Plant That Oak Tree: Paying off a $400K Mortgage in 5 Years and Becoming Debt-Free - Despina Karatzias

Despina Karatzias is an entrepreneur, marketing expert, and curious human being with a passion for igniting excellence in people. Coming from Greece to Melbourne at the age of 9, it didn’t take long for her to develop a burning desire for traveling the world. After trying social work, she decided to pursue a career in tourism and support small business owners with their digital marketing strategy, a path where she found true alignment and passion. Despina joins Property Uncovered today to discuss her experience in property investing and how they managed to pay off a 400K mortgage in less than five years. Tune in to today’s episode to discover how reading The Barefoot Investor by Scott Pape changed Despina’s perception, her conviction of the importance of educating your children about personal finances, and her thoughts on SMSF, or as she describes, «one of the world’s best-kept secrets in investing».

 

-- TIMESTAMPS --

(00:00) Intro

(00:51) Despina’s background

(05:24) Humble Beginnings and Travel as a Child

(10:16) Finding Alignment with a Career in Tourism

(13:38) Buying her First Property at 22

(17:22) Insights from The Barefoot Investor

(20:05) Bringing the Kids on board with Finances

(23:17) Buying Her 2nd and 3rd Property

(28:51) The Decision to Pay Off their Mortgage Aggressively

(31:27) Why not Upgrade to a Bigger House?

(34:06) Recommendations for Buyers

(37:31) Mortgage Created Heaviness

(39:08) Investing for Retirement

(43:22) The Best Time to Plant an Oak Tree

(48:17) Despina’s Top Travelling Experiences

(52:07) Final Words

(54:18) Outro

 

-- QUOTES --

- “We’ve traveled over the last six years not owing a cent after we come back from a holiday. Everything we do we save for.”

- “Every time we would hit a milestone of the mortgage going down we would share it with the kids and do something special to celebrate.”

- “Banks don’t want the mortgages paid off.”

- “I feel like I’ve come from just sitting at the back of the bus cruising along without knowing where we were going to now driving my own bus and finding empowerment.”

 

-- CONNECT WITH DESPINA --

🌐 Website: https://despinakaratzias.com

💼 LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/despinakaratzias

🐦 Twitter: https://twitter.com/desikaratzias

🌌 Facebook: https://facebook.com/DespinaKaratzias

 

-- CONNECT WITH SANJEEV --

💼 LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/sahsanjeev

 

-- FOLLOW INVESTORS DREAM --

👉 Website: https://investorsdream.com.au

📞 Book a call: https://investorsdream.com.au/bookcall

📸 Instagram: https://instagram.com/investorsdreambuyersagent

🌌 Facebook: https://facebook.com/investorzdream