Property Hub - Investment Insights & Inspiration - Get Invested: Part 2, Investory - Lisa & Brian Happ on Personalised Property Professionals

Starting point is 00:00:00 Why do you only work with a maximum of four property buyers at any given time? I think having four clients at any one time enables us to just deliver that high quality and build that rapport, build that relationship with the client. We don't want to be the next Ray White of buyer's agents. We want to be boutique, selective, and really enjoy what we do. and that way, you know, four's our number and it gives us the ability to deep dive into everyone and every property that we analyse.

Starting point is 00:00:33 Welcome to Get Invested on the Property Hub podcast channel, the leading weekly show to help you unlock your full self-health and wealth potential. I'm your host, Bushy Martin, and each week I go deep with the best investors, experts, leaders and founders to find out what it takes to break free from the grind, discover freedom and live by design. Subscribe now and join me and get invested in the life you really want. Let's get started. Hi Freedom Fighters. Do you prefer to DIY your property

Starting point is 00:01:06 purchases yourself or outsource it and get a buyer's agent to help you? And while we're talking about it, what are your thoughts on buyer's agents? Because there's no doubt they've certainly copped a fair bit of flack in property circles in recent times. But like anything, there's good, bad and ugly in every profession. And unfortunately, it's generally the bad and poor performers who tend to tarnish everyone with the same brush. Yes, it's fair to say that there's low barriers to entry to become a buyer's agent, which is common in any relatively new and emerging profession. It's a bit like the early days in finance breaking about 20 years ago, when you could call yourself a broker by just filling in a coupon on the back of a cornflakes packet. So in the similar sense,

Starting point is 00:01:49 you could be a panel beater yesterday and a buyer's agent today. And yes, the business model for the buyer's agent industry is somewhat flawed, as many buyer's agents charge a percentage of the purchase price, which means there's no real incentive to negotiate the best possible price for you. And because buyer's agents generally don't get paid the majority of their fees until you settle on a property, there's underlying subtle pressure to purchase a property sooner rather than later, rather than waiting for the best possible property to suit your particular needs to come along. There's also a lot of untested smoke and mirrors around buyers' agents being able to offer exclusive, or what they call exclusive, off-market or silently listed properties.

Starting point is 00:02:31 But in my experience, there's a number of high-profile and high-volume buyers' agencies who approach lazy-selling agents to offload properties quickly in order for them to avoid the costs and delays of advertising, which means that many unsuspecting buyers are pressured to quickly buy properties that are not price-tested or benchmarked. I've seen a lot of buyer's agents that talk a great, compelling story, but the properties they pressure buyers to purchase simply don't walk the talk.

Starting point is 00:02:59 But I also caution you not to make the mistake of tarring all buyer's agents with the same brush because there are also some very good buyer's agents who can seriously turbocharge both the process and the performance of securing and growing your property portfolio. It's about choosing the right horse for the right course based on your specific situation and circumstance

Starting point is 00:03:21 because the decision to DIY your property investment purchases versus engaging a buyer's agent to assist you should be driven by consideration of your personal property knowledge and expertise, the time that you've got available and what you're trying to achieve. And this needs to align with the proven performance

Starting point is 00:03:38 and expertise of the buyer's agents in the type of properties and locations that you're looking to secure your properties. So don't make the mistake like I did when I started out of going it alone and trying to reinvent the wheel and do it all yourself just because you don't trust anyone, because you simply don't know what you don't know

Starting point is 00:03:56 and you can be making very costly mistakes that you don't even know that you're making until it's way too late. Combine this with the considerable time it takes to research, find, negotiate and secure the best possible performing property across the country when you're trying to do it on a part-time, after-hours basis on top of your busy job and your family commitments and you're setting yourself up to fail at worst or seriously underperform at best. So don't throw the buyer's agent baby out with the bathwater, particularly in the early stages of your property journey. a great buyer's agent can be worth their absolute weight in gold if you know how to select the right

Starting point is 00:04:35 one so if you want some assistance in knowing what to ask a buyer's agent in order to help you to decide whether they're in the right fit for you feel free to email us at hello that's h-e-l-l-o at knowhowproperty.com.au and our know-how team will email you the detailed list of 37 in-depth questions that we grill prospective buyer's agents on in order to separate the sheep from the goats and to help you decide whether they're the best possible fit. And if you need an extra set of experienced eyes, ears, arms and legs to keep buyers agents honest and to vet what they're suggesting in order to ensure that what they're offering is truly in your best interest,

Starting point is 00:05:12 reach out to our independent know-how property facilitation team who become your John West of property. Because just like the old John West tuner ad, it's the properties that we reject that make sure that you get the best. Because for me, good buyers agents are proven investors with years of experience in their own right, who not only know what, where and how to secure the best property to satisfy your specific strategy, but they need to take the time to educate you throughout the entire end-to-end process so that your knowledge, clarity and comfort grows

