Stop Overthinking Buying Property: How to Take the Leap 🏡 with Matt Srama

You’ve found a property you like — but suddenly hesitation creeps in. What now? The overwhelm, the “what ifs,” and the fear of making the wrong move can freeze even the most eager buyers.

In this insightful episode, property expert Matt Srama breaks down how to stop overthinking and step confidently into your property journey. 🏡

You’ll learn:
• Why waiting too long after viewing can cost you the deal
• The simple, powerful step that shows agents you’re serious
• Why texting offers is a rookie mistake — and what to do instead
• How the “countersign strategy” lets you negotiate directly and privately
• The one key question to ask your agent to fast-track your purchase
• Why straightforwardness and respect make you the buyer agents want to work with
• How your mindset shapes your success — and why blaming others won’t get you there
• Practical tips to overcome fear and move from hesitation to action

This episode is your guide to cutting through the noise and making confident moves in property buying. If you’re ready to take the leap without overcomplicating it, tune in and get ready to own your power in the process.

🎧 Expect real talk, practical strategies, and mindset shifts to help you step into your next chapter as a confident property buyer.

________________________________

Follow Matt Srama:

Instagram: @matt_srama

Website: thesramagroup.com

 

Shop our EOFY SALE - up to 70% off products here

Find out more about the Rise app here. 

Join the Rise & Conquer Facebook group here.   

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
I would like to acknowledge the traditional owners of the
land on which this episode is being recorded, the Combomb
Merry people. They've been having conversations and telling stories on
this land for thousands of years, and we show our
gratitude and respect for their contribution to our environment and culture.

(00:21):
This is Rise and Conquer, the podcast where we strive
to become the highest version of ourselves through curious conversations,
healthy mindsets, laughter, connection, and a deep desire to evolve.
I'm your host, Georgie Stevenson. Join me as we explore parenthood, business, manifestation,

(00:46):
and so much more. It's positive, it's practical, and it's
about putting you in the driver's seat of your own life.

Speaker 2 (00:55):
Are you ready?

Speaker 1 (00:59):
Hello, my loves, and welcome back to the Rise and
Conquer Podcast. This week is a big one. We are
doing something we have never done before and honestly, it's bittersweet.
So if you've been around for a while, you would
know that physical products have been such a.

Speaker 2 (01:18):
Huge part of rn C.

Speaker 1 (01:20):
From our journals which you guys use every single day
and your routine and love to you know products like
our connection cards which has helped you guys connect with
yourself and people you love. But it's time. I've been
sitting down. I have been journaling, I have been really

(01:42):
thinking ahead with the rn C vision and really feeling
into and asking myself, you know, what's next. Of course,
because I'm about to go on maternity leave, we are.

Speaker 2 (01:54):
Growing our family to four.

Speaker 1 (01:56):
There is so much happening in this next chapter, and
I really felt this calling, this pull to change things
up in the businesses and with R and C. It
just felt like I wanted to narrow our focus and
I wanted to, you know, go all in on one

(02:19):
thing and not do multiple things, especially just being so
much more conscious of my capacity in this next season
and being able to focus on my family but also
my passions. And in R and C, my passion really
is education.

Speaker 2 (02:38):
It really is.

Speaker 1 (02:40):
Giving you guys, you know, content and giving you guys
education and a portal to up level, to step into
your best self, to step into your higher timeline. And
I really feel like that is that educational piece, that
online space piece, and I feel like physical products are

(03:05):
just not the focus for us anymore. And so we
have made the decision that after we have sold through
all our current physical products, we won't be restocking which
is honestly crazy to say. I was actually getting so
emotional about it telling the girls. But it feels it

(03:29):
feels good, it feels exciting. It feels like we need to,
you know, what we need to do, especially to focus
more on that education piece. So we will be running
an eoffie sale that is quite wild. It's going to
be up to seventy percent off. And yeah, once they're gone, guys,

(03:50):
they're gone. So if you're a journal lover, if you've
had your eye on any of our products and you're like,
oh my god, I need to stock up or I
need to try before they're gone, now is the time.
It is your last chance. You can head to the
website grab what you need. You know, let's celebrate this season.

(04:10):
I'll leave all the links in the show notes, and
before we get into the show, I do just want
to say thank you so much for allowing me and
the RNC brand to grow and evolve and sticking by
a sides and just yeah, accepting the evolution. It feels
so good that I can make a decision like this

(04:33):
and I know it will be welcomed wholeheartedly, So thank.

Speaker 2 (04:37):
You so much.

Speaker 1 (04:38):
Very exciting, makes you check out our next chapter, Era Sale.
But let's get into the podcast. Welcome back to season
seven of the Rise and Conker Podcast. Today's guest is
the Powerhouse Matt Shrama, a former NURL player turned award
nominated entrepreneur, a top one perc sent property investor, and

(05:01):
founder of TST The Strama Group, one of Gold Coasts
leading real estate and buyers agencies. After retiring from professional sport,
Matt didn't slow down. He brought the same dedication and
discipline to business, carving out a name for himself as
a pioneer in.

Speaker 2 (05:21):
The property space.

Speaker 1 (05:23):
With multiple nominations for Young Entrepreneur for the Year and
recognition from the Q Awards for Excellence. Matt is on
a mission to help everyday ossie's get into the property
market and start.

Speaker 2 (05:36):
Building long term wealth.

Speaker 1 (05:39):
In this episode, Matt breaks down everything you need to
know from buying your first home to spotting high impact
investment opportunities and how to take those first steps.

Speaker 2 (05:49):
Even if you're starting small.

Speaker 1 (05:51):
He also shares his own journey on starting his property
portfolio at just twenty two and how he has since
grown it into one of the top investors in the country.

Speaker 2 (06:01):
If you're ready to build wealth to.

Speaker 1 (06:02):
Make smart moves and finally feel confident in the property space.
This episode is your green light.

Speaker 2 (06:09):
Let's dive in.

Speaker 1 (06:12):
Matt, Welcome to the Rise and Conker Podcast.

Speaker 3 (06:14):
Thanks for having me, Georgie. Love it.

Speaker 2 (06:16):
I'm so excited.

Speaker 1 (06:17):
Like I said to you off air, this season is
all about how to get everything you want, and I
thought you are the perfect person to chat property, property portfolio.
Of course we're going to get right into that, but
before we do, do you just want to tell the
community who you are and how you came to be.

Speaker 3 (06:38):
Yeah, well, first of all, thanks for having me, Georgie.
My name is Matt Srama, founder director of the Srama Group,
and we'll find fact. People always love the backstory. It
used to be a professional athlete the Gold Coast Titans,
retired through injury and property was always my little side
hustle when I was playing, and then obviously as an athlete,

(06:58):
it's very hard when you finish. Your resume is kind
of empty, right you come straight out of school into
an athlete, So that ended up in property and that's
how we're sitting here today.

Speaker 2 (07:09):
That's amazing.

Speaker 1 (07:10):
I actually I don't know my community probably doesn't know this.
I actually was in property just doing when I was
doing my law degree, I worked what was my role
called I basically would go around to all the houses
and if people were renting them, I would go and
open up the houses.

Speaker 3 (07:31):
And I don't know if that yeah true, yeah, in
the property management management. Sorry.

Speaker 1 (07:37):
So I did that for about four years and then
like obviously you have real estate agents, just like with
Ray White, I think, and was in the property world
for ye about four years.

Speaker 2 (07:47):
And it's a very interesting industry, isn't it.

Speaker 1 (07:51):
What, Yeah, very interesting, very high level, very it can
be very stressful. I felt like a lot of the
ads were very stressed all the time. And you know,
I was also in law, so I understood it. But
I remember being like, oh, I don't know if I

(08:11):
could do something like this because it feels very intense.
What would you say about the industry and that feeling?

