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With six properties worth $2.7 million in his portfolio by the age of 25, Investor in Focus Branden Sarafov is well on his way to achieving the elusive goal of total financial freedom.<\/p>\n
With six properties worth $2.7 million in his portfolio by the age of 25, Investor in Focus Branden Sarafov is well on his way to achieving the elusive goal of total financial freedom.<\/em><\/p>\n Towards the end of his studies at university, aspiring investor Branden Sarafov came to a striking realisation.<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t really want to come out of uni and work for 40 or 50 years, however long it might be,\u201d Mr Sarafov said.<\/p>\n \u201cI look at my parents and family friends, and a lot of them have worked for 40 or 50 years, they still have a mortgage that they\u2019re paying off and they\u2019ll be relying on the government once they get to retirement age.<\/p>\n \u201cI thought to myself that I didn\u2019t want to be in that position, so I started as early as I could.\u201d<\/p>\n To make his ambition a reality, Mr Sarafov set about exploring the investment options that would set him on the path towards financial freedom.<\/p>\n The now 25-year-old said he explored the potential of investing in the stock market, as well as cryptocurrencies, as he finished his university degree and started working as a physical education and science teacher.<\/p>\n But as he researched his options further, property investing appeared to stack up as his best option.<\/p>\n \u201cI was a big fan of stocks, I was actually leaning towards that, but then ended up changing my mind after I came to the realisation that I could achieve more by leveraging the funds that we had to build a portfolio and work from there,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m glad that I went down that avenue, because while I feel other asset classes have a lot of potential and many people have been extremely successful with those other asset classes, I just like the fact that I can understand real estate and I can see the desire and the need for it.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you purchase a property, you can leverage a property, and if you pick up something that needs a bit of work, as I normally do, and spend a little bit of money, you can manufacture equity that way.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cYou don\u2019t have to just wait for the market to move, there are other ways to see growth outside of that, which I didn’t see had as much potential in other asset classes.\u201d<\/p>\n It took around 12 to 18 months of research, preparation and disciplined saving to build a deposit for the first purchase, and Mr Sarafov\u2019s property investment journey was launched towards the end of 2018.<\/p>\n And like many first-time purchasers around his age, Mr Sarafov started his investment journey as a rentvestor.<\/p>\n \u201cThe first property that we purchased was an investment, I didn\u2019t own my home at the time,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cI came to the realisation that if I was to buy where we are living in north eastern Sydney. I would have to spend close to or more than $1 million.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI would rather allocate those funds towards two or three investments and build up a portfolio rather than spend that much money and have to constantly be repaying it over time.\u201d<\/p>\n Since that first purchase in Brisbane, Mr Sarafov and his wife have steadily built their knowledge base around investing, as well as grown their portfolio.<\/p>\n \u201cAround three weeks ago we picked up our sixth property, which is located in Adelaide,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWhen we first started we purchased in Brisbane, being Sydney-based even three or four years ago everything was extremely expensive.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe knew that if we were going to purchase something we wanted something that wasn\u2019t going to cost us an arm and a leg to hold onto.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s the philosophy that we\u2019ve taken while building the portfolio over the last three and a half years.\u201d<\/p>\n Mr Sarafov said his portfolio was now valued at around $2.7 million, comprising homes in Brisbane\u2019s Strathpine, Woodridge, Bethania and Loganholme, as well as houses in Adelaide suburbs Christie Downs and Parafield Gardens.<\/p>\n He said the entire portfolio was also cash flow positive, creating passive income of between $15,000 and $20,000 per year.<\/p>\n \u201cI was actually running the numbers recently, I am in the process of converting a couple of the loans to fixed rates and the plan is in the next 12 months to buy a couple more,\u201d Mr Sarafov said.<\/p>\n \u201cBy the time I do that and lock in some lower interest rate loans, I think it will get close to around $50,000 in positive cash flow per year, which would be getting pretty close to being able to replace my income.\u201d<\/p>\n Mr Sarafov said he didn\u2019t plan on an early retirement just yet, however, as he has set about establishing a buyer\u2019s agency to leverage his experience and expertise to help others recreate his investment journey.<\/p>\n He said his agency would focus on utilising the investment pillars that have helped him build a strong portfolio in just three years.<\/p>\n \u201cEssentially the pillars that we focus on is that we look for established properties, all within half an hour from the CBD,\u201d he said<\/p>\n \u201cI look for properties with value-add potential because I want to be able to manufacture equity at some stage, and decent cash flow in terms of a yield.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe specific number isn\u2019t important, but I am to have something that I know is going to cover the majority of the expenses, and I think that we\u2019ve been pretty successful in that.<\/p>\n \u201cProbably our biggest goal is to see capital growth, so all of those other things combined with that gives us a pretty good mould of what we\u2019re looking for.<\/p>\n \u201cAdditionally, another thing I like to find is a property that has what I call an x factor, something that differentiates it from other properties.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWhether that be it has got development potential, it might be a corner block or I might be able to subdivide it or things like that.<\/p>\n \u201cAll of those things together gives me a pretty good idea and helps me narrow down what I am looking at.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIf you consider all of those things, the total pool of properties gets quite limited when you find an area that you\u2019re interested in.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n