G’day all 

Happy Friday once again! Apart from a nice cold blast mother nature decided to hit us with last weekend in Melbourne, it is nice to see the weather starting to warm up. 

Speaking of warming up, Helen attended a brilliant weekend event last weekend in Melbourne for Grace Lever. Grace is a business coach for many entrepreneurial women (including Helen), and to see the calibre of some of the attendees, some already making 6 and 7 figure incomes through their business is mind blowing! If you haven’t heard of Grace, check her out, amazing stuff!  https://www.gracelever.com/

The things these amazing women are able to achieve (Helen included while still working full time) is more than incredible – huge shout out to all of them, including Helen. 

Speaking of time, I was reading a blog from another mentor of mine, Jon Giaan, whom I have been following for years, taking about where the heck is all our leisure time!  If you go back 50 years, everyone was saying that technology would advance so much and make everything easier, it would give us so much more time… err, but what happened?  This is so true.   

We now have phone watches (I guess we skipped the shoe-phone, sorry 99) and the internet has brought any information we require to our fingertips, but everyone is working hard (and longer) than ever… seems an oxymoron really. 

John’s point though, of the article, is that the Beastie Boys were right – we have to fight for our right to party!  We need to work harder, smarter, more efficiently for our right to enjoy ourselves, take time out and live life. 

If we are not working so hard for our lifestyle, why are we fighting?  It’s the lifestyle we want that makes all the hard work that we, and those hundreds of entrepreneurial ladies in Grace’s event last weekend work so hard.  The balance to ensure we have profitability AND lifestyle is certainly the fight worth fighting, so who is in your corner?  

Have a great weekend all, fight hard and Happy Investing!! 

Cheers, 

Lindsay 

 

On the surface, real estate investing seems so easy. Passive income, property appreciation, tax benefits and more. What’s not to like?

But the reality of life as a landlord isn’t so rosy. It’s hard work. It takes time, research and careful study to understand the business. It’s far easier to lose money on rental property than to make money.

In fact, anyone can do it! All it takes is some short-sighted business moves, inexperience, and greed, and you, too, can lose thousands on an investment property. Of course, no one sets out to lose money. But having some guideposts about what you’re doing helps. So here are some of the most common mistakes to avoid when getting into the rental property business:

1. Looking for a home instead of an investment property

Shopping for property as a real estate investor is different than going out and choosing a home to live in. Finding the greatest, most beautiful house on the market or the most gorgeous vacant lot isn’t the aim. You aren’t looking for a house you would live in, you’re looking for something that the average family would rent.

This works on the flipside as well. Something like a distressed house might seem perfect to fix up as a rental but remember, structures like that can turn into money pits. They often need lots of time, investment and permits to go through the remodelling process. Good for a buy, fix and hold strategy, where you are not after instant cashflow. But for a buy and hold strategy, investment properties need to be able to rent as soon as possible.

2. Betting too much on long-term value appreciation

One of the advantages of real estate investing, in general, is that landlords can profit in many ways. First, in the form of monthly rent payments, but again later in the appreciation of the underlying asset.

But it’s a mistake to put too much weight on the latter. Yes, appreciation is a nice bonus when a property sells, but investment properties should be paying for themselves from day one. If it can’t, then it’s not an investment property. I love the quote from Robert Kiyosaki – “an investment is something that puts money INTO your pocket…a liability is something that takes money OUT of your pocket”

In fact, high-priced homes and high-end condos often don’t pay for themselves because it’s difficult to find tenants who are willing to pay that much rent. Instead, smart investors should look for the average home in an average neighbourhood because it will have the most demand, rent the fastest and pay for itself right away. Condo’s in the US particular can be bad investments as you must take into account ALL costs. Very high Home Owner Association fees (HOA’s – read body corporate fees) can make these very bad investments, regardless of how good the view is…

3. Constantly raising the rent

A lot of landlords think that by continuously raising their rents they’ll be able to make more money, even if it means more tenant turnover. But, in fact, the opposite is true. Think about the costs that go into vacancies, from fix-up repairs to updates, to marketing and more. These costs can outweigh any small gains in higher rent. All that raising the rent on a current tenant does is force them to consider what else might be out there and make them more demanding.

