Real Estate Millionaire

By Fiona Jones

In this book you will discover;

. The secrets to buying and seeling real estate from the countr'y most succesful agents
.The best time to seel or buy a property or business
.How to sell your property or business for top dollar in any market
.How to position your property to stand out from the crowd
.The qualities of top real estate agents
.How to have a successful career in real estate
.Negotiation techniques only the experts know that could save you thousands

Featuring Inspiring Success stories from;
STEPHEN TOLLE- Real Estate Investing Australia
WAYNE ELLY- Greg Hocking Elly Partners
ANTHONY TOOP- Toop&Toop Real Estate
KARL SECONDIS-One Real Estate
ANDREW MORELLO-Yelow Brick Road
MICHELL RODGERS-Remax
MAT STEINWEDE-McGrath Central Coast
GLEN COUTINHO-RT Edgar
ADAM JOSKE- Gary Peer and Associates
GARRY GREEN-GG Group
LISA TREMOLADA- Dominate the Internet
MICHAEL KELLY-The Real Estate Doctors
JOHN MORELLO- Thomson Real Estate
JAYDEN RONCON- ROncon Real Estate
KARLI DUNHAM-Just Business Brokers
MICHAEL SHEARGOLD-Real Estate Results- Performance Expert

Whether you are looking to buy or sell your first home or you are a seasoned property investor you need to read this book

• Language: English
• Publisher: Fiona Jones
• Release date: Jun 12, 2012
• ISBN: 9781476105277

Book preview

Stephen Tolle is one of Australia’s most successful property investment experts, thanks to his high level of passion and dedication in the field over more than 18 years.

Steve’s personal journey is an exceptional Australian success story. He came from humble beginnings, growing up in a typical Aussie battler family from Blacktown in Sydney’s outer west, but was able to invest in his first property at the age of 22. Committing 100 per cent to becoming successful in property investment, he became a young property multi-millionaire in less than a year creating more than $1million in capital growth on the back of $6.5 million in property transactions.

To date, Steve has been involved in more than $48 million in property transactions and made outstanding profits.

Over the past decade Steve has featured extensively in the media including major metropolitan and suburban newspapers and the front page of mainstream property magazines. He has been promoted via internet, radio and TV, including personal appearances on Channel 9’s A Current Affair and has appeared more than 20 times on Channel 7’s Today Tonight.

Steve’s outstanding achievements have been featured in several best- selling books including Mr Millionaire, Property Millionaire, Think & Grow Rich® In Property and Think & Grow Rich® Cashflow.

Steve has also conquered the professional public speaking circuit, educating thousands of people all over Australia about making money through property investment and renovation. He has become an authoritative industry figure, now mentoring and coaching, working with people one-on-one, educating and inspiring them to become successful property investors.

Stephen Tolle’s primary mission, no doubt inspired at least in part by his childhood, is to help Australians retire comfortably while achieving financial freedom with a well-structured successful and profitable property portfolio.

Shane Noney, a self-made property millionaire, is a highly respected leader in the real estate investment industry with an impressive record of delivering exceptional results and creating abundant wealth for his clients over the past decade.

From humble beginnings, Shane’s first job was working at Pizza Hut earning $3.86 per hour. In over three months of working he had earned nearly $600, and was quick to realise that he didn’t want his career path to include slinging slices and waiting tables. Instead he wanted to be his own boss and set himself a long-term, fulfilling business plan to develop the skills and experience necessary to establish a reputable and profitable career in business.

He understood early that you couldn’t be financially successful exchanging time for money; instead you need to have your money working hard for you. It’s this notion that drove Shane to purchase his first piece of real estate at age 23- the beginning of a lifelong passion for property investment.

Over the past 15 years, Shane has built a solid and profitable investment portfolio worth millions. Shane brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to the field of property investment, wealth accumulation and creation.

In early 2002, Shane completed the necessary qualifications to become a mortgage broker so that he could understand how to utilise the banks more efficiently and build upon his property portfolio. In 2003 and 2004, Shane was recognised as a leader in his field and won numerous awards for his work as an accredited mortgage broker. By late 2004 he had taken his company to be ranked as the Number One mortgage brokerage firm among his peers.

Shane, co-founder and director of Real Estate Investing Australia (REIA), is also the National Head Property Coach for REIA because of his extensive experience and knowledge in the property industry. He is responsible for training, motivating, and mentoring new property coaches with the skills and strategies that have made him and many of his client’s self-made millionaires.

