Being 30 in today’s economy is a little different to being 30 in the economy of the 1980s or the 1990s.
In those two decades, so long as you had a good job, you could probably afford to buy your own place. But today, it seems like a distant dream for many who are struggling to pay their bills.
Brandon Turner, however, had a different approach. Back when he was in his early 20s, he took a risk and bought his own property.
It wasn’t much of a place, but he soon realized that he’d purchased a house in an up-and-coming area and that he could sell it on to somebody else for more money.
He lived in his first house for a year and spent a little money fixing it up before selling it on for more than he paid for it, netting himself $20,000 in the process.
From that point onwards, Turner was hooked. He looked around for properties he could buy up and renovate, selling them on at a profit each time.
By the time he was 27, he had made enough money to comfortably leave his day job and pursue his property investment business full time, making more money than he could have dreamed of by just working for a wage.
He’s not the only one, either. Recently in a blog post entitled, “Joe Nahas Launches 8 Philip Street in Parramatta,” Joe Nahas revealed that he has been doing a similar thing.
Although his focus has been on building rather than flipping, he has managed to sell hundreds of properties, thanks to a buoyant property market at the ultra-high end.
Along the way, property investors learn a lot about their trade. Here’s some of their advice.
#1 Be Tenacious
Being tenacious in property is critical. Over time, you’ll find out that it’s less about “gentleman’s agreements” and more about “Machiavellian strategy.”
Tenants will lie to you, contractors will steal money, and friends and family will beg you for a share of the spoils.
The most successful real estate moguls are the people who cut through all of that and keep moving forward, learning from their mistakes as they go.
#2 Systematize Your Life
For some reason, many people in real estate don’t treat it as what it is: a business.
As a result, they go into each deal as if it’s a one-off and wonder why things keep going wrong. Just like any other business, real estate investors need to follow a process.
They need to tick tasks off a list, one by one, just as restaurants or temping agencies do.
#3 Always Educate Yourself
When Turner first started out in real estate, he read every single book on the subject at his local library.
Once he’d exhausted that supply, he ordered books online and borrowed them from friends. He even went down the thrift shop to see whether they had any useful literature.
Turner says that every book he read taught him something new about the industry, preparing him for life as an investor. Now he’s writing his own book which he hopes will help others enjoy the success in real estate that he has.
