Real Housewife of Sydney Krissy Marsh has revealed how she went from splitting her first home with her three sisters to now owning a multimillion-dollar property empire.
Dubbed the “property princess” on the first season of Real Housewives of Sydney, Ms Marsh has returned for a third season full of new twists and no doubt more drama.
What the show doesn’t screen is the full story of how Ms Marsh obtained a lavish life by hustling in the property industry.
“I bought my first house at 17,” she said. “I bought it with my sisters in Clayfield … so all four of us bought the house,” she said, adding she contributed a $15,000 deposit saved from a modelling gig.
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Krissy Marsh returns for season three of Real Housewives of Sydney. Picture: Rohan Kelly
“We were super lucky because it ended up virtually doubling in value,” she said.
“We owned it for a while, but I walked away from that with a good deposit and I really wanted to own by myself,” she said.
The model turned industrial real estate agent then purchased in Neutral Bay, again with one of her sisters.
“I bought that property for $240,000 and sold it for $790,000 but now it’s worth close to $1.8m,” she said.
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Krissy Marsh at home in Double Bay. Picture: Jonathan Ng
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Even after marrying her husband, Ms Marsh said the couple didn’t find it easy and “stretched,” themselves to purchase their first home together in Rose Bay.
“It was a triplex, well over our budget, but we figured we (could) rent out the bottom and the top and live in the middle … We did everything, $700 garage sales, sold all our junk. We were literally down to the dollar and were $1,300 short. We thought we would ask my Dad for the extra. He said no,” she said.
Managing to skimp together the last thousand dollars, the couple lived in the Rose Bay home and made a $1m profit once they sold.
They then moved into what Ms Marsh said was “the ugliest house you’ve ever seen” in Dover Heights. She inspected it before heading to a Robbie Williams concert.
The renovated Dover Heights home.
“It had red wooden floors, canary yellow walls, I went in and had a look at this house and they wanted $2.4m and we could only do $1.9m,” she said.
“But it was getting close to Christmas, and sellers get desperate around Christmas, so I called the agent again and they said you’re not going to believe it, we have terms agreed at $1.8m, and I said we will pay $1.9m today,” she said.
“I was in a bikini at the beach with an eight week old baby and I went straight there and spent three hours negotiating … we even tried to get the fridge included in the deal,” she said, adding a fridge with a water cooler was a “big deal at the time.”
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The Double Bay apartment.
The Marshs then spent 20 years in the Dover Heights home and renovated the property to a spectacular six-bedroom, five-bathroom residence with a pool and water views.
“I wasn’t really looking but I bought an apartment in Double Bay, which is one of my property regrets. It didn’t do so well. We had to sell that to buy the property in Noosa and sometimes you have to do that,” she said.
The Noosa pad reportedly cost around $10m and features on the latest season of Real Housewives of Sydney, with Ms Marsh saying it was a highlight of the season for her.
“Taking all the girls up to Noosa was pretty amazing for me. That home up there is such a special home, and to go away with a group of girls as part of your work it was like a schoolies week,” she said.
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The Double Bay home reportedly cost $30m.
Ms Marsh also swapped out their renovated Dover Heights home for approximately $11m for their current $30m Double Bay residence.
Her biggest advice with property investment was constantly calling agents and holding on to properties.
“Everything with property is time, if you can hold it long enough and don’t sell,” she said.
“Every place we have gotten we have been right there, Johnny on the spot.
“Also have a good banker or broker, know your finances and even if you don’t have enough yet, start following the market, I used to have spreadsheets for everything.”
Ms Marsh invest heavily in commercial and industrial real estate including owning offices in Alexandria.
After working as a successful industrial real estate agent for 15 years, Ms Marsh also invests heavily in commercial and industrial property, including two commercial offices in Alexandria she has had for 20 years and an industrial property in Noosa.
“With industrials, you’ve got a warehouse and a toilet unlike residential that has a dishwasher and all these things that could need maintenance, and the tenants pay for all outgoings … yields were 15 per cent when I started, a great source of income,” she said.
The property veteran learnt early not to get emotional about sales.
Krissy Marsh returns front and centre for the new season of The Real Housewives of Sydney.
“I remember when I missed out on my first property, I was devastated … I could’ve sat there and kept bidding but you’ve got to work out what a property is worth, everyone can follow the market,” she said.
“If you can be really disciplined you can do it … I’ve stretched myself and pushed myself.”
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