Yahoo Finance Dropout to property investor: How Aussie is earning $100,000 passive income
The Aussie went from having no investing knowledge to owning 10 properties worth $6.5 million.
Scott Levoune dropped out of high school when he was in Year 10. Now, he owns 10 properties and earns $100,000 a year in passive income.
Located across metropolitan and regional New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia, eight of his properties are rented out, one is a short-term holiday rental and one is his own personal home.
The properties have a combined value of more than $6.5 million, with Levoune having around 40 per cent in equity. But it wasn’t an easy journey to get there.
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After dropping out of school, Levoune started working as a tradie. When his boss was unable to offer him overtime, he decided to start up his own side business and was working grueling 16-hour days to save up for his first home.
“I worked a normal job which was about two hours away from where I was living, so I used to drive from 5:00am … to get to work,” Levoune told Yahoo Finance.
“Then, after work at 3:00-4:00pm, I’d run my own little thing on the side and wouldn’t get home until 11:00pm. I was doing that seven days a week.”
In 2016, after saving for two years, Levoune purchased his first property in Sydney’s Hassall Grove for $560,000 - where he still lives today.
In 2018, Levoune and his then-partner purchased two investment properties in New South Wales using their joint savings, which they then rented out.
‘My life shattered’
He then went through what he describes as the lowest point in his life after his relationship broke down and his boss passed away, leading him to go full-time with his own trade business.
“My life shattered and it took me about a year to rebuild myself and, through that, I didn’t actually realise what the properties were doing because I neglected everything,” he said.
“But when I started rebuilding myself I noticed I was getting good rent and earning $2,000 a month from the [two properties].”
This realisation led him to purchase another two properties in Orange and Bathurst using the equity in his other properties.
He then ran into some issues after his mortgage broker cross-collateralised the loans (where more than one property is used as security) and he found himself ‘maxed out’ by the bank, unable to borrow more money.
Levoune said it cost him $100,000 to fix his scenario but, once he did, he was able to get his serviceability back using special-purpose vehicles and he purchased five additional properties at the same time.
“It was very, very stressful. I wouldn't recommend it. They literally settled a day apart,” Levoune said.
‘Anyone can achieve’
Levoune is now a buyers agent and the director of property-consulting business Wealth Through Property. He said anyone could achieve similar success.
His strategy is generally based on purchasing established properties where buyers can add some kind of value to them, including through minor or major renovations or development potential.
His business also considers investments based on more than 30 data streams, considering both immediate market pressure and long-term growth characteristics.
“I want to show the world that anyone can achieve what I’ve achieved. You can be an everyday Aussie of modest means and still achieve the property portfolio of your dreams,” he said.
“Buying property can be a leap of faith, but taking smart risks is the building block to long-term wealth. All it takes is a good strategy, the right knowledge and a lot of hard work.”
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