His comprehensive experience as a property consultant, licensed real estate agent, mortgage professional, property developer, acquisitions manager, landlord and also tenant leave him with an unrivalled knowledge base and in-depth perspective on wealth creation through property.

Though Shane’s property investment business has grown into a hugely successful and sustainable industry leader in just a decade, he remains humble, enthusiastic, and passionate about real estate investment and management, and has dedicated his life now to teaching others how to become self-made millionaires so they too can retire comfortably, and live their life to the fullest.

What beliefs did you grow up with regarding money?

Steve: All I knew about money was that you had to work hard to get it. I grew up in the Western suburbs of Sydney with very little money. Dad was a painter and decorator and Mum was at home full-time. My parents worked very hard for what we did have. Life was tough and I wasn’t really interested at school – I failed miserably and was the class clown. When I left school I realised that the party was over and it was time to focus, but because my grades were so low I was limited in what I could do so I got a trade as a boilermaker. What I lacked in education and knowledge, I made up for with passion and enthusiasm to learn, and that passion helped guide me to change the actions I was taking and my results slowly started to show. I had a great work ethic, for which I can thank my Dad.

About the same time I started going to seminars and over the years I have noticed that a lot of the speakers – many of whom I have since shared the stage with – have similar rags to riches stories. It seems for some people that growing up in a difficult home environment as opposed to a nurturing, comfortable household can result in a higher level of survival skills, acting on self-drive and achieving greater results. This might not apply to everyone, but some successful traits I have today have definitely stemmed from my childhood.

While growing up was tough, I am still thankful to my parents for the upbringing I had that has played a major part in my being where I am today.

Shane: I was brought up with the notion that you had to work very hard for money; money didn’t grow on trees; high-paying jobs went to those who studied hard and got degrees, success was measured by your income and job title. So you could imagine my family’s surprise when I didn’t finish my degree, leaving university for a commission-only job selling roof insulation.

My family and a lot of friends thought I was crazy and that I had ruined my life, but the knowledge and ‘hands on’ experience I gained from meeting and working with people at an early age propelled my career in business, and gave me the tools necessary to excel and succeed. I am not advocating that everyone quit university, in fact education is important, but I was impatient to get into the real world to experience business first hand. I was driven to learn absolutely everything possible about running and managing a business and that ultimately led to me becoming a successful business owner. Sure, I made mistakes along the way, but those mistakes became life lessons that shaped me, making me the person that I am today.

Overall, I am grateful for the support and financial assistance that my parents provided to me as a child. My parents worked extremely hard to provide us with the comforts of life; in saying that we were never rich, but we were happy. As a child and even today I do not believe money will bring you happiness, but I believe it just gives you more choices to be able to live a happy and prosperous life.

Did you play Monopoly as a child? Do games such as this have relevance in what you do today?

Shane: Monopoly was and still is one of my most favourite board games. I had a strategy that worked well for me and allowed me to win. In fact, looking back at my property portfolio it is fair to say that I have implemented the same strategy in real life. That’s not saying that I bought three houses in the same street, knocked them down and built hotels; my strategy was to buy the affordable cheaper properties instead of the most expensive properties that most people desired.

Monopoly taught me from a young age the benefits of investing in property; how you can’t just have one, but need multiple properties to win the game of Monopoly and more importantly transfer that skill to win the game of life.

It is about more than that traditional ‘Great Australian Dream’ that suggests we get a good job and work hard to buy our own home, eventually paying it off to achieve the dream of becoming debt-free. If you did that in Monopoly you would lose, in life you would get the pension at best.

I came to realise the only way to get out of the rat race was to invest money wisely and eventually get money to work for you rather than you working hard for money.

These games have the potential to ingrain solid principles and strategies of investing and creating real wealth. People who play Monopoly and similar games should have fun, but they could also use the strategies in their own life.

Steve: Yes, but I got sick of winning.

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‘If someone is going down the wrong road, he doesn't need motivation to speed up. What he needs is education to turn him around.’

Jim Rohn.

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How did you get started in real estate?

