, you can do a reno and pay it off in a year.
[33:02] Who cares?
[33:04] You can do a reno every year and pay it off.
[33:06] We can now.
[33:06] We can now.
[33:07] You've got the skills now.
[33:09] So that's sort of something that we would like to do as well.
[33:12] But in a general sense, we would like to continue to build the portfolio.
[33:18] A bit more investing.
[33:18] That's sort of something we're really excited about.
[33:20] Just having options to have things start working for us when we invest as well.
[33:24] So returning-wise...
[33:26] funds, like to get some funds working for us a little bit.
[33:31] What are you scared of going forward?
[33:37] What keeps you up at night now?
[33:42] Not a lot.
[33:42] What are we scared of?
[33:43] Not a lot.
[33:44] Not a lot.
[33:45] Try to get sleep when we can.
[33:46] Try to get sleep when we can.
[33:48] Work, sleep, repeat.
[33:49] It's pretty hard.
[33:49] When you think, okay, all right, we're in.
[33:53] Oh, we're going to build this portfolio.
[33:54] Wow, okay.
[33:56] Because then obviously as it continues, a lot of people tell me it gets easier.
[33:59] But at the same token...
[34:00] As you start to build, you take on more risk.
[34:03] You hope for more return.
[34:05] And that makes a lot of sense that, you know, that can keep people up at night, I think.
[34:09] And there is, you know, there are certainly elements of that that you sort of think, gosh, could we even do that?
[34:14] But I think that really, you know, reminding ourselves of what we already have done, you know, and that, yeah, it does work.
[34:21] I think we're very structured people.
[34:22] So we don't have, we've had chats before, we don't have a limit of where we want to go.
[34:27] We just want to keep going.
[34:29] As long as you're going as far as you can?
[34:31] Pretty much.
[34:33] We'll keep working as long as we can.
[34:35] But we want to find that balance with the family as well.
[34:37] Okay.
[34:39] Do you reckon it's sustainable to keep your budget where it is at the moment?
[34:45] I think so.
[34:45] Fuel's gone up.
[34:46] I was going to say, apart from the day.
[34:48] Food's gone up.
[34:49] Yeah, I...
[34:51] I think it is, yeah.
[34:53] We'll just reassess as things develop over the next few years.
[34:57] We may have to increase it if something comes up.
[35:01] Obviously at the moment we're doing a lot of travelling as well with the boys for sport, so that's obviously more fuel.
[35:08] But we try to do things around that to be a bit creative with...
[35:11] You know, meal prepping and planning, you know, rather than, you know, buying things when we're out at, you know, sporting things for the kids.
[35:19] Yeah.
[35:20] Pack a bag, you know.
[35:21] Make the lunch before.
[35:22] Yeah.
[35:22] Take it down there.
[35:24] Have you guys had a chance to get to many of the community events at all?
[35:28] Or you were so strict on the debt reduction you didn't get out and about?
[35:32] No, there was actually one that Megan and Jeremy were...
[35:36] In Singleton in our town.
[35:36] In Singleton, in our town.
[35:38] We had some unfortunate news.
[35:41] My nan passed away the day before that happened.
[35:45] So unfortunately we just weren't in a position to be able to do that.
[35:51] But yeah, we had been really looking forward to that.
[35:54] We were planning on going to that.
[35:55] Yeah.
[35:56] But yeah.
[35:58] Okay.
[35:58] Yeah.
[35:59] How do you go having somebody help manage the money?
[36:03] So having a relationship manager, having a little birdie on the shoulder.
[36:07] You know, it's all right to get your reports, but how did that go on the journey of, right, this is the target, this is the target?
[36:14] How did you find that, having someone to help hold you to account?
[36:18] It could be a pain in the ass at times or it's a good thing?
[36:21] No, I think we embraced it, didn't we?
[36:23] We were pretty, yeah, we were like, yes, we've actually got some structure.
[36:26] Right.
[36:27] We kind of felt like that, we felt like we had the tools, but we just needed that toolbox to kind of put it all together, you know what I mean?
[36:36] Yeah.
[36:36] And once we had that structure, we kind of let infinity just help us.
[36:41] We'd be in contact with them.
[36:43] Yeah.
[36:43] We had a question, we'd ring them, they'd be get back to us.
