Property Investory
Siva Raj - Escape to Sydney and Rise to Subdivision Superstardom
November 28, 2021
About 30 years ago, Siva Raj and his family fled their war-torn country of Sri Lanka with only the things they could carry. This experience made him determined to succeed in life and investing in property has paved that journey. He started investing in property as a hobby while he was still in university. This hobby quickly turned into the profession of property development and investment.
In this episode, Raj shares the challenges he went through adapting to life in Australia, and how they only added to his resilience and drive to succeed. We’ll hear about the first property he scrambled to purchase and what he needed to give up to do so. While it was something the average university student may not be able to give up, Raj’s past experiences meant he would have done it 10 times over to thank his parents for all they sacrificed. While it certainly wasn’t an easy journey, it led him to reap the many rewards he enjoys today.

Timestamps:
01:47 | From Sri Lanka to Sydney
04:43 | Cultural Challenges
08:07 | They Set Their Sights on Sydney
12:50 | Good Weather, Great People
15:14 | Learning Two New Languages in One
20:09 | New Ways of Thinking
23:52 | ‘We Should Buy Something’
27:43 | Scrambling Up Savings

 |

00:46 | Diving in Head First
03:19 | What’s a Subdivision?
05:33 | Long Term Benefits
08:57 | Capitalise on the Pull Back
11:39 | Focus, Then Replicate
13:36 | The Simple Formula
16:38 | Learning Curves
21:33 | Case Study
26:03 | Financial Security Was in Sight
31:53 | Lifting the Bar

Resources and Links:

Transcript:

Siva Raj:
[00:21:58] I was inspired by a lot of the some of the guys' stories that they presented. So I used to read a lot of magazines, especially property magazines and articles. It was something that I was never taught about or told about, that there's another side of this world for me.
 
**INTRO MUSIC**
 
Tyrone Shum:
This is Property Investory where we talk to successful property investors to find out more about their stories, mindset and strategies.
 
I’m Tyrone Shum and in this episode we’re speaking with Siva Raj, property advisor at Mantra Wealth. After fleeing his war-torn country in the early ‘90s with nothing more than his arms could carry, he sacrificed all he could to buy his first property fewer than 10 years later. He now uses that experience as motivation in every step of his inspiring journey. 
 
**END INTRO MUSIC**
 
**START BACKGROUND MUSIC**

From Sri Lanka to Sydney

Tyrone Shum:   
Raj started as an investor at a young age. Born and bred in a small town in Sri Lanka, he came to Sydney with his family in the early ‘90s to search for a better life. They certainly found it— although he was far from a seasoned investor at the time, Raj bought his first property while he was at university. The life he leads now revolves around property, however with many years of experience behind him.

Siva Raj:   
[00:01:47] Currently, I do investment for myself and others. Also, I do development for myself, and with my partners in a bigger projects. Now, typically, I'll look at the market, I actually love property market. So, in a typical day, I would look into property market, look at property opportunities out there. There is lot of opportunities out there. If you have the eye for it, you will find a lot of opportunities. Some of them not be financially feasible. But to weeding out those opportunities is probably one of the key things that are allowed doing and I'm making that deal work. Making the opportunity work, and put into putting together different professionals, different authorities, like councils and state governments and putting together this deal. It's like you're putting a seed and the seed grows, it's a quite exciting process. So I love getting opportunity and then built on that opportunity.

[00:03:44] We migrated to Sydney in the early '90s. It's a while ago! We left our home in a war-torn country. Pretty much we came here with whatever we could carry. And I left a lot of family, friends, and moved to Sydney. I grew up in Sydney, it is a great place for kids to grow up. Mainly in that Hornsby area.

Cultural Challenges

[00:04:43] When I moved here, the first time I was like, 'Whoa'. I was amazed. A lot of technology, a lot of different things happening, even in the '90s. So it was quite a challenge in terms of cultural challenge. You got your language barriers, I didn't have much English, didn't speak much English at that time. Going to school in that scenario, it's quite challenging. But everything makes a person, right? Your childhood, your journey that makes a person stronger, and you're open for new ideas and new challenges.

Tyrone Shum:   
His childhood in Sri Lanka was very different to the new life he adjusted to in Australia, but something about Australians’ attitudes felt like home.

