It was a chance encounter when Angela (nee Sheffield) and Adam Plimmer met – she was in England for her OE, working in the decontamination of development sites and he was a civil engineer, attending the conference where she spoke. Cards were exchanged and they discovered many similarities between them.

Both had served in the military (he was in the cadets in England, and she had been an officer in the New Zealand Territorials for seven years). Both had had a happy but humble upbringing with little cash to spare – Adam in Bromsgrove in the UK (his parents still live in the same house they bought in 1966) and Angela in Papakura.

In England the pair lived an hour-anda- half apart and would see each other at weekends. They shared a passion for Land Rovers, and when they took a trip to Morocco together on an offroad Land Rover tour, the handy pair were constantly helping sort out the mechanical issues of the others’ cars. They quickly realised that they could do this sort of off-roading under their own steam.

‘I don’t need to do any repairs and maintenance on the house we live in and any repairs and maintenance done on the rentals is tax deductible’ ADAM PLIMMER

It was this realisation, coupled with the fact that Angela had turned 35 and wanted some certainty in her future, that prompted a conversation between the two that would be pivotal to their plans. The conversation was brief but covered all the bases.

“We need to make a decision about our future,” said Angela. “That means we get married.” Adam’s response was a decisive “Okay”. Angela also stipulated that she wanted to have children – they decided four on the spot – but she didn’t want to raise them in England. Again Adam’s response was “Okay”, but with one proviso: “If we’re going to live in New Zealand let’s drive there”.

During the 60-second conversation, the pair decided they would spend a year driving a Land Rover across Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, all the way to Singapore, before hopping over to New Zealand.

If they could manage that together, they figured their future looked set.

As it happened, the arduous, challenging trip didn’t take a toll on the couple’s relationship and a year later in 2003, they landed on New Zealand shores, ready to start afresh.

The pair were strategic about how they would divide their roles. Adam would work, so that Angela could focus on growing the couple’s wealth through investing, as well as take care of the children that would come along. Both their parents hadn’t had much spare for the nice things in life, and neither had planned for a comfortable retirement, so it was important to both Angela and Adam to get strategic about building their future wealth.

Let The Investing Begin

The pair rented in Onehunga, Auckland and researched the market before deciding to buy in Mangakino, as the land there had recently changed from leasehold to freehold. They bought a rental for $80,000 in 2004, with the intention of renting it out, but after an 18-month long $20,000 renovation, (which they did themselves at weekends), the market had risen and they sold it for $185,000.

This meant they were able to buy again and it wasn’t long before they purchased a second property in Mangakino. They intended to use it as a bach, but the mortgage proved too taxing so they did up the interior and sold it for a profit of $60,000.

With the nest egg from both sales they were able to buy a home-andincome in Papakura for $555,000. It consisted of a four-bedroom main house and a separate granny flat. The couple moved into the house and rented out the flat and it was here that they had their first two sons.

However, they had dreams of a rural childhood for their boys, so they soon purchased a six-acre block of land in Clevedon for $575,000, where they hoped they would one day build a family home. Unfortunately, the Global Financial Crisis hit and it was too much of a strain to cover the two mortgages, with interest rates at 10%.

The pair made a decision to rent out the Papakura home and purchased a caravan to live in on their land in Clevedon. The four of them lived in the caravan until a shed was erected and then they moved into the shed. Angela says “I cooked out of a crockpot and BBQ for nine months”, until Adam had fitted out the attached two-bedroom granny flat.

‘The best thing we ever did was not building the family home’ ANGELA PLIMMER

It was a relief when they finally moved into the flat and it was there that they had their two younger sons. But Angela’s mind soon turned once again to property investment. She joined the Auckland Property Investors’ Association and was invited to an information evening about the Hamilton market.

This was at a time when the Auckland market was already becoming unaffordable and the Hamilton market was beginning to see a “halo” effect.

“There was a girls’ night and I missed it to go to a property investors’ talk in East Tamaki in our old Land Rover in winter, because it was a talk about Hamilton.”

The “gem” Angela gleaned from this meeting was that the Hamilton market was about to take off. Angela shared this information with Adam and they made firm plans to invest in Hamilton. Coincidentally, Adam was offered a new job in Hamilton at around the same time and so a move south was a no-brainer. They rented out their Clevedon flat to a family, with the agreement that they could spend weekends up there in two rooms they had built into the shed, so their boys could still enjoy rural life.

Landlord Renters

They jumped right into Hamilton property and bought a two-bedroom rental in Silverdale for $320,000 in 2015, which rents out at $385 per week. There’s a possibility of converting it into a threebedroom in the future. Three years later the property is worth around $450,000 to $500,000. “We just got in at the right time,” says Angela.

The family of six rented out a property in Rototuna for themselves, where they still live today. Adam says renting is a strategic decision.

“In Hamilton we’ve spent about $800,000 on two properties. That gives us a rental income of around $800 per week and the capital growth associated with $800,000 of property. The house we live in is an $850,000 house and we pay about $500 in rent per week. Immediately we are a few hundred bucks a week better off.”

“I don’t need to do any repairs and maintenance on the house we live in and any repairs and maintenance done on the rentals is tax deductible.”

The second Hamilton rental was purchased in late-2016 for $415,000; it’s a standalone house on a sub-dividable section in Nawton. At this point 60% LVRs came in and the couple split from one bank to two.

The house needed a lot of work, but quotes came in too high, so the couple (and their four sons) spent a year doing the place up themselves. Adam would take one child four nights a week, on weekends they all helped.

It is now rented out to the Salvation Army who use it as transitional housing for those on the housing register. So far it’s proved to be a fantastic arrangement and it speaks to the couple’s altruistic values.

Giving back is really important to the Plimmers. Before each winter the boys help cut and load firewood from the Clevedon property to distribute free of charge to the Papakura and Hamilton properties. There’s no financial gain for the Plimmers, but it’s important to teach the kids to give to others “because it’s the right thing to do” says Angela.

Future Plans

The kids, who are now 6, 8, 10 and 11 years old, are being exposed to the investing activities of their parents and the couple want their children to know that investing gives them tangible options for their futures.

“We keep telling them, this house is going to change this family’s future,” says Angela. “This house will give you the choice of where you go to high school.”

They also plan to help their children get into their first property either by the time they leave home or go on their OE and to send them each off with a Land Rover.

Currently restrictive LVRs mean they have to wait before their next plan. A joint venture to subdivide the Nawton property is a possibility. Their other option is to make plans to build the family home in Clevedon. But the couple are thankful they didn’t invest in their own home years ago.

“All that money would have gone into a high-spec building which we’d pour our hearts into. We would have spent $400,000 on it and right now we wouldn’t be living in it,” says Adam.

Angela agrees: “The best thing we ever did was not building the family home.”