Speaker 3 (08:16):
Oh, I agree, A thousand percent life or death it is.
And you know what, Georgia, That's why I think I
really enjoyed and that's why I've always had a holistic
approach too, because it's really unique, right. I always believe
in life, you know, sliding door moments, like I was
a professional athlete my whole life, so you know, wake up, train, eat, sleep,

(08:38):
train again. So nutrition, healthy habits, all of that was
just second nature when I got into the real estate industry.
Obviously my DNA is kind of still an athlete, right.
I got into this side still high performance, still you know,
full on competitive, but I didn't understand why everyone was

(08:59):
so like burnt out, like they didn't know how to
rest properly. So one thing I'm huge on in this
industry and helping our team too, it's like, you work hard,
but you've got to recover hard. And I got that
from my professional days and I find the best. I
guess people in real estate know the healthy balance between
being competitive, being on, but also knowing that how you

(09:22):
need it. You work. I call them work sprints. You
got to recover. You got to Like in footy, we
had to. If we trained every day, we'll be busted up. Yeah,
so many agents are busted up. So they sound you
can hear it in their tone. They're stressed, they're overwhelmed,
they're not eating well, sleeping well, all those sorts of things.
So I'm just really big in this industry. It's fun,

(09:43):
it's exciting, but you have to be just as balanced
as a person to make sure you have longevity in
this game.

Speaker 1 (09:51):
I love that so much, and it's like it's so
true because it needs to be sustainable. Sustainable because if
you do want to be in the industry for a
long time, if you do want to play the long game,
you absolutely need to find it to be sustainable and
almost like regulate your nervous system so you're not constantly
in that file right, because yeah, you would burn out

(10:13):
for sure.

Speaker 3 (10:13):
It's so fine. Like we as a company, we've spent
a lot of money, time and energy for training for
our team. A lot of it is actually nothing to
do with real estate. That's that's where I got the idea.
I was like, why do we just immerse ourself and
more real estate stuff. We've had talkers come in on
emotional regulation, We've done breath work sessions, We've done disc

(10:36):
profiling to understand human behavior, why some people get triggered
this way and some get triggered that way, and that stuff.
Feedback from our team has been that's what's kind of
helped them, you know, level up their games, just understanding
that stuff.

Speaker 1 (10:50):
And I'm just curious, so like, what does even recovery
look like for you, like, what do you prioritize?

Speaker 3 (10:55):
Yeah, so I'm laughing because everyone knows how. I've got
like a wind up and a wind down routine, and
I've had that since my athlete days. But I'm huge
on habits. And my biggest tip I give to anyone,
I guess in business as well, especially in the real
estate industry, is creating an ideal week. And I got
the concept from Dan Martel, who I really like, and

(11:19):
he talks around the preloaded year and sort of creating
ideal week. So my ideal week, instead of finding where
the blocks of work are going to be put, I
put all the things out of my green light activities.
So I've got a newfound hobby with golf. I love golf.
So that goes in Wednesday from eleven to three.

Speaker 1 (11:39):
My husband is obsessed with golf.

Speaker 3 (11:41):
Once you get it, it is ridiculous.

Speaker 2 (11:44):
Yeah, to the point where I'm like, are you okay?

Speaker 3 (11:48):
It's crazy We're chatting about all I watch is golf vlogs. Now,
It's just it's a weird thing. It's like if you know,
you know kind of things, So golf, you know, every
night from you know, forty five minutes after six, I'll
usually have my dinner that's all set, and then ice bath,
you know, infrared sauna. At home, I do a stretch routine,

(12:08):
kind of journal, just kind of all these things go
into my ideal day in week first and then work
will fit in on that. And just having that little
mindset shift of like I put my priorities before others
so I can show up better. I don't know, it's
just like a mindset shift. Like in business sometimes we
think we have to do more for the client or

(12:30):
do more for our customer. Then, don't get me wrong,
that's everything right. But if you can't if you're giving
eighty percent to these people or seventy percent, or some people,
as I said, in this industry are giving forty percent
because the battery is completely empty, it's actually a disservice
to your customer, client, product or service. So I always
believe if you can get as close as you can

(12:51):
to one hundred percent each day for you, you're a
better you know, you're a better husband, better wife, better
you know, business entrepreneur.

Speaker 1 (13:00):
Even interesting because it's almost not logical of when you
are looking after your health, when you are recovering it
can be that hour can be tenfold, but like you said,
if you're running at thirty percent, that hour is you know,
zero point three kind of thing. And so what people
don't realize is even something I talk about is like,

(13:22):
the more successful that I've got in my business, probably
the less time I've spent in my business and more
time I've spent on personal development or even just like
on myself, because I've realized it's like.

Speaker 2 (13:38):
It's not quantable.

Speaker 1 (13:39):
It's not like the like ten hours equals ten hours,
if that makes sense. It's Georgie who is working on
her mindset, is going through her limiting beliefs, is doing
you know, a.

Speaker 2 (13:52):
Breath work or meditation.

Speaker 1 (13:54):
I can spend one hour on my business and it
be like the most incredible visionary everyone that said, Tod's perfect.
It like compared to if I'm running myself into the ground,
I can go to every meeting that week and not contribute.

Speaker 2 (14:08):
Anything to the business.

Speaker 3 (14:10):
Yea.

Speaker 1 (14:10):
And I think a lot of people are very stuck
in like the hustle time equals effort, but it's.

Speaker 2 (14:18):
Just not true.

Speaker 1 (14:18):
And I think the more successful you get, the more
you realize that. And it's funny because when you tell
people you know if you do, like I get a
massage every week and I have two days off where
I'm at home and I definitely do it double in
a bit of work. But those days are like for
me to get my mind right, to get my energy right,
so I can come in on a Friday and do

(14:39):
three podcasts.

Speaker 2 (14:40):
So I can do that.

Speaker 1 (14:42):
And what people don't realize is I know it's not
the normal nine to five, but that's.

Speaker 2 (14:47):
The reason why my.

Speaker 3 (14:48):
Business is successful exactly right. And like they say, like
your business will only grow as far as your leadership,
team's personal development and you as a founder, right, I
know my business is where it's at because that's my level.
I've been able to take it. But if I want
to take it to the next level, it's what got
me here is not going to get me there. Yeah,

(15:09):
So as a founder, I need to be conscious And
to any founders listening, is you'renard at Georgie. I think
time on self and understanding where your potential roadblocks and
self limiting beliefs could be could be the unlocked to
going from seven to eight figures and eight figures and beyond.
Potentially it's it could be within self So that's a yeah,

(15:30):
I'm glad you brought that up because it's a huge
one of notice it's between the ears on where business is.

Speaker 1 (15:35):
One absolutely all right, well enough about business, yes.

Speaker 2 (15:40):
To a whole podcast it. Let's talk about property.

Speaker 1 (15:43):
So I feel like the collective feeling right now is
people are feeling really locked out of the property market,
like you know, they're feeling like it's too expensive.

Speaker 2 (15:55):
I'll never be able to you know, purchase, it's out
of my range.

Speaker 1 (16:00):
What do you think is the mindset shift needed for someone,
you know, either buying their first home or just getting
into the market, you know, for a second or third
or whatever time. And what do you even think about
that collective feeling right now?

Speaker 3 (16:14):
Yeah, I'll give a perspective shift. I like it. I
bought my first home when I was twenty twenty two,
which again over ten years ago now on the Gold
Coast actually, and I remember, example, you know the suburb
of Palm Beach, for examp, My first property was in
a suburb called Palm Beach, and.

Speaker 2 (16:32):
They'd be laughing.

Speaker 3 (16:33):
Yeah. Well, the crazy thing is I remember at the
same time, the same market, the same voices were in
my head and other people's heads right, what a house
one block back from the beach for four hundred grand?
Like you see it, Like, that's crazy, what that's going
on with house prices at the moment.

Speaker 2 (16:51):
It's not even on the beach.

Speaker 3 (16:52):
It's not even on the beach. We fast forward, now
you can't get a one better for four hundred grand.
You cannot anywhere. So all I'm trying to give perspective
with very quickly, is that the feeling of being priced out,
the feeling of it getting harder, has always been there

(17:13):
and will always be there. So if you're a buyer
now feeling that, acknowledge that that's okay, but also understand
whether you buy now or whether you buy in ten years,
those feelings with certain people will be there. So that's
number one. Number two then is understanding what sort of
person are you? And this might really hit home for
some people. What I observed when I was an athlete

(17:35):
and then going in the business and doing my things
and property and I scoret a property portfolio, is that
I observe the most successful they spend all day thinking
what do I want and how do I get it?
What do I want and how do I get it?
What I noticed the I guess you could say more unsuccessful,
the ones who didn't achieve what they want. They spent
all day thinking what went wrong and who can I blame?

