Owning 23 Properties Worth $25M but Paying $1,420 Weekly Rent - The Savvy Strategy of Ravi Sharma
In a surprising twist that might leave many house-hunters puzzled, a young Indian-origin Australian investor who owns 23 properties across the country still pays rent every week, and it's not a small amount.
Ravi Sharma has built a property portfolio worth around $25 million (about ₹200 crore), yet he lives in a rented $2.2 million three-bedroom penthouse in Sydney’s Macquarie Park with his wife. The rent for the place he currently lives is an alarming $1,420 per week!
If that sounds like financial irony, Sharma calls it strategy. The founder of Search Property Buyer’s Agency recently shared his journey in an interview with property app Coposit, according to Australia’s news.com.au. “I have a portfolio of about $25 million and I have like 20-odd properties in that,” Sharma said. He added that only one or two of his investments are in Sydney and the rest are spread across different parts of Australia.
What is ‘rentvesting’?
According to the report, Sharma’s lifestyle reflects a growing investment trend known as rentvesting. The idea is simple but counterintuitive: rent a home where you want to live and buy properties where they are affordable and offer better returns.
For Sharma, buying a home in Sydney would have required a massive deposit. According to him, that money would have been locked into a single asset instead of helping him expand his portfolio. “While the idea of not having to pay rent sounded attractive, having all that money tied up in an asset that wasn’t going to perform just meant that I had no choice,” he said in the interview with Coposit.
There were also transaction costs to consider. Selling a high-value property later could mean significant losses due to stamp duty and other expenses.
Ravi Sharma’s real estate portfolio
Sharma’s real estate investment journey began early. At 21, he bought his first investment, a three-bedroom house in Dubbo for $190,000. Over the next decade, he steadily added homes in different regions, renting them out and reinvesting the returns, the report stated.
His company, Search Property Buyer’s Agency, has been shortlisted as a finalist for Best Buyer’s Agency at the REB Awards in both 2023 and 2024, according to his LinkedIn profile. He was also named Australian Business News Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2024 in the Property and Construction category.
Beyond real estate deals, Sharma shares financial advice through his YouTube channel, Personal Finance with Ravi Sharma.
