Timestamps:
1:07 | This Guy Does it All
4:18 | Solo is a No Go
5:31 | Running it Back
10:55 | The Lucky Country ?
13:52 | What Could’ve Been
16:57 | The Science of Finance
21:27 | The School of Reality
24:54 | The Missing Piece of Property 

Resources and Links:

[7:12] I had friends who were living under tarpaulins right? With a dirt floor. I had lunch with their family and essentially, it was very basic living over there. [7:30] We weren't well to do either. So, I know how bad it can get essentially. 

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 Andrew David Courtney, founder of Plenitude Wealth. We’ll hear about his family’s  journey from the Phillipines to the sunny shores of the Gold Coast. Plus, how just one property investment allowed him to change careers, and his future, forever.  

 

Since 2018, Courtney has smashed goal after goal in business. As a licenced financial advisor, buyers agent, mortgage broker and speaker with a healthy multi-million dollar property portfolio, maybe this should come as no surprise. Yet, he says unless other people achieve their goals of financial freedom, it won’t matter. As the founder of full-service advisory company Plenitude, Courtney’s plan is to educate over 1 million Australians by 2028. The question is… why? 

[0:54] It's a very, very niche market that we serve. All in all mate, since Australians love property, I think we're in a pretty good position to A) first and foremost, educate and B) help them build their portfolio accordingly so that they can achieve their goals a hell of a lot faster. So, we run three businesses: a financial planning business, mortgage broking business and a property buyer's agency. And essentially, I try and overlay the portfolios that I've built myself, for my clients, and essentially show them where the pitfalls are and make sure we stay clear of them. And actually amplify the returns on investment and build their portfolio a hell of a lot faster than they otherwise would have gotten themselves. 

If Courtney’s job sounds like a lot, it's because it is. He packs his days to the brim, but not necessarily with the priorities you might think. 

[2:40] Right now day to day, it looks a little bit like this. So, wake up at 530 and ideally, go for a walk and listen to an audio book. I’m a big, big believer of that particular habit. Listen to two and a half, three and a half times [speed] depending on how fast the audiobook goes, or the reader goes. And I’m  always asking a specific question, right? ‘How do I make myself better ? ’ Or, ‘How do I make one part of the business or my life better?’ And this is how I pretty much operate across the board. And then from that, I get home and start with the business essentially. Typically I’ll run a morning meeting with my team and work out what are the fires that we're fighting this morning? What are the challenges and essentially see what action items we need to take to ensure that we know the timelines for all of our clients who are acquiring property. And understand  the plans that we're building out and make sure that we do a lot of QA  QC (Quality Assurance Quality Control). 

[3:36] So, right now for me I'm transitioning from being the main operator to ideally, more QAQC on the business side, because there's so many moving parts. So, we're looking for a great operator at the moment to help me and transition into more of an educator, trainer, sales and marketing kind of a person in the business. So, lots and lots of moving parts when it comes to the three businesses but ultimately it's about making sure we have a smooth run at the process that we've built out. We're quite systematic in our approach coming from a science background, which I'm sure you'll you'll hear about soon. We have to be systemized and we make sure that we've got certain milestones in place so that we can keep moving forward with precision and in confidence. 

Courtney is really running three businesses in one. He loves what he does, but he knows there’s only one way to do it, and that’s not alone. 

[1:51] I run them through having staff, you’ve got to have staff, you’ve got to have a solid team. You’ve got to have obviously a fantastic culture in the team and essentially a great training program to ensure that all the clients are engaged first and foremost, but more importantly, the staff and employees are engaged too, so that they understand what their roles are and how they help our clients moving forward and how they can keep their businesses sustainable and profitable as well. So, a lot of things, a lot of projects on the run, that's for sure. But I wouldn't have it any any other way.

 [4:41] We're currently running a quasi work from home kind of arrangement. So, we've got five Aussies and about 12 VA's who are overseas basically. So, majority in the Philippines. So, that's pretty much how we operate. So, half of the week in the office and half of the week at home. Typically two to three days per week in the office and then two days at home for sure. 

