Do you have a story to tell?

Hi, I'm preparing a mag article about how aspiring property investors with an initial mortgage, family, school costs to look forward to, etc, can manage to start and build up a property portfolio. I'm looking for your tips, experiences, quotes. I'm also looking for people I can focus on in a case study . If either of these is you I'd love to hear from you. Please email me: lisasouthgate (at) hotmail.com.

Thanks,

Lisa.
 
Hi Lisa and welcome to the forum :)
It might be helpful if you could provide us with some more details about which publication you're from and also what the thrust of the article is going to be about. It sounds like it's going to be a positive one?
 
hi there Jacque,
The article is for Aus Prop Investor (API) Magazine. The thrust is exactly as outlined: how aspiring property investors with an initial mortgage, family, school costs to look forward to, etc, can manage to start and build up a property portfolio. Now, this might be anything from the micro to the macro: tips about saving money -I don't know, re-using plastic bags, always using generic labels, shopping at Aldi's, scraping out the coins from the car seats, whatever - to investing in commercial syndicates first for cashflow, joining forces with family, etc. Is is positive? I shrink from such terms. This aint the Sunday Mail - it's information. Hopefully it will be inspirational. It will be detailed, and I hope, a good solid read. - Lisa
 
Sal

Maybe you could think of doing a future article on someone who invests in IP's , and because of that interest has now set up (or just starting ) a business in an area related to property investing .

Not that anyone springs to mind ;) :eek:

See Change
 
sal said:
micro to the macro: tips about saving money -I don't know, re-using plastic bags, always using generic labels, shopping at Aldi's, scraping out the coins from the car seats, whatever -

Hi Lisa, sounds interesting. I may be out of line in saying but I think a lot of people here post about how their mindset is what makes it possible. The nuts and bolts of running a house may differ due to needs/priorities and commitments but attitude is the make or break.

The mag is already targetting the investors and not the general population so I assume most people will be beyond the nuts and bolts of budgetting (covered in the today tonight story that is recycled constantly - just make additional pments). An article on how people went from 5 or less properties to over 10 would interest me. Or people who are on a combined income of 80,000 or less and have a portfolio, how they structure it. People with a portfolio, giving their top 5 tips.

Good luck and welcome.
 
hi - i don't know that anyone of this forum has a scrimping (recycling bags, coins etc) mindset. more a mindset of conservationalism.

i for one buy most of my clothes at bigw or target as my mind can't justify spending $80 on a basic white shirt. own a lcd tv, but the second tv is from the pawn shop. one lounge is fantasitc furniture and the other 20 years old. i own around 10 prs of shoes but only buy two new pair each year - boots for winter and sandals for summer, most of my baby stuff was second hand for hand-downs, the car is an 8yr old corolla ... and so the list goes on. none of it i would ever consider scrimping, more a case of a mindset not being able to justify spending more, or buying more, and just not wanting more. and i think most of those on the forum would be of the same mindset. it's not being deliberately of penny pinching frugal - just how we do things.

but on the other side, we have an inground pool, expensive yacht and large house ...

p.s. this is not a hint to be in api - only explaining that your particular article may not quite be on the mark.
 
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Welcome Sal.

I too would not be too focussed on the saving. Whilst modest - even frugal - expenditure might be a common trait of many investors, especially when starting out, property wealth comes from investing not saving.

The basics of property investing are simple and within the reach of virtually all empoyed people in Australia. Each investor will have their own strategy and if it is sensible and pursued reasonably well should result in success over time. It might take a decade or two.

I agree with wish-ga regarding mindset.

Sal wrote
Hopefully it will be inspirational. It will be detailed, and I hope, a good solid read.
The profiles that are in each issue of API are arguably the best inspirational material each issue. I think developing/expanding the existing features would be the best way to provide more inspiration to readers/investors.

Best wishes,
 
I agree with wish-ga.

