2 Properties Before She Turned 30 – Interview With Lisa Tran

Lisa Tran has been able to purchase 2 properties by the age of 30 and start her own successful business.

0:00 – Introduction
1:00 – How did Lisa started in property?
4:00 – First property details
6:40 – Lisa’s second property
8:35 – Lisa’s long term strategy
14:57 – Using a buyer’s agent
18:00 – Lisa’s next steps
23:30 – Biggest takeaways

Recommended Videos:

Lisa’s Video

Transcription

Ryan 0:00
Today, I’m really excited because I’m interviewing a very inspirational woman who has been able to buy two properties before the age of 30 and start her own successful tutoring business as well. So today, I’m really excited to talk to Lisa Tran about just her property journey, how she got into property, some of the things that she’s learned along the way. So hi, Lisa, thanks for coming on today.

Lisa 0:24
Hey, thanks for having me. I’m so excited. I’ve been watching you for so long. This is a little bit surreal. So

Ryan 0:30
yeah, it’s also because you texted me or you commented on a YouTube thing saying I did a video and mentioned you. And I was just like, it came at just the right time, because I was like, Okay, I want to get back into talking to people who are out there just doing their thing, investing in property, creating the life that they want. And I was like, Oh, this person, I watched some of your videos. I’m like, Yeah, she she lines up, this is going to be great. So do you want to tell the people out there a bit about your property journey? Let’s start, you know, way back at the beginning. When did you start becoming interesting? Interested in property?

Lisa 1:06
Yeah, sure.

So I guess my journey is a little bit of a different one, because my interest in property came much later than when I actually purchased the first property,

which seems a bit odd.

Ryan 1:22
So you purchase property before you actually interested in it.

Lisa 1:27
So when I was 23, my parents had been pretty interested in property themselves. I had a couple of properties themselves. And they’re like, Lisa, you know, you got to get in on this. This is how you make money. It’s not about the job. It’s about, like, how much land do you have? So I was 23. I was studying pharmacy at the time, I was doing my internship. So it was a really busy year for me. So I had no interest in property whatsoever. But my mom was just like, you know, I’m gonna do all the research for you. I’m going to get out there and, you know, do the bidding for you. You just pay the mortgage. And I was like, oh, okay, sure. And I had no idea what I was committing myself to. Is this.

Ryan 2:12
Is this like, a parental obligation thing? Like you felt like, Oh, I have to do this because mom said it.

Lisa 2:18
I think sorry. But I guess like, I am also quite. I’m like the ideal child, I’d say I’m very like, yep, I’ll just follow insert with what you want. As opposed to, like, verbally?

Ryan 2:33
Not me. I’m definitely not the ideal child.

Lisa 2:36
Yeah, definitely a parental pleaser, like, I just want to make my parents happy. Um, so yeah, I guess in that sense, I was actually really lucky and privileged to have parents who actually kind of knew what they were doing and got my foot in the door a lot sooner than I would have if I was to be interested in property, which only came down several years later. So yeah, I purchased that property when I was 23. Signing paying. I have saved my deposit. So I’ve been working, you know, from when I was 19, through 23, as a pharmacy assistant, so I had the money. It was just a matter of our parents.

Ryan 3:18
What were you saving for then if not a property?

Lisa 3:21
I don’t know.

I don’t know. Actually, it was just that the money was accumulating there. Um, I wasn’t the best saver either. But I used to wag a lot of uni in order to work. So I think that’s sort of how it like, worked out quite well. Yeah, like I do 20 hours to 30 hours of work each week, as opposed to

go into duty. So yeah, that’s how

I saved up that money. And, um, when I was 27, yes, everything’s just churning along. I’m doing the mortgage repayments not really thinking about anything at all.

Ryan 4:02
So when you’re 27, let’s go back to 23. And that property, where abouts did you buy? Did you buy a unit house? Was there any strategy behind that property?

Lisa 4:13
Yeah, so I purchased a unit. And it was just like, the truly like one step down from where we lived in Melbourne. Right. I am in Melbourne. Yeah. Um, strategy wise, I started really, it wasn’t strategy. And if my parents I don’t think they necessarily think of it, like strategy for their own property investments, either. Like I think it was just like, find a property that’s at a good price that we can afford. And let’s just like, get our foot in the door.

Ryan 4:46
Like kind of by holder, it’ll go up over time or eventually I’ll pay it off. It’s no like, okay, here’s the next couple of steps and this is where I’m going to end up financially. It’s just okay, by it and long term. I think this will be good.

