Taking control of his future

Auckland investor and renovation expert James Goren

In 2007, James Goren thought he had the perfect life: happy family, big house, expensive toys and a good job.

But it wasn’t until he came close to losing it all that he discovered just how tenuous this pretty picture was.

The potential implosion of everything Goren held dear was the catalyst he needed to set about building a new life for himself and his family.

It’s been tough, but he’s now got a different kind of perfect life: one where he’s in control of his future.

After visiting New Zealand in the late 1990s, Goren and his wife decided to move here from Israel – and they very quickly became aware of the advantages of their new home.

Goren got a good job, they started a family and bought a house. “Life was perfect: you couldn’t ask for me,” he says.

Then, in 2008, a close family friend had a business problem and asked to borrow some money. Over the course of a few months, Goren lost $200,000.

The man ended up being deported from New Zealand but the situation had a profound effect on Goren and then he was hit with another shock: he was among 40 people slated for redundancy from his company.

Although Goren managed to keep his job, the whole experience was sobering and triggered something inside him.

“It makes you think really hard. The penny dropped. Something had to be done.”

After doing some extensive research, he settled on property and took the time to educate himself fully before throwing himself into it.

He now owns nine properties in central Auckland on all of which he has employed a reverse equity engineering strategy and renovated to add value.

His success with this led him to start his own renovation company, The Renovation Team, and the company has now completed work on 65 houses.

Importantly, he’s no longer vulnerable to an employer or a conman and knows exactly where all his money is invested.

Property investment allowed him to do this for his family and himself, he says. “I’ve been working to give myself the ability not to have to worry – just to have a comfortable future.”

To read more about Goren’s property journey, click here to get the digital issue of NZ Property Investor magazine.

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