OD #8 - The Real Reason You Haven’t Bought a Property Yet

You don’t have a property problem. You have a discipline problem.

In this episode, Oscar breaks down the uncomfortable truth behind why most first-time investors never make it past “research mode.” You’ll learn how your daily habits are quietly destroying your borrowing power—and how simple, intentional decisions can fast-track your first investment property.

Inside this episode:

• The top 3 excuses killing your wealth potential
• How $250/week can turn into a deposit in 18 months
• Real stats on savings, spending, and property growth in Australia
• What lenders actually look at before approving your loan
• Oscar’s 30-Day Discipline Sprint: a challenge designed to build momentum, money, and confidence

Whether you’re earning $65k or $200k—this one’s for anyone who’s serious about getting off the sidelines and into the game.

DISCLAIMER:

The information in this podcast is general in nature and does not constitute personal financial advice. It does not take into account your individual objectives, financial situation, or needs. Always consider whether the information is appropriate for you and seek advice from a qualified professional before making financial decisions.

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Disclaimer:
The information provided in this podcast is general in nature and does not constitute personal financial advice. It has been prepared without taking into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. Before acting on any information, you should consider the appropriateness of the advice, having regard to your own objectives, financial situation and needs. Asset Road Pty Ltd recommends you seek independent financial, legal, taxation or other advice as required. All investments carry risk. Past performance is not indicative of future results.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:12):
Welcome back to another episode of the Finance
Bible Podcast.
Zeke here and your co-host,oscar.
But before we get into it,please note that nothing in this
podcast should ever beconsidered as personal financial
advice.
Of course, if that is what youare seeking, reach out.
We'll get you in touch with thecorrect professionals.
Get the job done properly, sitback, relax and enjoy the show.

(00:34):
Let's get into it.
Hey guys, welcome back toanother episode.
If you've been saying for thepast year that you're waiting
for the right time to invest orthat you just need to save a
little bit more, this episode isfor you, because here's the
truth.
You don't have a propertyproblem.
You have a discipline problem.
But this isn't just aboutmotivation or mindset.

(00:56):
This episode will unpack howdiscipline directly impacts your
borrowing power, also yourdeposit building, risk
management and your ability toexecute a proper strategy that
works.
We're going deep into thebehavioral and financial systems
behind many successfulinvestors, so let's hope that
you walk away with practicalactions and not just inspiration

(01:20):
.
Firstly, I just want to call outsome of the most common excuses
we hear, not just from clientfacing and meeting individuals
who want to invest, but also alot of DMs and people we find
hit us up on Instagram andTikTok A lot of them.
I'm too busy, yet you scrollTikTok for two hours a day.
Second, I don't have enoughmoney, but a week later you

(01:43):
might see this individual on atrip interstate with their
friends, hitting the bar andjust having the time of their
life.
Thirdly one of the most commonones interest rates are too high
.
The truth is they might havebeen.
They're lowering now, but soare property prices three years
ago.
You waited then too.
So these aren't financiallimitations, they're simple

(02:06):
discipline gaps.
You say you want financialfreedom, but act like someone
chasing dopamine, not wealth.
And here's the kicker thesemicro decisions aren't just
delaying your first property.
They're actually impacting yourborrowing power.
So lenders, look at yourspending patterns also, your
savings history and your monthlycommitments.
If you're undisciplined withyour lifestyle spending, it

(02:28):
literally affects what bankswill lend you.
A recent survey by Finderrevealed that one in three
Aussies have less than $1,000 insavings.
So just like that, that's not asavings issue, because everyone
can save.
Yes, some people might havemore commitments money
commitments like higher rent orbills or looking after someone

(02:50):
else but you can still put moneyaside.
So, like I said, it's not asavings issue.
It's actually a behavioral one.
Let's do a quick calculation.
If you're spending $50 per weekon takeaway might be Uber Eats
$50 is pretty cheap for somepeople.
Some people spend $50 a night.
So anyway, $50 a week, $2,600per year Over three years,

(03:15):
that's nearly eight grand.
Yes, it's not enough for aproperty deposit, but it's a
substantial amount of money thatyou could put towards a
property deposit or put intoshares like an ETF, giving you a
modest return which can helpyou leverage into a property.
So the question I want to ask iswhat does discipline really