Lisa 5:00
Yeah, exactly, you get it.

Ryan 5:02
So you actually timed the Melbourne market pretty perfectly there. 2013 or 2013 was kind of right before, I guess Melbourne and Sydney both went gangbusters over, like 2014 2015 2016, like peaking in 2017. So it’s like you that as timing wise, if you could have like chosen Melbourne and Sydney, like, that would kind of be the time where you’d be like, okay, yeah, this looks really promising. It makes me feel good. Like,

Lisa 5:31
this is what I mean. Like, I literally had no idea. Exactly. So that even though

I know, and that’s the thing with property, like, I feel like, the more you learn about it, the less you know, at some point. So and I know for me that I’m not property isn’t my be on it indoor, like, it’s not the focus of where I want to be, even though I am really interested in property, like I still got my business. So there’s only so much I feel like I can learn before I’m just like, okay, but I’m just gonna make my decision now, if that makes

Ryan 6:03
and so do you still own that property? I’m guessing in value over time.

Lisa 6:08
Yes, it has, which is good. Because I was watching on your channel, and on Ben’s channel about how units are not necessarily the best investment? Oh, I have it. Should I sell it? Should I not? But

Ryan 6:26
what am I’m just gonna hold on doesn’t mean that bad investments. It’s more just like people getting into it. To consider the option. Yeah.

Lisa 6:33
Yeah, for sure. And you learn from your mistakes. So my second property, I bought a house, which Okay,

Ryan 6:39
so let’s move forward to the second property. So you’re saying around 27, things started to change? Yeah.

Lisa 6:46
So 27, I have a I had a pivotal conversation with my friends.

A very embarrassing one, actually.

So we were talking about property. And they asked me about my property. And they will ask me questions, very basic questions like, oh, is your mortgage, a principal and interest? Or is it interest only? And I didn’t have the answer for them. I had no idea what they were talking about. I felt really embarrassed as a result. So I was like, Okay, I can tell from these guys that this is something that I should know. And because of that it actually spiraled me into the rabbit hole of learning about property. And yet, it was really fun and really interesting. And I realized, you know what, I’ve already got one property, I might as well actually just keep going with this. Like, I feel like the first property is probably the hottest in some ways. So I’m from there. I landed on your videos, watched a few of them. Throughout 2017 2018, I think I started watching more of Ben’s videos on Pumped on Property whilst watching yours. And then I got in contact with Ben and got him as a buyer’s agent and eventually purchased the property at the start of 2020.

Unknown Speaker 8:07
That’s my story.

Ryan 8:08
So Ryan has COVID hit you were saying off camera is when you ended up purchasing. Yes. So

Lisa 8:14
just before Melbourne went into lockdown, like literally three days before I flew up to Queensland had a look at the property flew back down. I didn’t stay a day because I had no idea what was going on with lockdown. So I’m really glad that we were able to just yet get everything done before lockdown started.

Ryan 8:32
So there’s a couple of questions I want to ask you. The first is, I guess, around strategy and why, like, what changed there? And talk about why you decided to go with a buyer’s agent? And then yeah, I guess how things have gone, and what your plans are for the future. So let’s kind of start with strategy. So 2017, you started learning more about it, and then watching my staff and then staff and 2020 was when you purchase your property? What kind of changes? Do you have a strategy now? Is that something that you’re aiming towards? Or is this still just like a buy this and it’ll, it’ll be she’ll be right.

Lisa 9:11
She’ll be right. Yeah. Um, to be honest with you, like I do think that mentality of she’ll be right is, it is bad because like, I just, I generally feel that property is a good investment, like if you do decide to hold it long time and so with my strategy, though, I do plan to hold my properties long term and to pay them off. I think I’m quite risk adverse. So to me, I think purchasing a property and doing the whole negative cash flow thing like that’s a little bit scary and then like just waiting for properties to increase in price. That’s not to say that I might not be awful that down the track. Um, but yeah, I’m thinking of just accumulating properties for now. At my dream, dream goal, I guess, is actually have paid off three properties. And we’ll have installed the granny flat for that property I purchased in Brizzy. And then I have four incomes coming in. And then I think I should be set after that. But having said that, I feel like when that time comes, I’ll be like,

Unknown Speaker 10:19
oh,

Lisa 10:20
what about another property?