[36:47] So it's not annoying having somebody, having a birdie on the shoulder?
[36:51] No, definitely not.
[36:51] Not at all.
[36:53] And I think it sort of depends on, you know, I guess your personality type around, you know, embracing those things and understanding that is part of the package and, you know, part of that process as well.
[37:04] So as I said we embraced that and we've loved getting to know Chantel we had initially and now we have Alex.
[37:12] They're both amazing.
[37:13] So yeah, it's been a really great element of working with Infinity.
[37:19] Okay, good.
[37:20] Good relationships.
[37:21] Yeah, yeah.
[37:22] And you guys are on all the mams all the time and stuff in your home which is good.
[37:25] Yeah, definitely.
[37:26] I make the team do them now.
[37:27] They're doing a good job.
[37:29] They're doing a good job.
[37:30] Yeah.
[37:31] Hey, I'm curious what you want to ask me... ...while you've got me in a hot seat for a change.
[37:35] I always get to pick on you guys.
[37:37] We've got a couple, G. Yeah, let's go.
[37:38] That's all right.
[37:39] Yeah.
[37:39] Do you want to go first?
[37:41] Do you want me to go first?
[37:42] You can go first.
[37:44] So my question is around obviously we're at possibly serviceability.
[37:49] Yep.
[37:52] We're waiting for a couple of things to happen...
[37:55] We've got a certain amount in redraw that's just sitting there.
[37:58] Yep.
[37:59] Is that something that we could use that now to whether we go and pay?
[38:04] Depends on any of the – so because you've got a couple of transactions on foot and as they're coming to fruition and completed, you've always got to keep enough capital there for the settlement.
[38:14] Yep.
[38:15] So you need to pay your deposit and the settlement you need the balance.
[38:18] As long as it's above and beyond that and that surplus sitting there in redraw, we just have to look before it's deployed.
[38:24] We've got to look at that serviceability.
[38:26] So you go, okay, I want to go buy another asset, another investment or whatever it may be, property or not.
[38:31] We have to be really conscious of that serviceability and that sequential timeline for you.
[38:37] Okay.
[38:37] Definitely something we can review all the time.
[38:40] As each one is finishing, then it's like, cool, that's finishing.
[38:43] Okay, that's two months, a month or two's time.
[38:46] Let's review that now.
[38:47] What do we think market rent is right now and the tenants' applications are coming?
[38:51] Cool, that's going to rent for X, the debt's Y.
[38:53] Cool, this is our position and we can model that out.
[38:56] So that's something we could review.
[38:58] yeah that's you don't want to you don't want to be sitting on dead money like dead like i've met so many people they wait till they're 50 something before they use that i just gotta pay my house to zero it's like the quickest way to pay your house to zero would have been buy the one next door yeah when they both doubled make it work for you sell next door and pay off your house you know what i mean like that's that's heaps harder heaps easier than going to work and
[39:22] paying tax and then using the net money.
[39:23] So it's just the sequential order of everything you've got going, which we just look at every couple of months.
[39:30] And once or twice a year, review it.
[39:32] You've got things like the fund.
[39:33] So you can go put the money and earn 8%, 10%, 12% paid monthly.
[39:37] Yeah.
[39:38] Yeah.
[39:38] So that's always something worth looking at.
[39:40] But again, if it's money in redraw and you're going to pull it out at six... Yeah.
[39:44] ...and you're going to earn eight and then pay tax on the two... ...you're like, eh.
[39:48] If you're going to pull it out at six and earn 12... ...well then you've got a 6% margin.
[39:54] The interest is covered for free.
[39:55] Yeah, yeah.
[39:55] Yeah.
[39:56] That's okay.
[39:59] But it's not the most exciting return in the world when it's leveraged.
[40:03] So, you know, chat with the financial planner.
[40:06] So, well, could we diversify a bit?
[40:08] We've got a few properties.
[40:09] Do we put some more into the markets?
[40:11] How stable or unstable is that at the moment?
[40:14] Even...
[40:15] even looking at the options of the type of properties or yeah yeah so you might decide then you go okay you know what we might go and buy something instead of right now we might go buy something that's three four years away yeah because this stuff's happening now that's happening then and that's that's ages away yeah so then yeah you might and that's what that's what i love to do right i love just deploying deposits i love making it rain like
[40:38] I'm like, yeah, I'll buy that, I'll buy that.