Starting point is 00:05:43 in parallel with your property portfolio. Which all brings us back to today's special guests, Lisa and Brian Happ, for the concluding second part of our great conversation. In the last episode, Lisa and Brian unpacked the details of their own extensive and diverse property journey, so if you haven't had a chance to listen to this yet, make sure you do, because there's an absolute wealth of wisdom and learnings from what they've already shared. And in today's episode, we're going to deep dive into the world of buyer's agents, given that on the strength of their significant property experience and accumulated expertise,

Starting point is 00:06:16 they've just recently launched their Personalised Property Professionals Buyer's Agents business to help you achieve superior results. So welcome back to Get Invested, Lisa and Brian. Thanks, Bushy. Thanks, Bushy. I'm really looking forward to part two. I really enjoyed the deep dive on your own portfolio. But to sort of set the scene on all of this,

Starting point is 00:06:36 particularly around the buyers' ages piece, guys, what are your thoughts on the biggest mistakes that property investors make? I think, Bushy, starting with a plan. If they don't have a plan and don't know the end goal, you're starting a journey but you don't know your destination. You know, using your analogy that I've borrowed many a time, the GPS, but also sitting there going, I still like to have a physical map as well. So the GPS gives you the directions, but the map gives you an opportunity to have a look around and see what might be just down a side road that the GPS won't tell you about.

Starting point is 00:07:18 But so in terms of mistakes, they're many of the ones that we made. Buying with your heart, first of all, and listening to peers and, you know, cousins, brothers, sisters, cousins, aunts at a barbecue or the water cooler at work and those sorts of things and thinking they're doing it, I have to, or one size fits all. Too many people buy one property and get stuck because they've bought the wrong property. They don't know how to move forward. it's um it's not all beer and skittles in the end um yeah i think it's it's it's a trap it's it's a well uh worn path for those that are successful but it's also a um it's sort of full of of people

Starting point is 00:08:04 that have made once one move and and the wrong move and they're sold in five years time and going never again yeah well spot on any extra thoughts around mistakes that you see property investors making lisa no i think that kind of covers the most of it i think the one thing is is that someone tells them that they have to buy quickly because the market's going to be like go up no matter what so they they jump in with two feet without actually having that knowledge education or know-how on on where to do that it's like i've just got to buy something and they buy the wrong property which then sticks them in other words they get stuck and they can't move on or can't do anything and it wasn't the right property for their strategy or for where they're needing to go

Starting point is 00:08:49 yeah well said so in the in the context of your own experience and what what you're now doing what are your thoughts on whether investors should diy their property selection and purchase process or engage engage a buyer's agent yeah look i think there's there's different options out there that are all valid um if you have the education if you have the time if you have the willingness um and you know what you're doing then doing it yourself um definitely i think it's the right thing for you to do etc like that um if you are time poor if you aren't sure what you're doing then this is one of the biggest investments that you're going to be making in your life and if it's the wrong one you could be really upside down with your whole investment portfolio

Starting point is 00:09:39 so you know that's when you need to find someone or get educated etc like that i'm not saying you have to go and get a buyer's agent maybe go and get education if you've got that time and you've got two or three years to pay for that education and to get that as well so it's really important to have a look at what your backgrounds and skills are where you're trying to go as well and finding either the knowledge or education or the willingness to do it yourself so you know if you have the time and confidence that's great you know we've bought quite a few without a buyer's agent ourselves but when we were in our early stage we did use a buyer's agent and we learned from that experience on what not to do and what should be done as well so you know we've been

Starting point is 00:10:26 there done that in both ways um and that's one of the things that we want to do is is try and bring in that knowledge to people on how we would have preferred to have been educated or treated along the way which is what we're trying to do with our own business but yeah so there's no wrong or right yes or no um on whether to do it yourself or not it depends totally on your background and your experience and what you've done previously and who you have helping around you as well. Yeah, very good thoughts. There's an increasing number of these one-stop shop type groups

Starting point is 00:11:04 starting to emerge in the property industry. What are your collective thoughts about those? I see red flags with a one-stop shop, Bushy. It's, in our opinion, these are something that everyone should avoid. um whilst it might be convenient and they promise you the promise you the world served on a platter um there is a conflict of interest um whose interests are they looking after it's possibly not yours probably not yours it's they're working for a single company and you get moved from you know the buyer's agent to the solicitor to the accountant to the conveyancer and back to the

