Nathan Birch blames the overdue mortgage on having to administer 200 properties
Sydney investor Nathan Birch has blamed administration oversight for his recent mortgage default, not cashflow issues.
The Australian Financial Review reported earlier this month that Birch had been sued by his lender, Permanent Mortgages, after defaulting on a $535,000 mortgage for a Paradise Point, Gold Coast investment property.
Birch told News Ltd the AFR story was a "misrepresentation” of his situation, noting the property never got repossessed.
He told Channel 7's Sunday Night's Denham Hitchcock all his 200 properties were positively geared.
News Ltd reported Birch saying that the default situation arose from an oversight.
"I had an overdue amount which equalled to one month’s interest which was paid immediately as soon as it came to my attention,” he said.
“Having 200-odd properties, the admin side of things can become a bit too much and not seeing the mail on time meant I had no idea of this.”
Birch had previously confirmed to the AFR he had "briefly" fallen behind on "one or two mortgages" citing increased lending restrictions arising from the much-heralded Australian Prudential Regulation Authority investor crackdown.
Last year Birch had revealed he was selling up some of his massive portfolio due to tightening finance conditions.
Birch told news.com.au mid-last year he was looking to offload up to 20 properties estimating he would reduce his debt to about $18 million.
He said that he had had to adapt his investment strategy.
"As a result of the tighter lending practices, I have simply sold some smaller properties and purchased larger ones to set myself up for a development phase in my portfolio," he advised.
Birch said he believed the best place to buy in2018 was the Gold Coast, where he holds 50 properties.
“The market here I think is only just scratching the surface,” he told Sunday Night.
“It’s like Australia’s Miami. Prices are still post-GFC prices, still very low.”
His most undervalued suburb is Coomera.