Steve: I bought my first property when I was 22. While I had enough money to buy an established red brick home in Sydney’s western suburbs for about $140,000, a friend of my Dad was a property developer and very smart man who told me to buy a block of land in Glenwood (an upcoming estate) because I’d make great money in the short-term. So I bought the land even though I didn’t have the money to build a house on it, but within two months of lodging my building plans with council, the property had increased in value by about $25,000 – a lot of money today, let alone back when I was 22. I used the equity to get a loan to build a four-bedroom house and that is how I got started in real estate; this sparked my passion for property and shaped the rest of my property career.

Do you personally invest in real estate?

Steve: Yes I do, continuing on from my successful first purchase when I was young; one of the many things I have learnt is that there is a lot of psychology in property investment and in understanding all of its many facets. As well as my personal property portfolio, REIA now allows us to go into joint ventures and invest alongside our clients.

Shane: Absolutely, it has been a wonderfully positive experience for me time and time again, despite what might be going on in the world or local economies.

It is possibly the only investment avenue that will really allow you to fully leverage your money. Why I also love property is that with the right advice you can make a lot of money. Tens of thousands of Australians have made huge profits from buying the right property, at the right price, at the right time.

How do you sell a property for the best value in a difficult market? Steve: I have developed a lot of strategies over the years to enable

me to sell a property for the right price in a specific market. A lot of this has to do with understanding what is happening in the market and to have a strategy in place to cater for the market at that point in time based on my due diligence at the beginning of the investment. You need to understand the needs and wants of your target market and be able to meet those needs and wants. This allows me to sell in a short time frame for the best price.

What are your secrets to being top real estate experts?

Steve: Doing everything you can to get the best deal for your client and that includes advising and encouraging your client to do the work and improve the property, that is, add to their investment. When you buy an investment property, you need get it right early on, but the problem is 95 per cent of investors only do about 30 per cent of the research required to get it right when buying an investment property.

Your advice needs to be credible and based on knowledge and experience. People can get caught up in glossy brochures, magazines and stories about real estate. A good agent will empathise with someone working a full-time job in a different environment not being able to have the same knowledge as an agent who has worked in property full-time passionately for 20 years. With less knowledge comes a higher risk of losing money.

What is your real estate business and what services does it offer? Shane: We’re not in the business of simply selling real estate. What we do is create wealth for our clients so they are able to retire early and comfortably, and live their dream life.

We also educate our clients on the benefits of investing in real estate and how to structure their portfolio so they get the maximum benefit from their invested money. It’s all about getting your money working hard for you, not you working hard for your money.

We need to be able to implement strategies that can make the best use of our time and our money.

We see a lot of different people in our business and one thing we notice is that wealthy people do not exchange their time for money; instead they get their money out working hard for them 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The service we provide to our clients is free and with no obligation. We design a specific and personalised strategy session; we sit down individually with our clients, find out their goals, dreams and what obstacles are in the way of achieving their target.

We then put together a tailored plan of action based on our successes; if they follow this plan they should achieve a similar or better result.

Our business only grows and becomes profitable when our clients succeed, as it’s their word of mouth that advertises to others the special and unique strategies we offer.

What has made your property investment business successful? Shane: Over the years we have come across many people who wanted to invest their hard-earned money, but needed someone they could trust for sound advice.

We have created millions through investing in property so it seemed like a good idea to share some of the knowledge we have learned over the past two decades, helping educate others on the pitfalls and benefits of investing in property. Over the years buying and transacting literally millions and millions of dollars in property you gain a very solid understanding of the things to do, and the things to avoid. We’ve reflected on mistakes we’ve seen so we are able to give our clients an insight into how to do things differently so the mistakes are not repeated.

Based on our successes and the vast number of profitable properties we have achieved over the years it is fair to say that REIA are specialists in our field. As with any profession when you eat, sleep and breathe something that you are passionate about, you become a master in that field.

We have both mastered the art of successful and profitable property investing. The interesting thing, and what makes our company unique, is that we both have achieved our properties through very different strategies.

From early days, patterns and trends emerge and you quickly determine what makes a good investment and what doesn’t. You act on your judgment without remorse or fear, but with confidence. What has saddened us over the years is seeing people make costly mistakes simply due to lack of knowledge as well as unprofessional help and guidance. Luckily, over time, property is forgiving, so even if you paid too much for a property today, as long as you wait a few years chances are you will make a profit.

How have you become wealthy through property?

Steve: I have gained the majority of my property wealth through renovating and some developments.

Shane: I have made the majority of my property wealth through basic buy-and-hold strategies, as well as buying off the plan, subdivision, buying at a discount, and doing major developments.

