When was the last time you held a $50 note in your hand? Unless you are renovating and paying your tradies cash, then probably quite a while ago.

These days, it’s just a digital number in your online bank account that goes up and down. Down when you spend it, up when you work for it.

The up part is directly proportional to the amount of time and energy you put into your job. So, you could say money is a measurement of energy, right?

That’s exactly what it is to me, a measurement of energy.

You can create ‘money traps’ to harness that energy and put it to use. Like you would a solar panel to harvest the suns energy or a wind turbine to catch the winds energy.

Property is one perfect example of a money trap. Once you set up a great investment property then it produces ‘energy’ without you having to spend any energy. That energy grows over time and increases exponentially.

Once you have accumulated enough energy from your money trap, you can use it for whatever you choose.

If you harness enough energy, then this is where the real power of the energy comes to life.

This is where you can begin to have the power to change people’s lives, starting with your own.

Imagine the feeling of walking into a children’s cancer ward and paying for the end of life wishes for all of the children in that ward. Or having enough money to build a new school for a village in a 3rd world country. This has been a dream of mine since travelling the world and visiting remote surfing destinations like the one in the photo above.

Were you told as a child that:

Money is the root of all evil
Money doesn’t grow on trees
You have to work hard for your money?

Then if you still repeat these words and hold onto these stories as your money mantra, then this is a money block and by holding onto this belief you will never be able to create enough money to build freedom for your family or pass on a legacy to your children.

These beliefs are a clear misunderstanding of how money works and is a belief centered around fear. You will never hear a philanthropist say ‘money is the root of all evil’ as they hand over millions of dollars to their favourite charity.

I mean, if you wake up every single day and pull yourself early out of bed to go to work and spend your entire day working, every weekday, for 46 weeks a year for 40 straight years, then you do place money at the top of your priorities list.

So, your new ‘money story’ is: Money can empower me to create freedom for myself, my family and anyone who I choose to help and share this energy with.

Your decisions can break the beliefs that the amount of money you earn is directly proportional to the amount of time and energy you put into a job. Create some money traps. If property interests you, then learn about property, understand how it can benefit your future and start the journey to set yourself up to be free from having to work for your money.
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As I always say, making money from property is a long term process, the best time to start is now, the second best time is tomorrow.
 

Wow, this market has definitely stepped up a gear since the end of winter!

I’m seeing frenzied home opens, offers WAY above asking, one property had 30 offers. Another selling in the $900’s sold for around $1.25m

So how do you buy in this market?

The first step is acceptance.

Understand that it’s a hot market and try not to get frustrated.

Frustration leads to irrational decisions. Keep a clear head and don’t get rattled.

You need to build relationships with the selling agents. Contact them regularly so you are at the top of their mind when a property gets listed.

Find out whether the seller would consider an early offer. Presenting your offer midweek may allow you to potentially close the deal before the 1st home open if the offer is at the right price.

Which leads me to my next point.

Accept that you may need to pay above asking price. You want to be slightly ahead of the market rather than constantly chasing it and end up paying more after you have reached the “I surrender, I’ll pay anything!!” stage.

Trust me this stage exists and I’ve seen it plenty of times recently.

Lets say you paid $10,000 over in February this year. Well the value of your property would be well and truly above that now and you saved yourself the pain of searching for months on end.

Be available. You need to be ready to pounce when the opportunities arise. Jump in your car and go and inspect during the week and try and close the deal.

You need to have your finger on the pulse.

Work your conditions. What are the sellers needs, do they want to rent back? Maybe a long settlement?

Dig for these pieces of information.

And finally, have your finances in order. See your broker and get pre-approval. Strong finance means a strong offer.

Searching for a house in this market can be a time consuming and draining process.

Reach out if you want some advice, always happy to chat 
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People often ask me how do you make money in property?

There are many strategies that will create wealth through property. They always take time and patience.

To do it successfully, normally takes a certain amount of skill.

Unfortunately building that skill takes time, one way to fast track the skill process is to leverage off other people’s skills and learn from the process. Use someone else’s knowledge, someone who has already put in the time, made the mistakes and learned the lessons.

This is why we pay a tradesman to do a job we don’t have the skill to do. We don’t have the time or patience to learn the trade so we pay someone who has put in the time and the job is done correctly.

I have 3 pillars that I use consistently to make money in property.

They all compliment each other and feed from each other. I have learned over the years that using these strategies works for me and is a faster path to wealth creation than working 9-5.

