There’s no denying builders have a head start when it comes to property investment. The ability to do your own building work is a massive boon – instantly saving thousands.

Levin-based Kyle Davie runs his own building company and has completed many property projects since he started investing at the age of 18. Now, at 28, his projects are getting bigger and bolder, and his endgame (financial freedom and time) is looking closer by the day.

In The Family

As a child, Davie spent a lot of time helping his dad, a builder, on jobs around their community. His stepdad was also a builder, so he had plenty of practice behind the hammer when he left school and started a building apprenticeship as a teenager.

By 18, Davie had been working for a year and saved enough money to buy his first house.

“I’d been grazing sheep and selling firewood, and because I was living at home, saved everything I was earning,” he says.

It’s perspicacious for such a young man, but he understood property was a road to wealth. And it was 2014 and there were bargains to be found in his home town.

The Levin three-bedroom brick house Davie bought cost him just $185,000. He’d intended to live there but decided to rent it out – and the rent covered the mortgage.

The house was liveable, but he did some interior renovations, plus landscaping and fence installation. Later that year the equity gain was so favourable he was able to purchase a second rental property, using the value gain as leverage.

This property, bought in October 2014, was a two-bedroom home on a large plot of land. “I knew this property could be subdivided,” he says. Another bargain, this home was just $155,000 and was rented out immediately.

Juggling Act

Property investment is addictive, and the small town of Shannon, just 14 minutes’ drive from Levin, was the site of his next purchase.

Another three-bedroom property, it was on another section ripe for subdivision. The house was okay but needed work to meet Healthy Homes standards. It was rented out immediately but, more importantly, fitted into a master plan he was developing around subdivision.

His last purchase in Levin had a house that could be relocated to Shannon and the section subdivided, creating two homes. The Levin property would be freed up for the development of two new builds – significantly increasing the value of both properties.

Davie put in motion the subdivision process for both properties – planning, consent, supplying water and electricity – while getting plans drawn up for two new houses to be built on the Levin site.

It was a juggling act, but Davie executed it masterfully. The existing home was moved to Shannon from Levin (“I’d worked with my dad on a lot of these sort of jobs when I was at school, so I knew how the process worked”) and waited for the subdivision to be signed off. Once the Levin subdivision was given the green light, Davie was able to start on the two new builds.

‘Smashed Out’

At 1000 sq m, the Levin property lent itself to two large family homes. A 200 sq m house was developed at the back of the site and a 170 sq m house built up front.

They both had three bedrooms and double garages, and Davie intended to live in the larger home. The project was “smashed out” between October and Christmas 2020, with the front house selling in early February 2021 for $700,000.

Never one to stand still for long, Davie “got bored” living in the larger house, so in September 2021 sold it for $850,000.

He had his eyes on a new venture.

“I’d seen a subdivision that I was interested in so I placed a $10,000 deposit on a piece of land that ended up costing $210,000,” he says.

He built another large house here, but once again was drawn into something more desirable – a 10-acre block that was earmarked for re-zoning. The owner found the size of the property hard to keep on top of, so agreed to “swap it” for Davie’s new build.

This is Davie’s current home; he’s waiting for zone changes that will allow him to develop up to 40 new houses – a step up to large-scale development.

Davie hasn’t just been working within the confines of residential property. His building company has grown, and he was looking for a site with a yard where he could store machinery and materials.

He found a suitable site and built three commercial buildings on it, but by the time it was finished he had taken possession of the 10-acre block, which had space to spare.

So, the commercial property was leased out; it’s currently fully tenanted and Davie has added another string to his property bow.

He also realised he needed to educate himself around finances. He was getting a bit stuck with financing his projects, and doing online research into the best way to get ahead. He happened upon a video from Jim Dodd, of Property-CEO, a company that helps investors instigate strategic partnerships and offers technical support to investors.

“I contacted Jim and started working with him; he helped me with relationship building, working situations through a different lens, and making the numbers work. Working with him has been incredibly helpful.”

Network Help

Since working with Property-CEO, Davie has business partners on joint ventures. He has undertaken three, two-lot subdivisions with a partner, and has been using the Property-CEO network to find interested parties.

People who have sold businesses, or have retired and have money to invest, are often interested in development. Davie says he is a safe pair of hands and able to make the money work for both parties.

Buy and renovate or buy, build and sell, has been his strategy so far, but he’s open to buy-and-hold when he further consolidates his financial position. His long-term plan is simple: financial freedom.

“I want to be able to spend time with my kids, when I have them. I want financial freedom. And property will help me get this.”