Archive for the ‘Personal Development’ Category

My book - in all leading bookstores this week

My book writing journey

I am delighted that my book Invest and Prosper With Property has been released into bookstores. I started writing the manuscript for this book in January 2010 with the purpose of answering my friends and family members questions on how to invest in property successfully.  I wanted to do a good job, so I decided to give a broad coverage of all property investment topics. After several hundred hours of work had been invested I decided I would like to have it published so I didn’t just sell a few hundred copies or have to give them away. I made the decision to seek out the services of a professional publisher. My friend Amy Hamilton-Chadwick was a professional editor and she edited the manuscript and gave me excellent feedback to make it more readable.  Then it was time to brief out my manuscript to publishers and having been told by so many people about how hard it is to get a big name publisher behind you I was expecting it to go the way of most of my offers on properties – rejected.  This was a most pleasant surprise to me and full credit to Jan Riley of Random House who introduced me to the publishing team.

I was most impressed with the professionalism of Random House from the outset, with their large Auckland presence, an enviable list of best-selling books, and their reputation as one of the very best non-fiction publishers (as well as fiction publishers) in New Zealand, and worldwide.  So I choose them and Random House have been excellent in distributing my work through bookstores nationwide.

Topics covered in my book

There are number of topics covered in my book as it is designed to function as manual for those wanting to invest in property or for those who already invest in property and wish to keep their knowledge up.

Chapter Line-up

1. Why should I invest?
2. Why should I invest in property?
3. What do I need to know to get started?
4. Could I really become seriously rich?
5. Should I buy commercial or residential property?
6. What do I need to know to be a great investor?
7. What kind of goals should I set for my success?
8. What investment strategy is best for me?
9. How to get a great deal
10. How to find great properties
11. How do I check out a property?
12. How do I structure my property ownership?
13. What do I do about paying tax or getting tax rebates?
14. How can I find the money to invest in property?
15. What is a revolving credit or offset account?
16. Fixed vs Floating interest rates
17. How can I save money on my mortgage?
18. What type of loan is right for me?
19. How to structure your loan
20. What do I need to know about accounting and taxation?
21. Depreciation: making it as simple as possible
22. Renovate, redecorate and revalue
23. What do I need to know about valuations?
24. Keeping your investment safe
25. Managing your property
26. How to minimise the risks
27. Don’t derail your own success
28. How to prepare an offer
29. Due diligence
30. Education
31. Useful websites
32. Glossary
33. Index

Sunday Star Times Book Review

Leading financial journalist Greg Ninness of the Sunday Star Times reviewed Invest and Prosper With Property in today’s business section:

OF ALL the useful advice contained in David Whitburn’s book Invest and Prosper With Property, one particular paragraph stands out.  It is a section of the second chapter which asks if property investing will be hard work. ‘The short answer is yes’ the book says…

Whitburn now works as a property mentor and is the president of the Auckland Property Investors Association.  The book draws on his experience, and of others he has seen succeed or fail, to provide a guide that should help investors avoid many common pitfalls and structure their activities in a way that will help them succeed.”

Where do I buy Invest and Prosper With Property?

Now this is available in all good bookstores nationwide with official release date being Friday 7 October 2011, but some bookstores have it already.  This is also sold by a few international online bookstores including a couple of physical bookstores in Australia too. Very shortly the book will be for sale on www.investandprosper.co.nz.

I think it will be an excellent investment for anyone wanting to improve their knowledge on property investment at $37.99, so firmly recommend that you buy it.  I also hope that you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing Invest and Prosper With Property.

David Whitburn – 2 October 2011

On Tuesday the 12th of April, international super investor Kevin Green lands in New Zealand.  He is delivering a very special event in Auckland with leading education company NZ Wealth Mentor with two full days packed with practical strategies and tools delivered by a master of property investment, on Saturday 16th – Sunday 17th April 2011. Kevin is scheduled to be on TV One’s Close Up on Wednesday 13th April at 7:00pm talking live with Mark Sainsbury about this successes and thoughts on how you can improve your life as he did.  Learn how Kevin went from being an unsuccessful dairy farmer to becoming one of the largest private landlords in the United Kingdom with almost 400 properties to his name worth around NZ$80 million in just over 12 years.

