Property Investment
Can I afford an investment property?
In this article, you’ll learn how much money you need for these 3 factors. That way, you’ll know how much you need to start investing in property.
Property Investment
4 min read
How many properties can I buy in 2024?
Find out how many properties people in different scenarios could buy in 2024.
One of the main questions investors ask is: “How many properties can I buy over the next 10 – 15 years?”
Here’s the thing: investing has got a lot harder. I’ve been investing for 21 years, and own 40 rental properties, but if I started from scratch in 2024 it would be a lot harder to buy the same number of properties.
Not only are houses more expensive, but banks have also tightened their criteria.
I bought my first property for around $200k at the age of 19 with a 5% deposit. You can’t do that today.
An entry-level investment property costs around $550k. And because of LVR restrictions you need at least a 20% deposit.
And that’s why you can’t just look at other investors and think: “My friend Jim has been investing for 10 years and owns 6 properties, so I should be able to do that too!”
So, how many properties could you potentially buy in 2024?
How many properties can I buy?
The number of properties you can buy depends on:
- How much you earn: If you earn more, you can buy more properties
- Your living situation: If you have 10 kids it’s harder to invest than if you have 1 kid, because you have higher living expenses
- How much debt you have: The more debt you already have, the fewer extra properties you can buy
This makes it hard to forecast how many properties you can personally buy.
On top of that, once you buy an investment property, it often helps you buy the next one.
That’s because rents typically increase, and property values rise over time.
So, if you buy an investment property, you can use that extra rental income and wealth to buy the next property.
To help figure out all this number crunching I hired someone who is in the world’s top 20 at Microsoft Excel. Yes, that’s an e-sport if you can believe it?
They built me a spreadsheet to help forecast how many properties the average person can buy. Here are a few scenarios to give you a sense of what’s achievable in 2024.
Scenario #1: An average Auckland couple
Jen and Matt own a home worth $1m and have a $450k mortgage.
They both earn $80k each. That gives them the average household income in Auckland.
They’ve got 2 kids, 2 cars, and no other debt.
Our model predicts they could buy 3 investment properties over the next 15 years.
They can buy their first property straight away, then another in 2 years.
Then, after incomes and rents go up, they should be able to get their third investment property in year 9.
This assumes they are buying entry-level properties and that they are slowly paying off their debt over time.
More from Opes:
Scenario #2: High-earning Wellingtonians
Now let’s take it up a notch.
Josh and Sam live in Wellington, and together they earn $200k a year. They have 2 kids, 2 cars, and their home is worth $800k. But they’ve got a smaller $200k mortgage.
In our spreadsheet scenario, they can buy 6 properties in 15 years. The first 4 of those properties in just 6 years.
Scenario #3: A single dad earning a better-than-average salary
Robert is a single dad on $80k a year. He’s got 1 car and owns a home worth $770k with a $309k mortgage.
This is roughly the average Kiwi property value and mortgage.
Our model suggests that Robert couldn’t buy an investment property. This is primarily due to his income.
If he wants to invest, he’ll need to substantially increase his earnings.
What are these numbers based on?
The numbers provided here are based on the spreadsheet described above, but there are some limitation to this.
Firstly, this spreadsheet assumes a near-perfect scenario. It assumes that you buy a property as soon as you can every time.
It also makes a lot of assumptions. For example, it assumes that these couple’s incomes increase over time. And while that will likely happen, it won’t happen as smoothly as my spreadsheet projects.
It’s the same with house price increases. The spreadsheet just assumes house prices will rise 5% every single year, but that won’t actually happen in practice.
It also doesn’t account for potential setbacks like:
- If you lose your job
- If you have another child (and start spending more)
- Any other significant life change that could alter your situation.
So the best way to think about these scenarios is: “If everything goes to plan, then our first couple could buy 2-3 properties over the next 15 years.”
How can I get the spreadsheet?
There are a couple of ways to get your hands on this spreadsheet:
#1 – Book in with one of my team
My financial advisers use this spreadsheet with investors when building a Wealth Plan.
So, you’ll get a copy of this spreadsheet when you book an initial meeting.
#2 – Wait 3 months for our new app
Here at Opes, we are about to release Opes+. This is our new app that helps you analyse investment properties.
As part of our next release (in 4-5 months time), we will release another feature where you can plan your property portfolio, a bit like we’ve discussed here.
Andrew Nicol
Managing Director, 20+ Years' Experience Investing In Property, Author & Host
Andrew Nicol, Managing Director at Opes Partners, is a seasoned financial adviser and property investment expert with 20+ years of experience. With 40 investment properties, he hosts the Property Academy Podcast, co-authored 'Wealth Plan' with Ed Mcknight, and has helped 1,894 Kiwis achieve financial security through property investment.
Related articles