(18:00):
And right now twenty twenty five, I'm observing that some
buyers are blaming cost of living crisis. Don't get me wrong,
I understand, like things are expensive.

Speaker 2 (18:12):
And yet it's a real thing.

Speaker 3 (18:13):
It's a real thing. But why are still some people
crushing it in property in this environment? So I believe, yes,
there's somewhat a cost of living crisis, but more than ever,
I think we're in a cost of spending crisis as well.
I truly believe more than ever, people are losing discipline
and focus around their spending habits, and they're finding it

(18:37):
harder to accumulate cash and just save general cash because
they're not paying enough attention to their general spending day
to day. So when you're mindful of that, first is understanding, Hey,
yes I can blame cost of living crisis. Yes I
can blame those things again. If we go back again
ten years and Georgia, you being a business owner, wage
growth is growing, like people are still getting paid, you know,

(19:02):
as per the scale, So we can't fully blame cost
of living. I just think sometimes we've got to look
at self. If we can't get in, is it a
spending thing? Is it? Maybe we've got to look at
shaving some different spending habits in our personal lives that
combined with changing the mindset on like you know, I
listened to the podcast with Georgia and Matt and whether

(19:23):
it's now, whether it's future, the feeling of being stuck
not getting in the market will always be there, always
be there.

Speaker 1 (19:30):
It's interesting because me and my husband's bought a property
in Palm Beach six six years ago. Yeah, when we
first moved to the Gold Coast.

Speaker 2 (19:39):
And it was our second home.

Speaker 1 (19:40):
And I remember when I told people, you know, the
house we'd bought, how much we'd paid. Everyone was like,
you've overpaid, perfect, And I remember saying, look, I know,
I know, but I wanted this specific house because we
were living.

Speaker 2 (19:54):
In It wasn't an investment.

Speaker 1 (19:56):
I was like, look, I know, but I wanted this
specific house and I was happy to overpay because this
is the house I wanted.

Speaker 2 (20:04):
This isn't it like necessary an investment.

Speaker 1 (20:06):
This is like a family home, et cetera, et cetera,
And it's so funny because now that house has you know,
at least doubled, and I'm like, damn it, I overpaid
you know that maybe fifty grand, and it's like it's
a million sort of things. So it's even interesting then
how people thought of property and like the backlash I got,

(20:27):
and even my thought of like, well, no, I want
this property, and I want it in Palm Beach, so
probably could get selling cheaper, but I wanted to be
in that suburb because that's where my brother lived. And
so I think it's so interesting too because for example,
like you're saying, of, Okay, well, if you do feel stuck,
maybe it is maybe you're not buying in that specific suburb.

(20:48):
Maybe you're buying in a different suburb. You then leverage
that house to buy in that suburb. You know, there's
always options, but I feel like people feel like there's
no options ever.

Speaker 3 (20:58):
Oh and a lot of that is again the mindset
thing is understanding. It's also looking at people like youself.
Well you've said it there, like giving perspective shifts. The
most expensive things some people own right now are closed
mind And yeah, so that's a good Yeah, Yeah, it's
true because the amount of sub forty year olds or

(21:23):
even thirty year olds that talk to our business and
myself around. They're struggling and they can't get in the market.
They've got no kids. It's just them on their own.
Whatever they buy, it's not going to be there forever home,
like no chance. And people who says it is, I
can tell you right now, and I'm sure we'll dive
into the forever home thing, but I can tell you
now it's nearly non existent. I've realized because kids, pets,

(21:47):
all those things, people transition property on average. I think
it's down to like six and a half years now
on average people hold a property. So I love what
you said. Sometimes the ability to just get in the
market is going to help you not get priced out
of the market.

Speaker 2 (22:02):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (22:03):
So that's a really good point you made there on Yeah,
you can. You can leap frog your way into.

Speaker 1 (22:07):
Your There's always options, and if you feel like there's not,
that's when you know maybe your mindset isn't in the
right place.

Speaker 3 (22:13):
Exactly open the mind. If the most expensive thing someone
owns right now could be a closed mind, so good.

Speaker 1 (22:23):
I also would love to know what's your concepts or
opinion on the right time to buy, like you've kind
of answered it. But you know, if someone comes to you,
when is the right time to buy?

Speaker 3 (22:35):
Good question, i'd say, and it probably touches a little
bit on what you're saying. Just before, Georgie around value
really quickly, what you've seen value, like people were saying
you overpaid for this property in Palm Beach. But the
way Georgie sees value in a property that's close to
her family in a suburb she finds desirable because of
lifestyle benefits is different towards an investor from Perth who

(23:00):
just wants a cash flow asset like you. Both would
see that property differently in terms of what it's worth.
So value on a property is determined by what someone
is willing to pay. So that's why again, don't ever
feel disheard if someone's telling you you've overpaid or anything
like that, because everyone sees value differently in things. Right
when you ask your question there, when is the best

(23:22):
time to buy? I always say when you're number one,
when you can comfortably afford to do so. I always believe, yes,
markets are moving, yesterday was a great time to buy, obviously,
But I also believe, and I've seen some people go
wrong where they nearly are spending time on Instagram. They're
seeing everyone around them purchase property, and they're just going
in all in, and they're really setting themselves up for

(23:44):
failure because if you don't understand the game of finance,
you can really get yourself in a bit of a
pickle if you haven't got buffers in place. So one
tip I give around the best time to buy is
when you can comfortably afford to do. So what that
looks like is reaching out to like a finance broker,
assessing where you're at financially, having a look at what

(24:05):
the repayments could look like in current interest rate environments.
And then one thing I always suggest people do is
fourcasts six to twelve months from now on you as
an individual and a couple or family, and what could change.
I mean, you've got children. As soon as one of
them pop in the life, there's that spend. The spending

(24:25):
goes up, right, changes now a lot changes? Yeah, so
dependence Maybe do you know that your job might be
going out of business soon, so there could be an
unemployment period of time which that would cause so much stress.
So just always fourcasts six to twelve months. You know,
no one can ever predict what the future will hold,
but it's always good to think about if you're thinking
of having kids and stuff like that.

Speaker 1 (24:47):
Also, what about, let's say, on the flip side you're selling,
is there a good time to sell a bad time
to sell? Because I feel like a lot of people
are feeling like, oh, you know, show hold onto it.

Speaker 2 (24:59):
It's better to hold to.

Speaker 1 (25:00):
It long ago, amy making a mistake. They can have
those thoughts.

Speaker 3 (25:03):
Yeah, I always believe with selling. I don't believe in
the just buy and hold forever either. You know, there's
no point having one hundred properties for the sake of
having one hundred properties, right. I always believe if property
you're using property as say an accumulation vehicle to build
financial wealth and stability, you've got to remember that part

(25:24):
of that process could be selling off property to create
financial abundance. So what I mean by that is one
big one that people would sell is if they've got
investment properties, they've been able to scalle the portfolio, they
would sell properties to pay down debt on other properties.
So you may own three properties for easy sake, they're
all valued at a million bucks. You've come to the

(25:46):
point where you want to settle down with work. You
might have a baby on the way. I'll sell one
of my million dollar assets, pay down the debt on
the two others. So leave me in a cash flow
position that's I can nearly replace my full time job
now for example. That's one reason. Second is I would
always sell if it's limiting me to getting into a

(26:06):
better opportunity. So some people right now are holding property
that's basically I did. It's a lemon property.

Speaker 2 (26:13):
And by what do you mean by a lemon property?