KEVIN GREEN: The BBC Secret Millionaire Star with nearly NZ$80 million portfolio

Here is Kevin Green on the BBC Secret Millionaire programme:

Kevin was star of the hit BBC series The Secret Millionaire. He is the largest Social Housing landlord in the UK and he runs one of the most successful lease options businesses in the world.  His lease options strategy to success is definitely worth the ticket investment. His other specialty is asset stripping and he will explain how he made his first $250,000 using this strategy, and much more more so you can profit from this method too.

Kevin Green’s Property Profit Strategies event is all about giving you an easy to follow action plan to improve your cashflow.  This event is sold out apart from the Auckland Property Investors’ Association special ticket allotment.  However there is a wait list for tickets as we had a number of booking from Christchurch prior to the devastating February 22nd earthquake, and if anyone can’t make it NZ Wealth Mentor is issuing full refunds if you are unwilling or unable to attend, which could free up a ticket for you.  In addition there is a small chance APIA members will not take up their allotment, so please don’t call me about this, just simply go to the booking page and click the put me on the waitlist button immediately. 

So whilst the sold out signs are up, there may be a few tickets given to those on the wait list, so please don’t give up as we are doing our best to accommodate everyone. Leave you name, email address and phone number and we will contact you if a ticket becomes available.

Kevin Green at APIA

Finally Kevin Green is talking to the Auckland Property Investors’ Association on Tuesday 12th April.  What can you learn in just 55 minutes?  Quite a lot.  This will give you a taste of what Kevin Green and NZ Wealth Mentor are about. We have sponsored this meeting and have 50 tickets that we negotiated with APIA as a special allotment for the Kevin Green event.  So come to APIA to hear from the investor with the largest residential property investment portfolio that we have ever had present to our members since APIA’s inception in 1995.

I trust that you all had a very Merry Christmas and have been enjoying the feast of cricket lately.  The Auckland Aces have waltzed into the HRV Cup 20/20 domestic final as top qualifiers.  As a result Auckland will play Central Districts at 2:00pm on Sunday 2 January 2011 at Colin Maiden Park, Glen Innes in Auckland.  Black Caps 20/20 cricket victories over a skilled Pakistan side. I am a massive cricket fan and have also been enjoying the Ashes test series in Australia, so congratulations to England on retaining the Ashes for the first time in 24 years after their massive victory by an innings and 157 runs.  This was England’s biggest win over Australia in 44 years, with Australia skittled on Boxing Day for just 98 runs in front of a crowd of over 84,000 people.  Then on the same wicket and day England were 157 for 0 at stumps.  The rest of the test was a mere formality.

England celebrate the last wicket to retain the Ashes. Photo: Getty Images via ESPN CricInfo

Now questions are being asked as to the competence of Australia’s captain, Ricky Ponting, a great player with an amazing record, their players, their coach and their selectors.  Australia have slipped to 5th in the Test Cricket rankings and have to regroup by Monday to try to win the 5th and final test in Sydney to save face.  This will not be an easy task as it is a spin friendly track and the wounded Aussies are facing the number 1 ranked spinner in the world currently in Graeme Swann.  This test will be good viewing.

Share Offer Scam by Carlyle Securities LP

I got an “interesting” letter in the mail today from Carlyle Securities LP offering to buy my shares around 40% of their market price!   How rude of them!!  Family members have received letters for various companies their Trust’s hold shares in.  Basically the offer comes with a letter on white A4 paper, and an acceptance form on off-white/cream coloured A4 paper that looks official with a barcode on it that quite probably doesn’t even work.  The letters are titled “cash offer for {Insert NZX listed company name} shares”, eg. Cash Offer for Telecom Corporation of New Zealand Limited Shares.

Now unlike property which is less liquid when it comes to selling and price and presentation are determining factors, you don’t have to sell shares in large and frequently traded companies like Fletcher Building, Telecom, Contact Energy, Vector, GPG, etc.  The sharemarket sets the price for the market of shares.  You can simply sell them at market price through a broker account (setting one up is easy if you don’t already have one).  For example go to ASB Securities, Direct Broking or numerous other account sources with varying degrees of assistance and fee structures and set one up.