[40:39] I'm just buying everything all the time.
[40:42] Obviously you have to be able to settle it.
[40:44] So there's risk associated with that.
[40:47] But then we're just looking at your capacity today and then your futuristic capacity.
[40:51] That's what we call the G strategy.
[40:52] The G strategy.
[40:53] The G spot.
[40:57] But yeah, that's something we probably want to look at once or twice a year.
[41:00] Not too frequently but definitely once or twice.
[41:02] I mean now that you guys have nailed that, probably worth a review.
[41:06] And go, okay, where's our...and obviously it's a bit early on in the journey.
[41:10] The first couple of years is like, cool, we've paid off the loan in full... ...and we've got a few investments.
[41:16] And it's like, okay, how much can we chew off at once?
[41:20] And then you start seeing those returns, you give it a couple of years, and then you're like, okay, I'm pretty comfortable now, I get it, I've got a couple of investments, I've done my first tax return or two, I've seen what tax benefits I've gotten, depreciation and rents in and out, and did I have tenants the whole time?
[41:37] And then you can sort of have that, I guess you'd call it the next level.
[41:41] So you sort of step to the next level of, right, I've had tenants for a year or two, I've had income, I've had expenses and stuff.
[41:50] And then you can jump to that next living area.
[41:52] I'm comfortable with this.
[41:53] Like it sits well with us as a family.
[41:55] Yeah.
[41:56] Yeah.
[41:56] Let's go bigger and better.
[41:57] Let's go again.
[41:58] Because you can always do a bit more.
[42:00] Yeah.
[42:01] It's just whether we typically are more conservative.
[42:05] Mm-hmm.
[42:06] So we'll stop you at three, but you can probably do four.
[42:10] We'll always keep that buffer.
[42:13] You know, like rates have gone up.
[42:14] Yeah.
[42:15] So, and look, that's great.
[42:17] I think people can blow up.
[42:18] I think it's a great thing.
[42:19] Rates don't matter in our structure.
[42:21] Yeah.
[42:22] but terrible for tenants because now investors will have to increase all of their rents to cover the debt.
[42:30] So when they're saying we're in a housing crisis, this, that, the other, and we're trying to do this, no, you're not.
[42:35] The government's responsible for the inflation by spending on government projects and infrastructure.
[42:39] Us spending more isn't causing the inflation.
[42:42] We're not out buying more TVs.
[42:44] Like it's the infrastructure spend and the things that are happening.
[42:47] It's not mums and dads.
[42:50] And then you've got fuel through the roof, food through the roof.
[42:53] So wages, like staffing.
[42:55] I remember the jobs that my staff do.
[42:57] I used to get paid $59,000 for at a bank.
[43:00] You know, that's like 90 to 100 and 20, 100.
[43:02] Like crazy incomes now.
[43:04] Like, wow.
[43:05] That was our envelope.
[43:08] Yeah, yeah.
[43:09] Like I did too, yeah.
[43:10] Exactly.
[43:11] Hours on there.
[43:14] Yeah, so.
[43:15] Okay.
[43:15] Just review it constantly.
[43:17] Yeah.
[43:17] Good time for review now.
[43:19] So we get the team to say, hey, we want to...
[43:21] how far could we go?
[43:22] We feel pretty comfortable.
[43:23] Or, you know what, next month when we get the tenant in that one, there's a new tenant in there.
[43:28] Then once the dust settles, we get the first month's rent on that one and that new tenant.
[43:32] Okay, we think we then feel comfortable to go again.
[43:34] But we can forecast it now for you.
[43:37] It's just a bit of work.
[43:38] And I think that was something we were really excited about, wasn't it, the futuristic as you mentioned and that sort of chronological investing that you've sort of talked about.
[43:48] I'm a big fan of it.
[43:51] You've just got to understand the risks associated with it and make sure that you're always in the position to settle.
[43:57] It only works in a growing market.
[43:59] Like if the market starts to...
[44:01] But we just don't have enough houses.
[44:03] We do not have... And we can... You listen to Doc, but we can't catch up.
[44:07] Where are the trades to build them?
[44:09] Well, in fact, that actually leads into a question that I had too, wasn't it?