Starting point is 00:11:45 financial advisor they're all on the same payroll and the ability to be independent if if we've got a team that's working with one of our clients i don't want the whole team agreeing with everything it's absolutely against the customer's interest if we're working with a with a customer and the financial advisor or their accountant challenges something we need to either be able justify what we're doing putting that perspective through the accountant the advisor who is more than welcome to put their challenge on there and challenge us and it ultimately comes down to the client's decision um with what we're presenting and their and their accountant or one of their other people in the team don't think it's a good deal that's okay um it's you know it is a team

Starting point is 00:12:38 around people and make if they're all independent they're not on the same payroll they're going to be giving you the advice that you want um you know that challenging is an integral part of the asset test and the risk management of of a purchasing process yeah beautifully said i 100 agree brian i think uh i think robust discussions on subjects around property are very healthy because it enables the ultimate investor who's paying the bill to look at the pros and cons of various arguments and then then decide on what's right for them versus as you say everyone feathering each other's nest there are no checks and balances no exercise it's and therefore there's the risk that you're not going to be following a road that's that's ultimately

Starting point is 00:13:28 going to get you where you need to get now beautifully said let's turn specifically to buyers agents now and i'd love your thoughts given uh both your personal experiences with and without them uh on whether you know your thoughts on the good bad and ugly advice agents what are your thoughts yeah look i think there's some absolutely brilliant buyers agents out there and they're doing such a good job for the clients and that is their focus is making sure that they get a client and then find the property for them. But then again, you've got the total opposite who aren't wanting to understand the full situation of person,

Starting point is 00:14:10 the strategy, the goal, et cetera, that all they're trying to do is get the money. In other words, all they're wanting to do is get people off their books as quickly as possible. They do a slick marketing campaign to bring a lot of clients in, but they don't have the knowledge and skill how on how to find the property for the clients so they're basically just going whatever matches that's all it is and off you go um which no isn't the right thing for the client you know and the

Starting point is 00:14:42 same thing with you know if they've got to make targets or meet deadlines etc and that kind of thing it's just like how can we do this as quickly as we can like making that to agents just throw whatever property at me and and we'll get it done um i was just traveling in the north queensland you know this week and i was speaking to a agent in townsville and apparently there's a buyer's agent up there who they won't work with anymore because they're basically putting properties under contract and what's happening then is then they're going searching for for a client to meet that contract instead of the other way around with having an actual person and then finding the right property for that person so they're absolutely they're mucking up the the real

Starting point is 00:15:28 estate agents they're mucking up the process they're putting buyers agents under bad names as well and they're not doing the right thing by any client at all so you know that's some of the goods and the bad of that kind of thing um you know the sales technique techniques of what people use where it's just like okay well we'll do a gimmick we'll do this to get you in um you know we've got under market value deals you know come to us because we'll find all off markets etc like that you know instant equity or you know those kind of things I think the gimmicky kind of side of the sales part of it isn't the kind of right thing so that's some of the good and bad and ugly of the buyer's agent and what I've seen personally where it's not client focused it's all about money

Starting point is 00:16:15 focused at the end um you know there's some that i've heard who were have became when got their real estate license become buyers agents but have never bought a property themselves so it's also like how how is that possible for our industry moving forward to have somebody who's then buying this high end property or um for somebody who's their life investment it's just not the the done thing or what should happen i suppose moving forward and it does put you know that the buyers agents who are doing the right thing who have gone and you know got educated done the buyer's agent you know course etc like that and are doing education constantly and who are networking also with the real estate agents to make sure that we come out with a win-win situation

Starting point is 00:17:02 they're the people that you want as a buyer's agent who who work both sides and just make sure that everyone is honest but you're working with for your client a hundred percent yeah beautifully said uh you've touched on some of this already then but uh collectively between the purview what what do you believe differentiates a great buyer's agent from the rest i think it's sitting there going it's about care um it's about investment it's about getting to know your client getting to understand them building that relationship not a quick sale in all honesty seeing they're really understanding and knowing that um we're buying for the jim and betty and hey look at this one nah it's not going to meet their criteria for this because you know them well enough um

Starting point is 00:17:53 a great buyers agent is consistently there on beck and call almost each step of the way communicating with the client getting the best results um presenting a property to them and going okay we're not recommending you buying this one but what is it that you do like about it what is it you don't like about it so that we can better build the brief really understand what it is that they're liking and understanding particularly when you're dealing with a cup with a couple that you're going to have different needs so it's not that easy to meet both parties needs all the way through not every property not every client's going to get a 10 out of 10 match but what we're aiming for is you know an eight or a nine so that it is the right property for them