Speaker 3 (26:15):
Yeah, so maybe it's something where they felt it was
going to go up a lot in value, and all
it's doing is bleeding them dry through body, corporate fees,
maintenance issues, tenants just tearing it apart, and it's just
really putting a drain on their life. By just holding
onto that, all you're doing is just increasing the pain

(26:36):
that it's in. So is it better you could potentially
sell that to put that money into something better, is
what I mean by that. So that that's an one
site and then the last side more for owner occupiers,
I would sell. Again. I see a lot of people
sell when they're the two common ones upsizing and downsizing.
So if it's impacting your family dynamic. So for example,

(26:59):
a lot of people seem to sell when they have
kids and they're lacking storage and living space. Maybe they're
not in the right school catchment anymore. Obviously, it'd be
great to hold an asset if you could. Definitely try
and hold if you can. Chat to a broker if
you could, But if you can't, you know, there's no
right or wrong market at the end of the day
when it comes to your families like lifestyle and needs. Yeah, sure,

(27:22):
so it's very circumstantial to the right person. I don't
think there's there's a bride or wrong with selling.

Speaker 1 (27:28):
I love that you touched on that because we recently
went through a transition where we bought a new home
and the house we're living in before then again we
thought it was the dream home. The coom her thought
would have it forever. We seem to be buying a
new home like every three.

Speaker 2 (27:44):
Years, but.

Speaker 1 (27:46):
By financial advice, I goes this new house, you have
to stay for at least three years because you cannot
deal with anymore. Sep, don't worry, just relaxed. But it's
interesting because at like at the start, before we bought
this house, we were like, we've got to sell because

(28:09):
the other house like primary house, and it's maybe not
the it's definitely not.

Speaker 2 (28:13):
An investment house. It's like you live there.

Speaker 1 (28:16):
It's very high maintenance, it's two pools, there's an elevator,
like it's I never even thought renting was an option
because I'm like, first of all, who's going to be
renting a house like that? If they have that sort
of money, they're going to be buying. So very late
closed minded with that, and then also I thought, well,
it's such a bad financial decision to own two kind
of primary is that what you'd call them?

Speaker 2 (28:37):
Like?

Speaker 1 (28:38):
Yeah, So I was very kind of like, Okay, we
have to sell this house and then we want to
buy this house. And then the timing we actually had
like a deal on that house and bought this house,
and then that deal fell through. We had you know,
it's bridging finance and whatnot. So it was a bit
of a shit show, and I was like, oh my god,
I've made the worst financial decision for our family ever.

(29:00):
Like obviously me and my husband made it together, and
I felt very like there was a wrong and right
choice and very close minded and very like, oh my god,
accout believe this has happened, especially because these houses are
in the kind of price range where it's not everyone.
It's not coming through that, you know, it's a niche Yeah,

(29:20):
very niche.

Speaker 2 (29:21):
And so I was very like, yes, closed mind.

Speaker 1 (29:25):
I was like, oh my god, I've made this huge
financial decision.

Speaker 2 (29:28):
You know, what does this mean?

Speaker 1 (29:30):
And because I was looking at it at financial choice,
not necessarily values, and so then I was like, well,
maybe we just stay in this house and we sell
the other house. And the whole reason for buying the
new house was in the other house, there's like six levels,
it's on a hill, so you know, we have a
young child, we're about to have a second and I
was thinking of like going down two flights of stairs

(29:52):
to a newborn ivy.

Speaker 2 (29:55):
For the first time ever.

Speaker 1 (29:56):
It's my daughter who's three, started climbing out of her
cot and walking up the sets of stairs to our room,
and so then I was like, oh my god, I
don't want her to you know, fall over off.

Speaker 2 (30:05):
And then yeah, so all these things started happening.

Speaker 1 (30:07):
And then once I was like, hang on, Georgia, you
make financial decisions, like I've done a lot of money
mindset work, and it's like, you make financial decisions to
benefit your family. Like money doesn't control you. You get
to make decisions that are based on your family. So
even though it looks like a shit show right now,
what is the best thing for your family? And this

(30:28):
you know, this new house one level, we're on the
same level, yards space for the kids, et cetera.

Speaker 2 (30:35):
I'm like, this is this is the value.

Speaker 1 (30:37):
So even if for a short amount of time you're
losing cash or money to the point where I could
still sustain it, I was like, that's not a bad decision.
That's actually contributing to your values and who you are
as a person and your family, which is like, isn't
that the point of life?

Speaker 3 (30:56):
Yeah? Exactly. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (30:58):
And I had to really process and work through it
because it felt so heavy and it felt like, oh
my god, I've made this really bad decision. And it
really made me understand why people can get so in
their heads about is this.

Speaker 2 (31:11):
A good decision? Is this a bad decision? What does
that mean?

Speaker 1 (31:15):
And obviously, you know, we want to be making good
financial decisions, but I think it is very interesting when
people aren't contributing in the is this aligned with my values?
Is this aligned to my goals. Is this aligned with
the person that I want to be? Yeah, I love
that you've already honestly touched on it. But what would
you say to kind of that person.

Speaker 3 (31:35):
Yeah, I think you pretty much nawed it. I think
a huge one is understanding purpose of purchase. So every
decision in property, you've got to remember. With property, it's
not buying a pair of shoes. You can't just quickly refund,
grab the docket, take it back if you don't, if
you don't like it, right, damn it. So it's a

(31:57):
big decision. Well pretty much. It is the biggest financial
investment of anything you own, really, so two parts. People
spend a lot of time procrastinating because of that, and
then on the other front, people get so much stress
did they do the right thing or not? I always say,
before anything, just understand what's the purpose behind the purchase.

(32:18):
So it sounds like for you, Georgie, again it was
a family decision because you know you're a growing family.
You've got young one on the way stairs, aren't I
guess the best thing for this family, like there's safety.
That didn't get what I mean. So you're making a
decision based on the values that you see with your
children having a safe environment at home and you having

(32:39):
ability to be on the same level of them and
stuff like that. So finding out what this next one is,
a lot of people get stuck. I think in keeping
up with the Jones is when it comes to buying
property too. They're buying a property because my friend Sally
on Instagram or Jenny I look up to bought a
similar property in that area. So I buy a property
in that area. But does it actually align with what

(33:02):
you need? What you want? Is this for again like
a lifestyle thing? And I just to sprinkle on top,
I love what you said around the purpose of life.
I'm a property investor. I buy properties too, and rent
them out and do all those sorts of things. But
I can just keep going if I want to. I
could just keep buying property. But I've observed from Afar

(33:24):
all the best investors I know, true success for them
is knowing when enough's enough as well, And what is
the purpose of Like, what's the point of owning so
many properties with so much potential risk and maintaince and
all those sorts of things for you know what's it
actually for? So you always just got to remember if
it's going down investment properties. Don't say I just want

(33:46):
to buy ten properties. It's like, cool, what are the
ten properties for?

Speaker 2 (33:50):
What are you trying to achieve? What is it the investment?

Speaker 3 (33:52):
Yeah, and I even got a layer deeper. Where does
that fuel your personal values? So without understanding what your
I guess values are in life, like, it's hard to
make any decision, right, Yeah, to keep on that, yeah,
to keep on that moral compass on what you need.
So one thing that's really helped me in personal life
is I buy properties for an investment purpose because I've realized,

(34:16):
like a lot of my values revolve around family and time, choice, freedom,
and I'm building my life around that, and the properties
are getting me closer each time. But once I get
to a certain number that that's an I don't actually
anything more, No, because I've got this kind of value
on what it's all for.

Speaker 1 (34:35):
And you're clear, you're clear on the goal.

Speaker 3 (34:37):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (34:38):
Well let's even start talking about investment property. So what
does it if someone you know, maybe they have their
primary house and they're like, you know, I do want
to start investing in properties From a very non emotional
point of view, I personally never bought it for a
non emotional. I'd love to know what should someone look for. Obviously,

(35:00):
I know you're a bys agent, so it's very non
emotional and that's exactly what you do.