Siva Raj:   
[00:05:37] I actually just started high school, actually, in Sri Lanka when I left home. It's not a typical childhood, I guess in western countries where there's peace and it's always been very challenging getting to school or getting to doing something that you like. It's a wonderful place. But just that I wish circumstances were different. 

[00:06:45] I have a lot of memories, but probably the honest thing is coming home from school. When you're young, when you're in primary school, you just want to play. And pretty much every day walking with my grandfather to the beach. The beach [was] close by, beautiful, beautiful sandy beaches. And just life was more relaxed. more. It's laid back, let me put it that way, quite laid back. Even for a kid it's quite laid back. So you just get to do whatever you want. You run around, you know? So it was quite a different lifestyle over there. Just, it's quite laid back. People are friendly, it's amazing.

They Set Their Sights on Sydney

Tyrone Shum:   
His parents came to Australia mainly due to the Civil War Sri Lanka was experiencing, where the effects were infiltrating his small town.

Siva Raj:   
[00:08:07] So there was no any immediate future for the kids. And if you had the opportunity, you will go to places like some Western countries where there's a lot more opportunities for the parents and children that [are] growing up. 

[00:08:24] So my parents decided they're going to move to Sydney, with the help of our extended family. So they just decided, 'Okay, look, you've got to stop school, we've got to start again, somewhere else.' That was the thing. And it was actually a struggle to get here. And yet alone. You have a financial uncertainty when you come to a different country. When your culture is different. Your language is a barrier, and you don't have any experience. So it was quite a challenge, but I'm here.

[00:10:15] It's quite a challenge when I said it. I can go into details, but let me put it this way. The one point of Sri Lanka, where I lived to the capital city is probably only 200 kilometres. But it takes about a day to travel. Some bits and pieces we have to actually walk. And it's quite scary for a kid. It may be for adults, they got used to these things, but for kids is quite scary. Especially walking alone at night. So we got to go to the Capitol. We had friends, extended relatives that actually helped us to find a way to Sydney.

Tyrone Shum:   
None of them knew what to expect at any given moment, or what could be lurking around the corner. Raj counts his family as one of the lucky ones.

Siva Raj:   
[00:11:48] We were quite lucky that none of us... you know, we were safe outside. Not everyone had that same idea. Not everyone's as lucky as I am or my family is. Quite lucky. When I think about it, I actually think that is very lucky, very lucky.

Tyrone Shum:   
When he arrived in Australia in the early ‘90s, our beautiful weather was there to greet him. However, as he found out, not everything was sunshine and roses.

Good Weather, Great People

Siva Raj:   
[00:12:50] I just got off the plane. And when our extended family picked us up from the airport. And look, when I got here, I was like, 'Wow, this is amazing.' It's the beautiful weather when we came, it was probably in the spring or early summer. Beautiful weather, very similar to, I guess not similar. But it's not called haggis, because it only hit me after six months, you know how cold it gets. 

[00:13:24] But beautiful weather, people are very friendly. At the time, when we came, there's not not many... where we lived, they don't have many immigrants, or people from other countries. So it was a bit hard. And also, because the language barrier, I actually had to go to a special school to learn English, learn the culture, learn the way that things operated. 

[00:13:56] I actually missed a year of my actual high school as well, because I was learning English. It was quite a journey coming here, culturally, it's quite different. The language was the biggest problem. Because people are generally friendly, but if you can't express your feelings or your needs it's quite hard. And always people take time to get to know you. But if you can't express yourself, it's even making it even harder for them to get to know you. 

Tyrone Shum:   
The wintery weather wasn’t all that surprised him on his arrival in his new home. He found himself baffled by something most Australians never give a second thought to.

Learning Two New Languages in One

Siva Raj:   
[00:15:14] Mostly the way the Australians spoke, because they're quite fast. You're learning and then when you're talking to someone, they will just put three sentences within a couple of seconds. And you're still trying to figure out what they just said! So that was a challenge. Australians speak quite fast. And they have a very slang to it. And at that time word that they use was not in the dictionary, probably! I had never came across some of the words. So language was the biggest issue, but I was a quick learner. And also going to English learning school was really helpful.

Tyrone Shum:   
His father had moved here a year before Raj and his mother and younger sister arrived. Suddenly finding himself learning English alongside his sister, his father wasn’t having the easiest time adjusting, either.

