19-year-old buys $600,000 investment house while serving in Australian Defence Force: How she saved from 16 and built a four-bedroom property

Olivia Shone has already reached a financial milestone that many people spend years working toward, i.e. owning an investment property. The Warragul, Victoria, native began saving for real estate when she was only 16.

And three years later, she had bought a block of land in her hometown and completed construction of a four-bedroom house estimated to represent an investment of about $600,000. Shone estimated that she had spent about $600,000 on acquiring the land and building the house.

ALSO READ: Montreal transit agency bans workplace prayers from September 1 under Quebec’s new secularism law: What employees need to know about Bill 9


What makes Olivia Shone's property journey even more remarkable is that she managed much of the process while serving in the Australian Defence Force and studying law part-time thousands of kilometres away, according to a report in Real Estate.com.

Olivia Shone started saving for property at 16

Shone's interest in property began with conversations with her father, Luke, who had purchased his first home at just 18. Those conversations encouraged her to think about home ownership much earlier than many teenagers do.

She worked on the family farm and later found employment mucking out horse stables at an equestrian facility in Drouin West when she was around 14 or 15. She also worked in retail at Horseland and looked for other opportunities to increase her savings.

ALSO READ: Melinda French Gates’ NASA connection

She even invested in cattle

Shone's unusual investment involved cattle. She reportedly bought a cow and her twin calves for about $1,200 and later sold the younger animals for approximately $2,500.

Her determination was also shaped by difficult circumstances. Shone lost her mother when she was 11, an experience that changed her childhood and saw her take on responsibilities around the family farm.

ALSO READ: Kevin O’Leary is worth $400 million, yet he still shops at Walmart for $29 jeans; here’s what the Shark Tank star has in common with $144 billion Warren Buffett

Olivia Shone chose to build instead of buy

By 18, Shone had saved enough to purchase a block of land in Warragul. After researching the local property market, she decided that building a new house made more financial sense than purchasing an existing property.

Finding the right property was only one challenge. Shone said some real estate agents initially dismissed her because of her age. Eventually, she found support for her plans, with the Crownlee estate team in Warragul among those who backed her vision. The house was built by Metricon.

She managed construction from 3,000 km away

Perhaps the most unusual part of Shone's property journey was where she was living while the house was being built. After finishing Year 12, she joined the Australian Defence Force and is now based at an air force base in the Northern Territory, more than 3,000 kilometres from the building site.

Despite the distance, she remained closely involved in the construction process. Shone communicated with Metricon online and made decisions about the house remotely, including choices such as bathroom tile colours.

Metricon's regional Gippsland sales team credited Shone's "readiness, commitment and maturity" for helping her complete the project successfully.

The 19-year-old does not plan to live there

Shone recently returned to Warragul to collect the keys to her completed property. But she has no plans to move into the four-bedroom house.

Instead, the property will become a rental investment and the first major step toward building a larger real estate portfolio. Her next goal is another investment property, with hopes of eventually developing several more properties.

She began planning for property ownership at 16, worked throughout her teenage years, invested creatively, saved instead of spending and continued pursuing her goal while balancing military service and university. Now, with her first investment property completed, Shone is already looking toward the next one.