19-year-old Olivia Shone has achieved what many Australians spend decades trying to get: ownership of a four-bedroom investment house. The Warragul, Victoria, native started saving for property at age 16 after discussions with her father Luke, who bought his first home at 18. Real Estate (dot) com news site reported that she purchased a plot of land in her hometown and built a house on it three years later. The total investment was estimated at about $600,000. Even more impressive is that Shone was also juggling military service and university studies while managing much of the construction from thousands of kilometers away. According to the report, hard times helped shape Shone’s resolve. Her mother died when she was 11, which changed her childhood significantly. She grew up helping her father with jobs around the family farm, before finding work mucking out horse stables at an equestrian facility at Drouin West when she was about 14 or 15. Later, she worked in retail at Horseland and found other ways to grow her savings. One unusual investment was in cattle, where she bought a cow and her twin calves for about $1,200 and later sold the younger animals for about $2,500. And while saving meant sacrifices that many teenagers might find hard, Shone eschewed expensive social outings, big shopping trips, buying a car and overseas travel, choosing instead to work or find more work.
Purchasing land rather than a pre-owned home
By the time she was 18, Shone had saved enough money to buy a block of land. She had researched the local market and decided it would be more financially advantageous to build new than to buy an existing home. It was also hard to find anyone who would take her seriously. Shone contacted several real estate agents looking for the right property but found some dismissed her because of her age. The house was built by Metricon and the Crownlee estate team at Warragul was among the groups to back her plans.
Building a house from 3000 kilometers away
Her father also provided practical support throughout the project with property visits when required.
Shone joined the Australian Defense Force after finishing Year 12. Now based at an air force base in the Northern Territory, she works as a chef and studies law part-time. Although she was more than 3,000 kilometers away from the building site, she stayed in touch with the building process over the phone. She corresponded online with Metricon, making design decisions including bathroom tile colors, mostly by email. Her father also provided practical support throughout the project with property visits when required. Metricon’s regional Gippsland sales team said Shone’s readiness, commitment and maturity are why she was able to successfully complete the build.
First property and bigger ambitions
Shone, who was in Warragul recently to collect the keys to her finished investment property. She doesn’t plan to live in the four-bedroom house. Instead she will rent it out and use it as a stepping stone to a bigger property portfolio. Her next target is to buy another investment property and she hopes to build a few more properties in the future. For Shone, the journey says a lot about what disciplined saving, hard work and long-term planning can do. Her story additionally emphasizes the sacrifices she had to make from her teenage years on to reach her first big financial milestone. More than just a home has been built at 19. She has paved the way for the investment future she began planning at 16.Images Courtesy: Real Estate (dot) com
