Case studies: real files, names changed
Three clients have agreed to their files being shown. Each started on one wage or two. Their full working is on one page, and this page helps you find the one closest to where you are.
Find a case like yours
Names are changed, and each client agreed to their file being shown. Property Brain found the properties; Money Brain arranged the lending.
Starting with very little: Neil.
One wage of $85,000, and $25,000 of his own money in January 2018. He added no savings after the first purchase: each later deposit came from equity in what he already held.
One wage and a renovation: Andrew.
One wage of $65,000, and $51,500 of his own money in March 2021. About $10,000 of cosmetic work on his first property added value that went toward his next two deposits.
Two incomes, building faster: Michael.
Two incomes totalling $165,000, and $132,000 of their own money in March 2019. They bought properties with room to add value, in an order that kept them able to borrow for the next one.
Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. Nothing here is a projection of what you might achieve.
What these results don't show
Values can fall. Property values can fall as well as rise, and borrowing makes a fall bigger just as it makes a gain bigger. In the June quarter of 2026, the average Australian home fell in value by $8,200 on the ABS's preliminary figures.
The years matter. Every property in these files was bought between January 2018 and April 2022. A different start year or a different market gives a different result.
Lending is tighter now. Since February 2026, APRA has capped loans to people whose debts are six or more times their income at 20% of each bank's new home lending, and 20% of its new investor lending. Since the end of October 2021, APRA has also expected banks to test repayments at least 3 percentage points above the rate charged.
If your question is about the loan, not the portfolio
These questions are answered on their own pages, with worked examples. They're examples, not client stories.
Is my loan costing me too much?
What a refinance has to save to cover the cost of switching, worked through.
Does my job mean no mortgage insurance?
Which lenders waive LMI for which professions, lender by lender and dated.
How much could I borrow?
How a lender tests your income, and what changes the answer.
How a case gets onto this page
A file appears here only when the client agrees to it, and with their name changed. Every figure comes from the file and carries the date it was checked, and the risks sit beside the results.
A case that didn't go to plan is often the most useful one to read. We'll add one when a client agrees to it being shown.
Want to talk about yours?
Tell me what you earn, what you've saved and what you already own. I'll tell you where a plan like these would start for you, and what would stop it.
You'll hear back within the hour in business hours, and by 9am the next business day after hours.
Sources
- 1
The three files: Money Brain client records, names changed, shown with each client's agreement. Figures checked 14 August 2026.
- 2
Australian Bureau of Statistics, Total Value of Dwellings, June Quarter 2026 (preliminary), released 8 September 2026. Read 29 September 2026.
- 3
APRA: debt-to-income limit from 1 February 2026 (release of 27 November 2025); serviceability buffer of 3 percentage points (letter of 6 October 2021); both unchanged in APRA's release of 28 May 2026. Read 29 September 2026.
Updated 2 October 2026