Starting point is 00:18:47 not everything's going to come wrapped up in a bow but it's sitting there finding that right one understanding them well enough about what to present but also having a dialogue with them really sort of building that rapport so that you actually know what they want brilliantly said mate it said it's the listening part that is often missing from that exercise so sort of transforming then if someone is listening to this and going well yeah i'm not sure i'm doing myself or or i'm i'm going to engage a buyer's agent what do you think are the keys to selecting a great buyers agent i think um you have to be comfortable that they can deliver what is right for you um you need to also see have they done or are doing what you want to achieve

Starting point is 00:19:36 so you know and and can they prove it so if your end goal is xyz you know have they actually done that before to be able to have been through those steps so that they can make sure that you know they don't make the mistakes or you know for you as you know moving forward so they have that extra knowledge and experience within the industry um and within the property to know what is right and what is not um also don't just choose an agent just on cost alone um you need to make sure it's the right agent for you otherwise whatever you spend is it could be worth zero anyway because you haven't achieved what you wanted to achieve out of it so cost shouldn't be a figure you should be putting that cost into one what they are going to save you on the end to

Starting point is 00:20:26 make sure they buy the right property for you at the right time otherwise if you have to sell it and buy another one there goes that cost anyway and also making sure that you learn along the way so someone who is just going to put you on the books move you through the system and out the other end what have you achieved so you know looking for what you are wanting to get out of that buyer's agent along the way as well um and ensure the ba is not just or the buyer's agent isn't just agreeing with everything that you say so they should be able to actually challenge a few things and so you can actually have that robust conversation to make sure you're going to get the best out of your money so that you know that you know that you can come back and

Starting point is 00:21:08 and ask questions and that kind of thing and develop that rapport so that you do get the most out of the money that you're going to do but they also explain the process along the way so you are getting that bit of education um as well so you know maybe you might only want once but you know if you're time poor then you know you might not want to go down that that option but you know you have that opportunity to do that and to learn as you're going along because it'll only help you in your next purchase or you know finding where you go next i suppose in that sense love it love it extremely well said lisa a great segue then into why have you both decided to start uh personalized property professionals and and what do you think sets you apart from other buyers agencies in the

Starting point is 00:21:54 space well probably i can i can keep going on talking on this um we started ppp as we you know finished our own property journey. So we've been on a long journey as from the last podcast that we've had and we're wanting to give that education back to people. So we're wanting to help people through their journey to meeting their goals through property as well. So that's where it all started off and I absolutely love buying property and researching and finding those hidden gems you know as we would have heard so um you know I was a bit like oh what am I going to do now so it was a bit like an opportunity I suppose to bring a passion into my own work or into the business as well um so Brian loves the numbers game he's you know and we work great as

Starting point is 00:22:47 a team with those two differences um we challenge each other like we mentioned like we'll you know We're competitive. We like to find the best out of anything we do. So, you know, I think one of the things was that, you know, we're not salespeople. We won't pitch to someone. We're not going to show gimmicky kind of aspects. We're just down to earth mum and dad kind of investors who want to give back

Starting point is 00:23:16 to the community and want people to actually help them through their journey and be honest with people as well. I mean, one of my sayings is, would I buy this property for myself in this situation? And if the answer is no, then I won't look at it for a client either, okay? So it has to be a property that I think or that we think is going to do better for them or good for them as they move through. So not just finding, you know, having a whole list of properties and going, yep, this one, this is for you, this is for you.

Starting point is 00:23:49 It's more going, what is your circumstances? Does this meet your circumstances? are moving forward so really being situational with what we're doing um to to provide that best service we possibly can for our clients yeah absolutely loving i think you know given what you shared with us on the previous episode uh given the portfolio that you've uh both uh very well built and the income flows that are coming from i'm i'm guessing here but i'm assuming that as opposed to a lot of buyers agents who uh live and breathe on the income they get from their buyer's agency and therefore there is that subtle pressure to do things quickly and move things

Starting point is 00:24:25 through the system uh you're doing it because you want to not because you have to and there's a there's a massive difference in the approach that flows out of that and i guess what that flows into for me is that something that i like when i was you know some google stalking you uh in preparation for the episode and something i wanted to ask you is why do you only work with a maximum of four property buyers at any given time yeah i think you're right bushy we we could choose to to not work tomorrow um and we would be you know um like i said before i'm not sitting by a pool drinking i'd go nuts and um i think having four clients at any one time enables us to just deliver that high quality and build that rapport build that relationship with the with the client

Starting point is 00:25:15 um a little bit like you we're both perfectionists um we both compete to a very high level um with each other within you know everything that we do and to be able to deliver that level of service you can't do it to a large number of people we've worked out that going through and in the various phases in the in the property buying journey um you know four is our capacity to be able to do it to the level that we expect um if that means we have a wait list that's okay and if people don't want to do that that's okay as well um not every client's going to want to work with us we're not going to want to work with every client we're not going to take someone on as a client because we need to because we don't it's really simple about focusing on the on the numbers that are going to

