“Hey You??”

“What’s the matter with the life you have?”

“What do you mean you are working weekends as well as every evening and holiday?”

“When are you going to spend time with me?”

And, “don’t go there, you will get burnt, go broke or get hurt. I may be left to pick up the pieces and I couldn’t let you do that to yourself.”

These are some of the comments and objections you will come face-to-face with when you start venturing into a new life. Why do our friends and family see the doom and gloom that will swallow us, but can’t see that we have the ability, passion and desire to achieve our goals?

When I started investing in property in 2001 I was alone, none of the people I knew were investing in anything but a regular job. It made me the standout which was a frightening and lonely place to start investing.

It wasn’t until I had bought a few properties I took time out and went to a property investment seminar. I couldn’t tell my family and friends I was spending more than $15,000 on a property investment seminar, I’m sure you could imagine what they would have said.

Even my accountant was sceptical when I asked him to set up our investment structure, he told me to do a few renovations before going to the expense of setting up a structure as many people only ended up buying one or two properties.

I knew I was different.

It’s hard to remain excited and want to share your new found wealth with everyone, only to be met with scepticism and horror stories, especially if they tried and failed.

In 2 weeks my daughter is settling a new business (her first). People around her know she has a supportive family but still have not supported her decision. One of the comments she has repeatedly made is about the lack of interest and support from the people who have been her closest friends. She now feels hurt, isolated and alone instead of being supported and buoyed.

Why does this happen?

When I went to my investment seminar in 2001 the speaker spoke about trading up your family and friends.

At the time I thought this as an insult to my choice of friends (‘cause I realise you can’t choose your family) but it wasn’t long after I realised what the speaker was talking about. My family and friends were comfortable with who I was and my position. The hierarchy had already been established.

I was working in my family’s business and teaching piano after hours at the time, but had a burning desire to get into the property market.

I put our owner occupied house in jeopardy (that’s what it felt like at the time) to invest, there was nobody giving me advice on what to do. I made mistakes, but are mistakes really a problem?

I was bagged and got the “I told you so” attitude.

Then the comments started – “What would you want to buy property there for?”

“Don’t you know the boom has already been?”

I even heard the words greedy and selfish used about me! – AND that was from my family!

Then the comments “Is property all you talk about?” as you get on further.

It’s hard to be confident when you are shaking in your boots. Comments from these people can be completely detrimental to the ongoing growth of your business. My situation is not unique. If you have supportive family and friends then I would consider your position pretty unique.

Our friends and family are really trying to protect us from something they don’t understand.

They also don’t want you to outgrow them or the relationship. They don’t want you to become a superstar while they live their mundane existences.  I don’t believe this behaviour is conscious, I think there must be a gene inside us that arc up as protection for those we love.

If you asked your friends and family why they weren’t supporting you some would deny and state they were very supportive and others would say they don’t want to see you hurt. Funny thing about that is the way they are hurting you with the behaviour to start with.

For you to grow and move into a different lifestyle, you change. The way you talk, walk and think changes. Your behaviours and life style changes and your friends and family notice. You become an alien!!!

Luckily aliens are well accepted in investment and business circles. This is why you need to trade up your family and friends. Your new friends will take you as you are now, and move with you as you grow because these people are growing too.

If you want to grow in your business, you need to feed and strengthen your mind. I do this by getting involved with groups, reading, listening to audios and even changing the inner chit-chat in your head. Then surround yourself with people who are going the same direction as you. Those friends who want to remain will remain.

I love my new friends, they have become just as important as any friends and family I have had before, but they have a way of challenging me, fulfilling a part of me that continues to grow.

This post is from the Talking Property Podcast

What are Friends For?

This entry was kindly contributed by a member of the Talking Property community. If you are interested in contributing an article that would be of interest to our readers then please contact us.

You are probably sitting there wondering what on earth this article is all about. Well, it’s about excuses! Excuses are really reasons that people who generally take no action pull out of thin air because they are often too lazy to do be anything but mediocre.

