The worst advice

when I was in my early 20s, at uni and have just started investing in property, my (then) accountant was very concerned.

After buying the 3rd property I was in his office and he said to me "don't buy any more properties, all you are doing is making the banks and the ATO happy"

You are a professional woman all you need is a good superannuation and a husband, please get over this property thing.

Lol - I did end up with a husband - but he was never a financial plan
Still don't have super
Purchased,developed, flipped etc more properties
Developed property businesses
Changed accountants

What is the worst advice you ever got in relation to your property investment journey?

 

I've generally received very good advice for my property investment journey, so I can't say I'd received bad advice. I have experienced some pretty bad accountants that think they are rocket scientists and they are all that (no disrespect to the good ones of course). Find it extremely silly that if you have the knowledge, why not aid themselves in their own rescue. I recall one accountant that tried to tell me I couldn't claim several tax deductions and tried to justify by saying he worked in the ATO so he is on top of everything. I pretty much told him that if he was so good, that's why they had to let him go because he couldn't even get the basics right.

 

RAMS Broker: You are out of servicing you cant borrow anymore, no more properties for you.
Got a second opinion
New Broker: Yeah you are fine heres another couple of million

Dont take no for an answer until you have exhausted every option.

Also dont discount having and using super... its a very tax effective investment vehicle. And a often large pot of money which can really add up after all the years of hard work you would have put in!

 

Great thread Xenia

Don't buy in the USA????? the rest is history

The other one was from my darling husband .........I would not be able to become a property developer, did not have the right skill set, mind set etc. etc. , that is like a red rag to a bull, of course I did the opposite.

MTR

 

Fix rates. What fits one person may not fit another. Different age groups, different risk profiles. Was costly.

Guess sometimes the worst advice can be better than the one you never received and could have meant different outcomes.

 

"Don't buy it's too expensive"

How many opportunities have been missed before the boom.

 

I couldn't make it stack up.

 

Get into property.

I followed that advice for 40 years and, now I am retired with multiple properties, I have to:

1. manage multiple PMs,
2. deal with multiple tenant issues,
3. approve multiple maintenance issues,
4. pay multiple LGA rates,
5. pay for multiple insurance policies (building and landlord)
6. deal with multiple banks,
7. manage multiple loans,
8. oversee multiple offset accounts,
9. run one body corporate,
10. participate in another body corporate,
11. pay income tax
12. pay accounting fees
13. ...

I thought when I retired, I would be retired/stopped working.

I can't sell the properties, because I would have to:

1. pay CGT
2. pay commission
3. pay legal fees
4. pay even more in accounting fees
5. ...

Now I can't even qualify for the Aged Pension. What a mess I have gotten myself into .

 

Don't laugh, the amount of people who avoid doing things, or spend wildly, or the other day, an oldie giving away multiple properties to relos so they could get the pension

 

Not this oldie .

Anyway, they would get caught in the "5 year gifting rule" net.

 

I'm thinking about this problem myself right now. If I sell an IP that has boomed, I think the CGT would eat up about a quarter of the gain!

But I'd rather have the money in shares... much easier. I acknowledge that the power of leverage helps the property journey significantly.

I think i'll leave the IPs as they are for now but also build up a shares portfolio.

 

Open LOC against IP equities and build share portfolio. Best of both worlds.

 

"Sydney market at top" - 14 March 2015, steer clear! buckle up a correction coming added some other voices.

Being really exposed to Sydney it was tempting to sell a couple - fortunately some other reasoned voices chimed in. The extra 30% in the next couple of years made all the difference.

 

Could be much worse... you followed the herd and purchased in markets that had no growth

 

Or even worse, WA mining towns

 

Yes for sure plenty of those posting losses and stuck or worse losing their shirt

 

2012 Pre Sydney boom:

"Slow down your going too fast..wait a few more years and see what happens to these inflated Sydney prices before you commit again". . I'd be pretty ****** if I'd listened to him. And yet he was genuinely convinced via media etc that prices were heading south big league.

 

Yes, you need to make your own decisions, but how would you feel if you got that advice now ???