Hi all – I’ve not been on this forum for months… but I came on today to find a boatload of PM’s asking me how it was going with the James Dawson course… I’ve answered a few personally but I’m running out of steam (not much of a typist) so doing a public update.

I’ve done a bunch of courses so I have some background in res investing. This was all new to me (commercial). James makes it easy to understand. modules are very clear. There are 8 main modules (about 1 hour each) and 3 other modules. It took me about 2 weeks to go through everything.

Almost more important than the main course is the ongoing material. He does regular updates, is active on a members only facebook group and has even answered an email personally about a property I was looking at (although personal contact is not really part of the course) which saved me thousands by not going through with that particular deal.

One of the regular things James does is a property search video where he regularly searches for properties that look interesting for him from all over the country. He makes a video and talks through why he thought it was interesting, what he would ask the agent, what to watch out for… etc. Sometimes he even goes right into a property and does all the numbers so you get a really detailed look into how to work out whether a deal is going to be worth it and what he would offer for it… those vids are really helpful. It’s one thing to learn the theory but entirely another to see how he thinks… sort of over his shoulder view if his years of experience. I’ve probably learned more from those than any thing.

I know there are some students that have gone and bought some of the properties that he’s mentioned in these vids.

I’m now 1 property in (9.7% returns from day1 on a 4.4% loan, so very cashflow positive… with some upside I’ve yet to engage. His negotiating strategies probably saved me around $48k on purchase price… so just that was a big win) and
negotiating on another now. I’m by no means a big gun in this. being very cautious. There are many other students who have done a heap more than me… some of them are producing crazy results… I’m starting small and taking my time.

Anyway I hope that helps…

Good course… if you are ready to take action and have some equity in your home or something then there are plenty of properties available with much lower competition than res.
James is the real deal and makes it easy to understand.

Cheers
VS

Hey Liz, I’m just starting out with commercial (bought a commercial investing training course – see the James Dawson thread in this forum).
I’m finding that even sub $1Mil there are properties that can achieve 10% yields. Also, talking to my finance people – For properties under the Million dollar mark I can get 70% – 80% LVR making it much more accessible than it used to be.

I’m looking at mostly retail – preferably with a res component – like a chip shop with an apartment above. Not a huge amount around but they are there. I have also been looking at factory comm Prop with shop front – but you definitely need to choose your area well for that.

Anyway I digress – to answer your question it all comes down to the lease you can negotiate – if you negotiate hard and esp if you have a property which is high competition… like a shop in a medium town high st – where they are not going to be adding more shops anytime soon, you can negotiate pretty hard and make up whatever deal you want… that should help you get 10% (even more over time).

(AS I said I’m only just starting out with Commercial – But I have done due diligence on about 15 possibilities so far and these have been my findings – Hope it helps)

Hi Guys – am new to this forum but saw this thread and felt I can help.
I bought James’s package a couple of weeks ago – going through the course now.
It’s really good so far – I was a bit hesitant at first because, to be honest, I didn’t really believe 8% or more returns were possible.
BUT going through the materials and doing some numbers on properties I’ve since seen, I can see that it is possible.
(actually James just posted a new testimonial http://commercialrealestateinvesting.com.au/testimonials/ from one of the students that joined in the first intake in March… One couple bought the program and signed their first property in 49 days – pending finance – that will get them 10.4% returns and 11.something% after 4 years)
so – I’ a believer.
Material is good and even though James is a little at arms length he has actually answered a couple of questions I’ve asked via the private student questions email.
Also he’s adding property search videos where he goes through properties he’s finding online, and going through what you should look at and need to consider if you were to look at it… really good learning coming from those.
all up very happy though I am cautious and am taking my time looking for properties and assessing them.

Feel free to PM me if you have any more questions