Speaker 3 (35:05):
Yeah, look, I think number one, like you said, getting
clear the first question I always ask if someone wants
an investment, probably say awesome, do you mind letting me
know the purpose behind the purchase? Like what if you
were to gain this property, what does it give you?
And they say, oh, do it be awesome to have
some financial freedom and instability? And then if you go

(35:25):
a step deeper, I love you know the why, like hey,
do you mind me asking why? You know? And then
it's something that I grew up you know, poor, or
like you know, and I'm really I've just had my
first child and I really want to make sure my
daughter has the life that I didn't have something, you know.
And then it's like cool, keep that, write that on

(35:46):
your wall or whatever. Yeah, put on your vision board.
That's what's driving you for property. So it's not the
bricks and mortar, it's that That's how you got to
see it. Number one. Number two is with investment property,
you got to understand the term like a return on
ROI like return on investment. So you don't just buy
any property for the sake of buying property. At the

(36:06):
end of the day, the way you get wealthy and
property is something called capital growth. So for example Georgia,
like you're one in Palm Beach, you might have what
did you buy it? Do you remember what you've paid
for it back in the day when people are still
overpaid a meal? Yeah, say a meal and what and
it'd be worth x. Now that gap between the mill
and what it's worth, Now that's capital growth. Okay, that

(36:27):
that capital growth is eighth wonder of the world. That
that there. You can then take that amount. So just
say the property is worth Say is that called equity exactly? Yea,
So it's gone up in capital growth. Let's easy numbers.
You bought it at one meal, Just say it's worth
two million today. Yep, eighty percent of that for example,
you can actually grab so what's eight hundred grand for example,

(36:51):
you can if you can service that, you can pull
that out and buy and buy another one. That's called equity.

Speaker 2 (36:57):
You could use eight hundred thousand as a.

Speaker 3 (37:01):
Deposit pretty much. Yeah, depositing costs.

Speaker 2 (37:04):
Yeah, yeah, it's not the whole amount.

Speaker 3 (37:06):
No, no, no, no, no, no exactly. So generally what happens
again chat is a great deposit, Yeah great, And again,
well this is where it gets cool, right if you've
got a good broken And again this isn't financial device.
This is purely like my personal experience. And obviously chat
to finance broker who can help you with this. But
just say that eight hundred grand. You can even what
I do. I used to split it up, so you know,

(37:29):
eight hundred grand, maybe split it into two four hundred
grand deposits or four or eight one hundred grand deposits,
you know, And that's how you can compare, yeah, exactly.
And that's how you can get yourself into assets. So
you get the equity and then the bank will give
you the other eighty percent, so you could get twenty
percent from that equity and the other eighty percent can

(37:50):
come from somewhere else. And that's how you can kind
of build. And there's things called debt recycling and you know,
for another chat, but that's I guess how investing property
can kind of snowball after a while. But all of
that there, what I just said, that's all well and good,
but there's no point going down any of that unless
you know the why, because again you can get lost

(38:11):
and just buying properties for the sake of buying properties.
So have a think around what do you actually need
for your dream life. That's one little exercise that I
do personally, is my dream life looks like X. I
do these subscriptions. I've got them a gym and my
wellness retreats and stuff like that. I like to travel

(38:32):
for four to eight times a year, and I love
to go. Two of these are overseas and that costs rough.
You know, just build out your dream life my EA
and house manager like what do they cost a week?
And then build it and then have a look what
does your dream life cost right now? And that's an
awesome way to kind of have a bit of a
compass starter for anyone who might be struggling to find
out why would I even get a property in the

(38:54):
first place.

Speaker 1 (38:56):
I love that, and I think also we have I
have a financial advisor, so again it's not financial advice,
but we have also been like, okay, well, I want
to retire quite young. I don't want to feel like
I have to work in time sixty or seventy. So
let's say I'm retiring at age forty, how many properties

(39:17):
do I need and how much do I have to
have paid off? And especially because my lifestyle is this
x amount, so what does that look like?

Speaker 2 (39:25):
And then backtracking that too.

Speaker 1 (39:27):
So then when I am having a rough week or whatnot,
I'm like, well, you've.

Speaker 2 (39:33):
Only got to work for another ten years.

Speaker 1 (39:36):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, which look I'll be probably working for
the rest of my life.

Speaker 2 (39:39):
Yeah yeah.

Speaker 1 (39:41):
That makes it worth it, and that makes it like
I can do this, I can get on board with this.

Speaker 3 (39:46):
Yeah. And you get clarity too, And this is why
I love too around business when you get into business.
So if you've got any entrepreneurs listening, this is where
it gets exciting. I read a book called The cash
Flow Quadrant when I was quite young, and it's all
sat by Robert Kiyosaki. Rich dad, poor dad, and it's better. Yeah,

(40:07):
read it the cash Flow Quadrant. And you're doing it
to a te right now without even knowing. So on
the quadrant, like the left side is like employee, you know,
self employed. So just say you start a business and
you're the one man show, one woman show, no team
or anything. And then on the right side of the quadrant,
there's business owner and investor, and the whole purpose is

(40:29):
like moving from the left side of the quadrant to
the right side. So when people start a business, they're
on the left side because even though you're effectively work
for yourself, now you've essentially brought yourself a job you know.

Speaker 2 (40:40):
You're doing, You're going to work more.

Speaker 3 (40:42):
You're going to work for more hours. Yeah, but as
time goes on, you build a team and maybe you're
leveraging now a business into an actual asset where revenue
is and you're getting profits and now you've got surplus
cash flow that you can either reinvest back in the
business or now you can pull some out and put
in the bottom quadrant, which is investor. And I love

(41:03):
what you said. You've got a goal there, so you know,
these properties are funding the goal. You can use profits
from your business into property. And it's kind of this
nice the wealthiest in the world stay cyclical. In this
right side of the quadrant. They're building business, creating impact
in the world. Yeah, but at the end of the day,

(41:24):
they've also got assets on the side that are kind
of the safeguarding there at the end of the day.
So yeah, that's a really good book that really highlights
I guess where people could start with if they're in
business and into property even.

Speaker 1 (41:37):
Just touching on that, sorry to Hijack. I think it's
interesting too because, for example, with this new house we've
just bought, our property portfolio now is about about twenty
mel and so like that's obviously Georgie when she was
you know, younger, would never think she would own that
much property. And it's interesting because I've got to be

(42:01):
conscious of how I say this. It's not that it
has it doesn't feel like it has been hard. And
obviously I have a higher earning capacity, but for instance,
my brother who co owns all the businesses, has the
same earning capacity and he only has one property. And
you know, I know people in the industry. I know
people who also got eight figure, seven figure companies who

(42:24):
don't have.

Speaker 2 (42:25):
A lot of assets.

Speaker 1 (42:26):
And it's interesting to me because me and my husband
brought our first property when I was about twenty three,
love that and then and it was like a two
bird room shipbox in Brisbane and it was like, you know,
we made sure it was under the price where we
could get the first owners granted, like you know, we've
done all that but every single time, I've never been

(42:50):
like satisfied and been like, okay, well I've got two
properties now, so the surplus I can start spending on
designer things. And don't get me wrong, I actually I
do own design of things and I love splurging. But
how I do well, how we do our money sorry,
is you know we have the goals we have Okay, well,

(43:11):
we do want to have a portfolio that gets us
this amount of money so I can retire, so if
whatever reason I have to, you know, stop the businesses.
And there's this amount of money coming in. So there's
this whole plan and instead of just being people do
it this way, so I'm going to do it that way.
It's more like where do I want to be. And

(43:32):
it's been a slow process, but it's been like okay, well,
even like last year, me and my husband went to
Europe for the first time and we're like thirty.

Speaker 2 (43:42):
And for example, I remember.

Speaker 1 (43:44):
When we were buying our second house, we really wanted
to go to Europe. Everyone was going to Europe, but
I cost it and I was like to Tim and
he was obviously on board, and I was like, it's
either we can go to Europe or we can buy
another house, and it's like, we made that decision. And
I know it's probably not the same now, and I'm
not saying that, but there has been very intentional decisions

(44:08):
even when we have had surplus or cash or limited cash,
that it's been like, this is the goal, this is
what we wanted to and it's been very clear from
a young age. And I think we are very privileged
in the way of I saw my dad, you know,
buy properties, and he retired when he was fifty and
live off his property.

