hey everone out there, my wife(sara) and i (kev) are new to all this so im am still very unsure on how to go about it, i have read book after book from anita bell to donald trump and never got the info i wanted until i started reading steves book.
i wont say to much as i could write pages on my life plans with property we havnt starting investing as yet as i have a 19 month old daughter and 4 month old son and sara is not back at work yet we do have a motgage on a 2 bedroom unit which we bought 14 months ago we have had an amazing offer to move back to my parents and rent our unit out to get the money to buy a bigger house and get my portfolio of the ground, as my parents know how serious i am about property investing i would love to quit my job in the next 10 – 15 years and live of the property, the funny thing is i tell all my friends and they just laugh at me and say its impossible and i started to think the same and put my plans on the back burner until i read steves book (and im only halfway through the 1st one) and that has given me the motovation i need to get back into it and believe i can do it.
I dont have a high paying job but i do believe i can still do this and have a good life and make a good life for my wife and kids. my wife will be going back to work a couple of days a week when we make the move to help with the money but i would really love to sit with a financial advisor or a mentor or a property investor to help guide us on the right track to property investment and get it right the first time so if there is someone you know or even yourself who is willing to help we dont have much money at the moment but i am desprate to get this help as the longer i leave it the longer it will take for me to get out of the 9-5 working life and spend a bit more time with my wife and kids thankyou very much for your time we are in the eastern suburbs of melb please help if you can.and one more thing i would like to say thankyou to steve for writting such a goo d book and giving me the conifidence back that i lost a long time ago and gave up on property investing i know i can do this with the right guidence thanks steve.
A lot of financial advisors are not cheap – they charge nothing.
These amazing individuals will take you into their office and seem like the best friend you ever had, then they will give you a few options with some amazing graphs of the returns you will make, because the last 3 years they have done well.
What a wonderful world investing is, we can all sleep at night.
WRONG – ba baaaaa.
What has actually happened is you have been duped into god knows what investment, and the advisor have just a scored a commision in the form of thousands of dollars – and surprise, surprise they recomended the product with the best return … – for them. The highest commission.
Don't worry a lot of mortgage brokers (not all, there are some great brokers out there) are the same fish.
A genuinely good financial advisor is usually independant and makes no commission, – how can they make a living you ask if they get no commission. Well – you pay them.
The going rate is approx 3 – 4 thousand dollars. Some super funds offer this as a service, which can be paid out of your super too…. probably best option in my book.
If you are still thinking "why should I pay money, when i can get it for free" , you are better off not doing anything at all… you will be better off.
Personally , I don't pay for financial advice, as I do as much research as possible and make (hopefully) informed decisions.
However this takes time and effort.If you are too busy, or too lazy to do this, then You are doomed.
As far as i can see, there is no free ride to wealth. And there are plenty of sharks with big smiles to fleece you on the way.
Who the hell am I ? , What the hell do I know?
………………..good, now you are getting the idea.
That offer to move back in with the parents and rent out the unit is a good one, as you can then claim all your holding costs from your unit on your tax return.
Beware of the "cost" of doing this – moving into a house with your family AND your parents at the same time. This is to say the least; interesting. It may save you lots of money, but may be a large emotional cost.
Financial advisors generally will only steer you towards a plan that involves you buying some sort of financial product that they will make money from. It won't necessarily be the best plan for you, but it will be good for them.
You will get all the knowledge you need from reading several books, which are listed on various posts somewhere here – do some searches to find them, and hanging around on this forum and over at the Somersoft forum.
Ignore the friends – are they rich and retired? No, so don't listen to anyone who is at your level now, or below it. The fact that you are here and they are not shows you have already moved ahead of them. Let them follow you from now on.
id like you to expain where i said i want it for free nothing in life is free you being an investor should know that!
marc thanks heaps for the positive reply and you are so right about my mates thanks for giving me more confidence.
Hi there! I am a qualified financial planner and a multi zillionaire property investor and everything else in between! Meaning a mother, a wife and a great cook!
All I say is follow your instinct. All the books and seminars won't help if you don't follow your gut instinct to do what you need to do best ie just start investing today and not wait for another day…………………
I've given myself a goal to semi retire and globe trotting forever within the next five years. You know why? because I love life and I love my family too much to be stuck in job (as much as I love job, I love life more!!) and I can say with 99.99% certainty that we'll get there. I can't wait to just enjoy our passive income from direct equities and properties and managed funds. So your 10 to 15 years to retirement is not bad at all. If you can't start big ,start small. Start talking to your bank lender to see what they can come up with from your equity, and then go to see a financial planner (as we often can not give you property advice).