Siva Raj:   
[00:17:45] He worked pretty much odd kind of jobs. He mainly worked in the kitchen or restaurants. It wasn't something that, I guess, professional jobs. So that actually made it even harder. In terms of bringing up a family. It's obviously much harder when you have odd jobs and working around the clock and at night.

[00:17:56] My dad's background is basically a very business background. They didn't pursue a professional career. But unfortunately, because of the situation, they had to leave everything and come to a different country. Especially when they can't really speak the language it was very hard for them to actually get into something, in a professional jobs.

Tyrone Shum:   
After he had English down pat, Raj discovered his challenges were far from over.

Siva Raj:   
[00:19:29] After learning English, I was thrown into the deep end, I guess! Sent to a boys school, high school. That was just extremely challenging, because going to a boys school, it's already challenging, let alone not able to speak much. It was quite challenging. I was thrown into probably three years of schooling at high school here. Once I finished that I was able to get into university. 

New Ways of Thinking

[00:20:09] So I did a degree in science, in computing science. So, while I was studying, that's when it all started. While I was studying, I got to speak to a lot of people in the industry, got to speak to other people. And also my level of English was improving a lot more and then able to branch out a little bit to different ways of thinking.

Tyrone Shum:   
He connected with people involved in property investing purely by chance. While navigating this brand new world, he found that his new way of thinking was the catalyst he’d been searching for the whole time.

Siva Raj:   
[00:21:20] You've got to always think about different ideas, and how you can actually leverage those ideas. So from that point onwards, I think that was a key thing. Mind shift was the key thing. 

[00:21:38] After that, I actually actively looked for people in that property industry, people who had been there, done that. The stories, they say, all the stories they publish, it was very, very interesting. And I was inspired by a lot of the some of the guys' stories that they presented. So I used to read a lot of magazines, especially property magazines and articles. It was something that I was never taught about or told about, that there's another side of this world for me.

Tyrone Shum:   
A year into his university studies, he was needed to help out at home. This led him to get a job while he was still studying, which turned out to be just what he needed.

‘We Should Buy Something’

Siva Raj:   
[00:23:52] That was probably one of the best decisions I made. Able to have a reasonably... obviously not a great job, but a reasonably good job where I can start looking at how I can utilise this money, whatever leftover. 

[00:24:15] During the time, all this time we were renting. And one day the owner said that they're going to sell the property. But we didn't have the money to buy that property at that time. So, we had to move within a quick timeframe. So, it was sort of a struggle trying to move and finding a place and then we didn't know how long this is going to last again. So we didn't want to keep moving because we have moved so much in the past so we didn't want to move. 

[00:24:55] But then my dad suggested maybe we should think about buying something. At that time I didn't have a great deposit, or didn't have much as a deposit. So we finally found a small unit. And we didn't know anything about the unit. We didn't bother even looking at any strata or any other information. We just said, 'Okay, fine, we'll buy this.' It's a home, we'll buy this.

[00:25:30] And then we had to come up with the deposit. With that, I actually had to sell my car. So I actually sold my car and used that money from that as a deposit. Look, at that time, I was like thinking, 'What am I doing?' But when I think back now, I think I made the right choices. I started quite early. We didn't have the deposit, but able to manage the deposit. And also the borrowing capacity wasn't there. So I was very lucky to have that job, it was a permanent job, to get into the property. Even though in the olden days, obviously, the property market prices are not the same as now. But it may be different applying that situation now, but quite lucky to get into the first property while I was actually at uni.

Tyrone Shum:   
[00:27:01] Was that a family investment that you're talking about that you purchased as being your family home?

Siva Raj:   
[00:27:06] So because we were renting for so long, I wanted to make sure that whatever I can do to get into property so that my parents and ourselves can live and call itself a home. And then we don't have to have that pressure to move out or find a new place to live. Remember, my parents are getting older. And so I wanted some security for the family to be able to say, 'Okay, fine, we're going to stay here for a long time to come now.'

Tyrone Shum:   
[00:27:39] That's excellent. How much did you say you purchased that unit for, back in the day?

Scrambling Up Savings

Siva Raj:   
[00:27:43] It around the $200,000 mark. So it was quite a... the prices were quite low. But at that time, getting a loan, not having a high paying job, it was hard. But somehow managed to scramble all my parents' saving [and] my saving into it. But obviously, the investment has done quite well now, as I look back, it's quite an achievement for anyone in the university doing it.

