‘Death of the middle class': Tradie's drastic action to get ahead financially

News.com.au

02-06-2025

Sam Harper was earning $90,000 a year when he decided he needed to do something drastic to secure his financial future, believing the 'death of the middle class' was looming.
Mr Harper, 27, was working as an electrician in Perth when he became sick of earning just enough to be able to pay his mortgage and weekly expenses.
'My partner and I both had a mortgage of like $480,000 and, once you paid for that, and your groceries and living expenses, yeah, you can live comfortably, but there are no overseas trips,' he told news.com.au.
Mr Harper had always worked hard. He'd learned a trade and slogged it out as an electrician, but he didn't feel like he was getting ahead.
'We are going down that path (where there is going to be) the death of the middle class because the gap is getting bigger between the rich and poor,' he said.
'The way I look at it is, that is out of my control, so you have to start looking at different ways to get ahead.
'At some point last year I had this realisation that no one is coming to save me.'
The only time he'd really made a big amount of money was from the sale of a duplex he bought when he was 22 years old and during the pandemic.
'I got lucky buying a duplex in Victoria, and it felt like a lot of money back then, but I paid like $270,000, which is absolutely nothing,' he said.
'I sold it 18 months later and I definitely got market growth for that one. It sold for $400,000.'
The young Aussie was stoked with the sale and the profit he made from it, but he wasn't real estate savvy and viewed it as a one-off than a way to continually make money.
'I was pretty stupid back then,' he said.
'I thought it was great but it wasn't until later down the line that I started looking at real estate a bit more.'
Alongside his partner, and with the profits from the sale of his Victoria property, Mr Harper purchased a home in Perth in late 2024 for $520,000.
The plan back then was to get some equity into the property, use that equity to buy an investment property, and eventually amass a real estate portfolio.
It wasn't a bad plan, but the electrician realised that he would have to cover multiple mortgages, even if he rented them out.
'I realised I'd be stuck in my job and in more and more debt and I didn't really like the job' he explained.
Around this time, he had his primary property revalued after spending around $30,000 in renovations.
To his delight, the property was reappraised at $700,000.
'I was surprised by the $700,000. I thought mid $600,000. It was definitely life-changing,' he said.
The tradie had been able to save money because he was able to do a lot of the renovations himself, using his skills as sparky and watching YouTube tutorials for the parts he wasn't as sure about.
That staggering evaluation made Mr Harper realise house flipping was a really simple and clear way to make money.
Ultimately, he decided not to sell that property, with the couple instead refinancing and then flipping another home shortly afterwards.
He struck a deal with a homeowner where he renovated the property and then they agreed to share some of the profits.
'If it sold above $530,000, we'd split the profits, and it sold for $610,000,' he said.
The young tradie pocketed $98,000 from that sale, which gave him the confidence to start buying properties to flip.
In the past 12 months, the 27-year-old has purchased two separate properties in Perth.
From the first, he made $85,000 in pure profit, and from the second, he made $125,000.
'It is a lot more than I was getting paid as a sparky,' he pointed out.
Mr Harper is pragmatic about his success. Yes, a lot of money is coming in, but he also needs to use that money to keep house flipping.
'It is the type of business where, once you get the money, you reinvest it back in,' he said.
That doesn't mean he has quite gotten used to seeing over six-figures pour into his savings account.
'Once the money hits the account, it is still pretty crazy,' he said.
'We definitely have a long way to go, but looking back to where we were 12 months ago is pretty surreal.'
Financial planner Alex Jamieson told news.com.au that Australia's wealth gap is widening.
'The middle class used to buy from a purchasing power perspective in today's standards is no longer anywhere close to the purchasing power,' he said.
Mr Jamieson argued that 'if you don't own a house', you're unfortunately missing out on amassing wealth.
The problem being that it is becoming increasingly difficult for Aussies to break into the market.
The financial planner argued that the middle class is having a tougher time these days due to the cost of living.
'Historically, one income was able to achieve a lot more in purchasing power than what the combined income of today can achieve for a couple,' he said.