I let you in a secret I did not read books nor went to seminars. Yes I did my studies in financial planning but I just followed my instinct and spoke to my lender every couple of months to see if I can unlock my equity to further invest. This is how its get me to where I need to be in hopefully in less than five years…………………….All the best.
thankyou so much for being so positive i have decided i think i will only read steves books as his are really the only ones that have answered the questions i have and i dont think i will hold back anymore its time to take the plunge we have a chance and i think i will take it thankyou so much for your positive reply kev.
Kev,
You've made the right move into property!
Get a mentor who knows how to invest properly though, which can come in the form of reading many books, or talking to the right people, which is how those books are written. I was a huge champion of investing in real estate ever since I was in high school and I was fortunate enough to have my parents show me the way to invest successfully. I was met with the same replies of "You can't do it" or "If it was easy everyone would be doing it". Fast forward 10 years later, some of these friends have come back to become my clients and others are still going on the "You got lucky" theme.
As Greg Norman was famously told when he lost the British Open after having a multiple stroke lead "Don't let the bastards cut you down."
Also, I would have to respectfully disagree with some of the above posts. If you needed to go to court, you would hire a lawyer, if you need your financial statements done, then hire an accountant. If you want to invest in managed funds, get a financial planner, and if you want a loan, get a professional mortgage broker. It's the same across all industries. So if you are sick, see a doctor, don't treat yourself. It really is that simple. Fees and commissions should all be disclosed so shop around and find someone you are comfortable with.
Although I may have a vested interest in getting the mortgage broking and financial planning industry a better reputation, I think if we are constantly being slammed for being unethical, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy and it slanders the reputation of good mortgage brokers and financial advisors.
As for banks, be careful of how they structure it as well. We had a very strong relationship with one of the major lenders, or so we though, and after I got into broking and restructured our whole affairs we will be saving about $20,000 per year in interest! It goes to show that just like you can get good mortgage brokers and bad mortgage brokers, you can get good bank lending officers and bad bank lending officers. Some will try to maximise the interest you pay to create a more profitable loan. I believe this is very short sighted because if you are able to utilise the cashflow more effectively to reduce debt, you will then be able to afford new borrowings which is what ultimately makes a profitable customer.
I'm happy to share my stories with you and chat further.
Hi Kev.
i agree with most above don't listen to your mates or even family. Listen to yourself you will no what you want and how you will get there. study as much as you can and learn as much as you can. Ive just spent 4 months studying approx 800 hours on the net learning all about recisions and my new local area etc. And after all that ive made $150k. Read michael yardney's book (how to become a multimillionaire in your spare time) there is some interesting advise in the book. some people don't like michael but you may learn a thing or two and thats all that matters at the end of the day.
Kev,
Originally for me half the battle was knowing what I wanted, 25% was convincing those around me and 25% doing it.
Once you go down the property investing path there will be those who will say you are only chasing money, a dreamer or capitalist pig. Ignore them all and do what you think is best and right for your family. Try to follow a simple plan to start with and remember not to neglect your family in the pursuit of financial freedom. You will need to take risks but if those risks are based around good financial decisions and advise and not speculation then you need to take them to get ahead. If your plan is 10-15 years then that is slow enough to make better decisions with less risks. Some will say start small and then go big but you may find starting small and going slightly bigger may suit you better. I put a limit on how much I would spend on each investment and how much each investment should cost to purchase. Initially properties bought were under 100K with 5-10% deposit but now bought around the 350K range with no money down. The reason behind this is because I think it is always easier to move a property in the lower to middle price range than in the top range in a hurry. It does surprise me when I see people wanting to buy properties at around 500K as a first investment and to me this is not on. Far better to buy 2-3 properties for a total price of 500K. This way not all your eggs are in the one basket and if you do feel financial pressure you can relieve it by selling one and still have some properties left. My way might not be the quickest way to get rich but it does work over time and is a lot less stressful.
Good luck with your investing goals and don't rush into anything no matter how much of a bargain it may appear to be. This forum can be an excellent place to use as a sounding board for any investments you come cross. don't limit yourself to just Steve's books and here but also don't go overboard with trying to learn everything about property investing in a short time. You may just end up getting confused by all the different terminology and investing styles. Find a method of investing that suits you and when you have it under control and working then decide if you want to expand that method further or venture into other methods.
All I say is follow your instinct. All the books and seminars won't help if you don't follow your gut instinct to do what you need to do best ie just start investing today and not wait for another day…………………
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