Courtney’s connection to the Phillipines is much deeper than through his staff. It actually starts on the basketball court. 

[5:24] So born in the Philippines. So, my mom's Filipina and my dad's Aussie. Bit of a mixture, he's Danish, English and grew up down in Melbourne. So, born in the Philippines and I grew up there until age 10 and then moved over to Oz and fell in love, I fell in love with basketball. In the Philippines, basketball was the number one sport right? So everyone played it. And I was okay, I was probably average at best in the Philippines. When I came to Aus and hardly anyone played that sport I was like suddenly the top player in the school I'm like, ‘wow, this is amazing.’ So, I started playing and essentially in the 90s, obviously Jordan was the big dog at the time, and I was looking at him thinking, ‘Wow, I’d like to be like Mike too.’ So I thought, ‘You know what, I'm gonna go for it.’ So, the whole time basically, since 11 to 20 I devoted myself to basketball, because I was thinking maybe I can make the NBA one day. So that's me growing up mate. I grew up in the Gold Coast essentially and in 2009 moved over to Brisbane. And here we are.

Growing up overseas has left a lasting impression on Courtney, of course leaving a love for a childhood sport, but also transforming his perspective. 

[7:00] Because it’s practically a developing nation at the moment. I would argue that it was a third world country back in the day when I was there, so it seemed.  I had friends who were living under tarpaulins, right? With a dirt floor. I had lunch with their family and essentially, it was very basic living over there. I was lucky enough to have enough means within my family at the time, but we weren't well to do either. So, I know how bad it can get, essentially. So, I'm very grateful for the move and I tell my parents all the time, that was the genius move to move over here. Because I don't know where we'd be as a family without that move to Australia. So, really, it's a massive contrast and it provides me with with, I guess a great baseline to work off of. Because of that particular experience, I know for a fact that I can go back down there and be comfortable, basically. So, it gives me the impetus to learn more and take a little bit more risk than the average person would because I know the baseline is actually reasonably comfortable, because of where it came from. So, it's interesting.

As Courtney reflects on his time in the Phillipines, there is a greater realisation of the complex thoughts behind his parents decision. A decision he says he is forever grateful for.  

[9:09] Since my dad grew up here and my mom's Filipina, we figured—I think they were they were of the mindset of we can get help in the Philippines much easier. Like someone to housekeep, someone to cook and clean for us basically, because my mom and dad were both working full time at the time. And half of their work had to go overseas, basically. So essentially, they needed to make sure that we’d have the support network. As I grew up—I'm also one of four siblings— so essentially, they needed to make sure that we had that support network to ensure that we would have a good upbringing. And my mum was a little bit hesitant I believe to come to Australia sooner rather than later, purely because she knew that we couldn't afford nannies here and that kind of thing because, it's expensive to hire local talent to help out.

[10:06] So, essentially, that was the big arbitrage for mum and dad. Really the straw that broke the camel's back, what the final straw was I should say was the business opportunities for them really dried up in the Philippines. They got burned a fair few times. And essentially, what they decided was, as soon as I hit 10 and my siblings at the time were nearing adulthood, they decided, ‘Okay, it's time to move to Australia. Let's sell up and start from zero in Australia and build a life.’ So they did that and sold everything they had— just enough for the plane tickets. We made the move in 1995. And I'm going to be forever grateful for that move because I tell you what, with the health issues that we've had in the family, half of us wouldv’e been gone by now if we were living in the Philippines. Australia's a fantastic country.

Courtney says even his position in the family has shaped him into the person he is today. 

[11:26] I'm the I'm the youngest mate. The eldest is 10 years older than me and that's my brother, oldest brother. And then a sister who is eight years and another brother, who's seven years. So I'm the typical runt of the family who's running around trying to play with everyone. No one wanted to play with me, because they were all a hell of a lot older. So yeah, right now I'm one of those guys that is always looking to involve myself in games and that kind of stuff, because I didn't really scratch that itch when I was younger. So, I'm a game player of life now. So I see everything as a game and make sure we optimize for the wins, actually. 

Once Courtney’s family finally reached Australia, there was no quick fix for their financial troubles. 