Starting point is 00:26:11 work for this person what is their goal what is the next step it's like playing chess if we make this move what what's going to happen in two moves time having what if scenarios giving them choice emotional ride with them as well we get a buzz buying property um we love the excitement um we love the uh opportunity to turn around and take rejection and go great thanks for that gift how can we do this better what is it that you didn't like how do we you know meet your criteria are better um yeah so we we don't want to be the next ray white of buyers agents we want to be boutique um selective and really enjoy what we do um and that way you know fours that fours our number and it and it gives us um the ability to deep dive into everyone and every property that

Starting point is 00:27:17 we analyze i love it guys i it's such it's a refreshing approach because the the the unfortunate thing for unwary and potentially first-time investors is that if they've hooked up with the wrong buyer's agent, the issues with that property generally don't evidence for five or more years. So they're long gone by the time the issues actually start to emerge. So I love the fact that you're focusing on the quality of the experience and the results. But in that context then and i think it's it you know everyone needs to be fussy when they're deciding to work with each other because it's not dissimilar to a marriage given the length of time you need to hold on to property what is the profile of the types of property buyers and investors who are

Starting point is 00:28:04 and aren't the best fit to work with you yeah so um our avatar is basically like between 30 to 40 or 35 to 45 so that kind of um age group um couple generally with two kids a dog etc like that's just our avatar I suppose in the sense of that but somebody who is has either zero or one property and looking at an investment portfolio so someone who is looking to actually do a portfolio so that we can sit down and work strategically through what we can help them with and how we can get them to that exit strategy along the way so you know generally it It could be a tradesperson along that kind of line. But someone, it doesn't have to be that,

Starting point is 00:28:52 but that's kind of just like our overall kind of age group and thinking. So someone who was like us moving through, who we can then help them through that rest of that journey. So someone who will also speak honest with us about their goals. So we want somebody who we can actually work through that GPS system as we reach their goal for them or with them. um someone who's willing to work through the options and communicate with us along the way as well so we need to be able to develop that rapport both ways so trust is developed through

Starting point is 00:29:22 that process so that we can help them our idea is that we will um be word of mouth basically so we know and it will be repeat customers potentially um and that will help them through a number of different property acquisitions as they they move through to their goal so someone who wouldn't fit with PPP is someone who doesn't align with our values or has unreasonable goals or expectations as well on what is it possible and what can be achieved so you know if someone says you know I want to buy a property for 200,000 and I want to get it 600 per week you know it's like well what is achievable what isn't um those kind of things are things that we would look at um during that discovery kind of aspect to make sure that we do a meet and that we do have the

Starting point is 00:30:15 same values moving forward on what we're trying to achieve as well i love it absolutely love it well that's a great segue into getting you to sort of talk us through a little bit of your approach to the the process overall uh and i particularly would sort of want to get your thoughts on this balance between because what i've seen is there are buyers agents who focus very heavily on the desktop data and at the other end of the spectrum there's those buyers agents who really intimately know the ins and outs of a particular location because that's where they live work and breathe how do you sort of balance those two when it comes to area and property selection in the context of your overall process and the due diligence that you apply to that i think we sit

Starting point is 00:30:59 nicely in the middle. As we said before, Lisa's literally with the caravan car in Queensland doing a deep dive into multiple places. Her days are full at the moment, looking at properties, meeting agents, doing things like going to the police station, talking about good areas, bad areas, those sorts of things. Data is probably in my field and I crunch the numbers and look through and keep abreast of things as we go through. I think you actually do need a balance of both. Pure data, sight unseen, I know some people advocate for that strongly. doesn't sit well with us it is about understanding areas it is understanding identifying what the growth drivers are in that area and what's going to help move things through Lisa does a lot of

Starting point is 00:31:58 analysis on comparative sales not what's for sale but what's sold in the last three months six months how it how is it better you know what's the quality of the property coming up with with numbers around the um what we think this one is worth and what should be offered um lisa is definitely the negotiator in our family um there is no uh i don't get a chime in on that one um but yeah it's a combination of data and boots on the ground and also sitting there going relationship if a buyer's agent's been buying in a investment hot hot spot for the last seven years Guess what? It's certainly not a hot spot.

Starting point is 00:32:45 So there is a balance. There is a blend. We do believe in the data and what the drivers are, but we also believe in getting boots on the ground, having a look and doing the due diligence up front before we go into an area with customers. I love that balance between the desktop stuff that you were doing, Brian,

Starting point is 00:33:04 and the fact that you were actually on the ground talking to the right people to get the right answer and what's really likely to happen in that context. You mentioned negotiation, Brian, and that it's in your sphere, Lisa, because, again, in my own experience, you know, I've seen buyers' agents who when it comes to the hard part and that's negotiating to look after their clients, it's often found a little bit wanting. What's the essence of your approach to negotiation?

