To celebrate International Women's Day, our Sales Associate Katie Constable caught up with the inspiring Macenzie Coulter, one of Raine & Horne Muswellbrook's youngest landlords.

Macenzie purchased her first investment property at just 18 years old - all whilst studying and working weekdays 9-5 plus weekends!

Read on to learn more about how this inspiring young woman achieved her goals in celebration of International Women's Day.

What inspired you to start investing in property at a young age?

When I got my first job at almost 15 years old in Coles Supermarkets, my parents encouraged me to save half my pay each week. The initial weeks were quite sad as I was only making $100 a week however as the weeks went on, I began finding this easier.

Fast-forward to year 12 and I had saved a hefty amount of money as I never dipped into my savings for “needs” i.e. clothes to wear to an upcoming event (unlike some of my friends) therefore, I started thinking about how I could get this money to work for me rather than me working for it.

Through talking with my parents and researching online, I ended up landing on the idea of investment properties. From that point on I made it my mission and knew that if I set my mind to something I was going to achieve it.

I remember talking to people at school about how I was going to buy properties and invest, with many of them (including teachers) thinking I was dreaming or that it would be unachievable within the next few years. This in conjunction with my own desires inspired me to work hard and show that young people can achieve house purchases on their own.

How did you overcome any initial challenges or doubts about investing in real estate?

A big challenge I faced when deciding I wanted to invest in real estate was not having adequate borrowing power for loans.

Being 18 years old, not long out of school and studying my university degree, I overcame this challenge by also working weekends as well as my 9-5 weekday job.

Although working 7 days a week while studying fulltime was tiring, I was able to achieve my goals and purchase my first investment property at the young age of 18 proving that if you put your mind to something and work hard you will succeed.

What strategies have you found most effective in building your property investment portfolio?

My main investing strategy is investing for not only cash flow but also long-term equity. Cash flow is important to ensure the day-to-day costs are covered or almost covered, while growth and equity enable the capacity for future purchases. This strategy is best fit for me as I not only want to focus on short-term but also long-term financial stability and reinvestment.

Have you encountered any gender-specific obstacles or biases in the property investment industry, & how did you navigate them?

Personally I haven’t experienced any biases or gender-specific obstacles within the industry.

How do you balance your property investments with other aspects of your life, such as career or education?

The main ways I balance my investments with my career and education commitments is by having a property manager.

This is ideal for me as they are experts within the field and have knowledge of legislative requirements. They provide administrative support relieving pressure off myself as the landlord.

What advice would you give to other young women who are interested in entering the property investment market?

A piece of advice I would give is that to invest young (specifically in the current market) you may have to make sacrifices such as picking up extra shifts rather than going out. In my experience this will be worth it assuming the market continues its upward trend.

Another tip would be to do extensive research on the area you are looking to buy in. Work out what streets are or aren’t desirable and ensure the numbers balance for the house price, rental return and vacancy rates. This will allow you to identify which houses are undervalued, overvalued or just not ideal for investment purposes.

Remember that you don’t have to necessarily buy a house that you’d want to live in but buy somewhere that someone else will want to live.

Can you share a particularly successful investment or deal that you’ve made, & what lessons you learned from it?

My first investment was particularly successful as I bought it right in the middle of Covid when properties were under-offer within hours of being listed.

A big lesson I learnt with this purchase was to create relationships with the sales agents in the area as they might have a property of interest coming up and you may be able to view before listing.

In the case of my first property, I was able to create relationships with the agents and subsequently buy my property before it was listed enabling an easier settlement and a deal that worked for both myself and the previous owner/seller.

How do you stay informed about market trends & opportunities in real estate?

To stay up to date with market trends and opportunities, I usually do research and analysis every few months on real estate websites such as realestate.com and Domain comparing recent house selling prices to similar houses up for rent.

This enables me to gauge whether the area is a good initial short-term investment. Another great avenue on these websites is their suburb profile which shows the average sale prices based on house/unit bedrooms as well as average rent, vacancy rates and growth allowing information on both the short-term and long-term investment view.

What are your long-term goals or aspirations for your property investment journey?

Long-term I would like to continue investing in property, growing my portfolio with the aim of avoiding selling. By doing this I am to gain not only equity overtime but also the available assets and financial position to retire comfortably.

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