Millionaire Challenge

REPORTER: Rohan Wenn
BROADCAST DATE: September 8, 2003

Property guru Steve McKnight.
If Steve McKnight has his way, in just a year 19 ordinary Australians will all be property millionaires. Two lucky Today Tonight viewers will also be given the chance to get with the program for a chance to strike it rich in property.

Just four years ago Mr McKnight was stuck in a dead-end job he hated.

He eventually quit and with the help of good mate Dave Bradley, went into property investing.

“I lived on $400 a month when I got started, out of the grace of my wife’s salary,” he said.

But the sacrifice has sure paid off: Mr McKnight and Mr Bradley now own almost 200 properties, earning them hundreds of thousands of dollars every year.

Now Mr McKnight wants to show others how to do it, using the Millionaire Apprentice Program (MAP).

The idea for MAP came after he wrote his best-selling book “From 0 to 130 Properties in 3.5 Years”, in which he explains how he made a fortune by investing in cash-flow-positive properties, where you earn more in rent than you pay for the loan and maintenance.

While critics say you can’t find positive-cash-flow properties in Australia any more, Mr McKnight begs to differ.

“They can’t be further from the truth, because I’m doing approximately eight to 10 cash-flow deals a month,” he said.

Now he wants to prove his methods can work for everyone, so Mr McKnight has offered to mentor 19 people to prove his advice works.

Rachel Starr, one of the lucky candidates, works as a mortgage broker in a small New South Wales town called – believe it or not – Broke.

Growing up, her family didn’t have a lot of money, which she says often caused her parents to fight.

Mr McKnight called for candidates via his website http://www.propertyinvesting.com and hopefuls then had to fill out a detailed application, a task Adelaide’s John Donjerkovic took very seriously.

Mr Donjerkovic has already put Mr McKnight’s advice into practice and the results speak for themselves.

“I’ve done two deals this year …in one deal in seven weeks I’ve earned $50,000 and in another deal in three weeks I earned $60,000,” he said.

He started the program saddled with $300,000 in debt but with Mr McKnight’s help he’s planning to be ahead by this time next year.

Will and Del Jeffrey say they’re hoping the program will give them the kind of financial security their Victorian asparagus farm can’t.

The couple has already made a very big decision: they have chosen to sell their home and rent for a while so they can use that extra cash to buy more investment properties.

Meanwhile, Graham Wilson and Alanna Carysforth are hoping the program will simply allow them to spend more time travelling.

During the monthly mentor meetings, Mr McKnight will not tell the candidates what to buy or where; rather, he’ll simply help them evaluate property deals they find and teach them the financials.

If you’re keen to be part of the program, you haven’t missed the boat: Mr McKnight has agreed to mentor two Today Tonight viewers online for 12 months and they’ll also have the chance to attend one of his investment seminars free.

If you are interested in taking part in our Millionaire Challenge, click on the link at the bottom of the page and tell us in 100 words or less why you deserve to be part of the program.

Throughout the year we’ll check back with the candidates to track their progress.

And while it’s still early days, Mr McKnight says he’s confident the group has what it takes.