[12:31] Like we got help from St. Vincent DePaul. So, my mum would go around and then try and pick up some food for us, because I think we only had like 1000 bucks amongst — there was six of us, right? So, that got us through for the first three weeks. And then during that time my mum and dad were basically just scrounging around looking for work, making sure that they got enough food for the next week. So, it was a really tough gig until such a time where—so my mom's a professional pianist and singer. She got her first gig at one of the hotels in the Gold Coast. So, that was great and then my dad picked up a managerial role in, it was a timezone actually. So I really enjoyed that, cut my teeth on a few video games. That was really good. But prior to that, it was hard going, but they didn't really show us what the issue was worth. So they did a fantastic job of of hiding the stress that they would have felt. All in all, it was a stellar job that they've done.

[14:26] They sent me to a local primary school. I mean, we lived really close to the beach. So I learnt how to —I was a nipper. I learnt the Aussie way basically and went to the local public primary and went through that and was sent to a Catholic High School. So, my parents managed to get me through there and all was well really. They managed to do a good job actually throughout that time.

Don’t forget, Courtney was only one child in a family of six. While he was enjoying school in the Gold Coast, his siblings were forging their own unique path. 

[15:09] Straight out into the workforce, all three of them actually. They didn't want to pursue it, because I think the other two needed to do one more year of high school. The oldest, he unfortunately couldn't get credit for his—I believe he did one or two years worth of university in the Philippines but it wasn't quite enough to get credit for uni here. So, he had to sort of go back and they didn't feel the need to do that. I'll tell you what, the Aussie dollar relative to the Filipino peso is very tempting for young adults. So, off they went and worked at McDonald's and nightclubs and pretty much did the partying thing as 18 and 20, 21 year olds do, basically. So they experienced that for the first few years basically and started making their own money. So, unfortunately for them they didn't keep studying. I think that's probably a big regret for them because they didn't have that solid foundation for themselves as we moved over here into Aus. 

Currently, financial adviser extrordinaire could've been yesterday’s basketball star. 

[16:47] I was chasing after a scholarship to go to the US because being in high school— I was still 17 at the time— I still had that dream of becoming the next Michael Jordan. So basically, I started my first year of uni as an exercise scientist hoping to get into physiotherapy, as I was working towards the NBA. So, I managed to get a scholarship actually to go play in British Columbia, to revert back to high school for one more year of high school and hopefully get into college over there. Unfortunately, this is when one of the many realisations really hit me that we weren't financially well off. I had the money—I was working at Woolworths at the time— basically to travel over there, but I didn't have enough buffer. So at the 11th hour and 59th minute, they sent me an email asking me if I had $10,000 in a bank account for emergency purposes. I asked my parents that and they didn't have it,  my brother and my siblings didn't have it either. So, I had to give up on that particular dream. And then right then and there I knew I needed to get out of exercise science and the next dream was medicine. 

Coming up after the break, we follow Andrew David Courtney into his first foray into property. 

 

[18:54] Got it for 200 grand and basically moved out, then nine months later it was valued at 250.

His very first conversation with his finance professors… 

[26:32] ‘What happened to property? What happened to property as an asset class?’

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

Courtney’s first property investment was just one part of a much bigger balancing act, juggling study, work and relationships. 

[18:05] I started a biomedical science degree. Tried it as a pre-med trying to get into med and I got into a few interviews. Unfortunately, we got pipped to the post essentially. I started working as a scientist and during that time I met my girlfriend at the time, now my wife, and we wanted to move out of home. So this is now 23 right? Basically I started working on us and started my honours degree, started working full time at the same time and was fortunate enough to find that. With that, we invested in our first one bedroom apartment in Budds Beach in Surfer's paradise. 5% down basically, first home owners grant when it was available with the existing property at the time. So, put hardly any money in and [18:54] got it for 200 grand and basically moved out. And then nine months later it was valued at 250. What we did was we basically pulled some equity out and acquired the next one along, with a few other bits and bobs that we did at the time, to ensure that we leapfrogged across into our next property. 

So how does a biomedical scientist become a financial advisor? 