Tyrone Shum:   
[00:28:50] And what I'd love to sort of just understand as well is being that your first investment, how many properties would you say you've also invested or done or developed in the last... period of time since then?

Siva Raj:   
[00:29:05] So since then, I actually took a break to finish off my degree and get into a path where I can generate more income, so that I can keep buying this property. So it took me a while to get to that position. Once I got to the position I bought the second unit because I thought at that time I was able to afford, and then after that point I actually did a lot of research, a lot of reading, going to a lot of seminars. And finding there's a lot of information out there. There's finding the right fit for me. How I can actually leverage. 

[00:29:55] So I surrounded myself with a lot of mortgage brokers and buyers agencies. These people are really great. It's sort of surrounding myself with these people actually meant that they showed me the ways that you can do this. And from that point on what I actually started really heavily investing into houses. Because I've always thought that capital growth was my focus, so at the time I didn't really care about cash flow, but capital growth was my focus. So I heavily invested into properties. In terms of properties and deals, I've done a lot of them in the last 15 years.

Tyrone Shum:   
Raj recounts one of his earliest projects, where he performed the classic ‘look before you leap’ manoeuvre every investor is sure to be familiar with.

Siva Raj:   
[00:00:46] I bought this, I was so excited, kinda jumped in, secured the property, not looking at what are the things that I need to do at the time to actually make this whole thing work. 

[00:01:02] There was challenges in that way. Obviously, challenges comes in when you start working on it. So, I got to a point where I had almost given up saying, 'Look, I can't make this work.' Because I couldn't get the services or couldn't get the connection to the new lot. But mainly due to the slope on the property. 

[00:01:35] When I looked at the property for the first time, I was like, 'Oh, it's quite flat.' But when you go through the technical, they say, 'Sorry mate, it's sloping back,' or sloping to the rear. Anyway, so that was the biggest issue that I had, not knowing what to do and then trying to find a solution by yourself, that was a tough challenge. And it took me a while to find a solution for it. 

[00:02:06] And, thankfully, I was able to find a solution with the help of a number of professionals, and complete that project. So, it was quite a challenging at the time. You're learning, every day you're learning. So, that was one of my challenges. I don't know if it's the worst of the worst or not, but for me, it was quite a challenging time.

What’s a Subdivision?

Tyrone Shum:   
He bought it as an investment property with the goal of increasing his capital growth by keeping the property, and build a new one on the side.

Siva Raj:  
[00:03:19] It actually came about [by] one of the agents that I dealt with previously, and he just called me casually and said, 'Look, I have a property that is not on the market, do you want to have a look at it? It's something that you may like, or you may want to get into.' When he said 'subdivision,' I was like, 'What is this subdivision?' So he actually explained to me what I could do. And then I was very excited. I just didn't think too much, I pretty much jumped into it.

Tyrone Shum:   
[00:03:56] And where was this property?

Siva Raj:   
[00:03:57] This one is actually in Queensland. So I was actually still in Sydney at the time. So the distance made it a bit more challenging, but I actually learnt a lot more how you actually mitigate these risks.

[00:04:17] So it's a simple one, just a splitter. So it was a simple one. But look, even a simple one for the person who was starting off is quite a challenge.

Tyrone Shum:   
After he finished university, he leveraged his computer science degree to land an IT role. From there, he moved into one of the apartments he had purchased.

Long Term Benefits

Siva Raj:  
[00:05:33] And then I only thought, 'Okay, not going to buy a house to live in, because it's going to hinder my capacity. So whatever the minimum that I'm going to spend on living, then everything else, I'm trying to put it to purchasing an investment property.' So for probably about five years into it, five to six years into it. 

[00:05:58] Oh, actually, I've started investing quite heavily on land. When I say land means that house and the land, or house with significant amount of land where you can do something in the future. So I didn't think that I'm going to do something now, I was already thought about the long term benefits. That's why I stopped actually buying units. The house is a way for me to go because it add much more value in 10 years. At that time, that's what my thoughts were. Add value, by the market condition, not by you doing anything, just the market. 

[00:06:43] And so I just bought and held. And what I was able to do is when there's a capital increase or equity increase, I was able to recycle those to a new property. So I didn't actually have to have too much cash or savings, but I was able to recirculate that equity to buy the next property. That time that I was really starting to do this was just before the financial crisis that happened. And you can really negotiate, like, even in Sydney. At that time, you can really negotiate. It was buyer's market. 

