Now the Donovans own about $2m in property.
“If the formula for becoming wealthy was simply going to school, getting a good job, buying a house and paying it off, then everyone would be rich.
“Clearly, that is not how it works,” he said.
“That realisation sparked something in me. I did not just want to own a home. I wanted real financial freedom.”
Now the dream is to retire by 40 with investment properties as the vehicle to get there.
Different advisers give different numbers when it comes to retiring, but the Donovans estimate they’ll need about $360,000 a year in income from investments.
“Time with my husband and my son is more important to me than slaving away,” Awhina said.
“We thought if we wanted to hopefully retire by 40, or have the option by 40, we’ll still be in our prime years to spend all this time with our son while he’s still young.”
In 2024 they bought an investment property for $770,000 with the equity from their first home. They now rent it for around $900 a week.
Alex Donovan could not believe it when the investment property increased by $180,000 in a year.
“There was also a part of me that felt slightly sick thinking about how long it would take and how much I would have to sacrifice to earn that kind of money through my job alone,” he told Yahoo Finance.
Looking ahead, the couple hopes to purchase a property in Melbourne for nearly a million dollars.
Awhina Donovan said they live a simple life but still managed to travel at least once a year.
“We’ll just continue building that portfolio and then possibly looking at other diversifying investments, not just restricting ourselves to property investing,” Awhina said.
They are not the only ones moving to the lucky country.
The most recent figures from Stats NZ show 48,000 migrant departures from NZ to Australia in the year ending June 2025, according to Stats NZ.
