I have recently had a meeting with a local Destiny Financial Serivces branch (after reading one of Margaret Lomas books)and came away thinking that their methods might work for my husband and I who are looking to get into property investing. I was a bit taken aback by the fee (2 day training course at $2950) plus if I need assiatance with property acquisition it will cost $5990 (includes the training in this price). I am all for education and assistance but wondered if this was a fair price to pay…I am interested to find out if anyone out there has had good results by becomming a destiny client…or if not, why you did not choose them?
Any comments would be welcome.
Thanks
Lisa
Thats almost a deposit ona small house!
Why not just learn here for free.
Terryw | Structuring Lawyers Pty Ltd / Loan Structuring Pty Ltd
http://www.Structuring.com.au
Email MeLawyer, Mortgage Broker and Tax Advisor (Sydney based but advising Aust wide) http://www.Structuring.com.au
We met with the last year also with the Melbourne office, and found that the fees were too high for the service provided.
Ended up doing all research, math and decisions ourselves. Much clearer for it.Lisa,
as the guys above have said it all comes down to how much you and your husband are prepared to do for yourself. If you attended the course you would be fast tracking possibly 6 months worth of work on your behalf learning about research, finance and strategy. So I guess if you are willing to work hard for 6 months on those things you could save yourself $6k. On the other hand if you want it at your fingertips now, then you might consider $6k a worthy investment.
Best of Luck
Lisa,
Shop around, wright down a list of questions and make sure they answer all of them to YOUR satisfaction. If there selling property always ask them how much they make and where do these profits come from. There are alot of people making money from property investing and unfortunately some don't always have the best intentions. Although there are alot of good advisers out there that get a bad name from the few "shonkies" we hear about so loudly.
I think it would be foolish to depend solely on one advisor. There's alot you can learn from reading case studies in investor magazines and these current forums that can guide you into the right direction. Financial advisers have there place but if the advice just isn't suiting your lifestyle then you may end up worse off.
There only one thing worse than a fool with money and that's a fool with somebody Else's!
Regards
JayThanks to those who have given me such a speedy response to my question. I think what I am hearing is that I need to do a bit more research for myself on comparing what Destiny will provide me with as opposed to doing it all myself…and how much this would save me. If anyone has any other books or websites that they suggest I read to give me some more clarity that would be fantastic.
Thanks
LisaHi Lisa,
I would recommend reading all Margaret Lomas books relating to property, in the order she wrote them.
I think there is about 5 of them. most should be in libraries.
I have learnt a lot from them.
Also read many other books as well, to compare diff ideas and stratagies.
Lomas seminars are not expensive to go to, I have been to many.
I have not joined the destiny because of price but still have learn't a lot from her books and seminars and her news letters etc.
I think their service would be genuine, they do not sell property, just educate you on investing in property the way Margaret Lomas does, which i think is a very safe and low risk way.
Hope this helps.
Which destiny office did you go to Lisa?Regards,
FrostyI am a member of Destiny. They practice Margaret Lomas theory which is positive cash flow or close to positive cash flow property. No, they do not sell properties or work as buyers agents. They help property investors with getting their goals right and assist with researching, choosing and buying property. However I did not pay that much to join up back them about 5 years ago. I think I paid less than half of that. I know lot of people who bought multiple properties (10+) with their help.
Tonylisamills wrote:I was a bit taken aback by the fee (2 day training course at $2950) plus if I need assiatance with property acquisition it will cost $5990 (includes the training in this price).For that kind of money, you can tell a buyers agent exactly what you are looking for and he/she would go out and deliver it to you on a silver platter. There is a lot to be said for outsourcing these days.
Or, if you are so inclined and have the time, you can read and study up yourself and just be a DIY kind of investor.Hi Lisa,
You have received some very good feedback that I hope will assist you in your portfolio development. The progam that Destiny run is for all intents and purpose a pretty good one and Margaret Lomas is by far an away my biggest influence as a personal investor and professional broker. I have been involved in property as a personal investor since 1995 and as a professional since 2001 and the way in which Margaret approachs the subject is, in my opinion, very very good. Compare her with other groups discussed in this forum or the 'Investment Property Specialists" that actively market and they are worlds apart.