What are some of the things your work involves that your clients may not know about?

Shane: Clients do not realise the amount of work and effort that happens behind the scenes to present a suitable deal to them for consideration. Our Acquisitions Team spends hours upon hours, days and weeks, collating all the facts, doing thorough and extensive due diligence on each project. If it does not meet our requirements, we discard the property and it is never shown to clients.

We are all about our clients achieving an outstanding result in the shortest possible time – the quicker the result, the greater the chance to increase the value of the portfolio, and ultimately retire earlier.

Is there any one book you would recommend?

We were both impressed with Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki as it reflects the mindset of the Australian market place we have discussed earlier in many ways.

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‘Academic qualifications are important and

so is financial education. They’re both important

and schools are forgetting one of them.’

Robert Kiyosaki.

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How valuable has mentoring been in your life?

Shane: My first big inspiration came at a young age. I had been working for a wage, a low hourly rate initially, but when I got a commission-only sales job I realised I could make the same amount of money in two hours that I had previously made in a whole week. I realised time is invaluable as once it is spent it’s gone, so putting a price on time seemed illogical. I became committed to looking at those people who were successful in business and sales and model myself on them. If I could replace my weekly income in two hours with little or no training, what could I do after training and committing each day to learn from the best of the best. So, from a young age I committed to seeking out the best people, the top performers in my industry and learning from them – what they do and how they do it and doing the same. The secret to success is rather simple; I think man has complicated it along the way. But simply put, there is a system to becoming successful in any industry. If you follow that system, whatever it may be for that particular field, you will be successful.

I once made a decision that I would not take advice from someone who is worse off or not in the same or better financial position as I am, yet I am always willing to learn and take advice from those who have achieved what I wish to achieve in my life. This is the best way to grow personally and professionally.

I would never have achieved the success in my career and life without having personal mentors. Over the past 20 years I have heard countless messages and attended hundreds of seminars featuring other successful people who have made it in their niche market. I have learnt from them certain principles and attributes that I could adopt and use in my life to make me a better person, and a better business operator. I have become successful from having a continuous drive and thirst for knowledge, always wanting to know more and be more. I have a firm belief that you can never say, ‘I know that!’ until you live it.

If you don’t have a mentor I encourage you to look at what you love and are passionate about, then find the best in the industry and learn from them and live your life according to the things they do and don’t do. A very large part of being successful is all about modelling – modelling yourself on others in your field who have achieved the results that you want and desire.

Steve: During different stages of my life, mentors have been valuable in contributing to my success. I have also found that through the process of mentoring others I too learn and grow both professionally or personally as well as my student. It is a great way of contributing to each other’s lives. I have valued mentoring as it renews my passion and enthusiasm, makes me more self-aware, stirs up new challenges, and even shows me where I might be taking my eye off the ball.

Even if things seem to be going perfectly, we need mentoring. That is often the time when we can get complacent, doing the same thing day in and day out. While it may be working, a review with the aid of an objective mentor can bring a new perspective that brings new success where there did not seem to be potential for it. Mentoring had helped me keep ahead of the game.

Is there a significant quote or saying that you live by?

Steve: ‘If what you’re doing is not your passion, you have nothing to lose.’ – Celestine Chua and ‘Do what you love and the money will follow.’ – Marsha Sinetar

We should aim to live life doing what we are most passionate about; it is the way to live a fulfilling life. Doing that leads to a necessary balance of work and rest, doing what you love as a hobby also being your job.

Shane: Never give up!

I saw this picture when I was a youngster and have never forgotten it or the message. In my life there have been times when things became so difficult I could have given up and done something easier and less stressful, but this quote would come to mind and I carried on with new resolve. At times I had to sort out if I was the frog or the pelican.

As successful real estate exper ts what is the most common question you get asked and what is your answer to it?

Shane: So often you hear people talking about, or giving advice on real estate, and all they talk about is ‘location, location, location’. We are often asked if this is the most important factor in successful real estate investing.

While it can have a bearing on investment, we like to offer advice based on something more important – figures; the figures around out-of-pocket costs such as interest, fees, council rates, etc., and non-cash costs such as depreciation. Calculations can be complex, but we have special software to work out these all-important figures on a comparative basis if necessary for our clients.

Why is your company so different to all the other proper ty investment companies out there?

