In a workman’s fairy tale, Adem Assad is a 31 year old Melbourne man who has flipped a house every year since he was 18 – and is now living completely mortgage free in his thirteenth home.
Mr Assad told the Herald Sun of his hustling from an early age: “I had three jobs at 18 – I was working as a store manager at Subway, waiting tables and working at McDonald’s.”
With his earnings and some help from parents he purchased his first home for $324,000. He poured $15,000 into renovations, ripping out the carpets and retiling the kitchen.
The property then sold for $94,000 more than the purchase price and the lightbulb in Mr Assad’s brain flicked on: “I thought, this is something I can do instead of working three jobs.”
He moved on to a home in Craigieburn, earning himself another $65,000 a year later.
Now working as a real estate agent selling display homes, Mr Assad was constantly watching YouTube tutorials to improve his handyman skills, with his eyes on more flips in the future. The earnings kept growing bigger.
Mr Assad next flipped a Roxburgh Park house in what was the definitive moment in driving Mr Assad to continue his investment strategy, “That one opened my eyes. I made $218,000 in a year, profit.”
His most recent flip was property number 12, which he renovated for only $20,000, earning another $94,000 profit when it sold in 2020. This profit cleared the mortgage on his recently built Greenvale home.
Mr Assad’s tips include looking for high-demand areas in neighbourhoods that are familiar to you, never buying a property that you have or will grow an emotional connection to, building relationships with tradies and employing others to do the more difficult jobs.
While it’s very common to hear a story like Mr Assad’s and assume rich parents or a large inheritance played a large helping hand, Mr Assad’s story is definitely one of hard work, measured risks and learned market acumen.