"One in four investors live in their asset *before* they rent it out."

Mike is a cofounder of MCG Quantity Surveyors and is an industry leader in tax depreciation. He has completed thousands of depreciation schedules for commercial and residential property and has a penchant for data, trends and investor behaviour.

This fascination led Mike to prepare a white paper; "1,000 Assets Study" which documented multiple trends, correlations and novel findings. From distance between home and dwelling, amounts spent on renovations and improvements to time lapsed between acquisition and tax rebate, Mike's data is compelling.

In March, Mike provided Cate with the raw insights in an effort to identify the behaviour behind the trends and to glean a better understanding of some of the drivers for these investor behaviours.

Armed with the entire data set, Cate asked Mike if they could distill her top four trends on The Property Diaries for our listeners.

This second episode with Mike Mortlock unpacks all of the reasons why a quarter of investors have lived in their asset, and we blast the myth that suggests first home owner grants are the driving force for this trend. Cate details the concept of "the accidental investor" and shares the reasons why this can be a mistake for so many.

We hope you enjoy!