Timestamps:
0.44 | Family Man Malamatinas
9.27 | Saving From the Start
14.37 | Thriving Through Fear
20.07 | Jobs, Jobs and Jobs
24.19 | The Bayside Dream

Resources and Links:

[6:06] I didn't realise it at the time, but I didn't realise what a great foundation would give me to life by being able to set goals, be clear on what you want in life.

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 to A game property founder and buyers advocate Jim Malamatinas, who’s upbringing and hard work lead him to huge success. Learning how to start saving when he was just 13 years old earning $4 an hour setup the discipline needed to be coming a successful developer and achieve financial freedom.

Malamatinas is a buyers advocate and property developer from Melbourne. He gives us an overview of his day both professionally and personally. 

[0:44] My typical day, I've gotta say, is so varied day by day, which is what I like. So part of my business is property development. So I run my own property development projects. And that takes 25% of my time. I'm liaising with builders, architects, land surveyors, depending on what stage the development’s at is who I'm dealing with. So that's sort of one part, but also coach and help other clients find development sites as part of the business side of things. And then the second part is pure buyer's advocacy. So I buy homes and investment properties for clients, with everything with an investment focus, if you like. So coming back to that property development site, to a home, to investment property.

[1:42] I've got two kids as well. So, I'm pretty active, hands on Dad. So I think ultimately, for me, I live the life of my dreams, my two passions in life of property and people. So I get to do that on a daily basis. And also have a life of freedom where I can choose the hours that I work, yes, they're long, but they're flexible. So, I can duck in and out and pick my kids up if I need to, from the office and just be present in their lives. Because [it’s] the fundamental years right, preteen and a teen I've got. And so just being available for them, and you know, serving people, living my passion is key.

Being a family man, he knows how important it is to spend time with your kids. 

[2:20] So my daughter just turned 15. So we're definitely going through teenage years, but she's beautiful. I've got to say she still likes hanging out with her old dad for now. So we'll see how long that goes for. And my son's a preteen. So he's about to turn 11 in a couple of weeks. And yes, so I'm still this hero, at this point, again, once the next few years hit, and he hits puberty, who knows how long that will last? For me, it's about just being present in their lives as much as I can right now, and I can, having my own business, obviously, there's that flexibility to design your life around being there for them during school hours, after school hours. And then, having the flexibility of working more on the weekends and times when they're sleeping, like at five in the morning, or eight at night. So it's good from that point of view.

[3:15] That's great. Well, Jim, let's get to know you personally. Firstly, share with the listeners, where did you grow up?

[3:22] Good question. So I grew up in the lower socioeconomic part of Melbourne. So southeastern suburb, a Greek migrant family. So not your typical Greek migrant family, like you see in My Big Fat Greek Wedding where, you know, the dad buys everyone a house, before they get married. Definitely wasn't that kind of situation for me. Yeah, ultimately, it was around, you know, just getting there. My parents were quite sort of risk averse. And so, you know, it was just making what you could do and, and go from there.

Malamatinas explains to us how his upbringing shaped his approach to life today, giving him the attitude needed to save and succeed. 

[4:11] I think for us, it was pretty tight. In terms of just having access to things, I remember all the things because I had quite a lot of Greek cousins who were really affluent, the parents own fish and chip shops, and they were doing really well. And my parents, we were living sort of week to week in terms of food that was available and that kind of thing. And I remember a pivotal moment, Ty, like as a young boy when you're 13 and you sort of can't buy the clothes that you like, and I had a cousin that was two years older than me. And he was really into basketball, which I personally am not. No offense to any basketball fans out there. I got into it with my kids, but it wasn't my thing when I was young. And his clothes fit me perfectly so I remember my mum handing down his clothes and going to school wearing these basketball clothes thinking ‘There's got to be a better way.’ 

