I’m 19 and I now own THREE investment properties. Here’s how I did it on the minimum wage without ANY money from my parents…

A 19-year-old real estate investor has revealed that he now owns three homes without any financial help from his parents.

Cristian Caponi grew up in Sydney, but because housing there is so expensive, he turned his attention to Perth, where apartments are still affordable.

“I would be disappointed, to be honest, if I looked at Sydney. I would say look outside your shell and see that there are opportunities out there,” he told Daily Mail Australia.

“If it means it gets you to your purpose in life, then go for it.”

Mr Caponi’s property journey began in July last year when he bought a 1960s one-bedroom apartment in Fremantle for $190,000. At the time, he was earning just $40,000, below the minimum wage.

Two months later, he bought another one-bedroom apartment in Langford for $247,500.

In February, he bought a two-bedroom apartment in Swan View for $300,000. By then, his salary, including commission, had risen to $70,000.

Mr Caponi said he got into real estate at a young age because he chose to train as an estate agent at LJ Hooker in Ashfield after completing Year 12 rather than go to university.

“I know it’s become a lot easier for me to work full-time,” he said.

‘Because I worked full-time and was therefore flexible, it was a lot easier to save money.

‘I didn’t use my parents’ savings.’

But Mr Caponi admits that living at home with his parents in Haberfield had allowed him to save money for a mortgage and mortgage insurance from the lender.

“I would definitely say it’s a big help if you have family that you can live with,” he said.

For the first property, Mr. Caponi asked his parents to act as guarantor, meaning that they would be liable if he could not pay the mortgage instalments.

But it also meant meant he did not have to pay mortgage insurance to the mortgage lender and did not have to make a down payment on the Fremantle home.

“This means you can actually buy a home without having to use your savings,” he said.

Western Australia offers stamp duty exemption for homes under $430,000, but on the first property Mr Caponi paid $4,700 in stamp duty.

For the second property he paid a 10 percent deposit, $8,000 in stamp duty and $2,000 in mortgage insurance from the lender.

For the third property he paid $9,000 in stamp duty, plus $3,500 in mortgage insurance from the lender.

His three properties yield weekly rents of $410, $440 and $480, which equates to $1,330.

This is $53 more than the $1,277 in weekly expenses, which include mortgage payments, council taxes and water bills.

Thanks to his positive focus, Mr. Caponi is able to pay off his $682,750 mortgage and borrow more than the typical debt-to-income ratio of 5.2 for homeowners.

“The banks let me borrow more because there was rental income, so the property didn’t have negative leverage,” he said.

Mr. Caponi wants to own ten investment properties within five years and wants to continue to focus on real estate rather than stocks, so he has cash flow and can use his existing investments to buy more homes.

“I might have to sell one, but I’m focused on the long term,” he said.

‘In the next five years I probably want to get to around 10. If I can do that, I’ll be in a good position.’

Mr Caponi said he saw opportunities in Perth, a country that benefits economically from interstate migration and has an affordable market.

“If that big price is there and a lot of people from the East are investing, like me, then that drives up prices enormously,” he said.

“I think affordability and migration between states are definitely a factor as well.”

Perth apartment prices have risen 24.5 per cent in the past year to $540,545. However, one-bedroom apartments generally do not perform as well as larger two- and three-bedroom apartments.

For comparison, the average price of an apartment in Sydney at $852,766 is more expensive than the average house price in Perth at $808,038.

After working in real estate, Mr. Caponi went to work for a purchasing agent.

He now makes a living giving webinars on real estate until he gets a license to open his own buying agency. He hopes to one day have enough equity in Perth apartments to eventually buy a house in Sydney.