The Simple Plan to Achieving $100K P/A Passive Income.
“How is it possible for me to achieve $100,000 in gross passive income before the age of 40 & retire from my current job”.
This is a question we get asked a lot.
And rightly so.
it’s a great question.
A question we believe every single Australian should be asking.
Some would call it the Australian dream
And yet in our experience, we believe that the objective of this question (i.e. to completely replace one’s wage by earning $100,000 in passive income) is entirely possible for any Australian with a full-time job.
How can we see this?
To answer that, we’re going to have to take a look at the specifics of ‘high-performance’ property (i.e. the kind of properties that we like to purchase) in regard to some specific scenarios that we see regularly.
Running The Numbers
Firstly, when answering the question of how to achieve $100k in passive income through property, it’s important to throw out a number of different scenarios.
This is because there will be no ONE scenario that is guaranteed with investment.
Returns will vary depending on the type of asset that is purchased.
Below are a few common scenarios that we usually expect for our clients.
- $2 000 000 worth of property unencumbered returning a 5% rental yield
- $1 500 000 worth of property unencumbered returning a 7% rental yield
- $1 000 000 worth of property unencumbered returning a 10% rental yield
NOTE: Unencumbered means that the property has no debts outstanding against it (i.e. you’ve been able to pay down your debt in full. Paying the mortgage down in full is something we usually recommend doing when you’re finally ready to retire before then, you should be focusing on building your asset base).
The power of time [Inflation X Compound Interest]
The next question we have to ask ourselves is, when do we want to be achieving this $100K in passive income?
When we consider time as a factor we see where property investment works its magic. It’s also where the saying “It’s always better to be in the market than out of it” comes from.
“It’s always better to be in the market, than out of it.”
This is because when we’re in the market, we’re able to take advantage of the fact that property will generally increase in value over time at an average of about 6-20% + per year (depending on the strength and of the timing of the purchase of the property within the market you are buying in)
If we are to sit on the fence for a period of 6-24 months as many novice property investors do when they’re first researching, we will miss out on these gains. On a first investment, this can look like a $50-100K per year opportunity cost.
When Time works on your side.
Let’s take a look at a time frame of 15 years.
If we assume ’high performance’ property doubles every 10 years. $750,000 property portfolio today, should be worth $1,500,000 in 10 years’ time, assuming you have selected the right properties (i.e. properties that experience > 7-10% growth annually when we factor in compounding interest).
Also in terms of the rental yield. It is safe to assume a property that is generating a 6% yield today. Would be > 10% yield on the initial purchase amount in 10 years’ time, given a conservative rental increase of 6% per annum (typically gross rental amounts increase in the markets we shop in by 10-16% P/A).
- E.g. Today a $500,000 property @ 6% yield = $30,000 P/A Rental returns ($577 P/W).
- In 10 years that $500,000 property is worth $1,000,000 (10% P/A Growth X 10 years).
- If we conservatively assume then rent goes up by 7% each year, in 10 years it will have doubled from the initial amount of rent.
- This will then be returning 12% on the initial $500,000, as opposed to 6%, which is $60,000 income annually.
This scenario is simply based on ONE single property.
Most of our clients are not buying 1 property, but buying multiple.
A large majority of these clients do so with a full-time income < $75k and > $30k in savings (or a guarantor).
This brings us on to our next point. Accessing Debt.
How Do I Get A Loan To Achieve > $100k Passive Income in 5-15 Years?
In pretty much every scenario where someone we work with has created financial freedom for themselves, the starting point was them getting access to debt through a bank loan & then investing that debt in high-performing property that suits a client’s portfolio & long-term goals. In many cases, this is the case close to cashflow neutral as possible (i.e. pays for it’s own interest & other costs).
To be able to be cashflow neutral, the property needs to be well-performing (in today’s climate with high-interest rates this essentially means a yield of > 5.8% as a minimum).
For a lot of our clients, they will choose to focus on higher equity growth assets that they contribute a small amount per week to hold (i.e. $50-200). By doing this, they’re technically negatively geared (in the short term), however, they know they’ll achieve more wealth in the form of equity & thus benefit in the long run.
By doing this, we allow the rental returns to cover our interest payments & let the increase in value of the property over time (both equity & yield) do the work for us.
In today’s numbers, a real example might look like (note these are hypothetical numbers based on a real market purchase we made):
- $376,000 property.
- The variable interest rate of 6%. Cost – $22,560 Annually.
- Yield returns of 8.29% (these properties are available & we regularly find them for our clients). Income – $31,170 Annually.
If we assume 25% of this gross yield return is taken up by ongoing costs (council rates, property management etc.), then this example will be slightly positively geared.
- 75% gross yield amount = $23,777.
- Interest payments = $22,560.
- Total returns per year = $817.5.
This is where we use time on our side, as it doesn’t cost us anything to hold onto the property (the rent covers its interest costs).
When negative gearing is a factor.
- In scenarios where there is negative gearing, we like to make sure it’s minimal & fits a client’s portfolio & financial situation.
- For most people on negative gearing, they will only need to contribute anywhere from $20-$100 per week to secure their assets.
- This is only something we recommend for people who can afford it. In these instances, it helps them to achieve their financial goals sooner.
Over time, gearing will trend towards being more positive. When we look at the numbers shared above we saw the property doubling in value in 10 years conservatively. We also saw the rental returns doubling. Continuing with that scenario:
- Our $376,000 asset is now worth > $752,000.
- Our rental income has at least doubled & is now producing > $63,000 annually.
- Our variable interest rate is now 4% as inflation eases & interest rates go down. Given over the Australian interest rate has averaged out at 3.84% Cost – $15,040 annually.