[5:02] So I just got my first job when I was 13 years of age at a fish and chip shop. And it wasn't my parents' fish and chip shop, it was just some random family. But everyone assumed it was mine because I had that Greek background. And that just allowed me the freedom really to, at 13, be able to buy things I liked you know, and it was mainly around clothes, [but] it was around even silly things like food treats and stuff like that, chocolate biscuit or whatever it would be just stuff that you just don't get normally. So clothing [and] I really was into music. So I spent pretty much all my money on clothes, food and CDs, when it came to that sort of thing, and also personal development stuff. I remember one big moment, I saved up for a CD set for a personal development speaker at 13. It was a 250 buck CD set, with 14 CDs. And it took me a long time to save that $4 an hour to get to $250. But I did and I listened to all 13 CDs, and I still have them to this day. That was many, many years ago.

[6:06] I didn't realize it at the time, but I didn't realize what a great foundation would give me to life by being able to be you know, set goals, be clear on what you want in life. You know, have goal books, visualize them, feel them and create them. And for me, that's been fundamental in my life, ever since I was 13. I've been doing that. And that's really now that I look at those goal books and reflect on them. Pretty much everything in them in those early years has come true. And they weren't all money based. A lot of them were family based in terms of finding my beautiful wife and life partner and the family that I've created, along with the property journey that I've experienced through development. So yeah, property. The goalbooks do work and I still do it to this day, I figure don't stop something great. That's working.

That Tony Robbins CD set was a highlight of what was otherwise quite a challenging time growing up for Malamatinas. 

[9:27] Look, I can't say there were a lot of fun memories. For me growing up, to be honest, just in a hole. I think it was pretty much a challenge. I went to Cleveland High which was, funnily enough ranked one of the worst performing schools in Australia since before it was knocked down. It was in quite a rough neighborhood in Dandenong. So many people in Melbourne would be familiar with the Southeastern suburbs of Melbourne, not a really pleasant environment, a lot of gangs and it was just really rough. But you know, I'm really grateful for that experience because now I can look back and say, that made me the resilient person that I am now, that helped me get to where I am. But I gotta be honest with you, too. If you asked me that 10 years ago, I probably wouldn't have. I wouldn't have been as grateful as I am now. But yeah, ultimately, I think high school for me, and even primary school, I think, just, you know, childhood in general was a challenge, through a lot of different things.

[10:24] But, ultimately, it was what I was meant to live through to make me that resilient person, to achieve what I've achieved not only from my property portfolio and the monetary side of things, but more important to me right now is family, and the love and connection I have with my kids and my beautiful wife, and also some really amazing friends. I've got one best friend from high school. And, you know, we're still in touch to this day, we're best friends. And we've, my wife and I have christened both of their children. And that's probably the one takeout that I'll take from high school is that one friend that stuck by me through all those challenging times.

[11:56] I think there's a lot of gangs in my school in particular, so gang, sort of targeting groups of people. I wasn't a victim, to be honest, because I was able to be smart enough to avoid fighting, because that was never my thing. So I was always a good talker, which is why I do what I do. Now, I was able to talk my way out of a lot of things. But I think ultimately, it comes down to just having that parent sort of support and protection when you're younger. And where we grew up, and how we grew up was just that little bit different. And I look back at my parents, and they did a great job, they did the best job that they could do, the best job that they knew how to do, I think every parent has that wish and dream for their children, I want to do the best I can. And they did, they did the best I knew how to do. And they definitely were one of my best teachers in life, because they taught me exactly what I didn't want to be in life when I grew up as a parent. 

[12:57] They were very risk averse, and very fear driven. And you know, they're beautiful loving people. But ultimately, for me, when I'm raising my children, I really want to, I didn't want to raise fear driven, risk averse kids, I wanted them to be resilient, and to be empowered to know that ultimately, anything that you want, if you're clear on what that is, you can have it. And so generationally, I wanted that to stop with my family. And I'm the eldest of four boys. So my brothers and I wanted that to stop. And by meeting a great and loving partner who had a lovely childhood, we're able to come together and really create that family unit, which is so important. I think, ultimately, the property stuff, and the money stuff is a great thing, too. Don't get me wrong, but there's more to life than money. For me. It's always been about passions and dreams. And the money has been a journey to help get to that. And it's great, right? Everyone loves the nice houses and the nice cars and investment, property portfolios and all that kind of stuff. It's beautiful. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate it. But it's not the only driver for me.

Malamatinas explains why his parents were so protective while he and his brothers were going up. He also gives us his takeaways from those experiences and transitioning into uni and the workforce. 

