Speaker: Jono & Emma K., Builder & Payroll Officer, New South Wales — 🏡 2 properties secured
Please tell us who you are and what you do.
Jono & Emma K.: Hi, I'm Emma. I'm Jono. We are currently 35 and 36 living in Sydney. We are both from Wellington in New Zealand. We moved here. I moved here about 10 years ago. You were probably a little bit longer, 15 years ago. Yeah, I'm a chippy, now a builder, living in Sydney. We have got two little boys. One is just turned 4, and the other is just over 1. And I am currently working part-time for Suttons Motors, doing payroll and support.
Before working with Access Wealth, how would you describe your overall financial situation at the time?
Jono & Emma K.: Well, we bought an apartment just before we had our first boy. And we outgrew it pretty quickly. Then we found out we were having another boy. And we needed we needed something bigger. So we sold up. We did all good. And we parked that money thinking we could try and purchase our next house. But we haven't been able to find anything we like, can't afford what we wanted to do. So, yeah, we've kind of parked it from there. When we sold, we made quite a bit of money from it. And then we, while we weren't sure what we were up to while we were renting, we put the money in a term deposit, just to make it a bit of extra cash off that. Really unsure what to do with it next. And especially since we didn't know whether we could afford the size of home that we wanted or in the right location, whether we should go and get an investment property instead, something back in New Zealand even. We really weren't sure. We hadn't really even considered retirement. That hadn't really been something we'd considered yet. We've kind of just been surviving the last couple of years really. Yeah, that kind of outlines where we are. Yeah, just really unsure what we were doing, and what next options to take.
At that stage, what challenges were getting in the way of you actually making financial progress?
Jono & Emma K.: So before we started with Access Wealth, the challenges we were facing or what was getting in the way of making financial progress was kind of not having a clear plan. We really didn't know what we wanted to do, where we wanted to be. We were second-guessing all our decisions in regard to properties we were finding. Yeah. Do we go down south? Do we go back to New Zealand in terms of buying a property? Really unsure. We keep going back and forward, didn't we? I'd also been on maternity leave for a year, so we had limited income that way, so that made it hard to borrowing power and all those sorts of things, so yeah. That was, that was pretty much our. Yeah, we just, we didn't really have the the advice or the knowledge that we needed to make those decisions.
Before speaking with Access Wealth, what concerns or doubts did you have about property investing?
Jono & Emma K.: So Jono set up the meeting with Access Wealth and put it in my calendar and said, we're having a meeting with these guys, it's about property that was kind of, or you I think you even said a mortgage, something like that. Well to be honest, I was like I had tried everything else and I was like, look, I'm dragging you along to this one. We're gonna give this a crack. Yeah, join in, it's gonna be, we'll see, we'll see how it goes and if, yeah, we're interested in what they're talking about, we'll carry on and see how we go. I did not know who it was or what they did or anything until we pressed play on the recording. Got on the video, sorry, yeah, no, no idea. But in terms of property investing, how did you feel? I think the, the whole tax and everything that comes with, investing or property investing always kind of scares you away, but it's always in the back of my mind, like we'd build, you know, kind of get our own house and then always look at property, because I like property and so it's always been interesting to get into, but you haven't really had the time. I didn't think to do it first.
Did you have any hesitations or concerns about working with Access Wealth before starting?
Jono & Emma K.: Honestly, no. Like that first initial meeting, it was really good. It was really good. Only little doubts like, because it sounds so good, is it too good to be true? The only thing was, so once we started getting more into the process, like we had signed up with them and we were looking at properties to actually purchase, I spoke to my brother who used to be a mortgage broker. And he highlighted a few things and asked me a few questions that I hadn't really thought about, and it wasn't until that point that we kind of were like, we hadn't thought of these things, and it wasn't, it wasn't anything to scare us away. No, it allowed us to actually ask some questions and get some. Yeah, really good answers back in all honesty, and that was reassuring, really reassuring, especially because everything that he had highlighted as, potentially being a flag or just something to look out for, they either had the right answer or it wasn't even a concern. So it kind of made us actually more confident in them, didn't it? Yeah, yeah.
If anything was holding you back at first, what made you decide to move forward with Access Wealth?