[19:14] Circling back to the question, yeah, that was a university degree. We went with biomed and did honors and during that time I started a Ph. D hoping to get into med. So, six months into the PhD I realized it wasn't quite right for me. And during that time, I've read Kiyosaki's books and all of those kinds of finance books that got me thinking, ‘Wow, this is it, this is for me.’ So I moved from the PhD and started working as a research assistant and came across Tim Ferriss' Four Hour Workweek. ‘Oh damn, there's no way I could do the four hour workweek as an employee, as a scientist, right?' So, I was trying to get out of science and I realised there's no way I could start a business as a scientist at that time. I had different and obviously limiting beliefs in my head at the time and I thought, 'Okay, let me just keep reading, let me work out what the next steps are. And basically, I found a couple of mentors from my network at the time who were doing financial planning. 

 [20:11] So I thought, ‘You know what ?’ I caught myself talking to all the scientists about their finances and how to optimize them for a better outcome. By this stage, we'd built up a three property portfolio basically, one with development potential and the other one with multiple renovations that we've done. So, we've built up enough equity to build momentum. I was talking to people about their portfolio and I said, ‘You know what, I'm gonna try and get into finance, because this is what I'm passionate about. I can't stop thinking about it.” Medicine is great, but I realise it's not really about the money, it's about freedom and flexibility. You can get your money elsewhere in life. I was very kind of hyper focused on medicine, because it was my auntie at the time down in Melbourne, who's the well-to-do one in the family, and she was a medico. So, then I realised, well, it's not really about your job. It's about, what else you do outside of your job? Yes, if you start investing you can start building massive momentum for yourself and thereby taking a little bit more risk. And you can potentially build your own business. So I knew that I wanted to go down that path. And basically found mentors and transitioned from science into finance to learn the ropes on how to be a financial advisor and run a small business. That was back in 2013. 

Now Courtney was set on his new future, all that was left was to make it a reality.

[21:35] I did melanoma research to begin with and then breast cancer for my PhD. That I didn't finish, I did that for about a year. And then I did about four years worth of developmental biology basically. So, learning the different pathways of development, essentially. And from there that's where I was very grateful for my my boss at the time. I was working at UQ as a researcher and she allowed me to work full time while studying full time because I started a master of commerce, majoring in Applied Finance. So, that was a year and a half where I was working full time and studying full time. So, it was perfect, because all hell, right? And that's when I transitioned post those studies. So, a good solid six years worth of experience in the medical research field.

While Courtney is thankful for all his scientific study, to forge his new life of financial freedom, some science had to be left at the university.

[22:54] The transition was as far as I was concerned, it was really easy in the theory space. The hardest part was the soft skills. The hardest part was talking to people about their finances, because I was very logical. It was a, ‘You do this, this and this, and suddenly it just makes perfect sense.’ But people don't think the way scientists do. So, I had to really take a step back and sort of peel the onion as best as I can for people so that they can actually take action to put themselves in a better position. So, I had to relearn the way I communicate because I was very direct and I was very logical, because you had to be in science.  

[23:33] So, I had to relearn that communication skill and really kind of work out, well, ‘How do you best communicate the strategies for people so that you can increase the likelihood of them moving forward? Getting things done for them, their lives and putting themselves in a better position?’ So, that was one of the big ones. And then the next big one was the running a small business, right? I had no clue how to run a small business. I knew how to build portfolios, but I didn't know how to run a small business. So, that's when I transitioned from the old role in A&P into an independent, boutique firm, where my mentors were. So, they mentored me throughout that transition and then I started my own business within their business. So, I learned what not to do and what to do within the small business context. In 2016, I decided to to start my own, and that's Plenitude. 

Courtney has worked with various investment tools, but in his own life property has had real impact, beyond just the balance sheet. 

