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Dion Lee wasn’t like most 17-year-olds.
After finishing Grade 12 with grades that were “not high enough” to get into university, the teenager knew she had to figure out what she was going to do with her new “adult life”.
While her friends left to pursue degrees or enjoy a gap year abroad, Dion quietly built Property portfolio.
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Juggling three jobs to save for a mortgage deposit, she worked full-time as a finance intern at a local bank during the weekdays before spending nights or weekends behind a bar in a pub or as a dancer coach.
Her hard work finally paid off when she bought her first investment property in Adelaide, a two-bedroom apartment, aged 20.
She bought a plot at 21 and then, a year later, her third investment, a two-bedroom flat, at 22.
“I’ve never regretted not going to university and I wasn’t focused on traveling at that age, so it didn’t bother me,” says Dion, now 47 7 Life.
“I was quietly proud of myself for achieving all three properties by the age of 22.”
Despite becoming a homeowner at such a young age, Dion chose to live with her parents.
“I was so busy with work that I didn’t feel the need to live anywhere else at that time in my life,” she says.
“I would only be at home sleeping, showering and leaving early the next day again for work.”
Her impressive property portfolio stems from humble beginnings.
The recent college graduate landed a full-time job in finance at 17 after applying for an internship at a bank in early 1994.
“My parents weren’t worried about me working there, but at the time my mother was disappointed that I didn’t go to university,” she says.
Gaining real-world experience at the bank quickly opened her eyes to the world of finance.
“I started learning about all aspects of how a financial institution works, but six months into the internship I started working in the lending department,” says Dion.
“I soon learned how credit cards, personal and home loans are rated, how different loan products work, and I soon understood how property could create additional income for me.
“As most young people do, I first applied for a credit card, then bought a car and took out a personal loan.
“It didn’t take long for me to realize that I needed to find a property and be able to get approved for the loan to buy it.”
Every Saturday she scanned the real estate section of the local paper to see what was on the market.
“Once I started saving for the properties, I wanted to buy quickly and to do that I needed enough of a deposit to get started,” she says.
“I meant that I needed to pay off my car loan as quickly as possible so that I could get loans for the properties in terms of affordability.
“I worked in three places. My parents supported me by allowing me to stay at home, paying minimal board.
“However, they have never been able to gift or loan me money for the properties.”
Dion scraped together $8000 of his hard-earned money for a deposit on an $83,500 unit just 6km from Adelaide’s CBD.
She rented out the townhouse-style apartment as her first investment property.
“I started getting rental income for it,” she says.
“I didn’t understand much about how to calculate the profit the property would give me in cash flow each week, but I soon learned.”
The property quickly taught her the pros and cons of having tenants.
“I ended up having to take the tenant of that property to court because she was eight weeks late on her rent and didn’t seem interested in paying her rent until now,” Dion says.
“The tenant was eventually evicted after failing to inform himself of the rent owed.”
A year later, Dion bought a block of land in the Adelaide Hills for $63,500 as the value of her first property increased, so she was able to use the equity to take out the deposit for her second purchase.
“My plan was to eventually build my own home on the land,” she explains.
“Unfortunately, I sold it a few years later and never built the home.”
At 22, she bought her third property, a two-bedroom apartment near Adelaide’s central business district, for $195,000.
“This unit was also bought with equity from the first property,” she says.
“It taught me again the challenges that can happen with tenants.
“The lady who rented the property decided to come back to Sydney with no notice and just a text saying she had left and the keys were in the mailbox.
“Thank goodness for the landlord’s insurance, as it covered the cost of cleaning and repairing the damage she had left behind in a relatively new apartment.”
With three properties to her name, Dion says she’s been able to learn about “life lessons” and “where I went wrong.”
“Buying multiple properties means borrowing more money for it,” she explains.
“When I applied for a loan for my second property, it was a block of land with no income to be included in the loan affordability.
“It made it challenging to get approved.
“The challenge became more difficult again when I bought the third property, an apartment.
“I was able to include the rental income for that property, but then I was at my limit for additional loans and I wasn’t able to buy my fourth property until three years later, after I had a higher income to service the loan.”
Not only was he dealing with difficult tenants, Dion says rising interest rates made it a challenge, especially when owning multiple properties.
“The repayment of the loan can vary at a variable interest rate and this had to be considered and reviewed regularly given what was happening in the market at the time,” she said.
When she turned 25, she finally moved out of her parents’ home after buying her fourth property to live in.
Dionne went on to build a portfolio of up to 14 properties.
Using the tools, skills and lessons she learned along the way, she worked her way up the ladder to become a qualified mortgage broker and real estate agent/buyers.
The mother of three now runs her own business called A Woman Inspired, where she teaches women how they can achieve financial freedom by building passive income and making smart property investments.
“I learned good and bad from my first three properties I bought,” she says.
“Now I try to prevent other people from making the same mistakes I made.”
For anyone looking to get on the property ladder, Dion offers four tips.
“Create a budget you can work with to allow yourself to save as much of a deposit as possible,” she says.
If you’re looking for ways to save extra money, she suggests considering taking on a second job or another “outside” way to create additional income streams.
“The cost of living these days makes it difficult to save for a house deposit, especially when you’re paying rent at the same time,” she says.
“Therefore, you need to think outside the box about other ways you can make more money, whether that’s working a second job, starting some business alongside your job, or learning how to create chunks of money through property deals without need to have as much cash on hand as possible.
“The key is to make up your mind that you’re going to find a way to save that deposit to begin with.”
She also says you need to educate yourself about finances and ownership.
“Really understand the different ways you can get on the property ladder,” she says.
“You don’t always have to buy your own home first (especially if market prices are too expensive where you live).
“You could consider buying a high cash flow investment property elsewhere initially at a lower price.
“If it’s done well, you could probably earn enough rental income from the property to cover your own rent as well.
“It all comes down to learning to understand numbers.”
Finally, if you’re serious about saving money, Dion says you should be “consciously aware” of how much money you’re spending on items.
“It’s not my job to tell people how to spend their money or not,” she says.
“However, if you’re really clear about why you want to get on the property ladder, then you’ll automatically think about what you really need to spend your money on, rather than the items you want to spend the money on.
“We still have to live our lives, but you have to ask yourself every time you go to spend your money if what you’re buying is a ‘need’ or a ‘want.’
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