Taking the property leap

As I previously mentioned, the FIFO life enabled me to start setting myself up, however the start of my property interest actually started before that.

It all started when my Nanna moved into a nursing home and was forced to sell her home to pay for that move, which if you don't know how the age cared facilities work in Australia... It's not very nice and is very expensive. My eldest sister and I couldn't stand to see her home be sold to strangers, so we joined forces (well incomes) and purchased her house when I was only 19.

This decision was completely made on emotion for me and then only later did we realise that we have made our first investment for our future.  This investment included tax deductions, which came in handy when we worked away, until it started earning too much money, and now is a solid base for our superannuations. 

That house is a tiny 3 bedroom, 1 bathroom fibro house in the country that we bought very cheap, luckily. We've since had our parents do some serious but necessary renovations to the house, with a little bit of help from us (before you judge, they are retired and offered, I worked full time and my sister worked an 8/6 roster, so it was difficult for us to be around). 

We then moved on to our second house when I was 21, well really she hit me up on my 21st birthday and convinced me to buy another place with her... And a few months later we had ourselves a 2x1 townhouse in the metro area.  Unfortunately we paid an inflated price for this property due to the property boom that was going on in Perth. This was a great base for us while we both worked FIFO,  there was even a year there that we really would only see each other for 10 hrs a month and most of that was sleeping.

But the time came to sell this as we needed more space when my rosters/work changed continuously. After having it on the market for a reduced price we still couldn't sell it so we decided to turn it into an investment property too and rented it out.  This wasn't such a good idea as the property was damaged by the tenants, needed to be fixed and after all that we agreed to try to sell again... At an even lower price.   We lost money on this in the end but hey that's the swings and round about of property right?  

A couple years later I was put in a position where I was able to purchase another property as an investment, this time on my own, so I jumped at it and bought a block of land, again in the country.  I have since built a house on the block, although I will say picking a design was really difficult but in the end built something I almost love. 

I say I almost love it because, after spending 10 weekends finishing it to turn key (landscaping, painting and little touches like light fittings etc), there are a lot of things I'd now changed with that house, starting with the ensuite bathroom. 

As that property is an investment I only got to sleep in it one night (in my swag) after I took possession of from the builder, which was very special and for me a huge personal achievement.

I think all of this property is a true reflection of my independence and I can't see this being the end of my interest in property... And honestly I'm always looking online for my next potential buy, not that I could afford it at the moment.