Speaker 2 (44:27):
So it was growing.

Speaker 1 (44:30):
Yeah, well it was ingrained, so and I know not
a lot of people have parents that do that. But
there is also a side of even though I do
have a higher earning capacity even now because of maintaining
such a huge property portfolio, I'm living on a budget,
you know, even having you know, a very high earning capacity,

(44:53):
most of our money goes to mortgages. And for example,
we're not doing an overseas trip this year because I
was like, find actially it's it's too much stress, and
we choose the property. And it's very interesting because I
thought you would kind of just get to a point
where it's like almost you wouldn't have to make those
decisions anymore. But I'm finding even at every level, you're

(45:17):
still making those very like not limited decisions, but decisions
where you're prioritizing things. Yes, and it still is a decision.
And I think it's interesting because it's almost the same
decision making when yeah, but it's like it's obviously such
a higher level. But then I'm like, oh, wow, look
at what we've created.

Speaker 3 (45:35):
Yes, but it.

Speaker 2 (45:36):
Also makes sense.

Speaker 3 (45:37):
Yes. One of my favorite sayings in business in property,
new levels, new devils.

Speaker 2 (45:41):
Yes, we love the same time.

Speaker 3 (45:43):
Yeah. And at the end of the day. The cool
thing is, though, Georgie, that you've got an asset base.
So that's the key difference I always find is there's
some incredible business owners entrepreneurs out there, but because they
don't have clear clouds already on what to do with
the surplus cash, it does go into non productive things,

(46:07):
whereas they could set some aside into an asset base.
And the asset base is something you water on the side,
right And like you said, yours has gotten bigger over
time and you still have to water it. But there
will come a time where you can decide. Now again,
when's a good time to sell. There may be a
time where you sell one of them to payoff one

(46:27):
of the others or two of the other you know,
And it's just but you've got the decision to play
with your asset base without any asset base. At the
end of the day, as a business owner, to keep
the funding and the lifestyle going, you will have to
trade time for business profits. I get, you know, And
it's a lot of the time it's choice. And we're
all entrepreneurs that we all say we're going to retire,

(46:48):
but we'll be doing something right, you know. Yeah, but
at least you have the choice. Yes. And I've found
chatting to so many people looking to scale business, property,
all those sorts of things, a lot of it is
based around choice and freedom.

Speaker 1 (47:04):
What's even interesting because me and my husband have this
conversation because sometimes he because I'm very asset focused and
I'm very goal in like future goal focused, and he
can be a bit more like.

Speaker 2 (47:17):
Let's have a bit of fun.

Speaker 1 (47:19):
And it's funny because we're talking the other day and
he's like, Babe, what's the point of us working so
hard making these decisions if we've got to limit ourselves.
And I'm like Tim, we literally, I'm pregnant, we have
a three year old.

Speaker 2 (47:33):
Life's not that fun. You're in a different boat. But
like I'm like, honestly, it's not like we can. And
we did go to.

Speaker 1 (47:41):
Europe, just us, but it was this very beautiful stage
of Ivy being two, so she's not fully going to remember,
and then like I wasn't pregnant or anything, so and
we were like, this is never going to happen again,
like the next time, we're going to have to bring
the kids. So it's so funny because I've said to
him literally like this is a stage where we're focusing
on the kids. We are almost like foregoing certain things

(48:05):
that I know, you know, we could have and we
could do, but also I want to be able to,
you know, the kids be ten and me have the
option of quitting work and us taking a year holiday
in the US or you know those sorts of things.
So because I'm like, well, we're not going to go

(48:27):
to Europe with like a newborn anyway. So it's like
also thinking of like you said, almost in those like
sprint rest in but in like your asset and building
And that's kind of how I'm thinking at the moment
is like, look, things are tight, like things are having
to I'm actually having.

Speaker 2 (48:46):
To before this house.

Speaker 1 (48:47):
Sorry, We've got a bit comfortable, and we're kind of like,
you know, spending a bit of money, having a bit
of fun. You know, if I wanted some new designer,
we could afford it. But now I'm back in the no,
we're working on something. And I honestly love that kind
of pressure, Like I almost love having the properties to
be like, well this is you've got to pay off this,

(49:10):
and you've got to pay off that, and you've got
to put some we also invest in like stock, so
put some in that, and then this is the amount
and even if it's a smaller amount, almost having that
pressure to live within the means.

Speaker 2 (49:24):
Because I'm like, we're going to have so much.

Speaker 1 (49:26):
Time to go and spend a lot of money into
it whatnot. And I love I almost love a bit
of a challenge.

Speaker 2 (49:32):
I love when we.

Speaker 1 (49:32):
First bought our property that we were like trying to
you know, make the most least expensive meals and almost
romanticizing being on a budget and being like, well this
is funding the future goal and so I'm going to
like really be about it and not making it a

(49:53):
bad thing, and even having that conversation with Tim Here's like,
oh yeah, true life spit boring anyway, So we were
I'd be spending that much money and we're just going
to be enjoying the kids and looking at at things
that way, knowing that future us is going to get
a tenfold ben Yes, And I.

Speaker 3 (50:10):
Think that's it. And again it goes back to literally
at the start of what we're saying around the most
successful people know what they want and or they spend
all day thinking how do I make it happen? You know,
So without knowing what you want, it's hard to you know,
go through all of those things and always believe there's
seasons where you're watering, and there's seasons where you're eating.

Speaker 2 (50:32):
The fruit, yes, and being okay with that.

Speaker 3 (50:35):
And being okay with that too. And you've got to remember,
for any listeners in here, percentage of income earned is
something people forget too. It's like you've got to remember,
you know, if you're looking up to someone they've got
the design of things that could be a very small
percentage of their total taxable income, so that's next to
nothing Versus if you're someone who hasn't got the asset

(50:57):
base and hasn't got the cash flow yet, but you're
trying to live up to that. Yeah, you could be
out ninety percent of your taxable weekly income on depreciating assets.
And the people you look up to might be like, well,
they do it, but that that's a very small percentage
of their taxable income. So just remember they might have
been watering for ten years before you've been able to

(51:17):
see them too. So that's just one thing to remember.
Because I'm all about enjoying life holidays, but always remember
think of it as what percent of my total taxable
income is this doing right now? Sometimes it is the
time the water, Yeah, Sometimes it is time to eat
the fruit.

Speaker 2 (51:33):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (51:34):
And if you're you know, if you have maybe previously
eating the fruit a lot.

Speaker 3 (51:39):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (51:41):
And it's like finding ways like these mindset shifts to
be okay with going through watering, And I, yeah, I
honestly think that clarity of what you're saying and being like, well,
I don't want to work on time seventy. This is
what I want to do and then go and getting
advice and having a plan, it's I feel like that's what.

Speaker 2 (52:01):
Humans are meant to do. We're meant to have progress.

Speaker 1 (52:03):
We're meant to have that feeling of like, well, I'm
on a plan, I'm progressing.

Speaker 2 (52:08):
So I just I think it's really important.

Speaker 3 (52:10):
Yeah, Like Tony Robbins always said, if you're not growing,
you're dying, right, I know.

Speaker 2 (52:14):
I'm honestly see I'm probably a bit on the realm
of like always growing.

Speaker 1 (52:21):
Really, I'm like, all right, all right, let's chat about
is the dream.

Speaker 2 (52:27):
Home a real thing?

Speaker 3 (52:29):
Oh love this topic.

Speaker 1 (52:30):
I have floten into this trap. Like I said, you know,
our palm of each house what three houses ago, I'm
paying extra because this is so dream home, this is
the family home and you know we moved in two years.
What's your thoughts on this?