Ryan 10:22
Yeah, what? What about we go? Yeah, I think something interesting that’s coming through in what you’re saying is, obviously, there’s a lot of people looking to invest in property to kind of escape their lives. So they want to invest so they can be financially free, so they can go ahead and do what they want, and live the life that they want, because they hate their job, etc, etc. And a lot of people are just in a big rush in order to do it. And it just seems like, you’re really not in a big rush. You just enjoy your life, enjoy your work and your business. Even talking off camera, you’re very passionate about the things that you’re doing. And I like over the years, I guess I’ve learned as well how important that is to make your life awesome now. And then you invest in property on the side. And you know, eventually over time, you’ll be financially free through it, but you don’t need that financial freedom. And so you’re not taking big risky decisions to get that quicker. You’re just kind of like, okay, slow and steady wins the race.

Lisa 11:19
Yeah, you’re I think you’re right, like I, you know, like, in theory, you know, that not rushing is probably good for like, mental well being and all that. But then there’s this, like, anxiety that does come up like, Oh, no, what, uh, what if I’m missing out, like, I should be doing this faster. But for me, like, the reason why my pathway has been slower is because of external factors. So which I think has been good. So for example, when I discovered your videos in 2017, I didn’t feel that rush. And I was like, Oh, shit, like, I need it. I need to get onto this faster and sooner so that I can achieve that financial freedom. But the reason why I couldn’t purchase a property straight away was because in the previous year, I have recorded a really lowered taxable income. So that I could you know, I basically like plain old expenses I could, which on paper meant that I barely needed to pay any tax. But then I didn’t realize that that meant that for the banks. my financial situation actually looked really bad.

Ryan 12:22
Yeah, so you can’t get a line? Because to the banks, it looks like okay, you hardly earn any money. Yeah, yeah, this is, I guess, the dilemma a lot of people in business have, it’s like, do I maximize all my claims that I can legally do and maximize that I don’t have to pay on tax? Or do I take this thing of, Okay, I’m gonna pay more tax this year, just so my income appears what it actually is.

Lisa 12:48
Yeah, that was pretty much the case for the following two years. So I had to basically, like slowly amp up my income. And this might be helpful for anybody watching, but like, you can’t just say that you earn 40,000 in one year, and then 100,000, the next year, and then the bank’s going Yep, cool. 100,000. There will be a Okay, why is this this dramatic increase? Something looks suspicious here. So yeah, it did take a while It took two years to sort of build that back up again. But I think it was good. Like, it gave me more time to think about my strategy, because there’s just so many different strategies out there. And, you know, like I think gave me really, I think people can be really easily swayed if they’re not 100% certain on what they want, like, like positive cash flow, positive cash flow in regional areas, metropolitan area, should

you go into state, like, what do you do?

Ryan 13:44
And every video that you watch tells you how good that strategy is, right? Even myself with my own videos, like I believe in the strategy that I recommend or whatever. And it’s like, Okay, I’m convinced about it. So the way I talk about it is pretty can be convincing. And then, but then other people have other strategies, and they all can work really well. But if you’re out there, and you’re not sure, it can be like, Oh, my gosh, what do I do?

Lisa 14:09
Yeah, exactly. Like when I was watching in doing my research, I not only came across you, but I came across a few other people. And they had their own different strategies. By I think, over time, I started to find out more of who I resonated with, and what sort of strategy made sense for my situation. I think that was the important thing. Like the fact that I’m more risk adverse, I am not really keen for the negative cashflow side of things. The fact that I, you know, do have a business. So this isn’t something that I want to spend like too much time on. And so that’s why the buyer’s agent was part of that strategy that was like, Yeah, I want a buyer’s agent as opposed to doing this all myself. So yes, time is good. That’s the moral

Ryan 14:56
of the story. So you decided to go with a buyer’s agent Because you had time for because you didn’t want to invest the time into learning. Are you feeling overwhelmed with the whole process?

Lisa 15:07
Yeah,

I think I was. Firstly, like, selfishly, I didn’t want to do a lot of the legwork. Like what I was saying before, like, the more you learn sort of the less you feel, you know, or, like, the more you realize that you need to do your due diligence here, and here and here. And that might be as simple as like, okay, not only picking this up, but then picking the straight. And then after picking the street, it’s picking the property. It’s like, there’s just so much that’s involved.

Ryan 15:40
And there’s so much nuance in everything as well, even picking the street is that the high side or the low side of the street? What about the way the sun faces and the the houses orientated to the sun and, you know, different neighbors in the street and everything. And when you’re doing it regularly, it just becomes second nature. But for someone getting into it, it’s like, oh, my gosh, there’s so many points, it can be so overwhelming.

