How this 33yo former train driver built a $20m property empire

Real estate mogul Daniel Walsh has come a long way from earning $250 a week as an apprentice mechanic and driving trains full of garbage.

When he began his working life, Daniel Walsh took home a meagre $254 per week as an apprentice auto mechanic.

The then-15-year-old spent the next few years scrimping and saving every single cent he could to put together a modest deposit to fund his first real estate investment.

From that suburban house, Mr Walsh has built a mammoth portfolio comprising 15 properties in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, worth a staggering $20 million.

From an apprentice mechanic to a train driver, and now a property mogul.

Unlike many success stories about young people and bricks and mortar, this one doesn’t involve a generous cash gift from family.

Instead, he credits a strict work ethic inherited from his mum and dad, a lot of personal sacrifice, and keeping his eyes on a clear goal.

“For a long time, I wasn’t interested in instant gratification,” Mr Walsh, now 33, said.

“Everything was about sacrificing what I could to save money. I knew life would be good one day if I did the hard yards.”

From little things big things grow

As an apprentice, his take-home pay grew each year as he advanced through his training, but it wasn’t quick enough for the youngster.

“I worked on Saturdays, I did jobs in the [workshop] after hours for bits of extra cash – rebuild a starter motor and that sort of thing,” Mr Walsh recalled.

With a deposit of $35,000, he bought a plot of land in Picton, southwest of Sydney, and built a house on it.

That first house in Picton.

There was no stamp duty because it was a new construction, and he managed to mortgage it with a 95 per cent loan-to-value ratio.

Things were tight and it was a “hard slog” that required further sacrifices, he admitted.

“I kept running short of money towards the end of the build. I sold my car at one point and bought an old Daihatsu Feroza off the side of the road for $1500.

“I kept that car for a long time, but it blew up twice. I rebuilt the head of the engine twice. After that, I got rid of it. I upgraded to a Kia Rio.

“I was into skydiving at the time so I sold all my equipment for about $3000 to be able to finish off the driveway so I could rent the house.”

Daniel's humble Kia Rio is long gone.

When completed and leased, the house was worth considerably more than the initial outlay.

Mr Walsh tapped into the equity to buy a second piece of real estate – a mortgagee in possession property just down the road.

“I renovated it, doing the work myself, then rented it out,” he said.

After that, he sat tight for a few years to wait for more equity to grow and to save some money.

“Equity was a big part of it but I also kept saving money like crazy so I wasn’t too over-leveraged,” he said.

He formed a carpool with mates from TAFE, where they took turns shuttling each other around for a month at a time, to save cash on petrol.

He barely drank when he went out, didn’t buy lunch or coffee, and when he eventually moved out of home, it was into a garage that had been turned into a studio flat.

Daniel Walsh has built a property portfolio worth about $20 million.

Mr Walsh lived in that converted carport for a long time – even after he’d met his now-wife Sophie, who was just as enthusiastic about real estate.

At one point, he took a new job driving freight trains because it paid more and gave him a few extra days a week of time to devote to his portfolio.

“It was good pay,” Mr Walsh said. “I hauled garbage from Sydney out to Tarago.”

Daniel did an auto mechanic apprenticeship before becoming a train driver.

As his ambitions grew, so did his knowledge of the world of real estate, which saw the portfolio diversify to include freestanding homes across the country.

Enjoying the spoils

A few years ago, Mr Walsh and his wife decided to buy their very first home to live in, snapping up a property in Camden.

It appreciated in value rapidly during the Covid-era boom, allowing the couple to sell and realise one of their big-ticket goals.

“It’s the dream place,” Mr Walsh said of the $6 million home in Sydney’s northern beaches.

“We’ve treated ourselves a bit. It’s in one of the best streets in the area, right opposite the marina where I can see my 50-foot boat from my balcony. We’re walking distance to the beach.

“It’s a nice piece of land and we’re in the early stages of doing a complete renovation on the house so it’s perfect for Sophie and I and our 11-month-old son.”

He has since upgraded from that trusty but unglamorous Kia Rio to something a little fancier – a silver Lamborghini.

Daniel and Sophie sacrificed a lot early on.

Thanks to equity and financial discipline that allowed him to keep saving money, Mr Walsh’s current net worth sits at $10 million.

Driving trains, and indeed working for other people, has long been thing of the past.

Mr Walsh now works full-time in the real estate space these days, founding the buyer’s agency Your Property, Your Wealth, which is responsible for some $825 million worth of deals.

He also runs education courses and has just published a book, 6 Principles to Retire Younger & Richer.

Daniel treated himself with a big boat.

But perhaps his proudest achievements came recently, when he thanked his parents for inspiring him to work hard to achieve his dreams.

“My parents ran their business for 43 years and worked really hard. I walked in this year and told them they could wrap up if they wanted and I’ll pay their wages for the rest of their lives.”

His mum and dad officially retired six weeks ago and are gallivanting around the country in a caravan.

“That’s what it’s all about,” Mr Walsh said.