Starting point is 00:33:35 I think mainly it's finding out exactly what the property is worth, which is where I come in to do analysis of the property to go, okay, well, this property is worth up to here. So straightaway I've got a bit of an idea on what's happening with the market, what figure should be around where it is to see whether that's where the property is actually sitting at. It's also talking truthfully to the real estate agent, knowing their games as well, knowing, you know,

Starting point is 00:34:01 what they're saying is not what we are no i'm not hearing what they're actually saying a lot of the times because they're saying different things which mean you know different things um but it's also then building that rapport because you do find those little hidden things that they'll say to you to know whether it really has got four offers on the table already or whatever it is so you get to learn that aspect of it which allows you to come in like you don't be you try and make it so it's still a win-win okay the real estate agent wants to sell it and you want to buy it you want to buy it for the the lowest price that is reasonable though as well so you don't want to you know come in with a lowball offer which then just blows the real estate agent apart and goes

Starting point is 00:34:49 well i'm not dealing with this buyer's agent because they're just gonna you know they're just trying to lowball me all the time and it's just you know it's a waste of time so it's also having that respect for the real estate agents but understanding their talk enough to be able to come in at a reasonable price um but knowing that through your analysis and through you talking to them exactly what details you'd be able to find out finding out things like if the um if they need to sell urgently because of another circumstance you know so that you can actually put different criteria around it um on on your offer when you're putting it in so you can make to offer the best possible offer you can as you're moving forward.

Starting point is 00:35:29 So whether that's, you know, no conditions, so in other words, we've got to do our B&P beforehand, so we've got to come in unconditional, or whether it means actually they want a long settlement, knowing those kind of things so you can put your offer in to suit what the agent and the actual vendor is wanting. Yeah, beautifully said. Flipping back to the client investor side then for a minute, And this is probably not likely to occur much given you're sort of managing a maximum of four clients at the same time.

Starting point is 00:35:59 But if you had two investors who had exactly the same brief looking for the same sort of property in the same sort of location, what would your approach be to handling the competing and overlapping briefs in terms of who got off and what and not in that context? Yes, I think, you know, with that, you have to be honest with your client. So, you know, you'd inform the second person that's coming through that you've already got someone signed up who has got that exact same brief. If you think it's possible that you can find two of them within that timely manner. But it's just being honest. It's actually just being upfront with them, explaining to them that you've got another client who does meet that brief. You know, can we sit down and talk or do you need, if you need to go elsewhere, that's totally understandable.

Starting point is 00:36:47 It's not an issue. So if we can't, you know, I feel whoever's first in because you've already developed that rapport, you've already started the process and they're with you. So it's the second person that comes in, you have to explain that. That would be my, yeah, my criteria. I love it. No, you've summed it up beautifully.

Starting point is 00:37:09 Let's take the exercise where you have been looking for a property for a client for a period. What happens if you can't source or secure a high-quality property to satisfy their brief in a reasonable timeframe? Yeah, timeframes are an interesting one, Bushy. One thing we won't do is promise timeframes. I know some BAs do. We certainly won't.

Starting point is 00:37:31 And it's sitting there going, when we work through the brief, it's something we agree both as us as the buyer's agent going, yes, we believe we can find you what you're looking for. markets can shift very rapidly um and it's about that open communication um going back to the client going look we are struggling finding this it might have existed when we first engaged going through our process we haven't got it what would you like to do these are some of your options here are some alternatives that are similar to the brief it might be the same brief in a different location that still meets your strategy yeah we can't promise to find a property

Starting point is 00:38:15 that that doesn't exist um it's sitting there going are you going to get our honest absolute best effort of course you will can we promise something no yeah i love it and not putting a timeline on it is refreshing in itself because as i've mentioned in the intro there's a lot of buyer's agents who are like my sausage machines they're just punching them through because they need to keep the the transaction levels going uh what i'm liking about what you're saying is if you can't find the the best fit then you'll keep looking or or go back to the client and change the brief awesome uh i want to jump now into uh what everyone asks every buyer's agent in the in the exercise and and that's to get your views on where property conditions are in the medium term

Starting point is 00:39:04 and where and what do you think at the moment are the best investment opportunities for both growth investors and cash flow investors at the current time yeah i'll i'll take this one on and as we said lisa's boots on the ground in in queensland at the moment um i think that there is It's a real opportunity for both cash flow and capital growth in the areas that we've been looking at. It's affordable, which is one of the price drivers. And if you look across the country, there's markets within markets. You know, anyone with any education knows that. It's identifying what you're looking for for a reasonable increase in value in the shortest amount of time.