(03:36):
look like, not just financially,but also behaviorally?
So discipline isn't sexy.
It's not a highlight reel, butit's also not abstract.
Let's break it into financialbehaviors.
Number one let's talk aboutautomated savings.
Your investment deposit shouldbe building in the background
every week.
I don't want any guesswork.
So if you know for a fact thatyou want to save $30,000 for the

(04:00):
year, make sure that you'vecalculated how much you need to
put into your savings accountper week to hit that $30,000 at
the end of the year.
Make sure that you'vecalculated how much you need to
put into your savings accountper week to hit that $30,000 at
the end of the year.
That's what reverse engineeringis figuring out what you need
to put in per week to actuallyhit your goal.
It's like if you're going tothe gym and you want to lose
weight by three months, you'regoing to the gym every day to
put in the work to get the goaland the results you want.

(04:23):
It's literally everything youdo in life and it's so simple
with money as well, because youcan actually see it and
calculate it and make it happen.
Secondly, debt hygiene.
You need to make sure you'repaying down credit cards.
You're eliminating your buy now, pay later schemes such as zip,
afterpay, and the mostimportant reason for doing this
is these also impact your creditprofile.

(04:45):
Yes, credit cards are the mainones that everyone thinks about,
but buy now, pay later canaffect your credit profile as
much as credit cards do.
So make sure that you're notjust you know being silly and
because you might pay 50 bucksback every fortnight, really
think about it.
If you have further goals insix to 12 months that you're
wanting to purchase something,make sure that you're actually

(05:07):
planning ahead.
Thirdly, consistency in income.
The banks love stability, so ifyou find yourself job hopping
every three to six months tryingto climb the corporate ladder
or look for a new pay bump.
That's not the best casescenario in the bank's eyes.
That will hurt your casebecause they don't see you as
reliable or consistent.

(05:28):
They see you as someone whothey're not going to put their
trust into payback alone.
So if you're in a job andyou're wanting to potentially
move, but you're also looking topurchase a property, I would
stay in it until you get thelending done, because if you
keep jumping ship, you're notgoing to get anywhere.
If you want in terms ofborrowing power, yes, you might
get a higher income and move toa company that you like, but in

(05:50):
the bank's point of view,they're not going to lend you
any money.
Number four trackable budgeting.
You need to know exactly howmuch your lifestyle costs you
per month.
So many people spend a lot morethan they can actually afford
and live way beyond their means.
So I've spoken about it before,but there's so many tools to

(06:12):
track your budget.
I personally have created agood old spreadsheet that you
can literally just go on Googleand find.
You can download it.
It's just personal financebudget spreadsheet and you can
do it as a Google sheet or Excelspreadsheet.
There's also other tools likePocketbook and Spendy, which I
know a lot of people haveactually used.
So jump online and get thosesorted, because that's vital Now
.
According to the ABS, theaverage Australian household

(06:32):
spends over $2,500 per year ontakeaway and food delivery like
Uber Eats.
That's a deposit in the making.
Now let's just say with yournon-essential spending, let's
say you can just drop that by$100 a week, that's $5,200 saved
in a year.
In two years you're looking ataround $10,000, and that's where
the momentum starts.

(06:53):
That just shows discipline, anddiscipline is the bridge
between design execution.
If you do have dreams of owningproperty but you can't manage
your daily cash flow, it'spointless.
You're building on sand.
You need to manage your dailycash flow because it is vital
Short-term pain for long-termgain.
If you need to and you want tobuy a property, you might need

(07:17):
to go ghost mode for six monthsand just not socialize as much
as you have been, as in goingout for drinks, maybe to see
your friends and go for a walkor just have a little coffee.
But if you're a big spender,you need to pull back.
If you're serious aboutleveraging into a property,
let's get technical for a second.
Let's say, you want to buy a$500,000 investment property and
you may be targeting Queensland, perhaps a dual income property

(07:40):
in Logan or Moreton Bay.
To do that, you'll need 30grand rough deposit, if
leveraging LMI 12 to 15,000 forstamp duty and other costs, and
then your pre-approval based onyour income liabilities and also
a buffer, which is required.
Here's where discipline plays,in that $30,000 doesn't save
itself.
Weekly automated contributionsbased on the actual reverse

(08:04):
engineered savings goals is howyou build it.
I mentioned that earlier, sorewind it if you don't recall.
But reverse engineer what youneed to save.
If your afterpay, car loan orcredit card debts are high, that
will also slash your borrowingcapacities.
That's where discipline comesin as well, and your expenses
need to show margin a buffer,which is important for the bank.

