As with most things in life, whenever you finally build up the courage to start a fresh, new and exciting journey in your life, it can be quite scary. As a younger investor, I definitely went through the roller coaster of emotions. One day, you can feel like everything is going just fine, and then you hit the wall of insecurities and doubts which come from my relative inexperience. Also, when I look around at the other investors, there is definitely a larger age gap which meant they had much more experience than I did and were already investing throughout multiple countries and with great success. I really badly wanted to be in their shoes, but like all good things, I knew that it would take time and that success would by no means come easy during this venture. It’s actually pretty terrifying when i think back to how it all started.

They say that you usually need to feel some kind of pain to make a major change or decision in your life, and until it starts hurting you to the point where you can no longer tolerate it, great things can happen when you dedicate yourself. My story was no different and is along these lines. I finished my university degree and started work in an office right in the heart of the CBD. The pay wasn’t much, but it was enough to get me by and cover my own expenses. I was actually pretty lucky because I had my parents who were both still working and were therefore able to cover the expenses of the home and even loan some money on the odd occasion. Life was great, and then the bad news arrived. One day, my brother and I were seated watching some television after work and there was a knock on the door. My mother answered it and then we heard the crying pain that echoed throughout the house. We had just received the news that my father was killed in a fatal car accident while coming back from work. It made our world crash down right over us and our picture perfect life did not feel as perfect anymore. My mother’s now single income would not cover all of the expenses and my brother was not of working age yet.

I held myself responsible to look after my family now and I made a vow that I would in no way, shape or form let them down, no matter what. My job would also not provide the kind of money we needed to have to get by, I needed to do something different. A month went by and the bills started to pile up, this was making my mother even more down and upset, and my brother was beginning to lose faith. I could not let this continue to happen. I needed to find a way that would enable me to make the money I needed to ensure my family would be financially secure and all their needs would be looked after. A friend of mine from school had a solid background in property investing due to growing up around it as his parents were avid investors. They were very much active within the property investing realm and were making a great lifestyle for themselves and their family, and he was telling me all about it when I bumped into him on my way to work. This instantly sparked my interest and as the conversation continued, he told me that they started out with Tandem Uehling, and gained all the property investment services advice, and guidance they could ever ask for. I immediately jumped onto the website and found that not only can you invest right here in Australia, you can also tap into the US property market. It was something that excited me for the first time in a very long time. I went back home after work that day and sat my brother and mother down to have a serious conversation about it. As always, my mother was worried and told me that I simply did not have enough knowledge or experience to be able to do something like this. My brother was actually getting a bit more excited and told me he would support me every step of the way. I told my mother it was something I needed to do in order to look after my responsibilities, so she also said she would support me.

My next step was to contact Tandem Uehling and speak to a strategist so I could map a path that I could follow when investing in properties. The team was very helpful and asked me a series of questions which included what my financial position was, what my goals were, and getting to know what my general background was. After an in depth conversation, we were able to talk about all the different strategies I can implement. Such strategies including renting, which is also known as a buy and hold, a renovation and even commercial deals, however I was advised that commercial properties are not very ideal for new beginners in the investing arena as they require a lot more knowledge and experience for them to run smoothly. At this point, renovating the houses I could find and selling them off at a higher price for profit sounded like an absolutely brilliant idea and it was the fastest way to get chunks of cash which I could use towards the house and look after expenses as well as have some left over to get my foot into a next deal that I could find not long after. I was actually pretty good at renovations after spending a few summers back with my father fixing up our home as well as a few others of his work mates houses. It was great fun and I genuinely enjoyed it. This was the perfect way for me to start making a living for myself and my family that would actually help look after the necessities and build my wealth and property portfolio without having to worry about whether I am making the correct decisions. The team at Tandem Uehling were amazing and were with me every step of the way guiding me throughout the entire process. Thanks to Tandem Uehling, I am not onto my fourth investment property and have no intentions of stopping any time soon.