Goro Gupta was just 17 years old when he purchased his first property. Now, with the help of his dad, he owns 37 properties, that generate a whopping $200,000 a year in passive income.

But despite his phenomenal success, Mr. Gupta, now 40 and the CEO of 10 Properties in 10 Years, isn’t afraid to admit he needed help from “the bank of mum and dad”.

It’s actually his number-one tip for people who want to get on the property ladder.

“Definitely as a guarantor, or a deposit loan from the bank of mum and dad is not a bad idea,” he said. “And if it helps you avoid Lendor’s Mortgage Insurance, that’s a really good thing.”

For existing property owners, Mr. Gupta says his biggest piece of advice is to make sure your loan offers an offset capability.

Offset loans allow you to deposit your salary and savings into an account or accounts linked to your mortgage. The balance of those accounts is then offset against the balance of your home loan, so you only pay interest on the difference, potentially saving you tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars over the life of your loan.

“If you know how to use it correctly, by paying no extra towards your mortgage, you can actually rapidly pay down your mortgage in 10 years or less,” Mr. Gupta said

“That’s significantly more powerful than most other loan structures out there.”

Mr. Gupta, who splits his time between Victoria and the Gold Coast, said using offset accounts was one of the main ways he and his father grew their property portfolio so rapidly.

“The number one strategy we use to buy more property was paying down debt using the strategy and using the equity of the paid down debt or the money in the offset, to purchase our next property and so on,” he said.

They have since diversified their investments by adding NDIS housing, shared accommodation properties, Airbnb holiday rentals and cars he rents out on Uber carshare (formerly Car Next Door).
These investments make Mr Gupta an average of $200,000 a year in passive income.

Mr. Gupta also advises homebuyers to buy high cashflow properties or investments, and to have a buffer when looking at buying a home, by calculating “your ability to pay back your loan and a principal interest perspective”.

Mortgage Choice broke Terri Unwin agrees, and encourages existing homeowners still on a fixed rate to get their buffer ready urgently.

“In 20 years I’ve never seen anything as crazy as the last four months in terms of interest rate increases,” she said.

“There’s really no benefit in fixing (your rates) right now. The fixed rates are already significantly higher, generally than the variable rates. And now that we’re starting to hear talk about a potential decrease in interest rates within the next 12 months, you don’t want to be locking in at a higher rate for three years.

“With people on current fixed rates … we’re looking at what the repayments would be on a variable rate at the end of their fixed rate term.

“We’re saying to them, ‘based on current projections, this is what your repayments are going to be in six months' time, if you can start increasing your monthly repayments each month between now and when it expires, you’ll already be making the new loan repayment. And so you’re not going to go into that rate shock.’”

“We’re saying to them, ‘based on current projections, this is what your repayments are going to be in six months' time, if you can start increasing your monthly repayments each month between now and when it expires, you’ll already be making the new loan repayment. And so you’re not going to go into that rate shock.’”

“You’re already making the required repayment. And in the meantime, all that money is going in there as additional repayments that are available for redraw should you need it once it comes off the fixed rate. And you’re reducing the interest charged. So, win, win, win.”

For existing homeowners, the broker of 20 years also urges them to look for a better rate.
“Absolutely approach your broker or a bank and get the best rate possible. Do your research before you do so … what we’re comparing them to what’s out there in the market, what they have been offered, or what they’ll be eligible for, with another lender.

“And then hopefully, at that point, the bank takes customers seriously, and comes up with their best offer.”