[14:37] My parents were very, like I said, fear driven, risk averse. It was about getting a good job staying in that job. And so they'll be factory workers over the course of their lives until there were periods where they couldn't work for various reasons. So they instilled in us that you know, we should just get one good job and stay with that job for the rest of your life and even sometimes the smallest risks that I would take like going to uni, like it wasn't expected of me to go to uni, some migrant families really pushed for their children to go to uni. My parents didn't. So I went to uni out of my own accord. I was the first and only one in my family to do that, but it was just a drive for me, I really wanted to, just to get better and improve myself from a really young age, like I said, from 13 and started have my first foray into growing my mind and that personal development side with those CDs. And, you know, I never looked back. 

[15:30] So ultimately, with my parents, everything that I did was, you know, they're almost trying to talk me out of it. So I remember buying my first investment property, they were like, ‘Well, why don't you just buy your first house so that you can live in that when you get married for the rest of your life.’ And I remember when I did my first property development project, my dad was almost there, and was so fearful for me, because of the amount I had to borrow to make it happen. He was actively trying to talk me out of it. Wow. And it's amazing that I was able to, because your parents are a big influence on your life. Yes. But I always took their opinion on board. And I listened to it, but I just never did what they wanted. I was able to take it on board as to maybe be very fearful, though, and made me overthink things because they're your parents at the end of the day, that's all you know. But I was able to sort of rise above that sort of thinking, and take those risks. And I think when I'm, my partner as well, my beautiful wife, she has that team dynamic together, we you know, we did a lot of the things that we've done together.

[17:29] I remember finishing uni, I finished my undergrad and I got from Monash University in management and marketing, because that was always what I wanted to be, you know, be I wanted to be a marketer. And property was always this dream of mine since I was a kid, I remember having an exercise book, I was really into floor plans. And I really loved that sort of thing. So I was 10 years old. And I'll never forget sitting at 10 years old, and just designing floor plans. And then I remember going into year nine and thinking I'll be an architect, that's what I want to do, started doing graphics and realized that I'm not really good at angles, CAD and all that kind of stuff. So maybe those dreams aren’t going to happen. But the first investment property and then the following properties that I developed after that, I hand drew those floor plans, and I gave them to the architect. And it was such a beautiful 360 moment for me, a full circle moment to say, you know, whilst I couldn't do that dream, I did it in another way where I could still handle it, just give it to the experts. 

[18:33] I was 22 in my first job, I was a temp. And I remember I really wanted to get into the property market as soon as possible. I had this burning desire since I was just a young kid, I just knew that it was a way to build wealth. And I don't know how I knew that because my parents definitely weren't driving that in me. I think, you know, seeing other people do it, seeing relatives do it, having it as a dream, having a passion for property from a young child. I remember being a temp when I first started my job as a customer service operator at an international freight company and our NOC code. And I remember saying, ‘I really want to be permanent because I need to get a mortgage.’ And you know, and it took six months of me hounding them and doing my best absolute work. So they wouldn't want to lose me to make myself permanent, because obviously you can't get a mortgage until you're a permanent employee. Get a loan. Yeah. And so you know, 22 I was really pushing to get a loan, and there's not a lot of 22 year olds that won a mortgage early. They're still out there. A lot of my mates were still out there partying, and I'm sitting there paying off a mortgage, and I would still go out, but not to the extreme that they would.

Coming up after the break, we get stuck into Malamatinas’ property developments. 

[25:35] I wanted to live by the bay, and have that dream house with, you know, the bay views and walking distance to the beach, that was always the end goal. And I literally developed my way here.

How he raised up the funding needed to support himself through tertiary education...

[20:10] My parents gave me shelter, which was amazing. But they really couldn't afford much more. And I had to contribute to help them as well, because at certain points they weren't working. So I always had a job.

His investment strategy since his early 20s and how it has developed…

[26:55] We built up quite a few properties from 22, or buying properties probably every two years. And then we started in our 30s, we started early 30s was the first property development project.

And that’s next, I’m Tyrone Shum and you’re listening to Property Investory.

During his young adult life, Malamatinas had to work hard to get himself through his university years, juggling several jobs and studying simultaneously. 

