Gen-Y dad flips $270k shack for luxe waterfront home

Jordan and Jana Strudwick with their two young kids at home on the Gold Coast. Picture: Glenn Hampson

Millennial dad Jordan Strudwick has pulled off the ultimate Covid upgrade, swapping his first home in Ipswich for a $4.2m waterfront property on the Gold Coast.

Mr Strudwick recalls “feeling like King Kong” in 2020 after pocketing $40,000 from selling the shack he bought two years earlier.

Now, buoyed by the pandemic boom, the 32-year-old and his wife, Jana, have a property portfolio valued at more than $10m, including a luxury home with a pool in one of Queensland’s most coveted locations.

The couple’s investment journey began in 2018 with the purchase of a three-bedroom post-war house in Raceview for $270,000.

The family has traded their way to their dream home. Picture: Glenn Hampson

They have since acquired ten properties and sold six, leveraging equity and profits to expand their portfolio.

“It all just starts with one,” said Mr Strudwick, a business owner and father of two children aged 2 and 5 months.

The founder of Strud Property Group has capitalised on huge growth in the Ipswich region, where his business is also based.

“We were fortunate that we owned three properties when we went into the boom, and everyone who sold then made $200-300,000 so that gave us a start to go into some bigger properties,” Mr Strudwick said.

“Everyone says, ‘you got lucky with Covid’ – but we also had the courage to buy before Covid when Ipswich prices weren’t moving much at all.”

Where it all started … Mr Strudwick’s first-home buy at Raceview

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Now, as head of a company with 70 team members, Mr Strudwick encourages other young people to make the market work for them.

“We push our young team members to purchase their first home because that dream of ownership may nearly be impossible in 20 years’ time unless you are from a family with money, or an ultra-high paying job,” he said.

“In Ipswich, you can still purchase a home sub-$600,000 with the government’s 5 per cent deposit scheme so you’ll need $30,000.

“It is hard to do this while paying rent, but that’s also an excuse because that coffee a day, the cigarettes, drinking on the weekend all adds up.”

Another home in the Ipswich area which was flipped for profit

Starting out with a $50,000 personal loan to kickstart his career in real estate, Mr Strudwick decided to use $15,000 of that as 5 per cent deposit on a first house.

“I just remembered being so poor — I only had a mattress on the ground,” he said.

“I lived in its original 1960s condition — pink walls and no water pressure — and sold in just under two years. I made $40,000 and thought I was King Kong because back then, nothing was happening in the Ipswich market.”

Staying humble has been key to his success, along with recognising the work and risk it takes to build wealth.

Home prices in the region have soared over the past five years

“I’ve been fortunate that I’ve never lost money, but I’m grateful to have a great team around me advising me on debt,” Mr Strudwick said.

“Always be planning forward for your next move. Find out what your home is worth and how you can leverage your debt. Make your money work for you.”

A key lesson – “stick to what you know”, he said, admitting commercial property hasn’t been the windfall he was expecting.

“Just because you can doesn’t always mean you should.

“If you want shorter term capital growth, residential is where it is at.”

The Strudwicks are now planning to rebuild their portfolio by selling most of their assets to pay down the family home, then aim to put funds towards flipping older canalfront homes, eventually moving into larger scale development.

Mr Strudwick’s goal was to buy a waterfront home for his growing family

With Queensland home prices still rising, Mr Strudwick said buyers could expect an uplift of 15 to 20 per cent by the end of 2026.

“With the Olympic Games coming to Queensland, we’re entering a once-in-a-generation window of opportunity.

“Infrastructure, population, and investment are set to surge and that means real estate in SEQ is set for massive growth,” he said.

For first-home buyers, Mr Strudwick advised keeping emotions at play when deciding what to offer.

“Figure out your three prices – your bargain price, your middle, ‘okay, I’d pay that price’, and most importantly, your walk-away price.”

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