Starting point is 00:39:53 if you hear heard about a hot spot on the radio it's too late um if you look at bundy as an example we got in there and we're wrapped to hear it sort of being mentioned uh not long after we were we were in there um so i think in the in that regional queensland in in selected areas and selected suburbs and streets within those areas which lisa's doing at the moment uh there are some real good buying. I think if we look at terms of capital growth without such a strong yield, there are pockets within Melbourne at the moment that are absolutely on sale. Victoria's on the nose currently with some of the political decisions that we're going through. During COVID, Melbourne didn't get the boom that some of the other areas did.

Starting point is 00:40:45 we had the sort of reset a little bit harder in melbourne uh than other areas there are signs of spring shoots coming out um and i absolutely believe if you look at the the long-term data melbourne or pockets within melbourne are on sale right now and there is the prime for capital growth um you need to be very careful of your asset selection your asset class your location um you know the immigration story speaks to you know we've got 400 000 immigrants coming in they're going melbourne and sydney the rental pressures those sorts of things um yeah there's there's real opportunities there for for medium-term sustained growth at at you know potentially double digits uh for consecutive years in pockets of melbourne yeah very well summed up

Starting point is 00:41:38 and i guess i underline everything we're saying here by saying this is not a property or financial advice in any way shape or form uh these are reads of the situation because it all comes back to the specifics of someone's capacity situation strategy but uh it's always the question that buys agents and people in the property game get asked so we appreciate you sharing that that brian uh for For those that are really resonating with what you're talking about and they're thinking about getting into property as, you know, zero or one property, given that's the sort of ideal avatar that you're looking to assist, where do they need to start

Starting point is 00:42:19 and what initial steps do they need to take? Yeah, so I think one of the main thing is try and work out their goals, their budget, et cetera, like that. They could speak to you, Bushy, because I'm sure that you'd be able also assist them with um with moving forward and finding a good mortgage broker um to see what they need to do to also find their first purchase um i'd go into like then into a strategy session so actually working out what their goals are what they need to do to to move forward um that would be the first thing if they've got that time and they're wanting to do it themselves then you know

Starting point is 00:42:53 they might have two years that they go okay well we have to put some money into education or how can we get educated to do it ourselves or do we then maybe look at a buyer's agent moving forward as well to help you through that that aspect if you don't have the time or the knowledge or the skill and just want to get it done so I think there's a few different things but you really need to start off with what your goals are what your budget is what your lifestyle is going to be in the next couple of years moving forward to to start that process and find a good mortgage broker to actually find out what equity you've got and what your purchasing power is. Yeah, beautifully said. Okay, well, I'm going to transition now into what I affectionately

Starting point is 00:43:35 refer to as the ambush fastball, which is the old bushfire lightning round where I both give you cigarettes and blindfolds and hit you with four quick questions. The first of those, guys, and you can either both answer or otherwise, what's your favourite quote and why? You go with yours, Lee. um don't wait to buy real estate buy real estate and wait i love that one that's self-evident what about you brian um i like this one which is think in decades and not years when you're talking property um i think that our ppor and our talk e1 are just absolute standard examples of doing that

Starting point is 00:44:17 yeah yeah absolutely spot on the days i'll get rich quicker well and truly gone i'm never there actually you know i get continuously frustrated by these spruikers who talk about magic happening in in 10 years might happen if you're lucky but the longer you wait the easier this gets so beautifully said that what about the literary field guys or the audio book field which whichever suits these days because a lot of people don't have the time or interest in reading but what would be the the top book or audio book that you'd recommend we read and why oh there you go this one brian this one's yours oh definitely um and i'll push you full disclosure i'm actually dyslexic and podcast audio books have been um an absolute wealth of knowledge and revelation for me

Starting point is 00:45:04 um and i tried to read this when it came out and i failed um but i've listened to it at least five times on on audiobook now um and it's cliche it's rich dad porting it makes so much sense um yes it's got americanisms and all those sorts of things but the fundamentals behind it are just so solid in terms of investment and having your money work for you 24 7 365 um yeah it's each time i listen to it i do get more out of it um and i love talking about it to some degrees um with other property enthusiasts and and pick it apart and yes it's a story it's not real we know that you know um but yeah to me i i think it's a very moving very powerful story one understand it was actually the book that started me in the the property game seriously uh to the point where

Starting point is 00:46:05 I actually bought Robert Keith's game, the cash flow game, because it really brings that to life and you're actually in the cut and thrust of making it happen. So absolute gold. Here's a tip, Bushy, for the listeners. That cash flow game is actually available online. You can play it online. You randomly get paired with people from anywhere in the world

Starting point is 00:46:28 or you can make up your own team and play it online. And we've done that with some of our accountability groups or like-minded property people, and it is, it's great. Well, I didn't know that. I didn't know it, so I've still got the old cardboard version, but it's still damn good. And I even got my son to play it early on, so they start to immerse themselves in that thinking and gamify it

Starting point is 00:46:52 so it's a bit of fun at the same time. I want to switch now to the advice arena. If you think back on your very long and diverse property careers today, What's both the worst and the best piece of investment advice that you've both ever received? I think going back to our first property by house and land package is our worst. Definitely.