I find these people particularly frustrating. In particular, someone I have known for some time has been continually asking me about property investing for several years. I have even looked at properties with them. Have they bought anything yet ? No ! Have they put in any offers yet ? No ! When asked why what do you think they say ? Here we go…

• When work quietens down I will have more time to look for a property
• Next week I will be over this cold and will have more energy to look for an investment property
• It took longer than I expected to do the shopping so I didn’t get an opportunity to look at that house you suggested
• I’m now studying part time as well as working so definitely have no time until next semester
• We always have so many social commitments at this time of year, after xmas we will get stuck into it
• We have been trying to get pregnant so our mind is focussed in that area
• Mary is really crook at the moment so I have been doing all the running around.
• Mary is pregnant now and we just can’t take the risk prior to the baby being born.
• With child care drop offs as well as work, all we want to do on weekends is relax.
• We have just had to spend $2,000 on the car, money we had put aside for an investment property.
• I’m just not too sure the market is heading in the right direction.
• I was talking to my mechanic who said shares were better than property so I am looking into that now.
• Johnny starts school next year and we don’t want the burden of an investment property.
• There are just not enough properties for sale during winter to choose from.
• I’ll wait until spring, there will be plenty of properties for sale then.
• We have decided that we will save the money we have for Johnny’s tertiary education rather than buy a property.
• Johnny’s sport commitments always seem to be at the same time as open inspections.
• We can’t save enough for a deposit.

The list goes on and on and on and on and on and on…

What frustrates me more than anything is that these people don’t realise what they could do with their lives. How much more fulfilment they could derive from every day if they just took action. I don’t care if they decide to invest in property or not. I wish they would just take action instead of being experts at making excuses. Without realising it, they are teaching little Johnny how to live his life by setting the example. Do they want a child who grows up to be an ‘ant’.

I must clarify an ant for you. I was in the car with my 5 year old daughter a few weeks ago driving through the Adelaide CBD just after 5pm. “Why is everyone wearing black and following each other ?” she innocently asked. What could I say ? I think I explained that Daddy used to wear black every day, like the people she could see, until one day he started taking action. Look at an aerial photo of the CBD at either 8.45am or 5.15pm and you will see what I mean. Black ants following the same path to and from their destination day after day after day.

She then asked me what ‘taking action’ meant. I explained that it’s about finding something you love and then doing everything you can to make it work. It’s about finding something that get’s you up in the morning before anyone else is up and keeps you from wanting to go to bed at night. It’s about finding something you are so passionate about that you smile every day when you think of the joy it gives you. It does not matter what it is, just find it. You will then take action.

The sad thing is that people are kind of brainwashed into a particular way of life by a mixture of social pressures, experiences parents provide you with and the good old television. They believe that being ‘normal’ is being successful and they will be happier if they work harder at what they are already doing.  It’s only when you break out of these pressures that you start to see people standing out from the crowd and having real fun in their lives, at the same time making a difference in the lives of others.

So what’s the point of all this ? We all have a job to do in teaching ourselves and then those of younger generations, how to find what it is that they love and then encourage them to do that, whatever it is. Teach someone how to find their passion and they will be successful. This is not about getting a good education (my wife and I discussed the other day we might be the only parents who would be disappointed if our children went to university !), good grades at school, learning to read or write, being fit and healthy. This is about finding the reason you are here and then going for it. Helping others to do the same. If we all do this the world will be a better place (with much less excuses !)

Good luck finding your passion.

Tim Ellis
Property Investor

This post is from the Talking Property Podcast

Excuses, Excuses, Excuses

I thought it was about time I wrote about goal setting for successful property investment.

I have found that goals work best when they are broken up into three timeframes: short term (weekly), medium term (monthly) and long term (quarterly to yearly).

They should be measurable and achievable.

Let me give you an example of this: If you set a goal of buying a house by the end of the week that may or may not be achievable for you based on lots of factors within and outside of your control.

But if you set a goal of putting in a certain amount of offers by the end of the week you should be able to achieve that confidently.

Even if you think a property is not in your price range or doesn’t quite fit your criteria you can still make an offer on it. When I do this I keep this thought in mind: “If I got it for $……. then I couldn’t say no”. So if the agent called you back and said the vendor has accepted your offer you would be happy to purchase knowing it is a bargain.

If you set a goal of purchasing a property within a month you need to make sure your short term goals and actions support this medium term goal. The same principle applies to long term goals.

I will talk much more about goals and mindset in the coming weeks. It is a favourite topic of mine – and one that I think is crucial for successful property investment. In the meantime I would love to hear about your goals and property investment experience.

This post is from the Talking Property Podcast

Property Investment Goal Setting