All Forum Posts by: David Nolan

@Jonathan Davis The answer to your question starts and ends with understanding your own drivers, desires, capabilities, and objectives. We are all driven by our subconscious minds to strive for the things we truly believe we desire. This can, and in many cases is different from what we consciously think we want. Your conscious mind operates your actions at about 6% of everything you do. Your subconscious mind operates the other 94% of the time. Many people think they want something only to discover, when they get it, that they didn't want it in the first place. These are things we desire from a conscious perspective. This applies to personal relationships as well as material things. Your subconscious mind only ever wants your true desires.

One way to understand this is to consider that each of us is driven by something inherent in our being. It's a hierarchy of individual life priorities (HILP). This HILP is our subconscious driver. Your HILP is spread over 7 key areas of your life, family, social, financial, physical, spiritual, societal, and vocational. Imagine listing these seven key areas of your life in regard to their importance to you. You create a list, a hierarchy. 

A quick example. My daughter has 4 children. She has the desire to be financially independent like lots of people do. However, she has an inherent challenge. The number one thing on her HILP is family. That means that if she has freedom of choice in what to do in any given circumstance she will do whatever is best for her family. If money were number one on her list she would do whatever would make her the most money. If health were number one on her list she would choose health actions first, etc. Her challenge is this. If I gave her money to invest for her future, do you think she would invest it, or spend it on her children? The answer is she would spend it on her children first and foremost. Because they are number 1 on her HILP. Unless I could show her that investing is the best thing she could do for her children, then the only thing that would drive her is her HILP and that is to benefit the family, primarily her children. To give them what they want.

To be able to, "get ahead", you first need to truly understand what that means to you and your wife. Trying to create financial wealth if money is not high enough on your HILP is futile. It's futile because you will always revert back to your HILP no matter what your conscious mind thinks. Your subconscious mind, which operates you 94% of the time is always seeking what's highest on your HILP. In other towards, the more you work against your HILP the harder it becomes. You will find yourself spending money that should be saved for the future on the things that matter most to you. This is normal. We are all driven this way.

I suggest investigating this process and if you do, you will discover how to identify your HILP and I can assure you it will make a world of difference in what you do moving forward. Bad luck is something that usually happens when we are chasing something we don't truly want. We are living in a false reality trying to be something other people want us to be. Not everyone wants to be a multi millionnaire. Not everyone wants to own multiple properties. Learn how to become authentic to your true desires and then you will find all the answers you seek and bad luck will no doubt disappear.

I would look at the work of Helene Kempe at Optimum Thinking and Dr. John Demartini for guidance. A simple Google search on these amazing people and their work may help you immensely.

Good luck on your journey.

@Stephen E Drew Hi Steven and to all those people who are struggling to get started and not knowing what to do. My suggestion is to hire a personal coach. Hire someone to work with you and hold you accountable for your actions. It is not a lack of information that is missing. Many people have posted that all the information you could possibly ever want, and more, is freely available on Youtube and in other places. The problem is the lack of action.

I have met many people over my career that have great intentions and do nothing about them. Dreaming is great while you are sleeping, but what are you actually doing during your waking hours toward realizing your goals? Do you have a detailed plan and have you committed to working on your plan?

Taking action is also the best way to learn new skills. You can watch all the videos you want and attend all the courses you could ever find, but without action, it is all just information. Paralysis by analysis.

Hire a good coach and let them lead you along your journey and watch what happens. If you truly want to change your way of doing things then invest in yourself and hire a coach. I know from experience, both as a coach and as a student the real value a coach can bring and if you think you cannot afford one then I suggest thinking about what it is costing you not to live to your full potential. How many of your sports idols don't have a coach? I would suggest none. Hire a coach and you give yourself a better chance of success.

Hope this helps.

@Dan Grove Get some independent, professional financial planning advice. There are sooooo many questions you need to answer before any professional adviser could assist you.

Understanding your risk profile, your short, medium, and long-term financial objectives, your estate planning needs, your planned retirement date, and your understanding of investments and their related functionalities and idiosyncrasies.

Do you want passive, semi-passive, or hands-on investments? Do you have the time, energy, and knowledge to manage your money moving forward? Can you deal with delinquent tenants? Have you ever rehabbed or done high-end maintenance on a property? What is your tax situation? etc.

It's not just about the type of property to buy, that becomes easy to determine once all the other questions have been answered.