[00:07:32] I remember going to an auction, and there was only two people, and then the person just stopped. When I wasn't even reached to my mind that I wanted to pay, they just stopped, like, maybe $50,000 lower than what I was going to pay. So it was a good time. So I actually bought a lot of properties. And then sort of just left them for a while and just kept doing the same thing, adding more properties to my portfolio. Until the point where I said, 'Okay, look, I think I have enough at the moment. So what am I going to do with them?'

[00:08:13] By that time it became a passion for me. This became real, it's like, 'Oh, yeah, I can do this.' And like I said, I was always watching seminars, or going to seminars, and a lot of other people have done it, in the '90s. Even early a lot of people have a lot of good ideas. And all I did was just implemented some of those ideas from that point onward.

Capitalise on the Pull Back

Tyrone Shum:   
With his ability to leapfrog to each property using their appreciated values, he reveals the key that opened all the doors for him.

Siva Raj:   
[00:08:57] The key was buying under market. Because if you overpay, by the time you wait for the equity increase, you're waiting for too long, natural market gains. So I think the key was I was actually in the right time, and I was in the right mindset. When GFC hits, a lot of people tend to pull back and say, 'Okay, what's going to happen?' So I think that's probably the time that you can capitalise a bit more.

Tyrone Shum:   
[00:09:36] When you purchase these blocks, did they also have houses on them for you to be able to service them? 

Siva Raj:   
[00:09:42] I actually bought only properties with houses on them. So I didn't buy vacant land or I didn't buy off the plan blocks. Look, I was comfortable with it. It's probably not for everyone. A lot of different people do different strategies. But this is something that worked for me and I was comfortable with that part.

Tyrone Shum:   
[00:10:09] And where you just investing mostly in Queensland [and] New South Wales, so did you go out to other states as well?

Siva Raj:   
[00:10:14] When I initially started, I invested heavily in Sydney. That actually made more sense for me heavily doing it in Sydney because the market was actually by 2013, or 2014, the market actually started accelerating. So I was able to then use the small equity from Sydney properties and purchase more. Or somewhere else where the market is still steady, hasn't moved much. So, the key to finding opportunities is not to worry about the hypes, what you see in the media and things like that. You've got to do what's right for you. What are your gut feeling? 

Focus, Then Replicate

Tyrone Shum:   
There have been many aha moments that have popped up along his journey, but one in particular stands out.

Siva Raj:   
[00:11:39] I was actually doing a small development and realised that all this hard work that you're putting in, you're getting involved a lot of the professionals to help you. And I realised that there is a formula to this, this is not just something that you are trialing and erroring. There is a formula to it. If you stick to this formula, you can actually scale this up. 

[00:12:11] I think in any field, people, if they understand that there is a formula that you can replicate, you can scale. So that was aha moments. So that's when it actually hit me like, 'Okay, so I'm going to only focus on one very niche area. And want to replicate what I've done and be successful at it, just replicate at a bigger scale.' So that was an eye opener for me at that time. I was looking back and say, 'Oh, this is if I can do one, what does it stop me from doing two or five or 10? Or 15?' So having that formula in place really helped me. Stick to the formula, stick to what you know.

The Simple Formula

Tyrone Shum:   
Raj divulges his strategy and his formula, with the aim to help others in their ventures. If you expected it to be too difficult to comprehend, here’s some good news for you!

Siva Raj:   
[00:13:36] The formula is quite simple. It's to find the right property in terms of the cost of the property, the location, and so finding the right property is the key. 

[00:13:54] And then doing your due diligence after that. You can't go past that. Not doing it properly, it actually hurts you later. So finding the right property, doing your due diligence, and having a goal of what you're gonna do with it. And then making sure that it's financially feasible. You don't want to be doing stuff just for fun and losing money out of it. You want to make sure that it's financially feasible. Make sure that you cover all your exit strategies, cover all your cost that's involved with whatever you're doing. And then lastly, to be able to replicate this, have a team of professionals. All different fields, that if they can help you complete this.

Tyrone Shum:  
With the right strategy, formula, and property being different from one investor to the next, he reveals the ingredients he uses.

Siva Raj:   
[00:15:35] For me, I set myself, like I said, this is what I want to do. And this is the right strategy for me to find a bigger block of land, and then capitalise on that.