Starting point is 00:47:18 Best advice, start early. The earlier you start, the effect of compound, really understand that. And leverage and compound are your friends. The earlier you start, the bigger it is. Yeah, beautifully said. Absolutely spot on. It's a cakewalk if you've got long enough.

Starting point is 00:47:37 It's a cliff climb if you leave it too late. There's no doubt about that. Now, just to finalise the ambush series, what's a personal happy habit or rewarding ritual that you both employ that you think has contributed most to your investment success today? So I think one of mine is try to learn something different each day. It's gold. Yep.

Starting point is 00:47:59 Anything to add to that one, Brian? Yeah, it is a habit. It's a reset that I do daily. I walk six to eight k's regardless of where I am. I'm fortunate enough to live on the surf coast, and most of the time it's walking along the clifftops down toward Bells Beach. But what I've done with that is also that's my podcast time and my absorption time or listening.

Starting point is 00:48:26 Both of us get up early. We both go to the gym regularly. it's those habits the the patterns the lifestyle um that make the difference it's about doing um you know lisa's been away six weeks there's no tv in the in the in the caravan i think i turned ours on on sunday night um at home it's it's about being active in everything that you do and i think that's one of the keys to um to anyone's successes is you can binge on netflix or you can get educated and start doing beautifully said mate absolutely beautifully said look uh i really enjoyed the conversations we've had today and in the previous episode but if we were to summarize

Starting point is 00:49:14 everything we talked about and put a nice big bow around it what do you think of the the key takeaways and immediate actions that aspiring and existing property investors need to take i think um the main thing is is start doing something even if it's something small but start actually you know taking that step forward um whether it's education or talking to somebody or finding out where your current circumstances is whether it's even understanding your own budget um where some people probably don't even understand that so you know start the process along the way now um even if you might not be ready for you know another year i mean this is one of the things we've started our 20 year old came to us and said how do I get into this property game what do I

Starting point is 00:49:58 what do I need to do to purchase a property and for us who she's never had said that before but obviously she has heard us talking and you know on podcasts or you know on webinars and that kind of thing so it has sunk into her brain a little bit where she's now 20 going or she's now 21 but she was like how do I how do I buy my first property so to us that was gold because it was like you know she's wanting to start that journey now um you know and we've gone through her a few steps to take so you know i think start now start even thinking about it now is a good step beautifully said yeah absolutely gold doing something is the key because that's the only way you're really going to learn uh so love that uh for those of us like myself and the audience

Starting point is 00:50:41 who really resonated with what you've shared with us the last couple of episodes um how can let's just find out more and get more involved with you guys yep so we've got our website www.personalizedpropertyprofessionals.com um they can email me on at alamine.au at gmail.com or even give me a phone call 0411 341324 i love the personalized approach there guys where someone can actually talk to you rather than send an email uh just to sort of close out on that you very generously offered a bit of a challenge to the Get Invested audience in the context that you're going to offer them a complimentary strategy discovery session for the best email response. So send an email to hello, that's H-E-L-L-O at knowhowproperty.com.au. That

Starting point is 00:51:34 answers the question, how does personalised property professionals differ from other buyers agents so make sure you take some action as Lisa's just said it's doing something that counts so do yourself a favor and I challenge you to actually jump on the keyboard and shoot an email through to us so that you can actually either start your journey or improve the performance your portfolio by having a great chat with Lisa and Brian so again guys really appreciate of all the wealth of wisdom and the generous time that you've spent with us on on both of the episodes so uh thanks again and let's keep the conversation going thanks bushy thanks bushy really enjoyed it terrific thanks for tuning in to get invested on the property hub podcast channel your home for

Starting point is 00:52:23 property investment insights and inspiration and don't leave yet until you've taken the next step towards living by design by getting my award-winning book get invested absolutely free when you sign up at knowhowproperty.com.au or bushymartin.com.au and finally make sure you subscribe to property hub to get your weekly dose of get invested inspiration along with every episode of realty talk australia's leading property show for red hot property investing news and insights direct from industry leaders and influencers. Remember to always get invested in your knowledge and I look forward to seeing you next time.

Property Hub - Investment Insights & Inspiration - Get Invested: Part 2, Investory - Lisa & Brian Happ on Personalised Property Professionals

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