Speaker 3 (52:45):
Yeah, I'm more in the space of there's dream home
and there's forever home. I think the forever home is
kind of something nonexistent to a degree. I think I
think the dream home just because again, since I started
the business a few years ago, and like working with
so many buys and being in this industry for so long,

(53:05):
I've just seen it firsthand on like the amount of
people that said this is the forever home, this is
the one I've said this, you know what I mean?
And you know, two years later they're hitting us up
to like, no, we need a new forever home now.
So what I've realized is it's the dream home for
right now, and be okay with seeing it that way too,

(53:29):
because at the end of the day, again, it's not
a pair of shoes, it's a home. So you want
it to be nice. If you want the fancy pool
and al fresco, go go find it, But just realize,
don't put too much pressure on yourself thinking and buying
with the mind of like I'm going to be in
this home forever.

Speaker 1 (53:47):
So almost like waiting waiting, waiting because you could. But
I think you could have brought two properties to leverage them.

Speaker 3 (53:54):
This is the big one, right. I believe the ability
to get in the market before getting priced out of
the market is one of the keys. If you look
at the last twelve months on the Gold Coast, for example,
it's grown at a rate of on average, say thirteen percent. Wow,
So every month, if you break that down, it's nearly

(54:15):
ten percent a month, right, ten percent on a million bucks,
you know, it's like ten grand. So every month you're
procrastinating waiting for you're kind of costing yourself ten grand
out of the market as well. So do you get
what I'm trying to say. So it's nearly understanding that, hey,
the market is moving, understanding that, hey, I want to

(54:35):
get the dream home for right now, and then go
off that don't put too much pressure on finding the
forever home at the end of the day.

Speaker 2 (54:46):
I love that.

Speaker 3 (54:47):
I just notice how many people transition, change upside downsize,
location for work changes, so many things happen.

Speaker 2 (54:55):
Yeah, I love that.

Speaker 1 (54:56):
Of like almost sake, well, is it the dream home
for right now?

Speaker 2 (55:00):
Tick? Amazing? Don't be too worried. It's funny.

Speaker 1 (55:04):
I was even talking to a girlfriend and she was
talking about like the car she wanted to buy, and
she was like, doesn't have kids, hasn't been with her
partner for that long, and she's talking about going to
buy a car right now. And she's like, oh, well,
I'm going to get it was this like eight Sedar
and she's like, you know, because I'm going to have kids,
Well in like three years, just buy the car that

(55:28):
is like appropriate for you right now, and then like
when you have the kids. She's like, oh, but you know,
you've got to be prepared. I'm like babe, come on,
I mean, you're going to want to my new car anyway,
and you're just driving around this eight cedar probably caught
you so much in fuel, But it was so funny
because I really was like, oh wow, like people really

(55:50):
living almost too much in that future, like having those
goals and having that clarity, but also living in the
now is also.

Speaker 3 (55:58):
Important, and I think having a slight put the cap
on a little bit on would this potentially make a
good investment too, knowing what I just said important, Yeah,
because remember it can be an asset. This dream home
you're about to buy could potentially be the asset that
accelerates your family's wealth in the next five years if

(56:22):
you decide to move out of it and sell it
or rent it out. It is insane what some of
the property growth has done for some people's lives without
even knowing. Yeah, you know, so some people's family homes
right now is literally the highest performing asset in their life,
and they've been paying down the debt slowly chipping away.

(56:43):
They're sitting on literal gold mines. So just remember that
the longer you wait on trying to find the perfect home,
the forever home is also potentially delaying your family's financial
security too. And as you said, you're a living proof,
like you've got an asset base now that you can
fall back on, and all of those were the forever

(57:05):
homes back in the day.

Speaker 2 (57:06):
Literally.

Speaker 1 (57:08):
I would also love your opinion too, because I was
kind of having this debate with my brother on the weekend,
and you know, he lives out in Stanthorpe and we
were talking about like the new house we just bought,
and he was like, well, are you going to start
paying down your mortgages?

Speaker 2 (57:24):
Like you can't just keep.

Speaker 1 (57:25):
Buying newes, Like like I get, and he was like,
here's what you should do. Start paying down your mortgages.
Have this goal and he's like, you could be mortgage
free and I'm like, like, I'm thirty, Like I can.

Speaker 2 (57:41):
We can, but he's like, yeah, but it's stressful, like
and he had very look.

Speaker 1 (57:46):
He definitely had points because you know, I was expressing
that I wanted to be more you know, spend more time.

Speaker 2 (57:53):
With small children and those sorts of things.

Speaker 1 (57:56):
So definitely agree, but it was very interesting his mind
and set. He was very much like the goal of
the priority should be to pay off all your mortgages,
and that's financial freedom. What would you say to that person.
Let's say I'm the example of like thirty earning, you know,
high earning capacity.

Speaker 2 (58:17):
What would you say?

Speaker 3 (58:18):
Yeah, really good question. By the way, and one thing
is with again it goes down to the clarity thing
number one, like what is this all for? So for example, right,
I'll use my example. I've got some properties and i'm
online investment properties. I pay interest only, so I'm paying
the minimum requirement for those properties. I'm actually not paying

(58:41):
down any of the debt right now. Yeah, And I
learned this strategy learning off a lot of great investors
out there, and property is that they just they accumulate
because all of these growth assets are exceeding, like they're
growing at a rate where the capital growth. As we
spoke around further the ability to just get in those
mind markets, secure something, just pay the minimum needed. Generally,

(59:03):
if you're buying in good areas, the tenants will pretty
much cover the mortgage. You've essentially just paying to hold them.
Then when the time comes, and this is understanding markets,
then you again that's when you could sell and you
could wipe out the whole mortgage in one go. So
without impacting current cash flow circumstance, because if I was

(59:26):
paying principle and interest on every one of my properties,
you know that's a lot of cash out. Yes, the
debt's going down, but it may impact the lifestyle that
you want at that current time. So there are I'm
just giving this perspective again, like, there are ways you
can kind of pay to hold the asset. If you're
thinking of selling that asset in a few years time,

(59:47):
you can then sell it and pay off debt completely.
Do I think paying off debt for all the properties
as a goal? Obviously that'd be amazing, right for sure,
You've got to remember how long I'm going a time
frame do you want this to happen? So, for example,
most banks thirty year term generally twenty thirty years, so
you could pay just what they've set for you for

(01:00:10):
thirty years. You do that for thirty years, you know
you're in for thirty years of just paying that, paying
that for the next thirty years, and then by time
thirty years comes, you'll be debt free. Or they'll come
times where hey, I'm gonna pay for the next ten years.
I might sell one of my properties get rid of
that one pay down the debt. You know, there's just
so many different ways where you can eventually be debt free.

(01:00:34):
Other than just paying down your weekly repayments, if that
makes sense, you can use other property to get rid
of that debt. And again, good debt bad debt too. Anything,
any debt on an investment property is taxable as well,
so that's considered good debt yep to somewhat. Again, and
this is probably the cherry on top, is what is

(01:00:55):
your relationship with debt? So maybe did you say this
was your brother.

Speaker 2 (01:00:59):
Or relationship with debt?

Speaker 3 (01:01:01):
Yeah?

Speaker 2 (01:01:01):
I attract a lot of it.

Speaker 3 (01:01:02):
I was going to say, is this so did you
say brother or friend? Yeah? And isn't it interesting? Right?
And me and my brother are the saying too, Like
same household, same parents, but potentially different mindsets on debt.
So some people are very anti debt. My parents were
so anti debt, like verydi but I listen to their advice.

(01:01:24):
I would not be where I am today. So don't
be afraid of debt either. There's good debt and there's
bad debt, and understanding the two is huge.

Speaker 2 (01:01:32):
I think.

Speaker 1 (01:01:33):
Also, the way I see debt is debt for me
because obviously I don't own my properties outright at all,
and very much. I pay interesting only, Yeah, for that
exact reason that you said. And I kind of like,
I don't I see debt in the way of it's
a tool for me to almost like borrow, so then

(01:01:57):
I'm creating that future dream. So I like, yeah, I
really don't see it as.

Speaker 2 (01:02:02):
You know bad.

Speaker 1 (01:02:02):
I personally don't have any credit card debt. I don't
have any Yeah, I don't have any personal card debt
or anything like that.

Speaker 2 (01:02:10):
It's just property debt, which again they're.

