How Newcastle couple have seven properties worth $4.2 million

They gave up on alcohol and picked up second jobs, working 60 hours a week. But it’s ultimately paid off for this young NSW couple.

A NSW couple, aged in their early 30s, have managed to accrue seven properties spanning two states, with their portfolio valued at over $4 million.

Casey Taylor, 32, and his fiancee Cassie De Luca, 33, managed to build their vast property portfolio in just three years.

Mr Taylor and Ms De Luca, from Newcastle, north of Sydney, realised they were priced out of their local housing market – so they began looking further afield.

The pair then began buying up properties in Queensland and South Australia – all while continuing to rent in Newcastle.

It’s a strategy known as rentvesting.

But it came with hard work, as the couple, who work in finance, cut out alcohol for a year, picked up second jobs and saved hard in order to get their next deposit.

“I, for a number of years, reigned my expenses right back,” Mr Taylor told news.com.au. “I got a number of promotions but although my income increased, my expenses didn’t increase.”

Having bought most of their properties prior to or during the 2021 housing boom, they have now enjoyed a significant increase in the value of their portfolio.

The couple’s debt position is $3.2 million. However, the properties are worth $4.2 million according to bank valuations, as they enjoyed an uplift in the real estate market.

Cassie De Luca and Casey Taylor decided to become rentvestors after they were priced out of their local market.

They bought houses out of main cities which resulted in a higher rental yield.

Mr Taylor revealed that he bought his first property in March 2020, in Queensland’s Moreton Bay region, just north of Brisbane, for $435,000.

He used a 5 per cent deposit and lenders’ mortgage insurance to make up the rest of the downpayment.

The duo wanted to snap up their next property to start rapidly building their portfolio and so they knuckled down to save more.

Mr Taylor picked up a second job working as an UberEats delivery driver and was clocking about 60 hours of work a week in total.

He also cut down his alcohol consumption to zero to reduce his incidental spending.

“I went sober for an entire year,” the property investor said. “Not that I was drinking much before, but honestly it will change your life.”

They make $198,000 a year in rental income.

The couple bought the properties separately in their own names. Between them, they own seven.

The pair then went on a property buying spree, nabbing a number of tenanted properties across Queensland – in Capalaba, Deception Bay, Eden’s Landing, Brassall and Wulkuraka.

They also dipped their toes into the Adelaide property market, buying a $420,000 house in the suburb of Elizabeth Downs.

By this point they were able to use a combination of equity and savings to acquire more.

Perhaps their best economic decision was for the property in Capalaba, a suburb in the southeast of Brisbane.

They paid $475,000 for it in July 2020. But a recent bank valuation put the property’s value at $700,000. That means it’s increased by an eye-watering 47 per cent.

They own properties in Queensland and one in South Australia.

The pair only started buying properties three years ago.

The pair make $198,000 a year in rental income across their seven properties.

They keep the properties on interest-only repayments to cover the mortgage.

Their strategy has proven so successful that Mr Taylor quit his job in finance and went on to launch his own buyers’ agency in 2021, called Taylored Property Wealth.

Ms De Luca then quit her job earlier this year to help him out with the budding business.

Originally published as How Newcastle couple have seven properties worth $4.2 million