Shane: We find properties for people with significantly high capital growth, properties that will perform not only short-term, but also maintain a good healthy return in the long-term; properties that are extremely hard to come by. They may be in different states at different times – states can have property cycles at varying times, one can be at peak while another is at the bottom.

Therefore, we do not provide a large selection of properties to clients and in fact turn down around 97 per cent of the properties presented to us as they do not meet our very strict and vigilant property criteria. We have property acquisition managers sourcing the best properties in Australia at a given point in time and only these properties will be presented to our clients. We believe that fewer than five per cent of properties sold each and every day would meet our strict due diligence requirements for strong healthy capital growth.

In other words, around 95 per cent would not even make the cut for what we at REIA consider a hotspot or an area in which to definitely invest. This does not mean that these properties are bad; it just means the time it takes to make a healthy profit or a capital gain would generally be a lot longer than for a property that meets our criteria.

One criterion is market timing, that is, buying when the prices are low and just before they are about to boom, identifying when they have peaked, but not selling – rather, cashing out the equity to buy more property and repeating the cycle.

Our motto is that, if we would not personally invest in an area, it’s not an area worth investing in.

What is your Unique Proper ty Program?

Shane: Basically, we give any person the opportunity to buy an investment property by providing them with the deposit to get started. This is obviously limited by the funding we have available at any given time.

We have a lot of clients who would love to buy a property, but do not have the funds to do so; or alternatively would like to buy an investment property, but have no equity within their existing property. In such cases, we will provide the deposit to give these clients a kick-start to becoming landlords and experiencing all the rewards that come from owning their first or subsequent investment property.

After we progress through all the necessary steps, following the initial research we have done on the property, we effectively enter into a joint-venture agreement with the client. One of the exciting aspects of this program is that the client can have peace of mind, knowing we have such a high degree of confidence in the investment that we ‘put our money where our mouth is’.

REIA have set up a program that we are launching this year (2012) whereby we will put in $6 million to help new potential investors buy their first or subsequent investment properties in the right areas. Our confidence in the areas we select is reflected in our offer of up to $30,000 interest-free for a client to buy a property and put it solely in their own name after agreeing to a joint-venture agreement. If the property performs well then both the client and ourselves stand to make a lot of money, but if it doesn’t perform, then we are the ones that could potentially lose our money. We feel it is a great concept.

Can you share a client’s experience of your program?

Shane: We had a client with a good substantial income, but he had no existing properties from which he could use the equity and had not saved enough money for a deposit. He was very passionate about investing in property and was keen to establish his own investment property portfolio, but with limited funds other property investment companies had told him he would have to save more money before he could turn his dream into a reality.

He came to our company as sort of a last resort, had a one-on-one strategy session with one of our wealth coaches and was told that he was in a position to buy two investment properties thanks to our new joint-venture program, so basically we gave him the money to buy the two investment properties. The most interesting thing about this whole scenario was that one property was positively geared and the other property slightly negative, but overall positive. This person, who had been knocked back and rejected by numerous other companies and told he could not even borrow for one property, ended up walking out of our office with a property portfolio of nearly $1million – without it costing him one cent of his money upfront.

What does success mean to you and how does one achieve it? Steve: Success to me is not about money; it’s about aiming high and reaching new heights, growing as a person and growing a business, and being able to change people’s – our clients’ – lives for the better; and gaining their respect and gratitude. Money has a place in gauging how successful the business is doing; and of course helps us live.

Shane: Success is achieved through dedication, not giving up; and success is the reward for dedication. From a financial perspective, I define success as having financial freedom that allows me to do what I want, whenever I want, as much as I want; and always remembering how I got here and who got me here – our clients.

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‘The size of your success is measured by the strength of your desire; the size of your dream; and how you handle disappointment along the way.’ Robert Kiyosaki.

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What do you think stops people from achieving the level of success they desire?

Steve: Many people have a fear of the unknown and are prepared to stay in the comfortable world they have. So many people say that they want to do this and that, but end up doing nothing because they have become so comfortable with their situation.

Shane: Fear of failure – most people would rather not try than try and fail; fear needs to be part of life, as long as it is managed. Over the years I have learnt how to take decisive action and manage fear, but too often people allow fear to rule them and as a result they take no action. I agree with the philosophy that it is far better to have tried and failed then to never have tried at all.

What is the most important piece of advice anyone has ever given you?