Sateesh Palliyil has had a long history in property, having done his first subdivision nearly 20 years ago. Since then he has built up an impressive track record as an investor and developer having done a range of projects while working in the IT industry.
His first property deal in Australia was a land subdivision that he funded through a joint venture with his family and that started him on his path to financial freedom. However, he had been buying properties in India for many years.
“Before coming to Australia, I was in India and I used to work in Qatar. I used to go to India once a year for four weeks for annual leave and that’s when I began to purchase most of my properties. I was actively using buyers agents in all my transactions because in India there will be one or two buyers agents involved in every purchase.”
“Because they have experience in not just one area but have connections to other states or some other areas too”
After working for many years and investing part-time, Sateesh discovered that he was able to find better opportunities using his own skills.
“I was in IT for many years when I was doing all these projects. Then I found that if I was working as a full-time investor, I could see lots of deals out there by myself rather than depending on someone else.”
“I could also help lots of my friends and they’ve now done sub-divisions inspired by me. And they always call me and ask for advice and I always help them and they’ve all been successful.”
“So I thought, “Okay, I will make this a career and help people to become financially free just like me. I became financially free thanks to property when I was almost 29 years old and now I am 45 years old.”
As a buyers agent, Sateesh sees many investors making the same types of mistakes, so his goal is to open their eyes to different opportunities.
“Normally people go and buy a four-bedroom, two-bathroom, two-car garage house. That’s what the typical Indian buys as his first home. So when they look for an investment, they’ll do the same thing.”
“They don’t know there are many other options like sub-divisions, renovations, rooming house or duplexes.”
Despite starting his career as a buyers agent during COVID, Sateesh had a number of clients because of this reputation, which helped him get started.
“Luckily when I started my buyer’s agency, a few people already knew me so I got two clients straight away so that was a very good thing luckily.”
Sateesh was drawn to the idea of a career as a buyers agent as it was common in India.
“In India, in every transaction, there’s a buyer’s agent and then the selling agent, which makes things easy. So there’s always someone to represent you if you are buying a property.”
“There are no emotions or anything like that and that’s a very good model which I always expect here.
Sateesh found that BAI was incredibly helpful to him when he was starting out in the industry in what was a very tricky time.
“Ben’s got lots of incredible ideas that he shares in his webinars. I feel that every webinar has some kind of million-dollar idea in it.”
“He himself is a very successful buyer’s agent and he’s got lots of practical knowledge to share. That’s what I like about him. He’s not teaching you from books – he’s done it himself.”
Sateesh’s aim going forward is to help other people do what he’s done and put them in a position to be financially free.
“With the pandemic and recession threats around, it’s good to have insurance against unemployment. Having financial freedom means you don’t need to rely on unemployment payments that only just cover the bare necessities; you can continue to live a lifestyle that’s comfortable.”
“Just because you’ve achieved financial freedom doesn’t mean you stop working. You may want to increase your wealth, improve the comfort of your lifestyle or save for your children. But, should you or your partner lose their job, you are safe knowing your lifestyle is protected and you won’t need to make adjustments.”
“In the next five years, I want to help 100 families become financially free.”
