PHOTO: New Zealand property investor Nichole Lewis
From Luxury Living to Baked Beans and Back Again: How One Kiwi Property Investor Rebuilt After Losing Everything
🏠 The Property Investor Who Lost It All
Property investment success stories often focus on the destination.
Luxury homes. Financial freedom. Early retirement.
What they rarely discuss is what happens when everything goes wrong.
For New Zealand property investor Nichole Lewis, the journey to financial success involved experiencing both extremes. At one point she owned 20 properties, earned more than $200,000 a year and travelled internationally for work. A few years later she was renting, eating baked beans on toast and selling bags of horse manure for $2 each just to help make ends meet.
Today, Lewis has rebuilt her wealth, owns a multi-million-dollar property portfolio and works only a few hours each week.
Her story contains lessons that many investors are only now beginning to understand.
💸 Living Beyond Their Means
Lewis says her early approach to money was heavily influenced by the spending habits common during the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Like many young professionals, she embraced debt.
Fancy cars, credit cards, overseas travel and luxury purchases became normal. Even as her income increased, so did her spending.
After meeting her husband Kelvin and starting a family, the lifestyle continued. The family travelled business class, maintained an active lifestyle and enjoyed many of the rewards that came with a high income.
At the same time, Lewis was building an increasingly large property portfolio.
🌏 A High-Flying International Career
The turning point came when Lewis secured a role selling Australian property developments internationally.
The position paid approximately AU$180,000 annually and involved regular travel between New Zealand, South Africa and the United Kingdom.
By this stage she owned:
- 12 properties in New Zealand
- 8 off-the-plan properties in Australia
- A growing investment portfolio funded largely through debt
On paper, it looked like a property success story.
In reality, the foundations were fragile.
Most of the properties were negatively geared, meaning the rental income failed to cover ownership costs. Lewis was relying heavily on her salary to support the portfolio.
📉 Then Came the Global Financial Crisis
Everything changed in 2008.
While overseas for work, Lewis received a phone call from her accountant informing her that a mortgage payment had bounced. Initially she believed it was a simple payroll issue. Instead, she learned her employer would no longer be paying her until property sales settled.
The timing could not have been worse.
The Global Financial Crisis was gathering momentum, property markets were deteriorating and financing conditions were tightening.
Lewis suddenly found herself facing:
- No income
- More than $120,000 in personal credit card debt
- Multiple negatively geared properties
- Significant financial obligations
She knew immediately what was coming.
🏚️ Losing the Portfolio
As conditions worsened, Lewis and her husband were forced into a series of difficult decisions.
They sold properties wherever possible. Some sold privately. Others were sold through mortgagee processes.
Eventually they lost their family home and became renters for the first time.
The financial pressure was relentless.
At one point a promising job offer from a major bank was withdrawn after a credit check revealed defaults on her file.
The family survived on basic meals while trying to shield their children from the severity of the situation.
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🐴 The Horse Manure Business
One of the most memorable chapters of Lewis’ story came during her rebuilding phase.
Living on a rented property in Coatesville that included a horse, she began collecting horse manure and selling bags from the end of the driveway for $2 each.
What sounds humorous today was actually part of a much larger mindset shift.
Instead of focusing on what she had lost, Lewis started asking a different question:
“What can I do with what I have?”
The exercise reignited her entrepreneurial thinking.
She began exploring creative property strategies and searching for ways to rebuild from scratch.
📈 Building Wealth the Second Time Around
Lewis believes her biggest mistake during the first phase of her investing career was relying on negative gearing.
Today she advocates strongly for positive cashflow investing.
Her philosophy is simple:
A rental property should generate enough income to cover:
- Mortgage repayments
- Rates
- Insurance
- Maintenance
- Property management fees
And still leave money remaining.
If an investor is constantly contributing money each month simply to hold the property, Lewis believes they are exposing themselves to unnecessary risk.
💰 Success Returns
The rebuilding process began gaining momentum around 2013.
Today Lewis owns a substantial property portfolio and estimates her family has accumulated equity approaching $20 million. She works approximately ten hours a week, spends more time with family and enjoys pursuits such as horse riding, writing books and mentoring investors.
Importantly, she says her focus is no longer on accumulating more properties.
Instead, the goal is reducing debt and protecting wealth.
🧠 The Biggest Lesson for Investors
Perhaps the most powerful lesson from Lewis’ story has little to do with property.
It is about behaviour.
She believes many investors focus too heavily on acquisition and not enough on money management.
As she puts it, wanting everything immediately was ultimately what caused the problems that followed. Today she follows a “sleep on it” rule before making major purchases and takes a far more disciplined approach to spending.
The lesson is simple:
Property can create wealth.
But poor financial habits can destroy it just as quickly.
📌 Key Takeaways
✅ Nichole Lewis once owned 20 investment properties across New Zealand and Australia.
✅ The Global Financial Crisis destroyed her income and property portfolio.
✅ She lost her family home and became a renter.
✅ During her recovery she sold horse manure to generate income.
✅ She rebuilt her wealth by focusing on positive cashflow investing.
✅ Today she owns a substantial portfolio and works around 10 hours per week.
✅ Her biggest lesson is that money management matters more than property ownership alone.
SOURCE: 1NEWS