Jono & Emma K.: We didn't really have any, any hesitations. We've had a really, really positive experience with Ben and Adrian. They have guided us the whole way, checking in. We have a lot of confidence in them. They've been so great. Yeah, outlining the plans, what options, all the kind of other things that were not on our radar made us aware of, that was very helpful. Yeah, we have learned a lot from them. Like, honestly, we didn't even know that you could use a self-managed super fund to buy a property. That was something we learned from them. And it turns out though, a lot of people don't know that. Yeah. A few people I've mentioned it to. It's just small things like that. They just, they really give you all the information you need to make the decisions, which is really helpful. And then obviously we now finally understand how property investing works and how it will work for us. Well, and we're actually looking forward to just seeing the next steps that come along and see the little quirks and tricks and things like that, that can make it better for us. And I think the way that they planned out, telling us that we could potentially buy full investment properties in the next 5 years, showing us how that would look, how we would get there, how that would benefit us in the future for our retirement and for our kids. Yeah, they just they've really made it work for us. I feel like they've really tailored the whole experience to us, and it's not just being kind of a one size fits all approach. Yeah.
What was your experience like working with your strategist and the team throughout the property journey?
Jono & Emma K.: The experience has been really, really positive, really fantastic. The team have explained everything so well and in-depth. Well, it just kind of brings down a basic understanding and keeps it nice and clear for us. Yeah, they really outlined everything, laid it all down. Yeah, it's just been so easy to understand. And it's made us kind of see a clear plan of what our next 5, 10, 20 years looks like, what our future looks like. Yeah. So our team have been Ben and Adrian. They've both been fantastic. We can't fault them. I love the way that they're constantly checking in, following up, reassuring us if we're concerned. We had a few concerns that was to do with signing one of the contracts, and they were great. Yeah, it was seamless. It was really seamless. Yeah. And compared to what we expected, it's actually probably exceeded expectations. We didn't really know what to expect, but the whole process has been really great, and we probably couldn't recommend them enough to someone else. I've already been speaking to a few friends from work, and a lot of them are really interested in getting their details and getting in contact with them. So hopefully, yeah, they have positive experiences with them too.
Since working with Access Wealth, what progress have you seen?
Jono & Emma K.: We've got a lot clearer of a direction of what we're doing now with our finances, especially for the next couple of years, and kind of how, how our retirement will look as well in terms of finances. We are still in the early stages, so we're positively looking like we're in the right direction. We have purchased two properties. Well, we've paid the deposit for 2 properties which so moving forward with they stacked on top of each other. Yeah, so we are seeing progress towards our goals and we do feel confident in our finances as far as going into those next 2 years.
How would you describe your confidence now compared to before you started working with Access Wealth?
Jono & Emma K.: Confidence wise, before we met the team, we, we didn't really know what we were doing. We didn't know what we wanted to do, if we wanted to invest, if we wanted to buy our own property to live in. We really didn't know what to do with our money. Obviously now. It kind of looks like we've got it, like it's the plans in place. We're kind of working, working forward. And our money, we feel like we're money's working. It's doing something for us. And feeling calmer about that it's under control with the team is, is pretty, pretty good. Yeah, I was gonna say we feel like they have all the experience and the knowledge, so we're really relying on them to share that with us and then basically all we're having to do is really make the decisions that confidence start, start taking the control of that which has been really great. I think that's what's given us more confidence, to be honest.
What would you say to someone sitting on the fence about property investing with Access Wealth?
Jono & Emma K.: I, I say take the jump. Yeah, jumping into investing, I feel like in this time, is like the best for, especially our generation. Everything's so much more expensive, so having these little things that can help us get further forward is what. And you're putting, they're giving you all the, the knowledge and experience that you need. They are the experts, so like you you use them. They just make the process so easy. I think that everything in life is a risk, right? Yeah, even just buying your own property to to live in, it's a risk. Yeah, so risking it with these guys, I'd recommend it. Yeah, absolutely, and I have to say after speaking with a few more people, even the investment in them is actually not much compared to some other companies, so I think that they, they are really worth, putting your time and money into. Yeah, but it's really gonna pay off and they're really gonna help you achieve your goals and get some financial stability.
