Matt Bateman and Luke Harris tackle Kevin’s assertion that there are no quick fixes – no shortcuts to success. While they say some exist, they agree that they don’t suit every investor. Hear what they have to say.
Listen to the interview now:
Transcript:
Kevin: One thing I do know about … well, most investors are always looking for the shortcuts, the magic dust, give it to me now, I want that quick fix, and I think it’s a generalisation to say it, but I do think the younger generation is more into the quick fix than maybe my generation, old buggers like me. But is there a quick fix? Are there any shortcuts to success? Well, there probably are, and I’m going to try and find out if they exist from Matt Bateman and Luke Harris, who join us once again from the Property Mentors. Matt and Luke, thanks again for your time.
Matt: Thanks, Kev.
Luke: Thanks for having us.
Kevin: You’re the younger generation, much younger than me anyway, guys. What would you say to my comment earlier about shortcuts? Do they exist and are they worth following?
Luke: Look, I think they do exist, but do they work is probably a good question to ask as well, and are they suitable for most people?
Kevin: Let me stop you there. Is it a condition on when you do it? Is it about time frame or is about your age?
Luke: Look, I think there’s a number of different layers. It’s going to be different for every investor. It depends really on ultimately what you’re trying to achieve through your investing and whether one or two hacks are going to get you the results that you want.
Kevin: A hack to you is a shortcut, is that right?
Luke: That’s right.
Matt: Yes, that correct, and I guess there are a lot of investors out there that are looking for that secret bullet. Really in today’s busy world, everyone’s busy, and I always qualify that and I say busy doing what? Are you busy doing things that are getting you the results that you want or are you busy, I guess … I don’t want to use the word wasting time, but I guess under-utilizing time, looking for that secret recipe or that magic bullet or that one off shortcut that’s going to somehow give you all the secrets to riches. We don’t necessarily subscribe to the belief that there’s an easy and quick way to build lasting sustainable wealth. What we do understand though that there are some tested and proven methodologies, and obviously with technology coming into play today, it’s never been easier to get access to the data.
Kevin: So what do you say when someone comes to you and says hey guys, just give me a formula, I’ll follow it, and I’ll get rich. What do you say to them?
Luke: Well, I would say the formula has been tried and tested and proven over the years, and it’s buy property and hold onto it. Really a lot of people are looking to fast track that, and I think that’s the biggest problem right now. You made a comment earlier about the younger generation wanting things now and wanting things to be done straight away. Everything’s online and social media, so people can get access to data and they can get information quicker, and a lot of the fundamentals of property investment always go back to just being slow and steady wins the race.
Luke: That’s what Matt and I have found over the years is properties that we’ve bought and held onto have gone up in value. I think a lot of people are out there really as you’ve covered is they’re looking for a silver bullet and something that’s going to fast track their riches and their wealth creation. I was guilty of that in my 20s where I was buying and holding onto property, and of course, being a bit of a tradie I renovated properties, and then I started going into subdivisions because I wanted to build it faster and faster. What I found out through that, that because I didn’t have a clear plan, all it did was just take longer than I expected it to. So my hack at that time and my quick riches that I was after was to follow what was in the media and saying oh, maybe you should do renovations, maybe you should do subdivisions, and that was the fast track, but if you had a plan, you’d be able to get a long-term sustainable result the same way.
Kevin: Yeah. You see, I think that’s what it comes down to is that that lack of planning. One thing I do know is that if it was that easy, everyone would be doing it, and it’s not that easy. I’ve seen a lot of people come unstuck because they’ll literally just follow someone else’s formula, and it’s not right for them because they haven’t spent the time to develop their own plan.
Matt: We can’t agree with you more. I mean, our whole business is set up around identifying that as the very first point that we started. You see, when most people decide they want to invest in property, the first thing they do is they jump onto realestate.com or domain.com and start looking at properties, and then they wonder why down the track they didn’t get the result that they want.
Kevin: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Matt: The reason that they didn’t get the result is that they actually didn’t start with a plan, they didn’t create the strategy. I mean, really the property is just the last I guess piece of the puzzle, albeit very important, but it’s the last piece in the puzzle that fits the strategy and a plan together.
Kevin: Is there one-size-fits-all?
Luke: Definitely not, and I think that’s the problem with what’s out there. When people are looking for a quick fix or they’re looking for a hack to help them to get their results quicker, then there is a lot of stuff out there. This is the problem with the information age that we’re in right now. There is so much information out there, and the problem is is for a lot of investors, and we’re talking about 95% of investors that are buying one property or looking to build a portfolio of two or three or four properties is where do you start? Where do you actually start researching if you’re just starting out in property? Even if you’ve already got a successful portfolio, how do you even start researching to know what you need to be looking at because there’s so much information out there? It’s easy to get information overload, and if you haven’t got somebody that’s been there and done that before holding your hand, how do you even apply that information to your own personal situation?
Kevin: What would be your recommendation to someone who wants to develop a plan? Where do they start?
Luke: I would probably say the best thing to do is talk to somebody that’s actually been there and done that before, and this is really how our whole business was established because Matt and I were out there doing exactly the same thing as the majority of investors are. They’re going and buying property, trying to do our own research, trying to fast track by doing renovations and subdivisions, and we got good results by doing that, but my advice to most people that are probably listening to this call is really sit down with somebody, go through what you’re trying to achieve through your investing, and work backwards from that rather than go out there on day one and start just looking at the property.
Kevin: Gee, that’s great, Luke. Thank you, and thank you too, Matt, as well. Matt Bateman and Luke Harris have been my guests. They are from the Property Mentors. Thanks, Matt. Thanks, Luke.
Luke: Thanks, Kevin.
Matt: Thanks, Kevin.
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Kevin Tuner worked in radio as General Manager of various east coast radio stations. He started in real estate in 1988 and was ranked in the Top 10 Salespeople in the state until he was appointed as State CEO 1992. He also operated a number of real estate offices as business owner and was General Manager of several real estate offices in Christchurch.
He now hosts a real estate show on Radio 4BC and a weekly podcast at www.realestatetalk.com.au and a daily 7 to 10 minute podcast show for real estate professionals at www.reuncut.com.au.
To hear more podcasts by Kevin Turner, click here