- The returns are now $47,960 in cash flow annually.
Net-Results. Factoring In Key Numbers.
We have to caveat this.
We have been talking Gross numbers to keep things simple. There are some other costs that should be expected for rental returns.
Even if all debt has been paid down we will still lose around 25% of your rental returns in ongoing ‘holding’ costs, such as property management, council and insurance costs along with ongoing maintenance.
Just as we account for tax in our financial statements, it’s important to keep these numbers in mind.
With this in mind, you will want to aim to build your gross passive income around 25% higher than the Net figure you are after.
Using the above example, this would bring our net returns on the income generated from our property down to $30,000 (as a conservative figure). This is significantly positively geared & would be the same for any asset purchased (even if it started as negatively geared).
And this is just for ONE property.
In 10 years, many investors will purchase anywhere from 2-10 properties so long as they have done their due diligence correctly.
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The Simple Plan To Start Building Your Portfolio.
So now that we know the numbers, how do we actually fund the purchase?
Top tier banks will typically lend around 6-7x income (not factoring in any debts).
2nd and 3rd tier lenders will lend up to 10x income.
Income is calculated based on the total amount of cash flow in a household. This essentially means:
- Your income.
- Your partner’s income.
- Your rental return income & any other passive income.
The first cap for most of our clients is their household income.
Let’s take a common example of $70,000 annual income.
Their maximum borrowing capacity will be $700,000 – the minimum debts the lenders will assess you by at the time of borrowing
The typical property we purchase is between $300-650k in value. For continuity, we’ll refer back to the specific property we linked which was featured on our Instagram as a property we purchased for a client.
This property had a value of $376,000.
Through the purchase of this positively geared property, they will have a net income (after all expenses & interest payments) of around $3000 annually.
This will increase their borrowing capacity to $730,000 after 1 year. Because they have $376,000 in debt outstanding, they will only be able to secure around $350k for another purchase.
They can buy a very similar property for this after 12 months.
If they then wait 3 more years, both properties will have increased by around 35k per year (assuming min. 10% growth).
- Property 1 has been owned for 4 years & is now increased in value by $140k.
- Property 2 has been owned for 3 years & has increased by $105k.
- The rental returns have also increased by 30 & 40% respectively, meaning there is an extra 10-20k in net passive income. Let’s just say this is $15k.
With the $245k in equity on the two properties & the extra $15k in passive income annually, the borrowing capacity will now be at a total of $1,095,000 (as equity can be used to guarantee another loan).
There is still $725k in debt owing (but this is not costing anything to hold) but the capacity to now get a loan for another $375k.
This will allow the purchase of another similarly performing property, which will add to the total amount of equity & cash flow.
In 15 years, this process can be accelerated, potentially purchasing one property every 12-24 months to boost the total amount of passive income until the desired amount of property owned is achieved.
For most looking to reach financial freedom, this is around 5 high-growth properties accrued over 10 years that are balanced between growth & equity-focused.
Please note, this is based off current finance conditions. This changes all the time based on APRA and the banks appetite to debt and risk
Paying Down Your Debt.
Now to the last point.
If I simply hold onto the properties forever, won’t I continuously be paying interest?
There are a few strategies here that can be followed, which will suit better depending on goals.
- Selling off the highest growing properties to pay down the debt on the highest yielding properties in your portfolio. For most people achieving $100k passive income in 10-15 years, this means selling off 2/5 properties from the portfolio to pay down the debt on the rest.
- Over the 10-15 year period, we advise our clients to buy high cashflow assets & high yield assets.
- Because we always invest in markets that grow at a minimum of 10% P/A an asset we invest in will double in value over 10 years. In 15 years it’s typically 2-3X initial value (i.e. a $500k property purchased in a market we buy in 15 years is usually worth between $1.5-2M).
- As such, selling 2 properties is more than enough to pay off the outstanding debt on the 3 properties.
- E.g. 2 x $1.5M properties sell for $3M total.
- The total debt owing for 5x $500,000 properties is $2.5M.
- This means all debt can be paid off, with $500,000 left over.
- This leaves them with a net passive income of $120k per year (if each property was purchased similarly to this example, where annual net passive income from each property is circa $40k).
- Paying off the principal amount slowly over time once you have accrued the assets you wish. This is something that should be discussed with your financial advisor.
- The main caveat to this is that paying down debt as you go decreases your ability to accrue more assets.
- With this in mind, we usually advise paying down the principal once someone has completed their portfolio & is happy with the potential passive income they will get.
Summary
- We firmly believe any Aussie with a full-time job (yes even an 18-year-old) can achieve financial freedom in 5-15 years.
- We define financial freedom as > $100k in passive income annually.
- We only purchase properties that grow at a minimum of 10% per year & return a yield (cash from rent) of at least 5.2%.
- Rental amounts often increase by 10% P/A with our properties. A property that is initially negatively geared will usually become positively geared within a couple of years.
- Time is the most important factor for property investment results and the advantages of being in the market, with property prices increasing over time on average by 6-12% per year in general & in certain markets experiencing accelerated growth of 12-40% p/a for a certain period of time (e.g. Hervey Bay in 21-22).
- A loan can be obtained with a full-time income of less than $75k and more than $30k in savings, a guarantor or equity.
- Focusing on good quality assets that have comprehensive data behind them is the best way to secure long-term financial freedom. Extra costs associated with finding these properties (i.e. agent & data fees) are more than worth it over the long run. This can mean the difference between millions over the life of investment in multiple properties.
- Having a plan in place & taking a strategic approach is the absolute to take the most advantage of what’s possible through high-performance property.
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