Then if you are thinking of selling these Blue Chip shares that incidentally have quite high dividend yields too, instead of selling them at a huge 30 – 50% discount to their market price, show some financial competence by selling them yourself.  Carlyle Securities LP has “cute” timing with this offer in that it was sent out 2 days ago on 27 December 2010 and expires at 6:00pm on 7 January 2011. The Securities Commission is not working until 10 January 2011.  Then they will pay you by posting a cheque for the greatly reduced amount within 21 days.

So do NOT accept Carlyle’s offer as:

1. it is a huge discount to market price (you would be eroding your wealth by accepting it as this market price is a price that you could achieve yourself very readily by not responding to the offer and then selling your shares through a NZX broker.  I would note that the market is largely asleep over this period and price movements in these Blue Chip stocks are likely to be minimal)
2. you would be paid far faster through a broker (in three working days, rather than 21 calendar days of receipt by Carlyle Securities of notice that the transfer of your shares into Carlyle Securities name has been registered!)

I had heard of the Carlyle Group before, but something tells me that with 440 professionals in 19 offices that they would not be renting by the month using Servcorp’s serviced offices on Level 20 of the ASB Bank building.  The real person behind Carlyle Securities is Bernard Whimp who was banned from being a director in New Zealand for 4 years in October 2006 for serious breaches of the Companies Act and mismanagement of registered companies. He is using the Limited Partnership regime (which Company Director bans don’t apply to) to make these extremely low offers that will no doubt catch a few people who don’t know where or how to up share prices.  Just make sure that you are not one of them!

On a stunning summer’s day yesterday at the well appointed Exhibition Hall in Waipuna Conference Centre, overlooking the Panmure lagoon, I was the keynote presenter at Property Masterclass run by NZ Wealth Mentor.

David Leon - Property Masterclass Master of Ceremonies on 27 November 2010

I covered a lot of topics as the keynote presenter, and those attending particularly enjoyed my take on the market, drawing attention to where we are at in this current stage of the property cycle and my predictions for the future in terms of the various Auckland sub-markets.  I gave a thorough analysis of all of the key market drivers, showing and interpreting graphs from the economics and research of the major trading banks, Reserve Bank of New Zealand, Statistics New Zealand, Quotable Value and the Real Estate Institute.

In another segment on stage I talked about how we as investors are running a property business and the fact that we have to wear a number of hats.  One of the leading property educators in the United Kingdom Gill Fielding talked about the importance of being skilled in a number of different disciplines wear you have a number of buckets to control or hats to wear.  I love this analogy so I talked about the various hats we have to wear as property investors in terms of the CEO hat – managing everything in our business; CFO hat checking our bank statements, keeping accounts, monitoring the financial performance of our portfolio, paying taxes, Renovations/Maintenance hat – looking at how we maintain our very valuable assets and renovating to increase our cashflow and equity; Legal hat – when doing due diligence on properties, looking at legislation changes and ownership structures; and Property Management hat on – where you have to manage your tenants or your property manager, to ensure you minimise vacancies, charge market rent and collect your rent and take the appropriate action when tenants are not behaving,  I also covered ownership structures, including the key changes in light of LAQCs losing their potency in that they lose the ability to offset losses against personally earned income.  The new tax structure the Look Through Company (“LTC”) was introduced too, with Chartered Accountant and my colleague from Deloitte Tax many years ago Amanda Macdonald (Tasman Tax and Accounting Services based in Albany) also presented on this topic being the tax and accounting expert she is.

Finally I gave covered my opinions on US tax deeds and liens that have been promoted in New Zealand heavily over the past couple of years, and I covered the good, the bad and the ugly things about lease options, giving an example of the massive win-win situation created in my last lease option deal that resulted in my tenant buyers settling the property and giving me a giant hug as they achieved their dream of being home owners in New Zealand, as well as the sheer joy of meeting their goal.  I also enjoyed presenting on the strategies I am using in today’s market and covered my revamped and intense mentoring programme where I take my mentoring clients out to do deals with me.  I have some new clients from this event and am looking forward to training them shortly.

Other speakers

Senior Resource Management lawyer Andrew Braggins talked about the spatial plan for Auckland the Supercity, which highlit the growth areas in the Auckland region, major infrastructure and planning thoughts from the head planner and CEO at Auckland Council, who are in Andrew’s network.  This presentation was enjoyed by attendees who were impressed with Andrew’s knowledge and communication skills, as he enlightened them about the hot spots in Auckland.

