Latest news with #SamHarper
News.com.au
3 days ago
- Business
- News.com.au
‘Death of the middle class': Tradie's drastic action to get ahead financially
Sam Harper was earning $90,000 a year when he decided he needed to do something drastic to secure his financial future, believing the 'death of the middle class' was looming. Mr Harper, 27, was working as an electrician in Perth when he became sick of earning just enough to be able to pay his mortgage and weekly expenses. 'My partner and I both had a mortgage of like $480,000 and, once you paid for that, and your groceries and living expenses, yeah, you can live comfortably, but there are no overseas trips,' he told Mr Harper had always worked hard. He'd learned a trade and slogged it out as an electrician, but he didn't feel like he was getting ahead. 'We are going down that path (where there is going to be) the death of the middle class because the gap is getting bigger between the rich and poor,' he said. 'The way I look at it is, that is out of my control, so you have to start looking at different ways to get ahead. 'At some point last year I had this realisation that no one is coming to save me.' The only time he'd really made a big amount of money was from the sale of a duplex he bought when he was 22 years old and during the pandemic. 'I got lucky buying a duplex in Victoria, and it felt like a lot of money back then, but I paid like $270,000, which is absolutely nothing,' he said. 'I sold it 18 months later and I definitely got market growth for that one. It sold for $400,000.' The young Aussie was stoked with the sale and the profit he made from it, but he wasn't real estate savvy and viewed it as a one-off than a way to continually make money. 'I was pretty stupid back then,' he said. 'I thought it was great but it wasn't until later down the line that I started looking at real estate a bit more.' Alongside his partner, and with the profits from the sale of his Victoria property, Mr Harper purchased a home in Perth in late 2024 for $520,000. The plan back then was to get some equity into the property, use that equity to buy an investment property, and eventually amass a real estate portfolio. It wasn't a bad plan, but the electrician realised that he would have to cover multiple mortgages, even if he rented them out. 'I realised I'd be stuck in my job and in more and more debt and I didn't really like the job' he explained. Around this time, he had his primary property revalued after spending around $30,000 in renovations. To his delight, the property was reappraised at $700,000. 'I was surprised by the $700,000. I thought mid $600,000. It was definitely life-changing,' he said. The tradie had been able to save money because he was able to do a lot of the renovations himself, using his skills as sparky and watching YouTube tutorials for the parts he wasn't as sure about. That staggering evaluation made Mr Harper realise house flipping was a really simple and clear way to make money. Ultimately, he decided not to sell that property, with the couple instead refinancing and then flipping another home shortly afterwards. He struck a deal with a homeowner where he renovated the property and then they agreed to share some of the profits. 'If it sold above $530,000, we'd split the profits, and it sold for $610,000,' he said. The young tradie pocketed $98,000 from that sale, which gave him the confidence to start buying properties to flip. In the past 12 months, the 27-year-old has purchased two separate properties in Perth. From the first, he made $85,000 in pure profit, and from the second, he made $125,000. 'It is a lot more than I was getting paid as a sparky,' he pointed out. Mr Harper is pragmatic about his success. Yes, a lot of money is coming in, but he also needs to use that money to keep house flipping. 'It is the type of business where, once you get the money, you reinvest it back in,' he said. That doesn't mean he has quite gotten used to seeing over six-figures pour into his savings account. 'Once the money hits the account, it is still pretty crazy,' he said. 'We definitely have a long way to go, but looking back to where we were 12 months ago is pretty surreal.' Financial planner Alex Jamieson told that Australia's wealth gap is widening. 'The middle class used to buy from a purchasing power perspective in today's standards is no longer anywhere close to the purchasing power,' he said. Mr Jamieson argued that 'if you don't own a house', you're unfortunately missing out on amassing wealth. The problem being that it is becoming increasingly difficult for Aussies to break into the market. The financial planner argued that the middle class is having a tougher time these days due to the cost of living. 'Historically, one income was able to achieve a lot more in purchasing power than what the combined income of today can achieve for a couple,' he said.