[24:27] Three properties allowed us to do the career change. As you're well aware, you know that property is a fantastic asset to leverage against, right? Because obviously, there's no margin calls. You wouldn't want to leverage at 80, 90 or 95% on shares, right? You can lose it in a heartbeat. In property, you can do that. So, that's pretty much what we did. We leveraged up, we pulled out a bunch of equity and we moved into the space where I knew there was— I'm an investor at heart, right?  Then during that time, as I transition, I realised, ‘Wow, this new asset class right here, the business is actually the highest leverage form of asset class that you can get into.’ If you do it right and if you learn and obviously there are so many lessons in running a small business. And getting it to a medium size or a bigger business there are so many lessons that you need to go through. I thought to myself, 'You know what, I'm going to tackle this challenge, right?' 

[25:24] So, essentially I knew there was going to be a bit of a lull. You know what they say about learning, right? There's this uninformed optimism and as you go down and you learn, you get to the valley of despair, you learn informed pessimism. And post the valley of despair as you go up, you get to informed optimism and then mastery. So, I was the uninformed optimist basically, going down and through the valley of despair when learning about business. Then now over the past couple of years we've really kind of picked up and mastery has arrived and the business is doing well. Now we're getting back into the property space again because we've reinvested into the business, into the skill sets that we needed. And then now we're building our own property portfolio alongside all of our clients as well.  

Courtney says that for such an impactful tool that genuinely changes lives, property can often be overlooked or misunderstood by investors. 

[26:24] Being a property investor first and foremost I went through a master of commerce, asking my professors, [26:32] ‘What happened to property? What happened to property as an asset class?’  They started talking about [unsure] and I'm like, 'Yeah, that's nice.’ It's good, don't get me wrong, I don't mind diversifying across different asset classes. Man, where's the residential property piece? Where's the personal finance? So, I was going through this master of commerce—supposedly one of the top things that you can do in the finance field and there's nothing to do with personal finance. So I thought, ‘Well okay, this is very, very different.’ So I went into financial planning and no one talked about property. So I'm like, 'Holy crap, this is a massive opportunity.' As I was building up my client base and talking to people about their portfolios, obviously, property conversation came up. The majority of financial planners did not know anything about property. Whereas I had already built my property portfolio—built up enough momentum to make a career change and build massive confidence in my IP at the time, so I was comfortable talking about property. 

[27:30] During that time, I realised, 'Oh, I need to work with a strategic mortgage broker. So basically built out that network and started talking to my clients, ‘This is what we're going to get up to, this is what you need to do.’ And then refer to the mortgage broker. Some of them did their job and others didn't. Then I realised, 'Man, the clients aren't really being serviced as well as they could be.’ So that's when we decided, let's make it happen. So my wife and I basically became became mortgage brokers. 

[28:03] My wife was a scientist too. She transitioned over a few years later after I'd built proof of concept within the financial planning. She moved, transitioned over and became a mortgage broker with me and basically led that team. And we built out the mortgage broking so that we can service our clients better. Then the natural progression is obviously, the buyer's agency piece, right? Our clients were spending 200, 300 hours worth of research and we’d provide them with all the information, but they can't pull the plug. 

Courtney’s business is all about making the hard parts of property easier. So when he got to see firsthand just how much we get it wrong, Plenitude was born. 

[28:32] They don't know how to negotiate. They don't really know how to spend the right hours to actually put a deal together. And what happens is, they'd spent six to eight months looking for a property with no success, right? So I'm thinking to myself, 'Well, I'm going to need to build out this particular service because the other buyer's agents didn't quite fit the bill when it comes to the analytics.’ So, we would always provide reports: ‘This is why we do X Y and Z, this is the kind of trajectory we're looking at.’ Just making sure that we're holding our clients hands the whole way through. So really, to answer your question mate, it's about service. It's about clients wanting more and the market didn't deliver as I was referring. So I realised, well, this is a gap. So let's make it happen. So, essentially, that's how we built the businesses out.

Andrew David Courtney’s story continues in the next episode of Property Investory. We’ll hear his secrets to embracing the inevitable, mistakes. 

[1:11] The lessons that we got out of that, it allowed us to propel into the next chapter.

Plus, the tips and tricks to maximise your next property deal. 

[4:15] This is one of the common strategies that we do for our clients, access prior to settlement to renovate and make better.

And that’s next time on Property Investory.