A 19-year-old property investor has revealed he now owns three homes without any financial help from his parents.
Cristian Caponi grew up in Sydney but rather than be put off by the city’s unaffordable housing, he turned his attention to Perth where apartments are still affordable.
‘Honestly, I’d be upset too if I was looking at Sydney – I’d say definitely look outside your shell and see that there’s opportunity out there,’ he told Daily Mail Australia.
‘If that’s going to mean it takes you towards whatever goal you have in life, then go for it.’
Mr Caponi’s property journey began in July last year when he bought a 1960s one-bedroom unit in Fremantle for $190,000, back when he was earning just $40,000 which is below the minimum wage.
He followed that up two months later, buying another one-bedroom unit at Langford for $247,500.
In February, he bought a two-bedroom unit at Swan View for $300,000, by which time his pay had grown to $70,000 with commissions.
Mr Caponi said his early start in real estate was possible because he chose to became a licensed real estate sales associate at LJ Hooker in Ashfield after finishing year 12 rather than going to university.
19-year-old property investor Cristian Caponi (right) has revealed he now owns three homes without any financial help from his parents
‘I know for myself, it did make it a lot easier working in a full-time job,’ he said.
‘Working a full-time job and having that sort of flexibility made it a lot easier to save up.
‘I didn’t utilise any savings from my parents.’
But Mr Caponi admits living at home with his parents at Haberfield had enabled him to save up for a mortgage deposit and lenders mortgage insurance.
‘I’d definitely say that’s a great help if you do have family that you can live with,’ he said.
For the first property, Mr Caponi asked his parents to be guarantor which meant they would be liable if he was unable to meet the mortgage repayments.
But it also meant meant he didn’t have to pay lenders mortgage insurance or a deposit on the Fremantle unit.
‘That allows you to actually get into a property without having to use any savings,’ he said.
Mr Caponi’s property journey began in July last year when he bought a one-bedroom unit in Fremantle for $190,000
He followed that up two months later, buying another one-bedroom unit at Langford for $250,000
Western Australia offers a stamp duty exemption for homes under $430,000 but on the first property, Mr Caponi paid $4,700 in stamp duty.
For the second property, he paid a 10 per cent deposit, $8,000 in stamp duty and $2,000 on lenders mortgage insurance.
He paid $9,000 in stamp duty for the third property along with $3,500 in lenders mortgage insurance.
His three properties yield weekly rents of $410, $440 and $480 – adding up to $1,330.
This is $53 more than the $1,277 in weekly expenses, covering the mortgage repayments, council rates and water bills.
In February, he bought a two-bedroom unit at Swan View for $300,000
Being positively geared, Mr Caponi is able to service his $682,750 mortgage and be able to borrow more than the usual 5.2 debt-to-income ratio limit for owner-occupiers.
‘The banks let me lend more because there is rental income that also did not make the property negatively geared,’ he said.
Mr Caponi aims to own 10 investment properties within five years and plans to stick with real estate instead of shares, so he has cashflow and the ability to leverage his existing investments to buy more homes.
‘Maybe, perhaps, I might have to sell one off but I do have that long-term focus,’ he said.
‘In the next five years, I probably want to get around that sort of 10 mark – if I can get 10, that will put me in a good position.’
Mr Caponi said he saw opportunity in Perth which benefited economically from interstate migration in an affordable market.
‘When there’s that key price and you get a lot of eastern people that are investing there, such as myself, it’s pushing up the prices heaps,’ he said.
‘I’d say affordability, interstate migration is definitely another factor to it.’
Perth’s apartment prices have soared by 24.5 per cent during the past year to $540,545 but one-bedroom units haven’t traditionally performed as well as larger two and three-bedroom apartments.
After working in real estate, Mr Caponi worked for a buyers’ agent.
He is now making a living through property webinars until he gets a licence to open his own buyers’ agency – and hopes one day he will have enough equity in Perth apartments to eventually buy a house in Sydney.
