‘Your gut’: Email that made 23-year-old cancel buying his fourth home

A young Aussie landlord has revealed the email that shattered his house buying dream and made him pull out of the deal just days after making it.

Gen Z landlord Harley Giddings, who already owns three homes, has revealed why he “pulled” out of the deal to buy a fourth house at the last minute.

Mr Gidding made the tough call to not buy a home after contracts had already been signed, and it wasn’t easy because it meant putting on hold his dream of owning four properties by the age of 24.

Mr Giddings, 23, bought his first home when he was 22, splitting the cost with his dad on a $450,000 four-bedroom, two-bathroom house in Perth.

He then secured another property on his own, also located in Perth, a three-bedroom, one-bathroom for $420,000.

He later purchased a three-bedroom, one-bathroom home in regional Western Australia for $390,000.

The ambitious 23-year-old, who still lives at home with his parents, has tenants in all three properties and dreams of creating a property empire.

Mr Gidding thought he’d found the fourth property he wanted to purchase in regional Queensland.

“I got it at a really good price because the previous person that had planned to purchase it, their deal had fallen through because of finance,” he told news.com.au.

Mr Gidding already owns three homes. Picture: TikTok/propertywithharley

He said he got the fourth property for a good price. Picture: Instagram/propertywithharley

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Mr Giddings explained that he knew the sellers were anxious to offload the property because they’d already put down a deposit on another home and needed this one to sell to move forward with their own purchase.

“If they don’t sell it they might lose their deposit on another property,” he said.

Everything was going according to plan. Mr Gidding made an offer that was accepted, and he was keen to move forward with the purchase.

The 23-year-old had always understood that the property would need some renovations before he got to rent it out, and he got a rough quote of around $13,000.

He said that was affordable and the mortgage with the equity he’d invested would be around $2000 monthly.

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When he started asking around for builders, he found basically the only builder in town because it was such a small area.

He was shocked when the builders couldn’t even give him a rough date on when they could start renovating the property.

He even shared an email online between him and a builder who claimed “we can’t give dates as we are behind with weather events”.

He couldn’t rent out the property until he got those renovations done and, because he didn’t have a start date, he was worried the property could end up sitting vacant for months.

It was a situation Mr Gidding wasn’t prepared to enter.

“Essentially, work needed to be done, and the contractors in the area weren’t able to book a date,” he said.

“I wouldn’t be able to put tenants into it and I’d be buying a property and holding it.

“I pulled out of the deal.”

He said he ‘pulled’ out of the deal. Picture: Instagram/propertywithharley

Mr Gidding said you have to trust your gut. Picture: TikTok/propertywithharley

Mr Gidding said he spoke to his conveyancer, took “advantage” of the cooling off period and called the sale off.

The cooling-off period varies from state to state and is between two to five business days. It gives buyers the chance to not go through with a sale. You may have to pay penalties or forfeit your deposit, depending on the contract.

It is only available if you buy the property privately and doesn’t apply if you purchase at auction.

In Mr Gidding’s case, he paid a 2.5 per cent fee, which was over $1000.

Even now, Mr Gidding said it wasn’t an easy decision to make, but after speaking with the people he trusts and trusting his instincts, he feels it was the right one.

“You definitely have to trust your gut and have the right team around you,” he said.

Mr Gidding is now back to the drawing board and looking for a fourth property in either regional Queensland or regional NSW.

He is looking for something between $450,000 and $500,000, and at that price point, he has found that those areas are his best bet.