![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/au.res.keymedia.com\/files\/image\/YIP%20137%2018-32%20part%202%20cover%20photo.jpg?resize=761%2C507&ssl=1\")
<\/p>\nWhen Corina Sell signed the contract to purchase her first property in Melbourne\u2019s Notting Hill shortly after her birthday in 2013, she had no idea the market would reward her so quickly.<\/p>\n
\u201cI ended up buying a house for $565,000, and at the time I was freaked out that I was spending more than half a million dollars on a house. But the day after I signed the contract, the market started climbing every month,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
To claim her First Home Owner Grant (FHOG), Corina moved into the property for 18 months, then almost immediately began renovating.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy dad helped me renovate it for $10,000\u2013$15,000. We did it all ourselves, and we didn\u2019t do too much. Our friendship grew really strong as we hung out all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite the capital gains achieved by the property, a mortgage of over $500,000 was not going to be easy to pay off.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was really ambitious [about the purchase]. I thought it would be no problem. The agreement was to put $20,000 down at the start, which was my FHOG, and $13,000 I had in savings. And then I had to come up with $20,000 six months later, and $20,000 another six months later. I had to borrow off credit cards to make these repayments, and when the third payment came I was really in trouble,\u201d Corina says.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a very tricky time because I was self-employed, my mindset wasn\u2019t right, and I didn\u2019t have the income in my job to get the loan.\u201d<\/p>\n
As a result, Corina was forced to make a major decision to move to Sydney six months before the settlement period, in order to take a new job that would boost her income and enable her to ultimately settle the payment on the property.<\/p>\n
However, three years after purchasing her first property, its value had risen to more than $900,000, so Corina promptly sold it for a handy profit.<\/p>\n
AT A GLANCE<\/strong><\/p>\n Location<\/strong> Strategy<\/strong> Purchase price<\/strong> Current value<\/strong> Cash flow<\/strong> \u201cIt was on a good street, but it was really rundown \u2013 they hadn\u2019t been keeping up with renovation. None of the agents in town wanted to manage it, and only three of the units were tenanted. It was bright yellow!\u201d Corina says.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was nicknamed \u2018The Stables\u2019 \u2013 everyone in town thought of this place as really unsafe; there\u2019d been drugs, and there\u2019d been a car set on fire. The police were out there every other day.\u201d Corina negotiated with the seller, offering a $35,000 deposit and an 18-month settlement period. She began renovating the units inside and out, making them more presentable. She also resolved not to alter just the look of the place but also its reputation.<\/p>\n \u201cWe had a guy with a disability; an average working guy; backpackers; a girl who had escaped domestic violence; and a couple of mums\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAs I started improving the units, we ended the lease of any tenant who wasn\u2019t right, and had them move on,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n \u201cWe started caring a lot more about who we rented the units to \u2013 we screened every applicant very thoroughly and started mixing up the people who went in there. That changed everything.\u201d<\/p>\n Corina started with leasing units to out-of-towners who were not aware of the block\u2019s past.<\/p>\n \u201cLocals would shy away from the complex, so we got backpackers in there really quickly because they didn\u2019t know its reputation. When people asked why they were living there, they\u2019d say, \u2018Why? It\u2019s really nice!\u2019 And the reputation slowly shifted.\u201d<\/p>\n By carefully placing different types of people into the one complex, Corina was doing more than an overhaul of a downtrodden unit block \u2013 she was creating a community.<\/p>\n Goondiwindi property<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cWe had a guy with a disability; an average working guy; backpackers; a girl who had escaped domestic violence; and a couple of mums in there,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n \u201cAt one point, a grandma started helping babysit for the mums while they walked down to the shops, because she equated it to playing with the grandkids. The working guy started going around and checking people\u2019s workloads and helping them out. People started to really look out for each other.\u201d<\/p>\n This new caring, interactive environment also began to drive out the crime and violence that had once permeated this block.<\/p>\n \u201cThe council\u2019s always telling me, \u2018You really cleaned that place up \u2013 it\u2019s completely changed now. People actually feel safe living there\u2019,\u201d Corina says.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s now $40,000 positive cash flow a year \u2013 it\u2019s been great to learn how to do things remotely, and today that\u2019s the investment I\u2019m proudest of. It is something that\u2019s going to be in my portfolio forever. It brings in great cash flow and was fixed up into a great community,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n \u201cMaking money alone isn\u2019t fulfilling \u2013 it\u2019s a goal. But it\u2019s not like making a difference where you get to feel good about yourself and enjoy the process.\u201d<\/p>\n The success of turning things around in the community has also given Corina direction.<\/p>\n \u201cIt gave me confidence, so now when I\u2019m looking at other unit blocks I\u2019m not nervous about the rundown ones \u2013 sometimes you need to make sure it\u2019s in the right part of town and know how to fix those issues so you can create a space where people want to live.\u201d<\/p>\n Corina is now focused on creating communities by tracking down rundown properties, renovating them and leasing them out to generate cash flow to the tune of $20,000 profit a year.<\/p>\n \u201cThe future is in investing in multiple-tenant properties \u2013 I love blocks of units, boarding houses, even multi-tenant commercial properties. I have multiple streams of income and it\u2019s always going to be safer, as one person can move out and we\u2019ve still got rent coming in.\u201d<\/p>\n In addition to changing communities, Corina has also been able to fulfil her original goals as an investor. She was able to take a year off to beef up her investment knowledge and indulge her passion for travel.<\/p>\n \u201cI wanted to have time to myself \u2013 I don\u2019t want to be told what to do. I love solo travel; I love meeting people and just being unattached. That\u2019s the kind of freedom property investment has allowed me.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" When Corina Sell signed the contract to purchase her first property in Melbourne\u2019s Notting Hill shortly after her birthday in 2013, she had no idea the market would reward her so quickly. \u201cI ended up buying a house for $565,000, and at the time I…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":176692473,"featured_media":25160,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[13,25,31],"tags":[70],"class_list":["post-25375","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-story","category-sponsored-channels","category-your-investment-property","tag-featured"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/au.res.keymedia.com\/files\/image\/YIP%20137%2018-32%20corina.PNG?w=1060&ssl=1\")
Property type<\/strong>
\nBlock of 8 rundown units<\/p>\n
\nGoondiwindi, NSW<\/p>\n
\nRenovate to create a community atmosphere<\/p>\n
\n$480,000<\/p>\n
\n$820,000<\/p>\n
\n$40,000 per year positive<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/au.res.keymedia.com\/files\/image\/YIP%20137%2018-32%20tips.PNG?w=1060&ssl=1\")
Making a difference<\/strong>
\nHaving had the difficult financial experience of purchasing a property in the city, Corina looked to the more affordable countryside for her next investment. She wanted to focus on cash flow, and soon found a seller who placed a block of eight units on the market in Goondiwindi after struggling with high interest rates.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/au.res.keymedia.com\/files\/image\/YIP%20137%2018-32%20goondiwindi%20property.jpg?w=1060&ssl=1\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/au.res.keymedia.com\/files\/image\/YIP%20137%2018-32%20property%20purpose.jpg?w=1060&ssl=1\")
Feeling good<\/strong>
\nThe block in Goondiwindi, which is around 350km southwest of Brisbane, has not just become a friendly home. It has also done very well financially since Corina purchased it, as she originally paid $480,000 and it is currently valued at $820,000.<\/p>\n