[44:13] I was wondering about your thoughts around, you know, given what we know about the housing crisis, do you foresee that that's actually going to have an impact, you know, from an infinity investment perspective...
[44:27] I guess we come from a place of understanding how important it is for families to have homes.
[44:31] You know, that's number one priority.
[44:33] Yeah, absolutely.
[44:34] But I guess in terms of, you know, thinking about that from an investment perspective and, you know, the potential for delays in construction and things like that, that's what we sort of wondered about.
[44:45] Yeah, construction's not too bad at the moment in the aspect that –
[44:50] things that are being constructed seem to be going okay.
[44:54] Like as far as you remember for years Doc and I were talking about construction costs and they seem to have sort of normalized and stabilized for most accounts.
[45:04] Labor is still an issue, so shortage, crisis, labor.
[45:07] And then obviously there's the aspect of people, you've got to have owners and investors in the market buying new product to stimulate supply.
[45:17] Yeah.
[45:18] So when they're talking about the CGT thing they're talking about now, they will fuck up whether people agree or disagree, right?
[45:25] Here's the problem.
[45:25] The younger generation don't want to do anything that's required and go without anything to buy a home.
[45:31] They're common on all my shit.
[45:32] I've got one with millions of hits about Rolexes, AMGs or homes.
[45:36] Oh, buy a Rolex, blah, blah.
[45:38] It's like.
[45:39] Who needs a Rolex?
[45:40] They all watch us tell the time but everyone needs somewhere to live.
[45:43] Yeah.
[45:43] Right?
[45:44] Right?
[45:44] Yeah.
[45:44] So this generation of the Gucci shoes and belts and Rolexes and all that, I didn't have any of that shit until I was very successful.
[45:51] Yeah.
[45:51] Right?
[45:52] But their mentality is different.
[45:54] The social media keep up with the Joneses.
[45:56] So…
[45:57] construction costs sort of look like they're fairly stable, fairly normalised now.
[46:02] People are building again.
[46:04] They've had a lot of failures in the construction industry.
[46:08] But everything I've seen now is fairly stable, you know, square metre rates, costings, et cetera, very stable.
[46:13] A lot of the good guys and girls are just turning over projects and homes and estates and that.
[46:19] It's sort of pretty stable.
[46:20] It's just a lack of trades.
[46:22] Yeah.
[46:22] So, and... We see that a lot in our industry at the moment.
[46:26] Yeah.
[46:26] It's just trying to get the people.
[46:27] The biggest thing, like, I can tell you now, if I had young kids, boys or girls, I would tell them to be in electronics or plumbing.
[46:35] Yeah.
[46:35] You know, things that are industries that will never, hopefully never die.
[46:38] Yeah.
[46:39] Because, I mean, electricians and plumbers are getting paid more than lawyers and doctors now.
[46:43] Yeah, I know.
[46:44] Yeah.
[46:44] Because no one wants to work with their hands anymore.
[46:46] No one wants to do hard work.
[46:47] Yeah.
[46:48] And they want to pick their work.
[46:49] Yeah.
[46:50] They want to pick the easy jobs.
[46:52] Correct.
[46:52] Be an influencer.
[46:53] We'll stream video games all day.
[46:55] So look, in no way, shape or form...
[47:02] is any of the government policy except for that you can buy with five or two percent and we'll chip in with some so they've made it if you can't save two to five percent you don't deserve a home because you're not showing that when the home breaks and your rates come in or the you know you're not showing that you're in a position to have a kitty to look after your home right or to maintain your home yeah
[47:25] Now, and that might mean you live with friends.
[47:26] Oh, I've got three kids.
[47:27] Yeah, but you can live with friends for a little while.
[47:30] You can rent in a less desirable suburb.
[47:33] You don't have to be in double bay, double pay.
[47:35] You know what I mean?
[47:36] Like there's so much that people do and then they whinge and it's like...
[47:40] You've got to experience that little bit of pain first.
[47:42] Choose your heart.
[47:43] That little bit of pain.
[47:44] Yeah, you want pleasure?
[47:45] Have some pain.
[47:46] I did it.
[47:47] I mean, I bought my first home in Albion Park, right?
[47:51] Like in Wollongong.
[47:52] It's an Albion Park.