Keeping rent the same gives the tenant an incentive to stay and keeps them happy.

The longer they stay, the lower maintenance they are, because they’ll be less likely to call you to fix something for fear that you’ll raise the rent. As long as you start off at a fair, market rate you shouldn’t need to increase it constantly to make money.

4. Only renting to people you like

In my experience, emotion has no place in the rental business, or investments at all for that matter. It’s important to always think about the worst-case scenario: having to evict a tenant. Things happen, and sometimes a landlord has to take action. But can you?

Many people buy an investment property with their first tenant in mind being a friend or their brother. But things happen to everyone and even the best of friends can fall on hard times. Suddenly, what started as an investment property has turned into a messy situation. By renting to people you don’t have that kind of emotional attachment to, it’s much easier to take action when necessary. Now, given that we are investing half way across the world, this can often not be as much an issue, but even for here in Australia, we need to be mindful of this.

All that said, real estate investing isn’t rocket science. By going in eyes-open and avoiding some of the more common pitfalls of novice investors, your chances of success will increase exponentially.

One of the most common mistakes we make as Aussie investors in the US market is not correctly scoping a renovation project.

Essentially the scoping is probably one of the most important steps, as everything from here, including your success or profit at the end is hinged on this. Scope too much, and you will find that you will not be able to sell the property for enough to get a return after spending too much on the rehab. Scope too little and you will find the property extremely hard to sell

So Lindsay, what’s the magic formula?…

Well, good question you ask. Unfortunately, the truth is, there is no magic bullet here. But, there is a way to help determine this number! It’s your strategy… The strategy you have for the home will guide you in determining the correct scope for the investment. If for instance you want to tenant the property and keep as a rental or sell down the track as an investment, then this will guide your scope. If, on the other hand, you wish to sell the property (flip so to speak) to an owner occupier, then this will again, give you good indication is what you need to scope.

Make sure to tie everything back to your strategy. For instance, for a rental, ask yourself – will this <insert reno item here> help me to get more $$ in rent or reduce my maintenance costs? If yes, scope it, if no, leave it out. If flipping, think about if the update will make a difference to the sell price or saleability – if yes, do it, if no, skip it. Sounds simple but at the end of the day, it is quite straight forward. We must always keep the end in mind when we are looking at the process and none more so that the scoping process.
Let me give you some examples:

Rental Properties

For rentals you want to look two things: 1) what is going to get me the most rent; or 2) will this addition reduce my maintenance for time to come. If either of these is a yes, then ensure to scope that in. For instance, two-tone paint colours, while they look great, are they going to get you additional rent? No. Is that going to reduce your maintenance? No? So skip, just do single colour, this will save you over $1000 on an average 1000-1200 sq ft home. Now there are exceptions to every rule, and some high end suburbs will need high end finishes to get tenants, but just make sure to refer back to your strategy each time

Owner Occupier Flips

In these cases you want to see what will make the property either a) more saleable; or b) sell for a higher price. Another example here would be granite or stone bench tops in kitchen or bathrooms, tile floors rather than laminate etc. These items are surely going to add value and increase saleability so I would ensure to scope these in.

We also need to be wary though of our original budget for the renovations and be sure to stay within this. Even if this means, formica bench tops in the flip property, you do not want to be in a position where you have spent too much and cannot get this back on the sale price. Always refer back to your strategy and feasibility to ensure each item of the scope fits and is budgeted for!

For more details, book a call with us to discuss renovations, happy to chat!

There’s no doubt that investing in real estate is a big commitment. Every investor wants to carefully weigh their options, investigate the properties that they purchase, and be assured in the security, trustworthiness, and success of their assets.

For some reason, many real estate investors have an inherent fear of out-of-state investing never mind international. They stick to their local markets for fear of being scammed, for being unable to reach their property in crisis, for being uninformed, or not knowing the market adequately.