Andrew also briefly covered how to dispute council fees, levies and contributions both under the Building Act (including seeking a determination from the Department of Building & Housing) and also the Resource Management Act (including a judical review application he recently did on a property he rents out).

Jan Galloway then gave a masterclass in property management, including listing out the issues in relation to the Residential Tenancies Amendment Act with the fines for unlawful acts by Landlords and Tenants all covered – luckily these were included in the comprehensive bound manual we gave our event attendees.

Renovations expert Mark Trafford told attendees about a number of ways not to do renovations in a photo driven presentation.

Gary Hey, a director and shareholder of large mortgage broking firm, Mortgage People, then address the property cycle from a finance perspective.  He talked about how lenders’ criteria are changing and it is much easier to get finance for property now (compared to say 6 months, 1 and 2 years ago).

On Saturday the 27th of November 2010 I will be the keynote presenter at NZ Property Masterclass – a full day seminar at Waipuna Hotel & Conference Centre in Mt Wellington, Auckland (near Sylvia Park on the edge of the Panmure Basin), with standard tickets at just $29, and gold tickets at $98.

Improve your financial knowledge, get updated on the current market and learn what strategies I am using for wealth creation for the remainder of this year and in 2011.

My topics covered

Come hear me present live at NZ Property Masterclass event, where I will be talking about:

• Loss Attributing Qualifying Companies (“LAQCs”) being abolished and introducing the new tax structure, the Look Through Company (“LTC”)
• a Market Update with my opinions on where the market is heading for 2011 backed up by graphs and facts
• the untold truth about US Tax Deeds and Liens to follow up from my popular blog in March
• the good, the bad and the ugly with Lease Options, and a number of lease option promoters
• how you can create wealth in 2011, using the strategies I am successfully using on NZ properties in the current market.

Also included in the low $29 ticket price is access to 5 other fantastic speakers.

Your other speakers

Speaker #2:  ANDREW BRAGGINS  LL.B, BSc - Buddle Findlay

1. Local government, environment & resource management, litigation and dispute resolution expert
2. Andrew advises a range of clients, including developers, network utility operators, local authorities and financiers
3. Andrew has an in-depth insight into how local authorities work, having spent 3 years as a local government in-house council, and acting for many councils
4. Member of the Resource Management Law Association & Water NZ
5. Barrister & Solicitor of the High Court of New Zealand

Learn all you need to know about how to deal with councils, the structure of the new Supercity and the Supercity’s impact on you as a property investor.

Speaker #3: JAN GALLOWAY  BA Cert. Crim (Criminology) - Corinthian Management

1. Principal Corinthian Property Management
2. Over 25 years as a property manager
3. Multi-millionaire property investor
4. Managed a leading central auckland property management division
5. Auckland Property Investors Association Board Secretary
6. Multiple award winner (property management related)

Jan knows all you ever needed to know about tenancies and the issues that arise from them.

Speaker #4: MARK TRAFFORD - Owner of Renovate to Profit

1. Principal of Renovate to Profit and Maintain to Profit
2. Renovating properties for over 20 years!
3. Accomplished Property Investor
4. Regular Contributor to Property Investor Magazine
5. Sought after speaker

Mark is an excellent property investors knows everything there is to know about renovating properties having done many dozens of properties.  He is an excellent project manager with unparalleled networks of quality tradespeople.  Join us and learn more about creating wealth through smart renovations!

Speaker #5: GARY HEY BCom - Mortgage People

1. Owner and Director of Mortgage People, a leading Auckland based mortgage broking firm
2. Bachelor of Commerce, member of the NZ Mortgage Brokers’ Association
3. Commercial, Industrial and Residential developments advisor as well as residential investment properties financing expert
4. Sought after speaker having a background in education

The banks and other major lenders criteria are changing and it is easier to get finance for property now.  Gary loves finding funding for your deals.  Bring on your best questions forward and he and his team will be there to assist you.