There is no simple answer to your question. You need to educate yourself first about all of the things I mentioned and the best place I can think of to start is with a qualified, independent, experienced, and successful financial adviser. Then make your decisions from there.

Many people will tell you what they would do if they had your cash, but you are not many people, you are uniquely you. Invest only in what is best for you and your needs and circumstances.

Hope this helps.

 Hi Damien. Whilst I live in Brisbane I am also from the UK and I have purchased numerous properties in the USA. It is not so much about interest rates and mortgage terms, it is about your investment objectives and risk profile.
When you consider an investment are you looking at the return on the value of the property or the return on funds employed? If you invest $50,000.00 of your own money into an investment, geared or otherwise, what rate of return are you happy to receive on that $50k? Assuming you would be happy with 10% per annum then the property needs to provide you with a net yield of $5k. That could be in increased net value or cash flow or a combination of both.
The point is, if you understand what you are trying to achieve numerically then there are different ways to go about it.
One guiding point I have for you is my philosophy regarding property investing. If I cannot add value to the investment I do not purchase. By that I mean if you buy a property that is in perfect condition with no upside to future development then the only way you can make capital gains is from a rise in the market value. Unfortunately, we do not control the market and as such we are therefore at the mercy of the market.
I only buy property where I have clearly identified how I am going to add value from my own efforts/initiative. That way I increase the value of the property which in turn increases my equity, (read capital gain), without relying on the market to do it for me. If the market rises then my improved value also rises. If the market falls, then my potential loss is partly mitigated by the increase in value I created at the outset.
I hope this makes sense. It is not about finding cash flow properties, it is about finding opportunities to increase your wealth.

@Wilfredo O. you might want to consider becoming a mortgage broker. This would complement your accounting skills and give you access to people doing property deals where you can learn how things really work. You will make new contacts, see lots of different types of deals and understand one of the most important aspects of property investing, how money really works.

One of the great challenges of changing careers is that we think that the new career will not have the same challenges our old career has. The reality is that they do. Not only do they have the same people issues, but they also have issues that you have no experience in handling yet.

For example, property managers deal with delinquent tenants, vandalism, non-payment of rent, malicious damage, disgruntled owners etc. Do you have the skill set to deal with these types of challenges every day? if so, then consider the career, but if not, then think long and hard about this as a career. It takes a certain type of personality to deal with these issues every day.

I wish you well in your future endeavors and hope you find your path. Just be sure to consider all the challenges a new role has and seek guidance from people already performing those roles. you want to know the good, the bad, and the ugly side of any proposed career.

Good luck!

@Mario E Gonzalez the first question you should ask yourself is, "what is it you are trying to achieve?" What specifically is your financial goal? There is a multitude of investment choices available to you once you can identify your real objective. Are you looking to invest for capital growth, are you looking to reduce your tax liability, or are you looking for cash flow? What is it you want to achieve?

The second thing to consider is the timeline of your plan. Are you looking for a long-term strategy or a short-term one? Long-term strategy requires long-term planning whereas short-term strategy is totally different. If you are looking for long-term then give due consideration to the effect of compounding. This does not apply to short-term investments as much, but long term it is one of the major keys.

Markets are not static, they move in cycles. Property values and interest rates do the same so it is important to understand how these work and the effects they have on our investment choices. By understanding these things and assessing them against your long-term goals you will find it easier to make sound investment decisions.

Good luck on your journey!

@Damian Callaghan The first step in any investment is to identify exactly what it is you are looking to achieve. What is your investment objective? Are you investing for cash flow to fund other things, or are you investing for capital growth? It is important to understand this first.

If you are seeking cash flow then you would be wise to look at non-geared investments if you think interest rates will rise, or if your chosen investment is not performing as well as it needs to.

One of the greatest mistakes novice investors make is not assessing risk. Whenever there is debt or gearing, involved, the risk of all investments rises due to the interest risk associated with the borrowing. 

What can you earn on the deposit amount of $62,500.00 if there is no debt? This becomes the relative debt-free risk amount you need to compare all other debt-burdened investments against.

There are companies that you can invest in that pay annual dividends in excess of 5% per annum. So, your property investment, with debt attached, needs to earn you more than that to be viable. Bearing in mind that investment into a large corporation places no emphasis on you to work on the investment compared to property investing. They also have capital gains potential as companies grow in value over time.

One final point, it is also possible to borrow to invest in shares in public companies. Might be worth considering.

