Well I felt it in my bones tonight, it was that time again, when I'd zip along and quietly attend a free property gathering / seminar, something that I've been doing with this 'group' now for well over 8 years or so. I'm constantly chastised for not having taken the plunge with them.....little do they know I'm swimming out in the deep end.
I sat there and listened to 3 speakers from the group....and what a diverse lot they are. Branch Manager was from Perth, his fellow Branch Manager was from South Africa, the club's mortgage broker from South Africa and one of the senior Support members from Zimbabwe.....I'm thinking hello.....is this some sort of "krugerand kangaroo klub" or what ?? Must be a Perth thing.
Anyway, I started doing some sums on the revenues generated by this little club. Apparently they've just celebrated their 10,000th sale. 6.6% commission is what their literature said was what they skimmed. Average price I reckoned was 250K per sale....plucked out of the air. I thought hmmmm.....that's 2.5B of sales, give or take a few hundred mill, generating 165MM of commission over the past 12 or 13 years. Nice if you can get it. Not a little club at all. So that's where all of these "free" leasing co-ords, inspectors, researchers etc etc come from.
I suppose it's a form of frustration and jealously really that I post this, as they are doing what I indeed would hope to do, but fear is holding me back. Being able to make a living out of property, and squeezing the newbies for everything they've got, but in the nicest, most educational manner with a lovely smile on my face.
I commented to the wife how some of the questions tendered from the audience were outrageously simple, and the way the speakers easily batted them away, having heard the same mundane non-probing queries over and over and over again. Churning through the herd I like to call it. Get a whole bunch of financially illiterate folk in a room, show them the ol' super and pension won't cut it, property does and ol' faves like it doubles every 7 to 10 years....and therefore.....please sign up your finance enquiry form and then buy one of our stock, just like these successful chaps in the red sleeves.
Seriously....they're lined up by the end of the talk and ready to go. Staggering !!! The best thing is, there's no heavy pressure, no hard sell, no suits, no ties, everyone involved has no lawful qualifications, and yet they are all ready to answer every conceivable question and feed you through their sausage machine.
There was so much from the presentation I fundamentally disagreed with, but you get swept up in the flow of things and before you know it, that's it and that's all she wrote. Time for a break and how are you going with that Club Loan form....need any help filling it out ?? We can't help you if you don't sign up. Ah no thanks - just came for a chat and to mingle with fellow investors. Right then...moving right along.
The star performer tonight was a 7 year experienced Support member who had only bought one type of property, and had managed to make a modest return. Paid 1.8 smeared over the 7 years. Now 2.3. Up by 0.47M. Dunno 'bout you, but for 7 years, I didn't think that set the world on fire. Good luck to him anyhoo. Unfortunately, interspersed between his personal story was a slide every other slide, of the benefits of why buying property through their system was the only way to go. I thought - WOW - if that was supposed to clinch the deal, ya lost me right there.
The other thing I noticed was the absolute devotion to "the system and Club" by their followers. A couple of months in, and suddenly you can become the support member, fielding any and all questions from the public. The amount of young starry eyed couples was encouraging and yet daunting at the same time.
Anyway, they're making a good living off it, and good luck to them. They've obviously withstood a few court challenges so far, and things look swimmingly for them as they move through the fields of investors waiting to be harvested. I just pity the poor sods who collectively have overpaid 165MM for their properties. But I'm reminded to ignore that and concentrate on the bigger picture. Apparently it's all excellent value. Indeed.
Managed to have a chat with a few, but the "sign up chaps" are interspersed with the badged ones, so you can't tell who's who. It's a bit like a public auction, you could be bidding against a real person or a tree, with someone up front calling all the shots. I discovered there's nothing more ignorant than someone who's bought 3 off the plan high rise units on the Gold Coast in the last 2 years and never been there to see them. Trust the club....they do it all for you.
I need a good strong cup of tea and a lie down after having all of that property knowledge wash over me. Phew...
I sat there and listened to 3 speakers from the group....and what a diverse lot they are. Branch Manager was from Perth, his fellow Branch Manager was from South Africa, the club's mortgage broker from South Africa and one of the senior Support members from Zimbabwe.....I'm thinking hello.....is this some sort of "krugerand kangaroo klub" or what ?? Must be a Perth thing.
Anyway, I started doing some sums on the revenues generated by this little club. Apparently they've just celebrated their 10,000th sale. 6.6% commission is what their literature said was what they skimmed. Average price I reckoned was 250K per sale....plucked out of the air. I thought hmmmm.....that's 2.5B of sales, give or take a few hundred mill, generating 165MM of commission over the past 12 or 13 years. Nice if you can get it. Not a little club at all. So that's where all of these "free" leasing co-ords, inspectors, researchers etc etc come from.
I suppose it's a form of frustration and jealously really that I post this, as they are doing what I indeed would hope to do, but fear is holding me back. Being able to make a living out of property, and squeezing the newbies for everything they've got, but in the nicest, most educational manner with a lovely smile on my face.
I commented to the wife how some of the questions tendered from the audience were outrageously simple, and the way the speakers easily batted them away, having heard the same mundane non-probing queries over and over and over again. Churning through the herd I like to call it. Get a whole bunch of financially illiterate folk in a room, show them the ol' super and pension won't cut it, property does and ol' faves like it doubles every 7 to 10 years....and therefore.....please sign up your finance enquiry form and then buy one of our stock, just like these successful chaps in the red sleeves.
Seriously....they're lined up by the end of the talk and ready to go. Staggering !!! The best thing is, there's no heavy pressure, no hard sell, no suits, no ties, everyone involved has no lawful qualifications, and yet they are all ready to answer every conceivable question and feed you through their sausage machine.
There was so much from the presentation I fundamentally disagreed with, but you get swept up in the flow of things and before you know it, that's it and that's all she wrote. Time for a break and how are you going with that Club Loan form....need any help filling it out ?? We can't help you if you don't sign up. Ah no thanks - just came for a chat and to mingle with fellow investors. Right then...moving right along.
The star performer tonight was a 7 year experienced Support member who had only bought one type of property, and had managed to make a modest return. Paid 1.8 smeared over the 7 years. Now 2.3. Up by 0.47M. Dunno 'bout you, but for 7 years, I didn't think that set the world on fire. Good luck to him anyhoo. Unfortunately, interspersed between his personal story was a slide every other slide, of the benefits of why buying property through their system was the only way to go. I thought - WOW - if that was supposed to clinch the deal, ya lost me right there.
The other thing I noticed was the absolute devotion to "the system and Club" by their followers. A couple of months in, and suddenly you can become the support member, fielding any and all questions from the public. The amount of young starry eyed couples was encouraging and yet daunting at the same time.
Anyway, they're making a good living off it, and good luck to them. They've obviously withstood a few court challenges so far, and things look swimmingly for them as they move through the fields of investors waiting to be harvested. I just pity the poor sods who collectively have overpaid 165MM for their properties. But I'm reminded to ignore that and concentrate on the bigger picture. Apparently it's all excellent value. Indeed.
Managed to have a chat with a few, but the "sign up chaps" are interspersed with the badged ones, so you can't tell who's who. It's a bit like a public auction, you could be bidding against a real person or a tree, with someone up front calling all the shots. I discovered there's nothing more ignorant than someone who's bought 3 off the plan high rise units on the Gold Coast in the last 2 years and never been there to see them. Trust the club....they do it all for you.
I need a good strong cup of tea and a lie down after having all of that property knowledge wash over me. Phew...