Overview of key topics covered during the day

1. The current market cycle – using current & historic data to identify our current position & determine where, when & how to purchase your next property deal
2. LAQCs & LTCs & what it means to your investment portfolio
3. Practical strategies to increase your rent easily in the current market
4. Hot strategies for 2011 – the strategies NZ Wealth Mentor’s principals and mentoring are using to make money from NZ property today, and how you can meet your financial goals in 2011
5. Understanding the new paradigm for obtaining finance – How to get banks to lend you $$
6. Where are the best strategies to use in 2011?
7. The untold truth about US Tax Liens & Lease Options – what you must know before you ever think of investing on them.

We will discuss all the current hot topics so that you can leave the event well informed and ready to invest successfully.

2 Ticket Options

There are standard tickets priced at just $29 which don’t include lunch or any extra.  The Gold Tickets however are priced at $98 and these include a delicious buffet lunch in a private room with David Whitburn and many of your presenters.  You also get a portfolio review and wealth plan by NZ Wealth Mentor’s head of property mentoring and Auckland Property Investors’ Association President, David Whitburn, to help you set and reach your financial dreams.

So are you going for GOLD???

In NZ Wealth Mentor we want to make sure you get all your financial goals. If you book online before November 20th we will also include our “Financial Mastery Success Plan” in the ticket price. Financial Mastery Success Plan is designed to look at your financial situation today to build a brighter future. It retails at $175 and you will get it for free as a part of this time constrained offer (3 days to go). Make sure you don’t miss out and book your gold seat (select from the menu) for NZ Property Masterclass today.

The Real Returns from Term Deposits

We only have to look at term deposit rates which now range between 1.55% and 6.75% with major lenders across various terms from 1 month to 5 years.  If for example you have $40,000 on term deposit with BNZ and you wanted to place this on term deposit you would be quoted a rate of 4.40%.  When tax is taken off at say 33%, your net rate becomes  2.95%, as tax must be paid first and is deducted at source from the borrower (bank).  If you add the great cash savings eater that is inflation into the mix – lets use the September 2010 quarter figure of 1.5% (the lowest CPI figure since March 2004 quarter too).  Your real return from this term deposit is just a paltry 1.45%.  Your $40,000 in 12 months time is really only worth $40,580, a net increase of $580.  That is hardly motivating to save lots of money in the bank, hence a lot of people moving to ‘invest’ in their own homes and lifestyles, spend on themselves as you only live once, invest in shares, managed funds including Kiwisaver products, gold, silver, commodities, foreign exchange and of course property.  The returns are no exciting enough for so many people from term deposits.

Basically I consider that term deposits are too heavily eroded by taxation and inflation.  As a result in a diversified portfolio  would only recommend a small portion of funds be held on term deposit for any significant length of time.  Instead I am massive fan of property, that’s obvious having served on the Board of the Auckland Property Investors’ Association as long as I have and having been elected its President earlier this year.

What I would instead do with $40,000

In my opinion $40,000 is a deposit on a positive cashflow property that you could and should buy over 10% below value.  Ie. here’s what I encouraged my mentoring student to do last week.  They went to ANZ and got loan pre-approval that will be fixed for 2 years at just 6.44% with your APIA membership entitling you to ANZ@work package discounts (0.25% discount off fixed rates) and receive a $500 contribution towards legal fees.  They will be contributing $36,800 as 20% of the purchase price ($184,000) for a two bedroom unit in Kelston (West Auckland) that has a registered valuation of $212,000.  They are buying this $28,000 below value, which gives them instant equity at purchase.  Try doing this with a term deposit, gold, silver etc!  The property is positive cashflow to the tune of over $2,000 per year, after an allowance for repairs & maintenance, insurance, and taking tax considerations into account with no building structure depreciation, but getting a Valu-it report to depreciate fit-out and chattels.  This $2,500 return is a lot higher than the $580 return, and don’t forget you didn’t even invest all $40,000.

The funny thing is that there are plenty of good deals and opportunities in the market.  Sometimes you just have to open your eyes and look.  Remember to protect yourself in the event that there is a slight negative market movement, by buying below true value.

