Beau Arfi: How to buy 20 properties by age 27 in Australia. Mistakes of investing in 2023

Growing up Beau Arfi struggled at school and money was always tight at home, but the luxe lifestyle of a family friend inspired him to get his act together and make a change. 

His parents split at age 12 and during his teenage years he aspired to live a comfortable life without financial stress. 

Now the 28-year-old from Melbourne now has a net worth of an estimated $4million dollars and 20 investment properties. 

In 2013 the young investor bought his first property in Bulleen, Victoria at just 20 years old.

It was a $134,000 three bedroom home on a 600sqm block and he put down $20,500 for the deposit and fees.

Speaking to FEMAIL, Beau said before starting his investment journey he was studying at TAFE and worked nightshift as a kitchenhand.

The 28-year-old started from humble beginnings as he struggled in school and his parents didn’t have much money. After seeing how a wealthy family friend lived he strived for more 

It took him 12 months to save enough money for the first investment property and Beau is thankful he was able to live at home without paying rent while doing so.

His parents were ‘always stressed about money’ while his property developer family friend and his wife were always travelling, living a carefree lifestyle. 

This motivated Beau to find another way to earn money in addition to working.

‘It shifted my mindset to thinking about not just buying one property but abundance because I thought property was a good way to achieve my goals,’ he said. 

And only 12-18 months later he bought another two properties on the same street – two houses in Victoria – one property was $160,000 and the other was $170,000. 

His third investment was an apartment and by 2019 he had six properties under his belt. 

However, from there he struggled getting further loans from the bank so shifted his focus to improving his cash flow. 

To do this he bought two car spaces outright for $50,000 each which generates about $500 per month.

He now owns five car spots.

Beau purchased his first home in 2013 at age 20 after saving $20,000. Only 12-18 months later he bought another two properties on the same street 

However, his worst investment was buying an office in 2019 right before Covid hit Australia

However, his worst investment was buying an office in 2019 right before Covid hit Australia. 

‘Offices took a bad hit because of the pandemic so it was a pretty bad investment,’ he said. 

To make up for the shortfall he listed his apartments on AirBnb and the car spaces were also helpful during the dire time. 

Today his investments include eight houses, four apartments, five offices, and five car spots. 

When he bought a home to live in in Bulleen for $590,000 he was also able to get a stamp duty exemption because he had only bought investments previously. 

This little-known tip meant he didn’t have to pay $30,000 worth of stamp duty. 

Beau’s net worth is calculated by his assets – estimated at $6.5million – minus his debt – about $2.5million. 

When asked if he’s ever stressed about the money, he said: ‘Yes, of course. But the thing with property is equity is a comfort layer and you can always sell everything.’ 

‘And it is stressful, but what’s the alternative? Having no investments and living paycheck to paycheck.’  

Today he generates around $10,000 a month in profit from his investments. 

He said another one of this biggest mistakes he’s made was letting his emotion play a factor when making financial decisions. 

‘If I could go back and change anything, I wouldn’t buy the apartments. It was an emotional decision because I wanted to live in the city,’ he said. 

‘But apartments traditionally don’t make much return compared to houses.’

Adding to this, Beau said he would never invest in Sydney because the market is too high and so instead looks to Western Australia, Victoria and overseas. 

Currently he’s in Dubai for business and owns two properties there. 

Today he’s the proud founder of Maple Group – a wealth management company helping clients also wanting to gain financial freedom through property. 

According to research by Pearl Finance, only 1.6 per cent of Australians own two investment properties and 0.5 per cent own three investment properties.