Lisa 16:05
Exactly. And I didn’t want to be going out to inspections every weekend. And I knew that I’d just be so drained from that experience. But then, yeah, I saw Ben and Simon came came along, they did, basically the entire package of holding your hand through purchasing a property, which I really liked. Like I liked just being handheld and being told like this is kind of like a good situation. What do you think about it? I was just like,

yep, yep. Yep. It all sounds good to me. Yeah,

Ryan 16:37
I’ve been on the other end of that going to inspections, looking at properties being uncom, like phone conversations with people as well and being like, I see how they explain it and how they hold people’s hands through it. And also, ultimately, you make the decision in the end of what property that you buy, but you just get fed information and get, you know, so much help along the way, which just makes it so much less overwhelming. And I’ve seen them go through and take all the photos and go through all the journalists. And I’m lucky because I just get to go around filming videos and like making stuff up and they’ve got to do all the hard work and the legwork of, you know, looking at the stamps of the property and looking at everything.

Lisa 17:19
Yeah, but I think they did a really great job of just like, making sure that everything was covered stamps, you know, the inspections. I see that I can’t even remember what they did. But I know they did do due diligence.

Ryan 17:34
Well, that’s it, you know, someone else has kind of got that covered for you. You don’t have to worry about it. And you can go through the report and say like, okay, I didn’t even know to check for that I can see.

Unknown Speaker 17:47
Exactly,

Lisa 17:47
I’m sorry. Yeah, really happy that I did that. And maybe in the future, I’d get another buyer’s agent. I’m not sure why it was it was a great experience. So I’m really glad I did it. Yeah.

Ryan 17:58
And so for you, what’s the plan? Like now? What’s your next steps along this journey?

Lisa 18:05
Yeah, so I think the next step, my very what’s the word I much have I mature knowledge of the property market is that, you know, you’ve got the cycle. And like the different cities and

you know, I know you can explain this way better than I can.

So at my understanding is that like Melbourne is sort of like hitting the bottom of the cycle, or it will be over the next couple of years. So I think I’m interested in purchasing a property in Melbourne, Northern Russia, again, like I think waiting like one, like another year would be good, just to get yet another piece of land. And then as I said before, like I in my head, I’m kind of like, you know, three properties, that’s like three incomes already, which is like, it should be like $80,000 a year at least, which is an average income in Australia, if not more, so. I’d be really happy after that just to stop paying them down when I’ve got a little bit of money as well. So I’m not sure if I should pay them down or save up for the granny flat talking about it makes me go saving up for the granny flat makes more sense because then I can make put another income like a fourth property in a sense on on the Brisbane property and then get more income that way and that way it was not Domine knowing effect and paying off all that

Ryan 19:36
can be so hard to make those decisions of Okay, do I just pay down debt or do I? And then you got to think about, okay, interest rates are super low at the moment. So if I’m only paying 3% if I’m paying off debt, effectively, I’m only making 3% on that money. It’s like Could I actually do more with that money by building a granny flat and then having the person the granny flat pay off The debt but then obviously you’ve got along, but then you’re accumulating more debt, and you’ve got to pay that off over a longer period of time. And so it’s a there’s a lot of juggling to do to work out. Okay, what’s the next best step for me?

Lisa 20:13
Absolutely. And I think for me, you know, I’m not your, I can do the math, but I don’t want to do the math. Like, I don’t want to be sitting there in an Excel sheet, like figuring out which options is going to be like the the best option, essentially, because I feel like that is a rabbit hole in itself. So yeah, I think my way of going about that is sort of just think, on the high level, and just hope for the best.

Unknown Speaker 20:42
Yeah,

Ryan 20:43
we wing it, whatever you feel like at the time, it’s what you’ll do. That’s, that’s the vibe I’m getting here.