Hope this helps.

@Brad Penley Why are you in a hurry to... "get bigger fast?" It sounds like your knowledge at this point in time is limited just like your capital. If you invest your $25K into the course, what money will you use to invest?

Creating wealth is a process that should be planned with meaningful, doable, measurable, realistic goals that you can set and achieve. Using a mentor or coach to do this makes sense. Why? Because you don't know what you don't know, and an experienced professional can potentially save you lots of money and lots of heartache. This is true for all of us, no matter how long we have been in the business. Can you name a successful, professional sports person that does not have a coach?

A good coach will charge you an amount relative to the results you achieve. The more you succeed the more you may pay. Why? because the more you will expect from your coach. Top sports teams hire top coaches to coach top athletes. This is because the more skilled the athlete the more difficult it can be to coach them. The coach must add value to the equation or they are redundant. I have worked with people who are not coach-able. That means, they do not want to learn or do the work necessary to succeed. In that case it is best not to work together.

My best advice to you, or anyone in this business, is to find a coach that you can build a solid relationship with and work with them to teach and lead you on the journey. It is not just about doing deals. Managing wealth takes a lot more effort than simply saying I know how to invest in apartments. Wealth changes lives in more ways than you might imagine and the process of change should be managed every step of the way. How will you deal with friends when they become resentful of your success? How will you deal with sharks trying to get at your hard earned money? How will you deal with ...? The list is long and unique to each individual. Like I said earlier, you may not know what you don't know. That is one of the reasons you hire a coach. To educate you on what you may not know and to support you on your journey.

Slow down, think it through, do more research and understand you complete motivation for wanting to do this.

Then get some independent advice from someone who knows what they are talking about.

Good luck on your journey!

@Thayer Hood Any astute investor will work with people they can trust to deliver good deals. The greatest challenge agents' have is winning the trust of investors. As it is in all walks of life, your reputation will stand you in good stead or bring you down. It depends on the kind of reputation you have, and or create for yourself.

My thought process is based on trust, knowledge of their market and property investing in general, commitment to me and their other clients and follow through. Win my trust, demonstrate to me that you know what you are talking about and that you do what you say you will do when you say you will do it. Then we can have a discussion about potential business together, assuming you have what I want. Walking the walk is a lot more difficult than talking the talk.

Hope this helps.

Good luck on your journey!

@Danny Hinkle In order to get your wife, or anyone else for that matter, to go along with your plans you need to show them how what you plan to do meets their primary drivers. Each of us have a Hierarchy of Individual Life Priorities (HILP). These are the things that drive us at a subconscious level. This is where inspiration comes from and also where our fears are formed. When these drivers are challenged we feel threatened. When they are being met we feel happy and fulfilled.

Your wife's resistance will be due to the fact that, as she sees it, investing in property is not in alignment with her HILP. Your proposal is not meeting the things highest on her list of what she values most in life. Imagine for second that your wife has a high value on family. In other words, the top of her HILP is family. If your proposal threatens that value she will not be interested and in fact will resist any and all attempts for her to join in. This is because, if she thinks her highest value is under threat, she will protect it any way she can. We will all do this if the top item on our HILP is threatened.

To solve the problem you have, you would be wise to identify with your wife what her HILP is. Once you have done this you can then consider putting a proposal to her about investing in property that is in alignment with her HILP and therefor not threatening it. In fact, it is a good idea for all couples to determine their HILP together. By understanding each others HILP you will have better communication.

I have a process for discovering HILP that I teach. This is not a sale of my services. Just a mention that these tools, when employed correctly allow us to understand the people we deal with at a much deeper level. In your case Danny, you are simply not on the same wave length as your wife in this regard and any manipulation you may use to get her to agree may backfire on you in the future.

The other thing to consider in this case is your wife's risk aversion profile. We all have one of these too! A risk aversion profile is basically an individual persons' ability to feel comfortable with different levels of risk in their investments. Some people have a very high risk tolerance and will take high risks. Other people have a very low risk tolerance and will not accept high risk and will be a lot more conservative in their approach to risk. What is your wife's risk tolerance like? Is she a risk taker or not? The answer to this question will also give you some understanding of how best to present your proposal to her so that it is in alignment with her risk profile.

Everyone has a HILP and a risk tolerance level. If you want to sell something to anyone in the field of investment it is good to know just what these two drivers are. These are the two main things that are driving your wife's decision making process.

Good luck on your journey!