How Aussie Dad made $2m in four years

An Aussie Dad has revealed how he made $2m in profit in four years, including tips for how to make $150,000 in 90 days.

An Aussie Dad has shared his secret to making $150,000 in three months.

Graham Whitfield, a former FIFO worker has given up the long hours and flights to become a property flipper. It’s allowed him to acquire more than $2m in property equity in just four years.

Most of his flips make him $50,000-$150,000 in profit and take 60 to 90 days to complete.

After a rocky start in investing, Mr Graham changed his tactic to what he calls an “active strategy” where he manufactures the growth of each property.

“You have to reverse engineer the numbers,” he said. “Say the property costs $1m when it’s fully renovated, you calculate how much is the renovation, all your purchase costs, holding costs, loan coasts, utilities, insurance and your selling costs including agent fees and staging, take all that into consideration then decide how much profit am I happy with,” he said.

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Graham Whitfield with his kids aged three and five.

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He said the key to success was market research, analysing prices in the area and having a good idea of what something might sell for once it’s complete.

“You need to be conservative with your sales numbers, I make sure I’m really comfortable, and not try to shoot for the stars, that way if you make a bit more it’s just a bonus,” he said.

The type of properties Mr Whitefield purchased were not for the faint hearted.

Hoarder houses, drug houses, deceased estates that have been completely neglected were the kinds of properties he would get his hands on to renovate.

One of Mr Whitfield’s first flips.

“The houses are quite often unliveable,” he said. Most needing a full-renovation, Mr Whitfield now has found the ideal renovation that he gets a team to do, that makes the homes both liveable, attractive and adds significant value to the property.

The amount he spent on purchasing and renovating a property was dependent on the suburb and property itself, but he would “reverse engineer” the numbers to ensure he would make a profit.

“Most of the renos I do is very much the same, same flooring, kitchen, typically I know it’ll be between $60,000 – $90,000, if it's a better area and slightly better spec or some places don't have gardens I know it’ll be $60,000.

“If it needs asbestos removal then I know it’s going to be more,” he said.

Graham Whitfield who flips houses for a living.

Mr Whitfield now educates students on how to do the same and has an online community of more than 40,000 people. He says most flips average between $50,000 to $150,000 in profit. The first flip he did he made over $90,000 in profit.

He has also begun holding some of the homes he has flipped to rent them out. Most of them are positively geared, some are slightly negatively geared but said they all balanced each other out.

“For me its properties that are still owner-occupier areas, not the best suburbs but they’re good enough and I can add value through renovating,” he said.

Another one of Mr Whitfield’s flips.

Each renovation costs between $60,000-$90,0000 according to Mr Whitfield.

For the properties he holds on to, Mr Whitfield has started adding elements like a granny flat or redeveloping sites to subdivide to increase his rental yield.

As well as continuing to flip properties in southern suburbs of Perth, regional WA and Queensland, Mr Whitfield has turned his attention to Melbourne.

”After Covid (Melbourne) really struggled so a lot of investors sold, but it will come good and have its cycle again,” he said.

Originally published as How Aussie Dad made $2m in four years