[20:07] I worked throughout the whole time I needed to support myself ultimately, I mean, my parents gave me shelter, which was amazing. But they really couldn't afford much more. And I had to contribute to help them as well, because at certain points they weren't working. So I always had a job, at one point, I had three jobs going through uni. So fish and chip shops were my thing, I ended up becoming a master at fish and chip shops. Not that it's a great job, especially, I've got to say in summer, it's probably one of the worst jobs, you're dealing with hungry people in a really hot environment, and especially on Good Friday, people would be waiting an hour and a half for their fish. And it wasn't one. But I had a few jobs working with different fish and chip shops, I became like the manager, the big manager of a fish and chip shop, and, you know, got through different gigs, which was good. And then I remembered that I was 19. So you're into uni, I thought, maybe there's some other jobs I can delve into. Because it was great. I was with the one family who you know, buying a lot of different shops, but then I moved into video ezy. And that was such a change. I'm so excited. 

[21:10] I became the assistant manager immediately at a big video shop where I grew up. And it was such a different dynamic. And I was serving people that were happy, because they're looking for their entertainment for the night. So they were satisfied. And they were asking me for recommendations on what film we should watch tonight. And it was just the most fun job. And, you know, in addition to that, we could watch all the previews that would just come off cinema before anyone else could. Yeah, and it was a really great experience. But I think coming from a fish and chip shop, a really hard work kind of hard physical labor environment, to scanning videos and stocking shelves and cleaning some tapes occasionally, and obviously running the reports. And that's it as a manager, it was a very pleasant experience, I would say compared to where I started. But again, I think it's a good foundation to start sometimes at the bottom and work your way up. It just teaches you

[22:16] There's no going the other way around, definitely was the one, the one way back. I'll just never forget this moment, I think I was about 15 years old. And you know, I was at the front of the chip shop. So serving people, which was the promoted kind of job. But you'd have to peel potatoes occasionally too because that's how you make chips. So there was a machine that peels potatoes, but all the potato peels would become a froth, and they'd go into this box, you'd have to carry that into the dump master, and it would smell like a very putrid smell. And one day the box broke. And all this filling fell on the ground. And I was about two meters from the dump master. And I was on my hands and knees picking scraping it off and putting in thinking, this is a real coming to God, my man, if you don't get strong over this, you know, doesn't get any worse at this point in 15 years, all your mates around, they can see what you're doing. It was quite you know, when you're 15 it's so important what people think of you. 

[23:06] And I was thinking, here I am. But you know what I think, you know, looking back now you think, well, it was a great experience. And I want my kids to have maybe not that severe an experience. But it's just so important for them to have, you know, experiences and may not just spoon feed them the success that I've had, I really want them to go through, you know, and my daughter just turned 15, which is a legal age to get a job. And she'll be getting a job. You know, she's applying out to a few jobs now. And she doesn't need to get a job. But it's important for her development, her learning and her resilience to earn money.

To fulfil his dream, Malamatinas had to succeed in each job he took out of uni, developing properties while working hard in the corporate world. 

[24:19] I climbed the corporate ladder in that first organisation. And then I had a passion for the pharmaceutical industry. And there were a lot of people, you know, a lot of friends of mine that were in the pharmaceutical industry. So I was lucky enough to get a job at one of the leading Australian pharmaceutical companies. And I joined that and I worked there for quite a long time. And I rose through the ranks into senior marketing management. I did my MBA with them as well. They funded that for me, which was a really great experience and a really great qualification to have a postgraduate and MBA in particular. So rose through the ranks and got into senior marketing management roles, which was a great achievement. But at the same time every night I would come home to my wife, who was also an accountant, and is now a leading accountant in our field. And we will talk about our property investment strategy every night. And that's when we both come alive, because that's what we just loved. It was a passion from childhood, right? 

