The Interview #8

Welcome to the interview number 8.

We are really fortunate to have skater as our interviewee this time around. Along with Bargain Hunter, they have an extremely interesting story to tell and I really thank her for being so open with her answers.

Life can throw us curveballs at times. But perseverance and tenacity will always get us through.

I’d really like to thank skater for such an uplifting interview.

Enjoy everyone!!

http://www.somersoft.com/forums/showthread.php?p=263479#post263479

Thanks Skater

That was a great read

Very inspiring skater! Thank you very much.

P.S. Have always wondered where you got your name from. Now I know

Ozi

ozi said:

P.S. Have always wondered where you got your name from. Now I know

Ozi

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If there is something I am more passionate about than property, it is skating. It is very much a family thing. All 4 of us compete at a high level & much of our spare time is spent on wheels.

[Skater.well done just goes to show no matter how many times you have your back to the wall,
if you stay with the plan and have your family backup
like you have, then it's only time and a lot of luck...good luck willair...

My thanks too ...you guys are inspiring, and I can't help it but...

10/10....Presentation

10/10....Technique

10/10.....Courage, Determination, Spin and Focus.

Great interview skater! Congratulations on your determination and hard-won success.

Thanks for the feedback guys. Although I don't think we have done anything special. There are truely many more of you out there that have done inspiring things much greater than us.

Enjoyed your story Skater and Bargain Hunter

Skater

What a great story! You and hubby have shown guts, determination and true grit!

Well done on making it happen.

Cheers
N.

G'day Skater,

Thanks for sharing - but I'm left with a question.... Do you still hold that $2k per week drain (the roller skating rink)? Or has it "moved on" - or maybe become a 2k per week GAIN ? Based on your negative comments re "business", I'm guessing it has gone....

Whatever, it's a great story, and an inspiration (I was also involved when 17.5% Interest Rates were "the norm" but only had one of them - soon to be sold for a meagre profit).

And, to Ruby - thanks mate, you're a gem (funny, that )

Regards,

Les said:

G'day Skater,

Thanks for sharing - but I'm left with a question.... Do you still hold that $2k per week drain (the roller skating rink)? Or has it "moved on" - or maybe become a 2k per week GAIN ? Based on your negative comments re "business", I'm guessing it has gone....

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Hi Les,

No, that debt died with the Business, thank goodness.

As I was reading your story, I was really rooting for you!

It felt very difficult when you had just bought your skating rink; its nice to know, though, that the good guys win in the end

Hi Skater, I just loved your story, trials, tribulations, and the great successes. Tis inspirational.

Many people think that investing in property is easy, and they forget all the hard yards (research, learning; having a good team of accountant, finance broker, PM, etc., behind you). They also forget that when times are tough the investor goes without, to make the mortgage payments. Your story just reinforced my belief that investing takes some sacrifices that eventually pay off, and are well worth the effort. Thanks so much for sharing, I really appreciated it.

Really interesting interview Skater, lots of twists and turns....very inspiring. Thanks so much....

Noticed you guys did all this with a family in tow! Got any pointers for fledgling investors with young families?

Rory

Great story. Well done for cutting your losses and powering ahead. That must have been terrible selling your PPOR to live in a flat above an ice rink!

What are your plans for the next 5 years?

Wow, what an inspiration you are Skater. Well done and thanks for sharing your story and your hard-won wisdom!

ArJay said:

Noticed you guys did all this with a family in tow! Got any pointers for fledgling investors with young families?

Rory

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Gee, Rory, any mistake to be made, I'm sure we made it (and still keep making them)

I think it's important to include the kids, but just be aware that they don't see things the same. For instance, when we bought the first IP Sam, the youngest was in Kindergarten. She went to school really excited & told the class that we had "won" a house on the weekend. I remember the teacher congratulating me, & telling her that we hadn't won a house, just an auction.

Our kids have been involved since day 1 & have had all sorts of information drip fed to them. Anyone who had read some of Little sk8r's posts will know that she is a very wise young lady, however that wisdom still doesn't see the big picture. The basic understanding is there, huge amounts of knowledge in fact, but at the end of the day she is still a teenager & see's her parents as being better off financially than we really are. Sometimes this translates into wanting us to spend huge amounts of money on things that we would like to do, but know we can't just yet.

Another problem we have encountered is that the kids (being kids, of course) sometimes tell other kids that we have a lot of houses. No matter how many times I tell them NOT to do this, it seems that if there is a game of one-up-manship going on, this gets mentioned. It is re-assuring to know that as they mature, this is happening less often.

FrankGrimes said:

Great story. Well done for cutting your losses and powering ahead. That must have been terrible selling your PPOR to live in a flat above an ice rink!

What are your plans for the next 5 years?

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Sheesh, Frank, an ice rink would have been nice. At least it would have been cool. No, ours was just two very long, narrow rooms, the front one had windows all the way across & this spanned, from memory around 25 metres. No awnings on them & no curtains either, facing the morning sun. It was like a sauna in there even in winter. We were able to cover some of them with sheets, but there were more windows than we could find coverings for.

The kitchen was just too horrible to contemplate. We were not going to spend any money on the place as we wanted out as soon as possible, but I just couldn't bear to even go into the kitchen. We cooked our meals downstairs in the pie warmer. If you treat it like a slow cooker, you can actually do a lot this way. You really can adapt to anything when you have to, & knowing it is only temporary helps a lot.

Family TV time was spent downstairs too, sitting in the canteen seating, our (only) TV was positioned to show tapes of "Real Skating" during general sessions to try to encourage parents to bring their kids in for lessons.

As for the next 5 years, I haven't got a lot of plans at the moment. Having all four members of the family this year in the Australia Squad is financially draining, I have been doing some temp work & am currently looking for more at the moment as nothing is going to get in the way of us doing that this year. Have got a couple of places on the market too. One in a regional town keeps getting offers then falling through on them.

That "wheelie" is a fantastic story skater. Well done and congrats on your achievements to date.

Im sure there will be many more inspirational chapters to come.