brokers, accountants, buyers agents, lawyers, but where are the real property investment experts?

I recently started to think more seriously about Property investing in Australia. I want to build a solid strategy that works for me and my circumstances and helps me build a solid portfolio, though it seems like that brokers are only interested in the loan, buyers agents are only interested in selling you a property that fits your budget and risk appetite and accountants are interested to help you maximize your opportunities when it comes to taxation. Where do we go to get professional, strategic, honest advice on how to build your property portfolio that suits your circumstances? This magical person would need to understand loans, the property market, investment strategy, property law, be up to date with government legislations, infrastructure spending, economics, and more. So far I only found get rich quick systems with "Property Gurus" selling their books, masterclasses, and property investment systems. Where can I find the true professionals, the people who dedicated their lives to understanding and mastering property investment in Australia? I see the "buy my off the plan development. I have 100 properties myself so you should trust me", "buy as many cheap high yield property as you can. I have 200 and I am a millionaire.", Yes, you are a "millionaire" now but what will happen to your wealth in case the market crashes? My question is where are the true heavyweight professional property investor experts out there?

 

There are no licencing requirements to advise on property itself so anyone can do it. But where the adviser is crossing over into other areas the would need to be licenced.

There are some professional bodies such as PIPA, not no requirement to join.

one thing to watch out for is insurance. Many people give 'property' advice, but their professional indemnity insurance would not cover them for this. examples are finance brokers. Their insurance could cover them for the loan aspect of the advice, but not for recommendations about where to buy or what to buy.

 

Imho It's best you become the expert by learning this stuff for yourself. Then you'll know where all the other professionals fit into this game and how to best engage them for advice in specific areas and (importantly) be able to understand and do DD on their advice.

Imo many of the ppl out there giving property investment advice have some bias, agenda, self interest or other motivating factor other than your best interest .

 

The most successful property people that I personally know (whose families are behind some of Sydney's highrises, or who own several architecturally designed homes) are not on property chat, or on any property forum... they are on car forums I frequently see them at trackdays where they fang their toys around a track and break bread with other individuals who have succeeded in their respective fields and are living out their passions.

Of course not all successful property investors are into cars; that's just what I've been exposed to.

 

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I have to agree. It doesnt seem that there are many/any truly successful investors on here who have made it big. Only mum and dad investors who bought a heap of houses and perhaps a couple of townhouse developments etc. No big time developers from anything I have read. In no way am I dissing anyone on here, just my observations.

 

Your bread you shared was stale! Next time we meet I'd like a fresh falafel please.

 

Couldn't agree more! So where would you start to become a property expert? Courses, books (which ones?), forums, blogs? Best would be networking with property investors without hidden agendas!

 

That much is true... stale British bread.

Next trackday I'll be bringing German bread

 

People have different approaches . When i started I was totally obsessed . Bought almost every book by Australian authors and studied them. On line forums are also a great source of knowledge, and even better if someone already has read some so they know how to discern posts better . Networking is essential at some point imo. Meeting with like minded, successful investors can save you alot of money and time reaching your goals.

I personally also believe developing the right mindset for wealth creation is essential too, especially if you have really lofty goals . The poor to average mindset just won't get you there imo.

 

Buy a place and see? Learn by doing.

 

Hi And welcome to the forums.

There is a reason successful property investors have a team around them - it's almost impossible to know everything about all the things you've listed there. Build yourself a team - a broker who can help you with your strategy - because no matter what you want to do, if your financial situation won't allow it you're not going to get very far! - a buyers agent who can source the correct property, a legal team who can look over everything.

Having different people in these roles also ensures you have a few different eyes on your deals, which ensures that anything not quite right is going to get picked up.

 

Now where would you find those?

 

Only to an extent. Several of my most successful friends actually don't want to talk about money anymore - they are so far beyond the nitty gritty details that they just tell me "it's all just numbers" and move on to more interesting topics.

Neither will the overly cautious mindset, which quite a few people suffer. If you believe everyone is out there to only serve their own agenda, you've set yourself on the defensive back foot and it's hard to push forward from there. There are plenty of professionals (especially on this forum) who are brilliantly generous people despite their roles in the property industry.

 

Experienced people know how to assess teachers for what they can learn, not look for someone who knows everything.

 

This is what I thought as well. The first person to see is the mortgage broker. What I experienced is that brokers are not willing to discuss long-term plans. The last broker I spoke with told me to contact him once I know which property I want to buy and he will let me know if I can do it or not. What I was looking for is a figure of my maximum borrowing capacity based on my circumstances and strategic advice on what my first property would need to look like from a financial perspective to be able to go for the next one as soon as possible.

 

I disagree with you. A strategic leader is needed to pull together the experts. Don't get me wrong, I am not looking for someone to do it all for me. I am looking for mentor, a guide, a coach.

 

Keep looking - not all brokers are created equal! Some are similar to an online comparison site, others are much more strategic and investment focused. There's lots on the forums and they don't last long here if they don't know their stuff.

 

I think just because many are not willing/wanting to talk to others about it to help them, doesn't negate the fact (at least in my mind) that if you are able to meet those types of people who are willing to help it can make a big difference. I know several of those really successful people in my journey have been willing to mentor me at different times which I know made a huge difference.

Of course I agree. I don't think I've commented to the contrary really.

 

Perfect first step, after you know what you are doing. Locking in 2,3,4,500K investment in something you don't know much about is the worst advice IMHO.

 

I know where you are coming from but really the whole 'learn by doing' really needs to have many asterisks after it. There is some really important **** to know before just pulling the trigger on a place, which can save you a lot of money and heartache potentially.