Yahoo
10-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Tradie's incredible property transformation in just five weeks: '$80,000 profit'
When Sam Harper walked through the front door of his newest property flip project, he admitted feeling a little "scared". With broken windows, blackened ceilings and asbestos-infested walls, the home in one of Perth's up-and-coming eastern suburbs needed a complete gut. While most young Aussies around the country are grappling with how they'll get onto the property ladder, 27-year-old Sam is busy finishing off his fourth property renovation project in just two years. After five weeks and nearly $60,000 injected into the Koondoola home, the self-professed property flipper couldn't be more proud of what he and his team had done with the place. Sam, a former tradie from Victoria, told Yahoo, "like most young blokes", he wasn't sure what to do after finishing high school, so jumped straight into an electrician apprenticeship. But after nearly 10 years in the industry, he knew it was never something he was passionate about. "That quickly becomes a bit of a burden," he said. "I had the realisation if I don't go for something I actually want, I might get myself stuck doing something I don't want to be doing." After travelling the country with his partner, the pair settled down in Perth and bought their first home two years ago. He jumped into a course to become a buyer's agent with the hopes of learning the ropes of property investing, but in doing so quickly discovered "I'd trap myself with more debt in a job I didn't want to be in," he explained. That's when he started delving into the world of property flipping. "I knew it was a big thing in other countries, but not done as much in Australia," he said. Last January, Sam and his partner used their full-time salaries to buy a home to live in and renovate on the side. After nearly five months, Sam said the equity wasn't quite enough to start flipping more properties, so he used "private investor funds" to help get the first few property flips off the ground. 🐜 Aussie homeowners warned over property almost 'crumbling' as tradie makes alarming find 🏡 Photos show huge problem facing Australia's fastest growing city 🏚️ Major change for 800,000 Aussie homeowners facing 'stressful' issue Sam's most recent project in Koondoola, an eastern suburb of Perth, is his proudest achievement to date. He said he was "genuinely scared" to enter the property after purchasing it. He described the condition as "horrible". "It was a nice family home for years," he explained. But after several years of neglect, it was left looking a little worse for wear. The house required a complete gutting. "Kitchens ripped out and put back together, bathroom ripped out and put back together, there was asbestos in the kitchen and the bathroom so when we were demolishing we had to get it all done properly," he said. Wallpaper had to be removed, holes in the walls patched up, along with repainting, reflooring and "full landscaping". Sam and his team placed new grass and reticulation in the backyard, painted the outdoor "bunker" — a former wine cellar, and painted the patio. He estimates the entire cost of the project was about $60,000. The property, purchased in February of this year for $500,000 is now listed for $695,000 — with Sam estimating that his profit before tax will be around $80,000. Remarkably, it took just five weeks. "It's a pretty quick turnaround," he concedes. So what is Sam's secret to success? Buying properties no one else will touch. "The ones I've done have been in horrible condition," he said. "Otherwise it can be a challenge to pick them up. Though in saying that, there are opportunities everywhere." So far, he's done projects within a 30-minute radius of his home in areas that have a cheaper price point. "I'm mainly looking at fundamentals where there is heaps of opportunity to find deals," he said. While a background in the trades has definitely helped Sam, he thinks you learn more "when you get your hands dirty". "I've worked alongside many other trades which has given me an idea of how things happen, but there are plenty of people still doing this that don't have a trade background and are successful," he said. Incredibly, Sam was able to make property flipping his full-time gig through his business Harpers House Flipping after less than two years. "Only six months ago I was still wearing high vis doing something that I didn't love," he said. "It wasn't going to get me and my family where we wanted to go. I had no idea if it was going to work out but I didn't let fear get in the way. I trusted I was going to figure it out." His plan eventually is to build enough capital to buy properties to hold for the long term. While many young Aussies will tell you the property market is simply too hard to get into, Sam argues that a "mindset shift" needs to take place. "If you focus on the problem, that's all you'll see. "My mindset is always looking for opportunity," he said. "Anyone who achieves anything great in their life will have the mindset of 'I'll find a way', and they usually do." "At the start it was quite scary, but I want people to know that you don't have to be anything special to go out there and chase what you want to chase, and create a better life." Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@ You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube.