Truth be told, thousands of real estate investors invest interstate. In fact, thousands are also investing in international markets. This is certainly true of sophisticated investors, the vast majority of whom are not local to the markets in which they invest and some are even overseas and this can be some of the most successful investing.

If you’ve found yourself feeling apprehensive about international real estate investing, you aren’t alone. However, those fears are worth putting to rest for the sake of your financial future.

1.Market diversity creates security
Diversification is key in any investment portfolio. In order to hedge against risk, you buy different stocks, or, in the case of real estate, you invest in multiple properties across multiple markets. The reason is this: should a market go through economic troubles, the success and performance of your portfolio is not contingent on a single market.

If you were to invest in your local market, you would depend solely on its economic status, real estate market, and rental demand—no matter what that looked like. Diversification in other markets means that you can invest in markets with key indicators for long-term strength, like a diverse local economy, population growth, and business-friendly local legislation.

2.Market access increases options

Beyond investing internationally as a means for portfolio diversification, investing long distance opens up your options. If we’re honest, we don’t all have a local market that is conducive to buy-and-hold investing. There may not be a strong rental demand or population growth to make it a successful endeavour where you are. At the same time, even if rental demand is strong, home prices may be so high that the debt-to-income ratio would be unfavourable in your local market as it is in many parts of Australia.

Because not every market is suitable for investing, looking beyond the local market is necessary. When you go beyond your local market and expand your options into other markets, a whole new world of opportunities opens up!

3.It creates reliance and relationship

International investing demands a different model that the hands-on investing that comes with sticking to one’s local market. Investing in international markets such as the US, forces you to find good companies or providers you can rely on to assist you with your investing.

For the investor, this creates a meaningful bond of trust with their provider. They know your markets. They know your properties. You put your portfolio, the management, the day-to-day success, and your long-term vision in their hands. Ultimately, this benefits you because you are not relying on your own knowledge, skillset, or self to get the job done.

Instead, you can rest in the security that a whole team of experts well-versed in the markets you want to be in is handling your portfolio down to the last detail.

4.It forces you to be a passive investor

Lastly, investing in distant markets forces you not to be so hands-on. There is a certain comfort in the drivability of your investment properties. When you sacrifice drivability, however, you also sacrifice tenants calling you at two in the morning. You sacrifice being the point of contact for repairs and problems. You sacrifice the headache of property management.

The question of real estate investing is always about your time. What is your time worth? What do you want to do with your time? To be honest, most of us don’t want to spend it managing our properties, especially as our portfolios grow bigger and better.

Being an international investor takes the “hands on” option off the table. You can’t worry about it. You can’t feel guilty about not doing it. It isn’t your job. Your job is to think about the big picture and plan for your best financial future.

You can only leave your properties in the hands of the people who know best.

G’day all

Happy Friday y’all! Hehe sound American? Probably shouldn’t have started with G’day huh? Anyway back to reality. Have spent quite a bit of time this week on coaching calls, networking events and chatting to a number of our American friends and have had some amazing breakthroughs.
I think networking is something that is very much underrated. It can be amazing what can be achieved by networking with others. It’s not easy though, and I certainly am not a person who is comfortable networking and at times can be quite daunting. But the power of networking is definitely unsurpassable.

On an international Networking Symposium today (I love that word, symposium!) the host Shelly, gave some real gold. One comment that resonated with me was – “networking is simply building trust.” And really that can relate to a lot of life these days, isn’t what we do daily just build trust? Isn’t the reason you go to your usual barista for your morning caffeine hit, because you trust he will give you a great coffee? Don’t you go back to your usual mechanic, doctor, chemist etc because you trust they will give you good advice?

A business coach of mine just recently said – “the world has shifted now, we have moved from the Information Age, to the Intuition Age” and thinking about this, I thought how true! Years ago, it was all about the information but today, business and the world is now more about intuition and trust than information. This is good news too, as a lot of the “pretenders” are getting found out. They cannot hide behind their online personas these days, people have moved on and are far too intuitive for that.
What an amazing time we live in now!

Happy Investing all! And have a great weekend!!

Cheers

Lindsay