[00:16:06] Most of my developments have been subdivisions. So the reason I didn't go into too many other ventures is because I wanted to get into just subdivision. But in terms of subdivision, there are other way to subdivide, not just a land. So I actually ended up buying a block of units. And then I actually went through a subdivision process. 

Learning Curves

[00:16:38] I actually bought the block of units as an investment initially. But then I saw the opportunity that this is a great opportunity to startup how to live. So I went through the process. Every project I've done, there's some learning. So there's some challenges. I didn't want to go outside that, I just wanted to do mainly strata subdivision or land subdivision. So that's been a really good project for myself. 

[00:17:15] If I think back, a lot of people will not take that challenge, because this is so many unknowns. But I was eager, actually eager to try some different type of things I wanted to try out. So it was a great challenge. But if these things are hard to come by nowadays, so haven't pursued that part.

Tyrone Shum:   
The block contained eight units, which he sought out once he had all his ducks in a row.

Siva Raj:   
[00:18:16] I was always looking into growing the capital more toward capital growth. So if I were to buy a unit, one unit out of that plot, at the time my opinion was, 'It will take too long.' So I was actually thinking out loud and seeing a couple of other people do it. And then I started looking for a block of unit because I had a bit of equities saved up and also I had finance lined up. So if some opportunity came in I said, 'Okay, fine, let's try it.' 

[00:19:17] We bought the property and then we thought 'Okay, we will just invest it, we won't do anything, I'll just invest.' But as I learn more and more about strata subdivision, I thought it was pretty good. And it's much easier than other subdivisions that I've done. But let me correct myself. It's not easier, it has different challenges. So I decided, 'Okay, let's give it a go.' And that was a really good project that I can't forget. There's a lot of challenges, but I can't.

Tyrone Shum:   
[00:20:23] I guess what I'm curious about is: what kind of challenges did you face?

Siva Raj:  
[00:20:27] The many challenges because when they're already on one block, which means that they probably don't have all the services not split up. That was the biggest challenge, trying to split all the services, metered separately, to each of the units. And also, making sure that unit it's in good order to sell. And then working with councils and other professionals to satisfy all the necessary requirements. You would think that there's not many, but there are a lot of requirements to satisfy. So it was a good project, because a lot of it was getting the right people in to do the work.

Case Study

Tyrone Shum:   
[00:21:33] So let's sort of form a little case study around this. How much did you buy this block of units for?

Siva Raj:   
[00:21:47] I've got to recall, but it's around that $550,000 mark, I think. Each block is something around that $450,000 mark, I think.

Tyrone Shum:   
[00:22:00] So you bought the block of units for $450,000, how much would you say you had to put in to actually subdivide it?

Siva Raj:  
[00:22:07] Look, not much. I think we would have spent about less than $100,000. Because of how the units were positioned and how the units were given accessibility to doing this service without doing any major changes.

Tyrone Shum:   
[00:22:34] And so that $100,000, was that actually the physical work, or was it some of that goes towards the council?

Siva Raj:   
[00:22:451] Generally, it's not that much, because they have already paid their contribution, whoever built it, they've already paid their contribution. So it's not toward the council, it's more toward getting the certifications, and more toward getting the services in place. So it's been separating the services.

Tyrone Shum:   
[00:23:06] Yeah, that's the challenge, too. And I guess at the end of it, how much do you think that the property's been valued? Have you kept the property? Or have you sold?

Siva Raj:   
[00:23:14] Unfortunately I had to sell the properties, because I had another project lined up straight after that. One of those sometimes you regret things that you sell. I actually didn't realise initially that I want to have different title, you're paying rates suddenly, actually becomes much harder to hold, because it would have been positively geared property. Then suddenly it can be neutral or something like that. And so that made me realise, 'Oh, no, I shouldn't have done this.' It's a good learning curve for me. Unless you want to sell, you should have messed up on one title.

Tyrone Shum:   
At the end of the day, he sold it with a 20% increase, which was well worth the time and effort he put into it. However, it took longer than he expected.

Siva Raj:   
[00:24:32] I wasn't expecting to strata title and sell up. I was expecting to actually strata title it and revalue the property and get more capital equity out of it. So it took me roughly around about a year and a bit to do.

Tyrone Shum:   
[00:24:55] That's still pretty good. I mean, like for you to have a 20% increase for a year, most people don't usually achieve that result for any year that they usually buy and hold.

