One decision changed this investor’s financial future.
It wasn’t buying 7 properties. It was changing how he invested.
Building a Property Portfolio Isn't About Luck
Too many investors think building a large property portfolio is about luck.
It usually isn’t.
It’s about improving your strategy over time.
One of my Course students, Ravi, has now built a 7-property portfolio worth around $4 million, with approximately $1.5 million in equity, and he’s already looking for property number eight.
8 Lessons From a 7-Property Portfolio
Here are some of the biggest lessons from his journey:
Start Sooner, Even If You Pay LMI
➡️ Starting matters more than waiting for the perfect deposit. He bought his first property in 2011 with a 97% loan and paid LMI. His view today? He’d still rather pay LMI than spend years saving while property prices continue rising.
Use Equity to Fund the Next Purchase
➡️ Equity creates momentum. The equity from his first property funded the second. The second helped fund the third. That’s how many portfolios grow.
Let Data Beat Emotion
➡️ Data beats emotion. After changing his approach, he stopped limiting himself to Melbourne and started buying based on numbers rather than familiarity.
Invest Interstate Without Flying Around Australia
➡️ Interstate investing doesn’t mean flying around Australia. He relied on building inspectors, property managers and careful due diligence instead of inspecting every property himself. He believes visiting would have added little value and may have made him more emotional.
Persistence Creates Buying Opportunities
➡️ Persistence creates opportunities. One of his best purchases came after repeatedly following up an agent who finally responded on Christmas Eve, allowing him to negotiate strongly when competition was low.
That property was:
- Purchased for $510,000 (after negotiating down from $525,000)
- Now valued at around $620,000
- Renting for $680 per week (around a 6.5–7% yield)
A High-Yield Purchase in Tasmania
➡️ His next purchase was a 3-bedroom, 2-bathroom home in Tasmania on 600m²+ of land, bought for $450,000 and renting for $530 per week.
Negotiation Saves Real Money
➡️ Negotiation saves real money. He credits learning how to value properties properly and negotiate with saving tens of thousands of dollars across multiple purchases. He also estimates avoiding buyers’ agent fees alone has saved roughly $45,000–$50,000 over three properties.
Due Diligence Is Money Well Spent
➡️ Good due diligence is money well spent. He happily paid for building and pest inspections, even on deals that didn’t proceed, believing it’s far cheaper than buying the wrong property.
The Bigger Lesson: Building Passive Income
Perhaps the biggest lesson wasn’t about property at all.
Ravi’s goal isn’t to retire tomorrow.
It’s to build enough passive income so his family isn’t dependent on a single job, especially as industries like IT continue changing through AI and automation.
His advice was simple:
Upskill. Build multiple income streams. Don’t rely on one salary forever.
Book a Free Discovery Call With Realta with PK
If you would like to understand which markets our research team is currently active in and whether a property in Melbourne or elsewhere in Australia makes sense for your situation right now, book a free 60-minute Discovery Call with our team.
There is no obligation and no cost. Just an honest conversation about your goals, your budget and what the data actually shows about where the best opportunities are right now.
Co-Founder | The Educator & Mentor
I’m also a property investor with a $27m+ debt-free portfolio of residential & commercial property, generating over $300k+ net annual passive income.
I help people from all over Australia, by accessing a unique strategy that combines high growth high cashflow residential property, alongside highly profitable property development projects to help accelerate their passive income. I typically work with families, young over-achievers, and new Buyers Agents who want a predictable, DATA-led system to grow wealth and Passive Income.