NZ Property Mentor – Seminar

I am the keynote presenter at the NZ Property Mentor seminar at the Employers and Manufacturers’ Association premises in Khyber Pass Road, Grafton, Auckland at 6:30pm – 9pm this evening.  Come to hear me talk more about:

1. The Current Market and House Price Movement -understanding the fear in the current market and contradicting statistics.
2. Rental Levels – learn about recent market movements in the Auckland market, and how you can put your rents up to maximise your cashflow from property.
3. Residential Tenancies Amendment Act – the governing document to determine rights and obligations between Landlords and Tenants has changed.  This has just undergone its largest changes in 24 years, so find out what these mean for you at this event
4. Interest Rates - where interest rates are likely to be heading and how you can profit from it.
5. Structure Update – Find out about the draft legislation which provides for LAQCs to be abolished, and for a new tax structure, Look Through Companies (LTCs) and with the tax depreciation changes earlier in the year. You will get get more information on what is the best structure for you.
6. Where we are at in the Property Cycle
7. Opportunities in Today’s Market
8. My new improved comprehensive 12 month Group Mentoring programme with NZ Property Mentor.

Don’t delay, learn about the current market, recent legislative changes so you can keep on top of the new rules and not make very expensive mistakes, and hear about some of the wonderful opportunities for profiting from today’s property market.  Go to http://www.nzpropertymentor.info and register for your tickets now.

Saturday 29 May 2010

8:30am start to 6pm finish (registrations from 8am)

Parnell Jubilee Hall, 545 Parnell Road, Parnell, Auckland

The 2010 Annual Budget has just been presented and it implements the largest tax reforms New Zealand has seen in 25 years.  To arm you with the knowledge and tools to succeed in light of the Budget and in today’s market, the not-for-profit Auckland Property Investors’ Association (APIA) have a 1 day seminar BUDGET BUSTER 2010 – Strategies for Today’s Market with tickets at just $49.

The speakers include multiple best-selling Author and NZ Property Investors’ Federation Vice President Andrew King, who provides a State of the Property Investment Nation address, then sets the theme for both newer investors and more experienced investors with substantial portfolios.  APIA’s Treasurer & Chartered Accountant Ann Loudon has the all important topic of tax changes to go through, particularly in light of the depreciation changes and the taxation treatment of LAQCs to have to become aligned to Limited Liability Partnerships.  APIA’s Honorary Solicitor & Property Lawyer Tony Steindle then talks about structures, including the legal aspects of the Limited Liability Partnership, and APIA Vice President, Property Mentor & Trust Lawyer David Whitburn talks about what to buy in today’s market, how to buy it and how to analyse just what is a good deal or not.  APIA President & former NZ Mortgage Broker of the Year Sue Tierney then talks about finance in light of the turbulent global financial crisis we are in, particularly with the highly indebted European Union countries and the relevance of this to New Zealand.  ANZ Mobile Mortgage Manager Vanessa Murch then covers off financing in New Zealand, including why fixed interest rates are so high in comparison to floating loan rates and just how we get our loans approved.  In case this wasn’t enough content, we provide further value to you in relation to tenancy management with APIA Board Manager and Principal of leading boutique Property Management Firm Corinthian Limited Jan Galloway, presenting on how you should manage your property to get the best tenants and lowest vacancy rates.  This is combined with a presentation by Tenancy Practice Lawyer Scotney Williams, giving his expert advice on the Residential Tenancies Act including recent times and also proposals to reform parts of it.

So don’t delay, BOOK YOUR TICKET for Saturday 29th May at the Parnell Jubilee Hall by emailing admin@apia.org.nz now.

MARGARET WARREN

(10 February 1918 to 21 January 2010)

After nearly 92 years of a fantastic life, my Grandmother passed away last Thursday.  She was not just a grandmother but a great friend too, someone I lived just a 6 or so minute drive away from, and a real fighter with so much love for her family and her many friends.  We could all do a lot by following in her footsteps and holding true to core values and principles of love, honour, integrity, duty and respect.

Here is my eulogy that I delivered at the All Saints Chapel of Purewa Cemetary and Crematorium in Meadowbank, Auckland this morning.  It is not one of sadness, but one of remembrance:

Today is our chance to say goodbye to a truly special lady.  Granny brightened our lives, and was truly blessed to be granted a full life. Granny was an amazing lady, with so much love for her family and friends.  I never heard her complain or whinge, right up to 2 hours before her peaceful death.  That was when I last spoke with her, to get her shopping list for the week, with Mum and Dad away in Melbourne.  Even then she was asking how Liam was, and what Bridget and I were doing for the day.