Siva Raj:   
[00:25:04] Yeah, it's true. But look, there's a lot of work went behind it. It wasn't just buying. It wasn't a passive investment. In the hindsight, I should have just kept it and not default.

Financial Security Was in Sight

Tyrone Shum:   
The reason why Raj started on his property investment journey stems from his past experiences, and wanting to achieve what he had previously considered impossible.

Siva Raj:   
[00:26:03] Property was one of those things that when we bought the first property there was this slight bit of financial security. Obviously the bank owned the unit, but even then, just mentally it felt like you have some kind of financial security. 

[00:26:26] So in order for me to excel, this was something that I can do it much faster, in a faster pace. And the something that I actually was passionate about. It was hobby, and I was passionate about it. So, if you ask me why, it is to have a financial security. And something that when you buy and you invest, you are actually increasing the value over time, without doing doing much. 

[00:27:12] So, that's the reason. Financials security would be that main reason. Knowing the background, you knowing the background where I come from. So at the time, this was the best decision for me, so I thought I should pursue this part, to see where it takes me. And also, look, a lot of the people in Australia who have gone through this process, and they quite successful.

Tyrone Shum:   
[00:28:06] Along the journey, have you had any particular resources or mentors that you could share with us that's been really impactful for you?

Siva Raj:   
[00:28:18] In terms of property, I can name a lot of guys who share their knowledge with a lot of people were starting up. But generally speaking, for me, it's self improvement books that really, really helped me through the whole mindset and want to get into this. And I met a lot of buyer's agents who actually initially outgrew boredom, bought a lot of my properties through buyer's agents. They have built up knowledge, but I just don't want to name anyone because I don't miss anyone. They helped me through, they played a part. And I'm grateful for some of the guys who share their knowledge. Obviously, you'll be paying a fee, but it's the knowledge that they carry, the knowledge that they can give you is more important.

Tyrone Shum:   
In pondering what he would tell the Siva Raj of 10 years ago, he realises he could be telling a different story than he is now.

Siva Raj:   
[00:30:11] I would have said, 'Stop wasting time. Stop procrastinating.' Because I did a lot of procrastinating before. That's why from my first one to the second one was a long period, it's almost six years. From the first one to the second one. So procrastinating was one of those things that if I could go back and tell myself, please don't do that. Either you let go or just don't procrastinate, just get on with it. Get yourself in the right place. 

[00:30:54] And maybe also having the confidence to seize that opportunity when it presents itself. Because a lot of the time— I'll give you just the context— a lot of time I look at poker and say, 'Oh, this is the right one. Am I making a mistake?' So you just have to be confident with yourself. Look, you're making the right decision with the information that you have at that time, seize that opportunity. And also open for the opportunity to come. 

Lifting the Bar

Tyrone Shum:   
[00:31:53] So looking ahead then, what are you most excited about in your journey, say, in the next five years?

Siva Raj:   
[00:32:05] Because I have gone through a few different paths. So looking at what I've done, and looking at what I can do. I've always been challenging myself to lift that bar higher. Because when you are in this uncomfortable position, that's when you can actually make change to the current situation. 

[00:32:38] So I'm always trying to find a way how I can lift this bar, so that I can jump higher or at least try to jump higher. So I've always been setting my goals higher and higher since the time I started. Keeping with this pace, I have already started a new path, what I want to do for the next five years, is to go toward more commercial kind of investments and development. Mainly because it's more challenging, more rewarding. There's a lot more components to it, that you had to bring it together, but a lot more things that you need to pull together to make it work. And it is challenging, exciting, and rewarding. So that's the path that I have already started taking. So in next five years, I think I'll be focusing more on that path.

Tyrone Shum:   
[00:34:03] Last question for you, really, is to ask you is how much of your success is due to your skill, intelligence and hard work? And how much of it do you think is because of luck?

Siva Raj:   
[00:34:15] More than the skills and intelligence, it's the mindset. You've got to have the right mindset. I know a lot of books out there. If you can set your mindset and you have a particular mindset to achieve success, you will get to it. And also having your partner or your wife or whoever it is have the similar mindset. You can do it much faster, much easier. If I were to go back, looking back at it, I would say the luck wasn't a big deal. It didn't play a big role in my situation. Mostly, it's been hard work.

**OUTRO**

Tyrone Shum: 
Thank you to Siva Raj, our guest on this episode of Property Investory.