[47:53] It's a nice area now, but it wasn't back then.
[47:56] So there's no justification for homes to ever become cheaper.
[48:04] They never have become cheaper.
[48:06] Yeah.
[48:07] We have less skilled people to build them.
[48:10] We're meant to be importing them, like migrating people, but we're not seem to be migrating the right industries.
[48:18] So really up.
[48:21] Rates go up, rents go up.
[48:23] And then take away tax incentives, this, that, the other.
[48:27] That means everyone will want to hold on to what they've got under the old legislation because the day they sell it, they're stuck in the new.
[48:33] Because remember, they'll grandfather these things.
[48:36] That's right.
[48:36] So you say, okay, all like CGT, pre-19, whatever it was.
[48:40] Our parents and grandparents had stuff they still have, no CGT.
[48:44] Yeah.
[48:45] So they'll wait forever to sell it because it didn't exist.
[48:49] And then said, right, anyone that signs a contract to buy a property from this date...
[48:53] CGT applies.
[48:54] Yeah.
[48:55] Then they introduced a CGT dislike.
[48:57] See, they don't make it any better.
[49:00] It's all political spin.
[49:02] Yeah.
[49:03] Well, if we do this and do that and it gets votes and blah, blah, blah.
[49:06] Yeah.
[49:07] This big thing here is more money in government pockets for them to blow and do stupid shit with.
[49:13] Yeah.
[49:14] And the perception that they're helping people get into homes.
[49:17] Mm.
[49:17] What it will absolutely do is put rents up.
[49:21] It will highly likely also put prices up because people that hold the properties that, hey, I signed this and bought it before they took that CGT, I'm going to hold that forever because I get one crack to sell it for profit.
[49:33] Yeah.
[49:34] So now what we've done is take stock out of the market.
[49:36] Yeah.
[49:37] We've taken affordable properties out of the market because those people never want to sell because once they sell that one, they go buy again.
[49:44] Now there's this new CGT issue.
[49:46] Yeah.
[49:47] They have put some commentary in there around they will treat the new properties different around the CGT rule because they don't want to stop investors coming into the market.
[49:59] And so this is the problem.
[50:00] They're saying, hey, normal houses, we don't give a shit, buy, sell, trade, whatever.
[50:04] Brand new.
[50:04] We need heaps of people to buy them, both owners and investors.
[50:08] Because if owners aren't buying them, no one's building them.
[50:11] So there's always the devil in the detail in all these little gimmicky political things.
[50:16] So look, we need more trades.
[50:18] We don't have them, which means we can't build enough quick enough.
[50:21] We're nowhere near our targets for how many homes we need to build.
[50:24] So much red tape, so much political spin.
[50:27] We just can't put enough homes into the market.
[50:30] And we're still letting people migrate to Australia, raid or not.
[50:33] And that's fine.
[50:34] Love it, hate it, whatever.
[50:36] Where do they live?
[50:37] Yeah.
[50:38] Where do they live?
[50:39] Absolutely.
[50:39] And you're seeing it more and more at the moment.
[50:42] Yeah.
[50:42] So we're really just, everything that seems to be happening is driving prices up.
[50:47] It's even when we get a rate rise.
[50:49] People don't go, oh, rate rise, I'll wait till rates come down to buy.
[50:53] People hear rate rise and they go, oh, shit.
[50:57] If rates keep going up, I'll never get into the market.
[51:00] And that's why they do it.
[51:02] Then they start to cut back and do everything they can to buy right now.
[51:05] That creates more people all competing for the little amount of product.
[51:10] It's almost like it's fabricated.
[51:13] Every issue we have with the housing market is really kind of engineered.
[51:17] So they're not getting any easier.
[51:18] So I don't see it slowing down anytime soon.
[51:21] I don't see construction costs blowing out again because we can only build what we've got enough trades for.
[51:27] And it already was a profitless boom.
[51:29] Thousands of builders and developers go broke through that COVID here and coming out of it.
[51:35] And each time they bring something in, some policy to try to help, it just makes it worse.
[51:40] So, yeah.
[51:42] Okay.
[51:44] I would say to people, if you have capacity...
[51:47] to buy a home for yourself, buy it.
[51:49] If you have capacity to invest and house another family, go and do it.