[25:14] So we're talking about, you know, the next investment property, and the next project that we would do as a property development project. But the one thing I think, having my wife, which was a great experience, was that I was really conscious of numbers. And so, you know, strategically being able to for us, the strategy was always I wanted to live by the bay, and have that dream house with, you know, the bay views and walking distance to the beach, that was always the end goal. And I literally developed my way here. So, there were multiple properties that started off with an asset base, quite a big one. And then I divested a few to be able to build this home at a really young age so that I could enjoy it while my kids were young, versus having it when I was in my 60s. And, really, the kids have gone by then. So what am I going to do with it? Right? So, so, yeah, so I built a really strong asset base early divested a few properties. And then we built this home about seven years ago now. So my kids got in here when they were really young. And it's just a great experience to be able to have this now while they're growing up so that they can use all the spaces. We live in an amazing Bayside location where like I said, you know, I walk on the beach every morning. That was always a dream from when I started writing those guidebooks when I was 13.

As soon as he could, Malamatinas began investing in property and kept working on his dream throughout his adult life. 

[26:51] So we built up multiple properties in the early days. So in the 20s, we built up quite a few properties from 22, or buying properties probably every two years. And then we started in our 30s, we started early 30s was the first property development project. And that's when it all began. And I remember we had built a home, our first home when we got married in Rowville. So we bought land and we built this big 40 Square home in between both parents. It was the right thing to do, you know, you had built-in babysitters, if you like or they're close by, and there was this beautiful home that was ready to go. And the dream was always the bay. So it got to a point where the trade off was, we've had a trip to Hawaii, I remember my wife was 20 weeks pregnant with our second child and had a four year old with a wife that was 20 weeks pregnant, we had a trip to Hawaii. After living there for over seven years in that beautiful house, the baby's room was ready, because the four year old had her own big girl bed, went to Hawaii and came back. 

[27:49] And we saw that house and we moved into a shack by the beach. But it was really, you know, renovator’s delight or renovator’s detonate, whichever you'd like to call it that had no heating and had no cooling. And I moved myself and my family into that at a time that probably was an opportunity. You know, if we look back and you think opportunities don't come at the best time, they don't come in at an easy time. And that was probably one of the most challenging times of my life. I've gotta say, doing that. So moving my whole family from his perfect house that was really ready to go from our second child's room was all set, he would have just slid into there. And you know, the cup was done and everything was beautiful. But yeah, this house that we moved into was really, it was really a dive. And the fact that it had no heating and cooling and winter, it was just a massive challenge. But they had an amazing supportive wife who was on the journey with me. So it wasn't me just saying, ‘let's just do it.’ And it's the whole way we agreed to do it for the future. And we're, we're, you know, take us, but at the same time, you know, it was one of those big challenging crossroads in life, not only from a property perspective, but also from a personal perspective. 

[28:58] Because there were moments where it wasn't going well, our builder at the time that we'd committed to went into liquidation. And I remember just thinking to myself, this is really up, I have two choices. I remember laying in bed, I was literally living with possums, I was possums above my head. I could hear them at night, I wasn't sleeping very well. And I really remember having a choice where this is a time when I can either just cave, you know, fall if you like and prove my parents right that taking risks is not a good thing. Or I could just stand up and fight and win. And it was a really tough lesson for me. We're just, you know, as a man relief for life kind of thing, not a life lesson as a husband. And also as a father, I had to really step up because I was responsible for driving that even though my wife was very supportive. I drove it. And so, you know, look back at that time now, and there's been many many times like that, but that was probably the first is the most pivotal time when you're thinking this could go one or two ways and you get to choose which way it goes. And I chose to fight and luckily, you know, we won and it became the best decision because it was really the foundation of a great asset base for us to continue to develop to get to this home now.

Jim Malamatinas’ journey has been filled with hardships and obstacles to overcome. Learn how he worked through these challenges… 

[1:41 transcript 2] I've got a four year old in a room cold, I had panel heaters that were sort of doing the job a little bit, I had my wife that was pregnant, she was probably 30 weeks at that stage. And you know, we'd invested some money with a builder and lost it.

The importance of consulting a variety of professionals… 

[6:46 transcript 2] I just started to ask questions, get curious, talk to different people, friends, architects, or different people. And that's how I figured out what the actual process was, because I had no idea.

How his experiences have informed what he does now…

[7:58 transcript 2] What we do with each of our developments, whether it's one, two or three units, we normally get one or two, depending on finances and the next project that we need to finance.

And that will be featured on a future episode of Property Investory. Thanks for listening!