(08:27):
So let's break it down.
If you need $30,000 in 18months, that's $385 per week in
savings.
Is it doable?
Yes, but only with structure.
So CoreLogic has shared datathat shows property values in
some growth corridors haveincreased by over 30% in just
three years.
Waiting too long while planningcould be the most expensive

(08:49):
decision you actually make.
So again, you don't have astrategy problem, you have an
execution problem.
But let's think bigger.
Most people buy one propertyand that's it.
They stall Episode.
Last week on the Finance Bubblepodcast, we spoke about why 70%
of property investors fellafter one purchase.
So this actually directlycorrelates to the previous

(09:11):
episode.
The disciplined investors buyone, which sets them up to buy
the second, third and fourth.
So that means keeping yourliving expenses lean after your
first property, choosing yourassets with strong yield to help
fund the next one,understanding the difference
between interest only versusprincipal and interest
structures and, most importantly, building an A-team of advisors

(09:33):
.
So mortgage broker, propertyinvestment advisor, accountant,
a strategist you need the teamaround you to help you get into
these properties and build yourlong-term game in your portfolio
.
Discipline means you review yourportfolio annually, you don't
panic sell, you don't chase hypesuburbs because generally it's

(09:54):
too late and, most of all, youdon't make emotionally reactive
moves.
Let's say your first propertygrows by 5% annually.
In four years you've gained100K in equity on a 500K asset.
That equity could be yourdeposit for the next one, if,
and only if, you're disciplinedwith your finances.
Now this is a bit of fun.
I'm going to give you achallenge.

(10:14):
It's called the 30-dayfinancial discipline sprint.
So this is what I want you todo For the next 30 days cut Uber
Eats.
Cut subscription sprawl, cutrandom online buyers.
Track every single expense.
Make sure you set an autotransfer into your savings
account that reflects your firstproperty goal.

(10:36):
Reach out to a mortgage brokerand ask for a ballpark borrowing
estimate.
These four things will shiftyour mind to how do I reach the
goal.
Hopefully, you do speak to abroker and they can give you an
understanding of where you areat at the moment.
You might be ready to buy aproperty in terms of the bank's

(10:58):
point of view, or you might be20 grand off, but this is what
you need to do if you areserious about it.
This isn't about being perfect.
It's about getting real.
Let's be practical.
Even just saving 250 bucks aweek for 30 days adds up to a
grand.
That's one step closer to yourfirst property.
It builds financial rhythm.
You're not building a dreamboard.

(11:19):
You're building a deposit.
You're not hoping for a future.
You're actually funding it.
If you can actually master the30 days of discipline, you'll
prove to yourself that you canhandle 30 years of wealth.
And the fun thing is, I don'tknow about you, but I love goal
setting, and especially whenyou're trying to hit a monetary
amount, you know you've got anumber that you want to hit.

(11:40):
Isn't it fun to look at yourbank account every few weeks and
you're getting closer andcloser to that number.
Like it's, if you want to hit20 grand, you might be on 11.
And then in a month you mightbe on 11.
And then in a month you mightbe on 12.
And then, like every month, youmight put $1,000 in and then
you know for a fact when you'regoing to hit the amount that you
want.
So just shift it around.

(12:07):
In the past, money and moneyconversations have always had a
weird connotation to it.
A lot of people avoid chattingabout money in households.
It's actually the number onereason for divorce, because no
one chats about money Such asimple thing to talk about and
it's good to be open about.
You might speak to a mate andbe embarrassed because you know
they have more money than you,but it shouldn't be like that.
Everyone should be learning andgrowing together because after
30 days you can understand fullywhat you need to do.
So in closing, you don't have aproperty problem again.

(12:30):
You have a discipline andexecution problem.
Once you fix that, the door'sopen, but until next time, stay
disciplined, stay focused, andwe'll see you at the door.
We hope you enjoyed the episode.
As always, you know exactlywhat to do.
Hit that follow button,subscribe whatever platform you
listen to this podcast on.

(12:50):
Also share it to friends,families, co-workers, whoever
you think may benefit from it.
But unfortunately it's the endand we'll see you next week.