[51:54] Because it's becoming one of the most sought after, sadly, a commodity.
[51:58] Oil, fuel, gold.
[52:00] Housing's become a traded commodity, which is sad.
[52:03] It sucks.
[52:04] But those who take advantage of it will do very well from it.
[52:08] Those who don't will suffer.
[52:11] Yeah.
[52:12] But you can be a very ethical, moral investor and look after a family that can stay there forever and a day.
[52:17] Yeah.
[52:17] You know, you can fix things.
[52:19] You can look after them.
[52:20] You can manage your rents, all that sort of stuff.
[52:23] You can help a family have a really nice bloody home.
[52:25] Yeah.
[52:26] And the government can't do it.
[52:28] That's why we have all these tax benefits.
[52:29] Yeah.
[52:30] So no matter what the minority and those sorts of people whinge about, the government cannot afford to build all the houses.
[52:37] They must not cripple investors.
[52:39] And I think that's a really important point in terms of making sure that we continue to inject the humane side, you know.
[52:45] Correct.
[52:45] And I know that, you know, you've spoken a lot about, you know, the importance of doing both that and also, you know, not investing with emotion, so to speak, but the importance of making sure that we're still looking after people, you know, when we're doing it.
[52:58] I love my co-living sort of homes because I can have four ladies or four men or three men, you know,
[53:05] I love that because, yeah, I'm getting a better rent, but they're getting their room, their ensuite, they've got someone to live with, and they can't afford a one-bedroom unit.
[53:13] So that sort of stuff for me, whilst I get a really good yield, is a bit of ethical investing as well.
[53:18] Absolutely, yeah.
[53:19] So, yeah.
[53:21] It's not going to get any easier.
[53:23] No.
[53:24] What else you got for me?
[53:25] Nice one.
[53:26] Yeah.
[53:28] I think a question around sort of diversification of portfolio as well.
[53:32] I know that you'd mentioned there about potentially investing in a fund.
[53:37] You know, I guess your thoughts around, you know, we've got apartments at the present time, which we're very thankful for.
[53:45] Any thoughts around the importance of diversification, looking at different property types?
[53:50] Yeah, you want a bit of everything.
[53:52] It depends on what your individual strategy is.
[53:55] So when I bought Eve, for example, I paid $185,000, it was $1.85 million.
[54:02] It got up to late threes in values.
[54:04] It sits above three, under four.
[54:08] It's a nice property.
[54:09] We're putting $185,000 down and making well over $185,000 a couple of years later.
[54:16] So in this sort of market, that's a pretty good strategy without having a service alone, deal with a tenant, anything.
[54:23] You settle it, tenant moves in, you've got all that capital.
[54:28] So that's a very, to me, it's always just been a very easy replicated evidence.
[54:33] I share the very easy way to make money for me.
[54:37] Capital is more important than anything else.
[54:40] In the same token, buy land, they're not making it anymore.
[54:46] But it also depends on the cost, the yield, can you afford to hold it, all that sort of stuff.
[54:52] So that just becomes a serviceability issue.
[54:58] ...diversification, sometimes I buy ten in the same building.
[55:01] Sometimes I might only buy ten units this month.
[55:05] Sometimes I buy ten houses this month.
[55:07] So a bit of personal preference.
[55:09] A bit of diversification.
[55:11] But it depends on the overarching strategy.
[55:13] Yeah.
[55:16] house now good dual income co-income single house all that sort of stuff always think about the exit and when i want to exit so when do i want to sell the asset to realize the profit yeah and then take that and put it into something else um so i very much started our journey 2012
[55:35] 13 was little one bedroom units that were getting built, deposit, made money, another way and off we go, off we go.
[55:43] And then I was able to then turn that into bigger things like homes and dual occupancy and duplexes and stuff.
[55:49] So it just depends where you're at on the journey.
[55:51] Yeah.
[55:53] So diversification can become a fancy word for a shotgun approach.
[55:59] Okay, yeah.
[56:00] So I'm going to spread something everywhere.
[56:03] But in the same token, it can be a very good way to hedge your bets on, say, a...
