When Radek Petlak bought his first home for $82,000 in 2001, he never imagined it would open the door to a $3million property portfolio.
Seventeen years on and with a rental income of around $3,485 a week, or $181,000 per year from 12 properties, the Adelaide resident can now retire whenever he chooses.
He and his wife Emma earn the same from the properties as they do from their day jobs and has revealed how anyone else can do the same.
Radek Petlak (pictured) owns 12 properties in South Australia and Victoria worth more than $3million
He told News.com.au that he bought his first home because it was cheaper to rent.
‘I lived in that house and didn’t think anything of it, but then a mate asked me if I realised property values had gone up significantly and that my house was possibly now worth double what I paid for it,’ he told the website.
Using his house as equity, Mr Petlak bought a second and continued to grow his portfolio as value of his properties soared.
Mr Petlak and his wife met with property guru and Freedom Formula author Bushy Martin, who helped the Petlaks understand which properties were best suited to their needs.
With a rental income of around $3485 a week, or $181,000 per year, Radek Petlak (pictured) and his wife can now retire whenever they like
Mr Martin’s advice of having one loan per property, taking on multiple lenders, diversifying property types and locations and buying homes they could afford and that the rent would cover proved to be a game-changer.
‘Once we got to the point where we were able to get good cash flow, we started looking at other types of properties … now we have a few houses as well as a few units, and while our focus is still very much on South Australia we do have property in Victoria and a couple in and around Adelaide,’ Mr Petlak said.
Within eight years, the couple have paid off their own personal $320,000 mortgage on top of $130,000 in savings.
He says anyone else can do the same through smart property investments.
‘Our aim was always to have the rental income the same as our regular income – the idea was that when we do retire, the property will bring in the same amount of cash we were used to when we were working,’ Mr Petlak said.
The Petlaks expanded their property portfolio thanks to some helpful advice from property guru and author Bushy Martin (pictured)