He may not have the top hat, cane or bushy grey moustache but George Markoski has become a real life Monopoly Man like in the widely played board game.
The property investor who was obsessed with Monopoly as a child currently owns 39 properties spread around the country and lives off hundreds of thousands in rent money.
ItтАЩs a position he has reached starting with little money and instead relying on a combination of market smarts, hard work and long hours spent researching.
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Mr Markoski, 50, said some of the techniques he used to get into the market and profit from rising real estate values are easy to replicate тАУ but require patience.
Property investor George Markoski, with wife Christina, owns 39 properties.
тАЬMy approach is a little different, IтАЩm very stats driven,тАЭ he said. тАЬThere are 16,000 suburbs in Australia, sometimes they are going up and some are going down.
тАЬThere will always be good and bad but we are fortunate that there is so much (research) to get an objective view of every suburb in Australia.тАЭ
Mr Markoski bought his first home in the 1990s while working as a small-business owner. It was a house in central Adelaide snapped up for about $180,000. ItтАЩs now worth just under $1 million.
The purchase was the culmination of a childhood dream. тАЬI wanted to buy ever since I started playing Monopoly as a five year old,тАЭ he said.
Mr Markoski had a $180,000 a year passive income by age 37.
тАЬMy family struggled to make ends meet and I knew IтАЩd never be inheriting a fortune, but I saw property had made a lot of people into millionaires.тАЭ
His next purchases followed in the late 1990s with more houses in Adelaide and Perth before he hit a brickwall.
тАЬI was in my 20s, I didnтАЩt know what I was doing,тАЭ he said. тАЬEvery property was negatively geared and before I knew it I was working seven days a week just to pay them all off.тАЭ
He added that his fortunes changed when he shifted his loans to interest-only and focused more on the timing of his purchases.
He recognised that home values in most areas tended to stay flat for many years but then went through short, sharp periods of growth. If he invested just before the growth phase he would profit.
His first purchase was in central Adelaide.
тАЬThey say real estate is all about location, location, location. ItтАЩs a load of crap. ItтАЩs about timing, timing, timing,тАЭ Mr Markoski said. тАЬIf you buy at the right time you can double your money.тАЭ
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Each successful purchase was used to leverage into his next property. As the value of his homes increased, he could refinance his loans, pull out equity, and use it as a deposit for his next property.
Using this technique he had 10 properties and a $180,000 a year passive income by age 37. That income continued to grow with each new property. Mr Markoski said: тАЬI donтАЩt need to work now, my properties make my money.тАЭ
