Property Investors that go BIG time!

[Evil Monkey]

Hi Everyone

I am hoping to get some feedback from some property investors who are doing it on a large scale - perhaps arbitrarily > $5M - whatever flavour they prefer, commercial, develop, buy & hold, etc.
What do you think are the major differences between how you got to where you are and the majority of other people?
How does one go from having a couple of properties under their belt to the big time?
Which, if any, of the following were of help:
- having the proverbial "cahones" to do it (ie Branson "Screw It Lets Do It" sort of attitude?
- starting off with an above average income?
- your mindset?
- partner support?
- previous work experience?
- previosly existing work contacts?
- passion for a particular strategy?
- research?
- ignorance (ie going ahead regardless of your lack of experience)?

What are some generic (ie perhaps not specific to any particular strategy) would you suggest someone wanting to move from the land of the average to the big end of town?
Can anyone go from average joe on average joe income with average joe family to property super-stardom?

Any input would be hugely appreciated! Thanks!

 

[alexlee]

Let me ask, EM, where are you on the investment road, and why do you want to do big projects? What are your goals? Is it money? Fame? Time? Recognition? Getting onto the BRW rich list?
Alex

 

[Evil Monkey]

Alexlee
Fair questions, and I have been pondering them a lot lately.
I am fairly new, have acquired a couple of homes in Perth mortgage belt suburbs, which thanks to some crazy miners or something or other have done adequately for someone who didnt know what he was doing. Certainly nowhere near the level of a lot of stories I have heard coming out of the Perth boom at its heights (marvelous hindsight tells me I should have been a lot more aggressive), but in a much better position than I was even 3 years ago.
As far as goals and reasons go, I have considered them a lot, but I'm uncertain if I have come up with anything that qualifies.

No ambitions of any fame as such, no interest of being in any magazines or doing infomercials, but definitely there are some ego-based goals (as much as I would like to pretend there isnt) - in all honesty: sticking it to the negative relatives, being the person my friends talk about to their friends at gatherings ("you should see what he has achieved, he has done really well!"), perhaps the confidence/satisfaction from bumping into old acquantences and being so happy with your own achievments that you dont even think to compare yourself to them.
Then I guess there are the lifestyle reasons - being able to honestly choose your own path (not like most people who claim to do so, but are bound to a job they dont like, a mortgage they will never clear and a superannuation fund that will never be big enough), but really being able to experience everything you want to experience in life, whenever you want to experience.
They are just secondary reasons though, the real reason is a hard one to quantify - The satisfaction of not only going from nothing to something, but to something BIG; the satisfaction that you put your back to the wall, put in the countless hours, dealt with the frusteration, setbacks, and criticisms, did the hard yards and came out smelling like flowers, wiser and better than you were before. Its almost like the big dollars dont attract me as much as the idea of taking it to the max, for no other reason than because you can. If someone put the stars there, why not reach for them? Not sure if that makes any sense though!
As far as magnitude - I honestly dont know what is possible. Most of the people I spend time with think that winning lotto is the holy grail, and if they get through the week with a beer in their hand and some bread in the fridge they are stoked. If they can somehow remortgage their house and chuck another room on the back, so much the better. As much as I honestly appreciate that, it is just not for me.
I hate to throw any numbers up, because I always get so turned off by the "i wanna be a billionaire in 2 years and then quit work forever and live with my harem" type of posts!!

I guess I am really hoping to glean some ingredients off those who have gone before of what it actually takes - what skills and characteristics I can work on now to grease the wheels.

Hope this answers somewhat adequately alexlee?

 

[burty85]

Im with EM, would like to know some SS stoires of the big investors... Its great to hear how other ppl work...

 

[handyandy]

maybe you guys should read through some of the post if this forum

http://www.somersoft.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=4

Then follow that up with doing some research and just having a dig through past posts.

You will find that a lot of people have given all the answers that you seek. Maybe it's not in the form that you want but that is part of the process of putting the bigger picture together.

The first thing you need to learn is Nobody does it for you.

Cheers

 

[Mark C]

EM,

I never feel like I've made it big time, all though others are always pointing out that I'm doing well.

With over $100mil in property developments underway it's probably a fair comment.

Your list of what is required is pretty close to what was/is required for me. I did delete 2 items.

- having the proverbial "cahones" to do it (ie Branson "Screw It Lets Do It" sort of attitude
- your mindset
- partner support
- previous work experience
- passion for a particular strategy
- research
- ignorance (ie going ahead regardless of your lack of experience)

I would add to the list the following;

-endless energy
-being positive
-desire to be the best
-a will to learn
-patients with others

That’s the mental side, on the physical side I would add

-good cardio fitness
-healthy diet
-low alcohol intake (I don’t drink when I work the next day)

I have to be sharp both mentally and physically everyday.

Can anybody do it? No

If you have ever said "I can't because......." then your probably one of the people who never can.

It is an endurance event, anybody can line up for the start but it’s a tough course.

Mark

 

[skater]

maybe you guys should read through some of the post if this forum

http://www.somersoft.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=4

Cheers

Hmm.....speaking of which, I'm still waiting for the Handyandy interview.

 

[McBrain]

Mark C,

Nice website and nice house designs!

Cheers
Nick.