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Melbourne’s Khaysan Kimberlin, with her dog Willow, is a rent-vestor – and she couldn’t be happier. Picture: David Caird.
Melbourne rent-vestor Khaysan Kimberlin already has three properties to her name – and she hasn’t even hit 40 years old yet.
As a portfolio manager with property investment adviser OpenCorp, Ms Kimberlin, aged in her 30s, said she was especially passionate about helping women to invest in property and become financially independent.
She began her investing journey at the age of 24, buying a townhouse in Newtown, Sydney.
Ms Kimberlin said that like many young people, she was more interested in her job, travelling and partying at the time but purchased the abode at the urging of her parents.
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She’s now a proud rent-vestor – someone who rents a home while investing in property they lease out to tenants.
Ms Kimberlin rents an apartment in inner Melbourne where she lives with her miniature bull terrier, Willow.
Apart from her Newtown investment, her property portfolio includes a home in Melbourne’s outer north western suburbs and another residence in Perth.
She’s also in the process of acquiring a fourth property to be purchased through a self-managed super fund.
Ms Kimberlin said that after her first home purchase, she continued on the property ladder after being employed at OpenCorp.
Khaysan Kimberlin bought her first home in Sydney, while aged in her twenties. Picture: David Caird.
The Melbourne-headquartered company was co-founded Matthew Lewison, Allister Lewison, and Cam McLellan, who all now serve as its chief executives, about two decades ago.
“After I bought my first property when I was 24, I basically just asked them if they would employ me and teach me everything they knew and they did that,” Ms Kimberlin said.
She used the equity in her first home to buy her second property.
“And then I got a loan for that second property, and then I repeated that process to buy the third one, and then I’ll obviously repeat the process to buy the fourth one,” she added.
As part of the process, she conducted research into which areas and property types would be well positioned for future growth.
Taking into account all costs associated with a home before buying, then figuring out how much rent and tax will be involved in such a scenario, is one of Ms Kimberlin’s key pieces of advice for would-be investors.
One of the homes she bought is now valued at $1m, after she initially paid about $500,000 for it.
“When I purchase a property, I have what is called a property investment analysis,” the portfolio manager said.
“In that analysis I take into consideration all the costs associated, ahead of time.
“Then I would calculate how much rent I’m going to get and how much tax I’m going to get and then that figure is divided across a 12-month period.”
At the moment, she is about $430 only out pocket every month to cover costs associated with her investment portfolio such as land tax, council rates, water and maintenance, with the rent she earns covering the rest of her related expenses.
“For all the houses and then out of my personal wage after-tax, I only have to transfer $430 from my wage,” she said.
Ms Kimberlin says she still has a clothes and travel budget while being a rent-vestor.
She’s not too worried about interest rate rises because her combined mortgage repayments might only go up about $150 per month in such a scenario.
For her own apartment, the monthly rent comes to more than $2300.
“I travel overseas, I still have a clothes budget, I still get to do all the things that young females like to do because I rent-vest,” Ms Kimberlin said.
Depending on an individual’s circumstances, they could opt for negative gearing to help make rent-vesting work for them, she noted.
Ms Kimberlin is putting together a group of women aged 25 to 40 years old who are either single investors or looking to become one.
And young people who live with their parents without having to pay rent could consider putting a fair chunk of money into saving for, or pay off, their own investment property.
Ms Kimberlin said although her plans for the future were not set in stone, she would potentially retire with a multimillion-dollar property portfolio.
“I’m a really big advocate for rent-vestors and I’m also a real advocate for women securing their own financial future, whether they’ve got a partner in their life or not,” she added.
At present, she is putting together a group of women aged 25 to 40 years old who are either single investors or looking to become one, who can share their wisdom with each other.
Details: khaysan@opencorp.com.au
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