An article on how people build large portfolios and the finance structures they use would be most interesting.
Techniques for increasing serviceability, or what to do next when you hit the serviceability wall.
What about techniques for reducing non-deductible debt (besides being frugal) whilst still maintaining a negatively geared portfolio... hmmm any ideas what situation I might be in?
That said, there's probably enough of that information on this forum that couldn't possibly be summarised in an article...
 
and I agree with lizzie :D

We dont consider ourselves scrimpers, but we aren't going out for dinner very often either. My wife doesn't work per se but is a stay at home mum who does some selling of educational books and software part time on a party plan arrangement, that money is used mostly for items for the baby (17 months old) we are also careful about what we spend our money on.

We are not on a large income but have done well out of Property ($90k CG in the last 5 months alone from the portfolio).

Articles on getting over the serviceability wall etc would interest me as well..we're at 4 IP's and trying to work out how to acquire #5 with some*tweaking* of the Portfoilio, last F year I earnt less than $50k but this new job should see me able to look at a new IP once I've been here at least 3 months..and yesi'mstill looking and considering several deals in the m,eantime (though some doors have probably closed)

Structure of Peoples Portfolios always interest me as well...

I used to buy API once in a while but am now hooked..love the profiles in the mag, latest favourite was the Perth Cleaners with a $6M Portfolio

Redwing
 
IMO, the sort of knowledge being requested in the above posts is not likely to be familiar to journalists. I can understand that, as Sal has done, a journalist would seek input from experienced investors in a forum such as this one.

I don't know how much it helps, but a few simple observations.

It takes time to build serious property wealth - think decades - from the compounding capital growth of an always strongly geared portfolio. Once you've geared to your maximum, don't be overly concerned about pushing too hard for the next purchase too soon; it will come in good time. In the medium term rising property values, rental incomes, salaries, etc all enable further serviceability/borrowings/debt/purchases.

Once the initial investment is made to maximum capacity, you'll virtually always be at maximum serviceability. Live with it - and make sure you cover the risks.

Enjoy every day - the journey.

regards,
 
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Hi Lisa

I for one would like to read some stories about single people who manage to generate a large property portfolio from scratch without any help from family/friends/new boyfriend/ex husband etc. Every story I read always seems to be about couples or families and they do not inspire me at all as it seems to be a hell of a lot easier to build wealth with two incomes. Even in the one or two stories in the past that featured single people had them starting with wealth they had built up while married (as far as I can remember anyway - haven't read the mag for a while)

Just a thought.

Nat:)
 
Nat,

Maybe it is just the profiles in the magazine, I think there are many single investors doing well and many couples on a single income too. All the stories inspire me.

regards,
 
My 2c,

For what its worth, I reckon the thrust of that story should be delayed gratification. Basically, live within your means and understand what the limit of those means are. Pay yourself first etc etc.

I posted here some time ago how I got to be in the situation I am now at 35, and it was all around living within my means and using my spare cash to invest rather than on doodads. I rented a dump in Mosman for years and started out small with my first IP being a $75K unit in Carramar. I diversified into a good managed fund and rode some growth there too, getting out just before the tech wreck.

I only bought my PPOR when I could effectively put about 70% down as a deposit. And even now, I continue to try and pay that bad debt down as quickly as possible. But to do this, I continue to invest. I've pulled the equity from my PPOR and leveraged it into the ASX. So far, over the past 5 months, that fund has returned me $56K gross, and $40K net of interest costs. Even though I'll be paying tax on that net profit, it will still be additional dollars going to reduce my bad debt. Next step is to set up an HDT to reduce my tax bill, and diversify my funds a bit to further reduce my risk profile.

I aim to have my $800K PPOR paid off in the next 18 months, which will mean drinks on me at the Glebe Point Hotel at the subsequent SIG! :D

Most people can achieve what I have if they get the fundamentals of delayed gratification and living within their means correct. Then its just the magic of compounding growth and investing in assets and not liabilities. The outcome then, is just a matter of time.

Cheers,
Michael.
 
natmarie73 said:
as it seems to be a hell of a lot easier to build wealth with two incomes.
Nat:)
For DINKs it is, no doubt about it. For couples with 2+ kids though it is much much harder than for a single person with no kids IMHO.

Or maybe it's a case of the grass is always greener :eek:
 
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