[56:09] house in queensland a unit in canberra or melbourne and a house in adelaide and a unit in western australia like so diversifying in both location and asset type in real estate um so yeah it depends on the overall strategy and what you're comfortable with house will cost more than a unit
[56:31] um yields are typically a little bit stronger in a unit because they're cheaper to buy but the rents aren't too dissimilar yeah so that was a weird one in covert right like i used to hate apartments uh 2016 hated apartments even though i first used them to get to where i was going and sort of went away from them and then i've swung back to them because the yields aren't they're a bit stronger than houses yeah so um but houses tend to typically you're paying more
[57:01] Bit of six of one, half a dozen of the other.
[57:04] Whatever you're comfortable with.
[57:06] And when we do a review for you and we're going to look at what futuristic things we can do, we just put that in there.
[57:12] You know what?
[57:13] I'd like to get a really big block with a duplex.
[57:16] Like a decent parcel with two incomes on it.
[57:20] Did you just read my mind?
[57:21] Were you doing a me?
[57:23] No.
[57:24] Not at all.
[57:25] Didn't read any body language at all.
[57:27] So like something like that and you go, okay, we would like that in our portfolio.
[57:34] Does that fit?
[57:34] Tell us as the professional.
[57:36] And we go, okay, and we crunch the numbers.
[57:38] Look, for that to fit, it's a big chunk of capital and outlay and equity.
[57:43] It can, but let's liquidate.
[57:46] ...that unit and let's have that big parcel of land and duplex... ...and let's liquidate that unit to absorb, to have more equity over here.
[57:54] Yeah.
[57:56] Just put in the plan.
[57:58] Sounds good.
[57:58] Sounds like a good thing.
[58:00] You should be really proud of yourselves.
[58:02] Thank you.
[58:03] And the kids.
[58:04] You should be really proud of yourselves, really proud of the kids.
[58:07] And I really look forward to seeing the photos of the holiday.
[58:10] Absolutely.
[58:11] Yeah.
[58:12] Yeah.
[58:12] And we're super proud of the boys, aren't we?
[58:15] We're starting at Burley and then going to work our way up.
[58:17] Oh, nice.
[58:17] Yeah.
[58:18] You have to bring them in for some hats and some shirts.
[58:20] They would love that.
[58:21] All the gear.
[58:22] They know who you are.
[58:24] Yeah.
[58:25] Bring them in, meet the team.
[58:26] Yeah.
[58:27] Give them some merch.
[58:28] Yeah.
[58:29] Well, we'll have to do a part two.
[58:31] That'd be amazing.
[58:32] That'd be awesome.
[58:33] And we'll have to get you to REM when work and schedule permits.
[58:37] Get you to REM and come and share the story because I think people will be like, holy shit.
[58:41] That'd be awesome.
[58:42] Because you really buckled down, knuckled down and...
[58:45] ...did what most people just believe to be impossible.
[58:48] We'll get heaps of comments on this when we post it.
[58:51] What a load of shit.
[58:52] How much money do they earn?
[58:53] Wah, wah, wah, wah, wah.
[58:55] Cool, block, delete, fuck off.
[58:57] Do you know what I mean?
[58:58] It's like if I see that I'm going to be like...
[59:01] ...I wonder if that's real.
[59:03] I'm going to go and check it out and watch it.
[59:06] Most people are just idiots.
[59:07] But I think, you know, not to compare yourself with other people too.
[59:10] I know that, you know, for us... That's really important too.
[59:11] Instead of going, oh, that's bullshit, okay.
[59:13] If I could do 10% of that...
[59:15] Absolutely.
[59:15] ...how much better would my life be?
[59:17] Yeah, yeah.
[59:17] And we sort of talked about that early on in the journey too, you know, watching other people's stories and just being really inspired by that.
[59:24] And I think, you know, it's... Everyone's different in terms of, you know, the assets that they may have in the beginning and, you know, and I suppose what their strategy is.
[59:32] But I think even if you can just...
[59:34] And as you said, just take a little bit from somebody's story and apply that to your own journey.
[59:41] Put that in the mindset.
[59:42] Grab little nuggets of gold and just put all the little bits together and away you go.
[59:46] Go for it.
[59:47] Exactly.
[59:47] Well done, guys.
[59:48] You won't know until you give it a crack.
[59:49] That's right.
[59:50] Well done.
[59:50] Appreciate you sharing with everyone.
[59:52] You're fucking gone.
[59:53] See ya.

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