Speaker 1 (01:02:13):
On all the investments, so I just don't feel worried
about And I even said to Yeah, I said to
my brother, I'm like, it's almost like said and forget
Like if you have the cash in their two services,
it's like the money goes away and then I kind
of like forget about it, like I'm not always checking
the mortgages. I'm not, you know, it's and I know

(01:02:34):
we could just sell a house and then yeah, like
pay down the debt and what not. But again it's
like I feel like that's almost like a scarcity mindset
of like I've just got to get rid of it,
Like I've got to get rid of the debt and
not being able to hold And I think this can
be like such a almost something that shows if you
are going to be a wealthy person of like being

(01:02:56):
able to hold debt and it not just regulate you
and you into stress and be able to be like
it's okay because I know I can service and I
know if I can't service the loan for whatever reason,
I'll sort it out.

Speaker 2 (01:03:10):
Like it's not a disaster. It's not likeable death.

Speaker 3 (01:03:14):
Where you can sell. Again, the worst thing if you
could never service a homeland debt. And that's why I
love property as a vehicle. You can liquid it pretty quickly,
like yeah, your sell it, sell it, Like as long
as shelter doesn't run out of fashion, there'll be someone
he'll buy it, right, Yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:03:29):
And even like you know, we're in the current the living.

Speaker 3 (01:03:33):
Yeah, Cristi, yeah, you know yeah cost of living.

Speaker 1 (01:03:36):
Yeah, where properties have never been so hot, like everyone's
trying to buy properties. So yeah, I think it's very interesting.
It's again I feel like it's hooleps. So we just
keep coming out to It's like your mindset.

Speaker 3 (01:03:46):
Around it, My huge debt is a huge on your
mindset around debt understanding you nod it good debt, bad debt, credit,
you know, putting things on lease and loans if they're
depreciating assets, probably not the most productive thing with debt.
But again, you can use debt and leverage debt. And
that's why I said it's like the eighth wonder of
the world. You can leverage debt to get into appreciating

(01:04:08):
assets by not buying it for a whole. It's like
buying a pair of shoes that you know are going
to go up in value and you only have to
pay ten percent of it right now to own it.
It's just like, it's crazy. Yeah, it's crazy. So that's
a big one. It's just understanding that debt. And one
of my favorite things that's always been a brain tattoo
is OPM. The key with property investing is learning how

(01:04:31):
to work with other people's money aka the banks. Yeah, yeah,
other people's money. OPM got it from a book and
OPM is that's the game. It's understanding how can I
show myself to maybe a bank to show, hey, lend

(01:04:51):
me some money so I can go put it into
appreciating assets that I'll pay the minimum ount for just
to hold them and I'll keep doing my thing. You
said it once, you do it a few times. It's
just like when you had that first kiss back in
high school. You did it once and then it's like, yeah,
I can do this, just like property, right, like once
you have the first time, you get used to the repayment,

(01:05:12):
going out, Yeah, coming in it, sit and forget Yep. Yeah,
it's a don't be scared of it.

Speaker 2 (01:05:18):
Yeah, no, don't be scared the risk.

Speaker 1 (01:05:20):
Well, from my experience, the risk has always paid off.

Speaker 3 (01:05:24):
It's a good point.

Speaker 1 (01:05:25):
So last question, Matt, what's one unsexy but game changing
tip that could save someone thousands when they're buying either
their first property or just property or an investment property.

Speaker 3 (01:05:38):
Love it unsexy tip?

Speaker 2 (01:05:40):
I love that so like boring. Yeah, we all do this,
but we just need to remember.

Speaker 3 (01:05:45):
Yeah, i'll give you, I'll give you one could be unsexy.
I think it's very sexy negotiation.

Speaker 2 (01:05:51):
Oh okay, give it to us.

Speaker 3 (01:05:53):
For first time buy It's really easy. This is what
I see a lot of novice buyers do, is they
view property they like and then they spend the next
sort of day or two kind of do we like it?
Do we not like it? Yet what do we do? Okay,
we like it right now, let's you call the agent.
I'll call it. Do I call the agent. It's just like,

(01:06:13):
there's just a lot happening right now. It's just we're
like and they're scared, and they get scared in the negotiation.
I see so many buyers stall when it comes time
to like what do I do now? Like, like I
want to put an offer in? How do I communicate that?
And how do I make this happen? Like a lot
of people get I think they do it wrong by
saying like a letter of offer, like they'll text their

(01:06:35):
offer through and do all that. One of my biggest
tips I can give to novice buyers is, if you
like the property, I would go straight to whoever's representing
the sale of the property, so the agent and as
mister and missus agent, could I have a copy of
the formal contract of sale? I'm very interested to put
an offer in by the end of today. What that does?

(01:06:57):
It kind of lights up the agents. They talk to
thousands of buyers all day, right Tie Kicker Buys. You
know there's lots of window shoppers. Essentially, if someone's come
in and they're talking like that it's like, I'm going
to follow this perpose. I want to work with this person.
That's number one. Number two is when the contract comes in,
I would call the agent. Just say, mister and missus agent,

(01:07:19):
what sort of price could get it done today? Why
not ask the question? Why do people beat around the
bush and like try to be all like shifty and
like what's the reason of sale? And like how long
has it been on the mark? Just be straight up
what sort of price could get it done today? And
then you know, they might say a price and then
say cool, all right, leave me with it. I'll get

(01:07:43):
your formal offer, and then just say that he said
it was a million dollars. You may only see value,
say eight hundred grand. You don't have to put a
million dollars. Remember and put whatever you want. If it's
on a formal contract, submit. The negotiation can happen on
the piece of paper. So why that is so key
for buyers out there? You kind of separate yourself from

(01:08:04):
the forty other people at the open home who were
kind of interested, but they're kind of twiddling their thumbs.
The agent doesn't want to make thirty nine phone calls
to the other people. If you're there with a piece
of paper and you've sent it back at a price. Yeah,
it might be lower. I'll tell you what that agent
is going to get back to you asap, and then
what it is. I'll call it a countersign strategy. The

(01:08:26):
agent would then say to seller, look, we've got someone
intent the key and they're at eight hundred. I know
you said a million, Hey, what should we go back
with them with, say nine to fifty. They cross it
out on the same piece of payment and put nine
fifty comes back to the buyer. Bang, we're in a negotiation,
and I call it an isolated negotiation. So you are
the only one dealing with the vendor right now, so

(01:08:49):
you've got their attention, best time of buy I love that. Yeah,
So just don't over complicate the power very sick, Yeah don't.
I'm sexy, but I love it because a lot of
people over complicate the negotiation. They get fixated on what
questions to ask and try to be your sus on everything.
Straight up, if you like the property, you see value on,

(01:09:11):
whether that's a personal, professional, family thing, whatever it is,
go out there and have a crack a crack, and
I can tell you right now if you are showing
intent and being respectful and saying, Misterimer's agent, can I
please have a copy of the contract? Keep put it
off for in today you are going to get callbacks.
Everyone complaints agents, they talk to you. They will talk
to you if you talk like that.

Speaker 2 (01:09:32):
I love that. Thank you so much.

Speaker 1 (01:09:34):
That is such great advice and we have loved having
you on the podcast, having me so many good tips.
If someone wants to work with you, find out more information.
Where can they find you what they need to do?

Speaker 3 (01:09:46):
Yeah, just Matt underscore Stroma on socials, our companies at
Thesaramagroup dot com and yeah, reach out. I get a
lot of dms just with questions on the Gold Coast
and different market I'm all about I love sharing the
value and yeah it's fun. It's a funny industry and
there's a lot of ups and downs. But just remember,
I think it goes back to just what we said

(01:10:07):
at the start. George is like the most successful. They
spend all they think and what do I want and
how do I get it? Don't be someone who is
looking for someone to blame for not being where they
want to be.

Speaker 1 (01:10:18):
I love that so much. Thank you so much for
all the good advice. I'll put everything in the show notes,
but we appreciate it. Guys, if you loved this episode,
take a screenshot, tag us both let us know we
really appreciate you sharing it and any feedback.

Speaker 2 (01:10:34):
But thank you so much.

Speaker 3 (01:10:35):
I thank you