Lisa 20:49
I think sorry. You know, it’s just sort of like, I know, in a general sense, that property is a good thing. And so whatever I’m doing, whether it be paying off the mortgage, or whether it be saving up for the granny flat, it’s all going in a positive direction, in some sense. So Exactly,

Ryan 21:05
yeah. And one of the benefits that you have is obviously, starting at such a young age. So starting at 23, second property, you know, 29, or however old you are now. Yeah, and having time for those properties to grow, for rents to increase for you to pay them off. You know, and as, as you said, it’s just kind of, if you show people that you don’t have to have a super intense and detailed strategy in order to make this work, and in order to set yourself up, and even if you just continue along the path of slowly acquiring properties, slowly paying them off. So you get to retirement age, at 67, or 70, or whatever it is, when we finally reach it. Okay, how much better off? Are you going to be having your super, but then also having all of these properties that you’ve had 30 plus years in order to pay them off? Like in 30? plus years? Are those properties going to be worth more? Probably, like, pay them off? highly likely? Will their rents be higher than they are now? Yeah, probably as well. Like when you start to take that extremes, extreme, long view, I feel like things can often become really simple. It’s like when you’re trying to look at, okay, where am I going to invest in the next two years with Coronavirus and market timings and everything? It’s like, Oh my gosh, I can’t make a decision. I can’t do anything. But if you’re like, Okay, if I Project 30 years in the future is Brisbane or Melbourne or Sydney gonna be more expensive than it is now? It’s like, Well, almost guaranteed.

Lisa 22:41
Yeah. What do you think is really resonating? Actually? Because, yeah, I think if you’re like trying to flip a property, then like the urgency and the pressure of like, getting something that’s actually going to be profitable is like a lot stronger up in Yeah, me where I’m kind of going, you know, I hope that by 60, I paid off all these properties. And I can, like live off the income here rather than going to centerlink. Like, that’d be pretty happy with that.

By Yeah,

that makes a lot of sense, actually. And I’m glad that you’re telling me this. I’m doing I guess sometimes like you don’t you don’t have that even

Ryan 23:23
Yeah, often you can lose perspective of it.

Lisa 23:26
Yeah, definitely.

Ryan 23:28
Yeah. And so it’s really cool. So what I guess some of the biggest takeaways that you’ve had the biggest things that you’ve learned along your journey, other than what a principal and interest and interest. Yeah,

Lisa 23:43
that was one of my first landings. Yes,

I do know it now. Thank goodness, and biggest learnings. So Ah, actually did a video on this. But I’ll kind of consoling come to

Ryan 23:56
it down below, if anyone watching. Yeah, for sure. But yeah, what are some of the things if you can remember?

Lisa 24:04
Yeah, I can remember. So I think I think my biggest takeaway is that you are on your own journey. And that you sort of just need to figure out what’s going to work best for you. Like, there’s just so much noise, not only on the internet, but like when you’re talking to friends, or family, they’re gonna have their own opinion as well. And you’re just like, oh, everyone’s just talking to you. Everyone’s talking at you. I was looking

Ryan 24:31
at you, right? Like, they’re just like,

Lisa 24:33
yeah, everyone has their own opinion. So just I think you need to filter all that out and find the opinions that resonate most with you. And who knows maybe what, you know what we’re talking about, just resonate with the person who’s watching but hopefully it is in some way. So I think that was would be the first biggest thing.

And

yeah, like I think the second time Way, which I’m actually just going to leech off from what we’ve said is that I guess you can definitely start to overthink things and go into rabbit holes. And it can get very stressful as a result, but it doesn’t have to be that way. And if that’s what’s going to, you know, get your foot in the door, as opposed to paralyzing you, because of all the choices, then I think it’s always a good idea just to like, not overthink, and just do it.

Yeah.

Ryan 25:30
Yeah. Well, I really appreciate you coming on. I really appreciated hearing your story. And I know a lot of people out there will be inspired by this. And I feel like it gives off that, yeah, we I can do this, you know, you can do it. And she’s just kind of plodding along, doing a thing, kind of like, you know, just doing it on the side, you’ve got your business and your online stuff, which maybe we’ll talk about at a future date. But it’s like, you’re just doing this on the side to set yourself up for your future. You’re living your best life. In the meantime. Yes, like long term, you’re setting yourself up. And I think it’s really inspirational. I know you did it for your parents when you were 23. But even, you know, getting into the market so young and then doing it again this year. You know, I think it’s really inspirational. I think a lot of people will draw, draw something from this and hopefully help them on their journey. So thank you so much for sharing. Is there anything else you’d like to leave people with?

Lisa 26:30
Thanks so much for having me. Can you really go chat? And what would I leave people with? If they want to see a part two and they want to learn more?

Ryan 26:38
Drop a comment, like and subscribe.

Lisa 26:42
I’ll be back if you guys want me back.

Ryan 26:44
Awesome. Thank you so much. Thanks so much everyone out there for tuning in. And until next time, stay positive

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