It takes time to learn and i’ve made mistakes along the way but the journey has also taught me many lessons. Investing time in learning these skills has allowed me to step away from committing my time to a day job to earn an income.

The 3 pillars that I use to create  financial freedom are:

Pillar 1: Long term growth property

Pillar 2: High cashflow property

Pillar 3: Property Development

Pillar 1 builds your capital base over the long term. It bubbles away in the background, growing exponentially and as it fruits over time, you can harvest the equity and feed it into pillar 2 and 3.

Pillar 2 feeds your serviceability requirements. To borrow more money, the bank needs to see that you can service your loans. High cashflow assets like commercial property, regional residential etc. can keep your head above water. Too much of pillar 1 and the banks will eventually stop lending you money.

Pillar 3 feeds both pillar 1 and pillar 2. Small property developments such as renovation and subdivision, selling small lots of land, building townhouses all fast track your capital creation and allow you to buy more property or create cash to do more developments.

If you want any advice or help with these points, book a chat or drop me a message and I will be happy to help :) 

Book a chat here:
https://www.picktime.com/5babbdef-11c3-4be9-b1ee-6df949a66d04

Most negotiations are emotionally driven.

If a negotiation turns into a struggle of power, then at this point you have lost control of the negotiation.

Successful negotiation is about creating a win win situation. Part of the process is building trust, understanding the sellers motivations and meeting their needs whilst creating a desirable outcome for yourself.

Unfortunately when there’s money at stake then emotions are difficult to control.
The larger the perceived value of the investment at stake, the higher the emotional value and expectations.

This tends to cloud judgement and rational thinking.

How do you avoid these emotions costing you money or sabotaging your deal? One way to do this is by removing yourself, the emotional buyer from the equation and getting someone to negotiate on your behalf.

A buyers agent will always:

represent their clients best interests
Remain emotionally detached from the outcome
Be an emotional buffer between buyer and selling agent
Understand the negotiation process
Negotiating in a tough market like the one we have at the moment is a difficult task.
Knowing what price to go in with when there is no guide price, makes it difficult to determine which number is the right one that will win you the deal - without overpaying.

To do this successfully, you need to clearly understand what the value of the house is that you are bidding on.

You need to understand how the market has performed in recent weeks and months to gauge any price fluctuations. You need to have built a rapport with the agent.

Lastly, you need to ask the right questions at the right time to have as much information at hand arming you with the best chance of winning your property.
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Drop me a line if you have any questions!

There are a lot of moving parts when it comes to the decision of whether to buy an apartment or a house.

Firstly, not having a garden or a large costly house to maintain can save on costs. Although this can be offset by high strata fees which you would normally pay to maintain a pool, gym or lift.

Many investors get caught out by the facilities an apartment has to offer but don’t consider the ongoing costs of strata fees.

Apartments can offer a higher rental income in comparison to the value of the asset which can be attractive to a first time investor. Higher rental yields can keep your head above water and may be the saving grace if you come into financial hardship and need to decide between holding and selling. But all costs need to be considered to understand the true net income.

Location. Purchasing an apartment gives you the ability to get into a more expensive area where you may not be able to afford a house. Maybe a beach suburb or inner city suburb where the rental demand is high would typically be difficult for the average investor to purchase a house in gives the opportunity to capitalise on the location by purchasing an apartment in a prime area.

Considering supply and demand. When a new apartment building is constructed this adds a lot of supply to the market. Sometimes too much supply which can affect the values of surrounding apartments.

Check the pipeline of building approvals, is there a lot of land in the area zoned for units that developers can possibly turn into apartment blocks?

When buying a brand new apartment you are paying for the materials at a brand new price, which the builder has made his margin on and the developer has also made their profit on. From day one, the building starts to depreciate in value.

Ultimately, you need to consider your strategy. Most investors are focused on capital growth and the evidence is clear that houses achieve greater capital growth over time.
This is due to the old adage that land appreciates in value, where buildings depreciate in value.

In conclusion, if you decide to invest in an apartment then buy in a prime suburb in a prime location. Don’t buy a new apartment. Consider future supply.

Look for small buildings with under 20 units in the block that have character with a high demand and low vacancy rate and a high proportion of owner occupiers. Look for some sort of wow factor, views and courtyards are always winners.

Hit me up if you have any questions or need some advice on the next step in your investment journey.

Happy Investing!