My sister Sarah and I loved being able to walk just a couple of hundred metres from Cornwall Park Primary School to see Granny and Granddad at Maungakiekie Avenue to play on their tennis court with them, or in their beautiful garden; to go to Ngaiwi Street in Orakei to throw a ball around, as I did with Grandad just before he died in May 1991.  I will always treasure the memories of her cooking, the delicious chocolate fudge, self-saucing puddings, shepherds pies, I had with her  - she was an outstanding cook.

Granny was so very excited about Sarah’s engagement to James. She was keenly awaiting their June 19th arrival back to Auckland for good, and their March 2011 wedding. Granny and I had just spoken about how great Sarah was at sending her postcards pretty much every week. Granny had amassed a beautiful collection from most of the 80 or so countries that Sarah had visited since she goes travelling most weekends, that gave her so much pleasure and joy.

I could always visit and talk to Granny about sport – she always kept up with netball, rugby and cricket results – and I enjoyed having her over sometimes to watch our Auckland netball and rugby teams, on my big screen TV so she could actually see the ball! She was very fond of her great-grandson Liam, even when he ate her ornaments and leaves off trees in her garden!

With Granny passing away a special bit of my life goes. I will always cherish her memories of the past, including what our magnificient city used to be like, her childhood, going to Waiheke Island in 9 different decades, all the special times with Granddad, and her friends both here today and those she will now join in heaven.

I hope today that we can set aside the sadness and instead celebrate all that Granny was, all that she did, and all that she lived for.

I love you Granny, I always will, and I miss you so much already.

Finally to remember yet another extremely happy time (of which there were so very many); here’s a photo of Granny at Bridget and my March 2007 wedding:

HAPPY NEW DECADE

Wishing you all an extremely happy decade as we warmly welcome the “tens”.

Whether we call 2010, “twenty ten” or “two-thousand and ten”, it doesn’t matter.  What is important is that we step back and reflect over what happened last decade.  Did things in life happen around us, as if we were merely a passenger, or did we make things happen.

Lets commit to making 2010 a good year, and this decade to being an excellent one, where you right down some long term goals and work to achieving them.  If you need help in this regard, you should get a tried and tested mentor.

Contact me if you need help with goal setting and smart wealth creation (or maintenance) strategies for the coming decade.

My Highlights of the Noughties

Well another decade has come and gone.  It has been an interesting and fun one filled with highlights.  This is a log of highlights of the Noughties Decade where I name a few of them for me:

1. My Wedding to Bridget

A very happy day and special occassion.  I had been going out with Bridget since October 2000, and we got engaged in December 2005, so my March 2007 wedding was good timing.

As with so many people, it came and went so fast and to be brutally honest I can’t actually remember that much of it, apart from the fact it was a great day!

The honeymoon to the Yasawa Island’s in Fiji was amazing – we went to Nanuya Island Resort on Nanuya Lailai Island, which is the home of the Blue Lagoon – yes the very place where the movie of the same name was filmed, where Brooke Shields became a household name.  We spent the rest of the time at the Sheraton on Denarau Island – super stuff.

2. My son being born

Well I didn’t know quite what to expect with my first child.  Being squeamish I fainted once in hearing about the delivery process, but I managed to hold my nerve and was able to talk property investment with our midwife and specialist O&G surgeon that we had on the ‘case’ during delivery and numerous consultations and scans.  The result is one fantastic baby boy (now nearly 14 months old), Liam Whitburn, who can already run up our hallway with a full size rugby ball and trip up and score a try.  He likes eating food on our plates that he lunges for whilst we are eating, as well as soil and leaves from our garden too, so he’s a real omnivore!

3. NZ Property Market

The Property Boom of 2002 – 2007 was New Zealand’s biggest highlight for me.  This is where we saw several thousand millionaires made in our country.  Yes unfortunately 2008 and 2009 tail end the decade as badly as it began in 2000 and 2001 with negative equity recorded in the 2000 and 2008 calendar years.

I am a big statistics fan and researcher, even did a stats paper at Auckland University in 1997 as part of my BSc degree. As a result lets look back at the decade’s property prices in January of each year as laid out on my blog here.  We had a 109% increase in New Zealand overall in the period from January 2000 to November 2009.  That is pretty special, and we could easily see similar growth in this coming decade.