The fees may seem high but for a person that taps into the resource and knowledge it can be quite beneficial, however reading the books can lead you to the same conclusions, just along a different time line. I mentioned that I use her strategy and the most recent purchase is page for page from one of her books. It lead me to a purchase that had a 7.2% rental yeild, in one of Australias fastest growing regions, and the same property 5 doors down, sold at a $95,000 premium to what we paid exactly 10 months earlier. The above was acheived creating rules and remaining detached from the property. It ends up being a process of elimination.
The principals that you are exposed to through this group are market principals, not personal opinion, or the next best thing type of recomendation so I would recommend using her 20 must ask questions. However I do not believe that you need to buy all of the books and go to all of the seminars, it sounds to me like our colleague here has not yet taken the step to buy.
As a broker these are the principals that I discuss with my clients and generally it is the pathway of research that we do with our guys. We have no involvement in the property selection other than doing the analysis on the cashflow and comparing that with the other property selections the client has pulled out of the system. We have had a number of property settlelemnts recently and everyone to date feels confident about their investment direction. Its great stuff.
I would encourage you to get out and do the work, it is really rewarding, there are some wonderful opportunities out there at the moment for investors and the information is a click away. I am more than happy to answer any questions you may have developing your research criteria. It is a simple step by step process that, I believe, gives the investor a lot of confidence in their endeavours.
Best of luck, if you want to swap emails feel free. Happy to discuss at any time.
Regards
And Alan (http://www.propertunity.com.au) is as good as they get by way of a Buyer Agent.
Richard Taylor | Australia's leading private lender
Hi Lisa, i recently finished a 8 week course on the central coast of n.s.w in one of there branches. You can however do the course via telephone conference which is pretty cool. It cost me $1750 so the course was 1 night a week for 8 weeks. I would definately recommend this course if you are relatively new to property investing it is very good and no, like somebody mentioned earlier they dont sell you anything. Best of all this course you can do in the comfort of your own home so you dont have to be in the office. Everbody gets the same info. I would be in the boardroom office and 8 different couples would call in at 7pm and the session would start. At least check it out.
lisamills wrote:I have recently had a meeting with a local Destiny Financial Serivces branch (after reading one of Margaret Lomas books)and came away thinking that their methods might work for my husband and I who are looking to get into property investing. I was a bit taken aback by the fee (2 day training course at $2950) plus if I need assiatance with property acquisition it will cost $5990 (includes the training in this price). I am all for education and assistance but wondered if this was a fair price to pay…I am interested to find out if anyone out there has had good results by becomming a destiny client…or if not, why you did not choose them?Any comments would be welcome.
Thanks
Lisa
Save the $6k course fee as TerryW suggests and use it as a deposit on a property (eg. I have recently helped clients secure property in the Wollongong area off-plan with a 5% deposit of $6,475 ). Finding the right property and having confidence in the location is key. Along the way I mentor my clients so that they can duplicate the successful investment using the same criteria. Margaret Lomas understands investment fundamentals (as do most contributors to this site), however you need to apply criteria with flexibility as sometimes there are trade-offs. Jan Somers is also recommended reading. Classic titles such as Building Wealth through Property.
Graeme Freer | Freer Property and Finance
http://www.freerpropertyandfinance.com
Email Me | Phone MeBuyers Agent
Hi Lisa
Some time back one of my clients had an interview with Destiny (the client was comparing our service as Buyers Agents and property educators via our Buyers Club with that offered by Destiny).
I gave him one piece of advice – ask the person who is going to train/mentor you one question…”what have you done in terms of investing?” If the person hasn’t ‘been there and done that’, how can he/she legitimately help you do something he/she hasn’t done him/herself?…if that makes sense!!
Cheers
Garry
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