Train driver who started investing in property on $39k salary now has 13 homes worth $12m

A former garbage train driver who earned $39k a year when he started investing in property has revealed some of the tricks he used to acquire 13 homes worth $12m.

It was on another night spent hauling garbage out of Sydney that freight train driver Daniel Walsh reaffirmed a vow he had made to himself.

Back when he was a Western Sydney teenager, frustrated with his low pay, he had promised to build a better life and eyed property investments as the way.

Fast forward to today and, after having made some savvy plays in the housing market, it’s safe to say he has succeeded.

The 31-year-old, with wife Sophie, now owns 13 homes worth $12m and $7m of that real estate empire is held in equity. He no longer drives trains.

The couple’s rents cover all their mortgage obligations and net them an extra $100,000 a year in profit, which they pocket on top of their day jobs.

Even more remarkable is that Mr Walsh started this portfolio while working as an apprentice earning just $39,000 a year.

Daniel Walsh, with wife Sophie, bought 13 homes while he worked as a train driver. Picture: Tim Hunter

Gaining financial independence through property has opened a lot of doors and changed his life, he said.

“Those trains smelled really bad. It was 800m of household garbage. You’d know about it on these 40 degree days. The shifts were 12 hours. I don’t miss it,” he said.

“I travel the world now. We were recently in the Maldives. I get to live a better lifestyle.”

Mr Walsh said the key to building his portfolio was patience and making sacrifices when he was younger.

He also understood early in life that he had little chance of earning a higher income through the kinds of jobs he could get due to dropping out of school in year 10. This compelled him to invest early.

“I knew I was going to be a tradie and I’d never be able to get this massive income so whatever I did with money I had to be good it,” he said. “I realised that if I invested in property early I could compound my wealth.”

Daniel Walsh pictured back in his days as a freight train driver.

His first purchase in 2010 was a property in Thirlmere on the outskirts of Sydney, where he built a new house from the shell of partially started project.

The land and build cost $320,000 and he used a 5 per cent deposit scraped together from high school savings. He also sold his car to fund some of the building costs. He was 19 at the time.

“I was an apprentice and remember complaining that I’d get more money if I worked at McDonald’s, but I was living with my parents. I didn’t have rents to pay. That helped,” Mr Walsh said.

His second property was on the same Thirlmere street, which he purchased by refinancing his first property and drawing out some of the equity to use as a deposit – a process known as leveraging.

Both properties surged in value in the proceeding years and, as he saved more money and began to earn a higher income, he had more money to plough into new deposits and stamp duty costs.

Daniel Walsh's first property in Thirlmere, which cost him $320,000 in 2010.

Subsequent properties were purchased in Melbourne, southeast Queensland and Adelaide. These properties tended to be in areas with higher rents relative to the mortgage costs and the values rose quickly. Most were bought through leverage.

His peak income while driving trains was about $80,000 a year, which could stretch to $100,000 if required to do a lot of overtime, but he said getting new loans was the biggest challenge as an investor. He now works in wealth advisory.

He solved the problem by getting mortgage brokers to continually restructure his portfolio and by approaching second or third tier lenders, rather than the major banks.

His wife joining in on some of his later investments, at a time when she earned about $40,000-$50,000 a year, also helped secure new loans.

One of Mr Walsh’s properties in Queensland.

“The main thing is time. In 12 years you can do a lot, but most people want to try do everything in one year,” Mr Walsh said.

“I was prepared to make sacrifices and spend very little when I was much younger. It was those early investments that allowed me to buy all the other properties.”