4. Hitting my goal and becoming a millionaire in my 20s

I wrote down a very aggressive goal when I was 24 – to become a millionaire before I hit 30.  The great news was that I did it!  In addition I turned 30 in time lock in my million before the downturn and reduce my loan to value ratio to safe levels.  Fortunately my portfolio was well presented and in good locations so I had tenants the whole way through the downturn so far, bar 17 days in one property, and the value I lost in 2008 has more than come back in 2009.  It’s a great feeling to have hit my lofty goals.

5. Sporting Highlights

There are just so many to choose from with the Silver Ferns win in 2003 Netball World Championships in Jamaica (beating Australia 47 – 45 in the final), the League Team winning the World Championships in Australia in 2008 (beating overwhelming favourites Australia 34 – 20 in the final) and on an individual note Scott Dixon’s Indy Car racing successes this decade including the title in 2008, Valerie Vili’s shotputting feats, Hamish Carter’s glorious Athens Olympic Gold and Nathan Astle’s 222 off 168 balls – still the fastest double century in international cricket (including 28 fours and 11 sixes).  Michael Campbell’s 2005 US Open victory at Pinehurst (by 2 shots over the legendary Tiger Woods) was a memorable success too.

However for my decade runner up I am choosing an obscure highlight of Andre Adams securing an impossible victory for Auckland over Northern Districts chasing 161 in the 20/20 game at Seddon Park, Hamilton on 28 January 2007.  Auckland needed 12 runs to win off the last ball – usually this would be thought impossible, but not for the big hitting uber talented Aucklander Andre Adams, and Graeme Aldridge bowling a waist high full toss (a no-ball) which was slammed for 4.  Then Auckland needed 6 off the last ball – surely he couldn’t achieve the dream…  However Aldridge’s bowling and Adams clean hitting ensured that defeat was snatched from the jaws of victory, as Adams absolutely pounded the ball for a big six over long off to guide Auckland to an amazing win.

The Decade Winner has to be the All Whites who qualified for the World Cup for the first time since 1982.  Despite Rory Fallon heading home the goal just before half time from an expertly taken Leo Bertos corner, and Mark Paston saving an amazing kick from the penalty spot, the whole team played like a bunch of heroes.  Well organised, structured and solid – can we mix it on the World Stage at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.  We are drawn against Italy, Slovakia and Paraguay – can we be in the top 2 teams of this pool to qualify for the 2nd round?

From my network I can see that the market is at an Interesting stage.  Whilst the boom is over, does that mean we panic and bag others that continue to invest though?

No it means, we look at our current portfolios.  I liken a property investment portfolio to your car with cashflow being the wheels, the chassis being your assets and you are the engine.  Whether you are a little lawnmower engine, or a 10L V12 engine (see below) comes down to you, in terms of your skills and Education.  Wheels are pretty important to keeping your car moving.  Similarly cashflow is absolutely vital as if you don’t pay your lender their loans they will take your property, and your car will not keep moving.  cashflow is not the exciting part of investing – but I can assure you of its importance.

You can wash and clean your car’s body, but the main thing to do is to look at your engine to heighten the speed and ensure endurance of your portfolio and car.

Fine tuning your engine

Maybe you just need to fine tune your portfolio.  Every day I get told stories about how people can’t make money in property, and why people are selling.  Even some media so called experts are telling us about how hard it is in the property market at the moment.  Yes, it is hard to make good money, but if it was easy everybody would be doing it.  I Mentor a few investors, and what I am recommending is in some cases fine tuning your engine and in other cases – a complete engine overhaul.

The main reason I need to overhaul my students engines if because they have been got to by their friends and families – the “doubting Thomas’s”.  Hey there is good reason to doubt and you should always ask questions, however if you want to be one of those that really gets ahead and continues their great growth you need to analyse you portfolio, have some goals and commit to them 150%.

I know some people are finding the market tough at the moment.  One of my clients has $1.5 million of borrowings coming off long term fixed rates below 7% over the next 3 months, which means many tens of thousands a year more in Interest costs.  So instead of joining the masses panicking and selling property consider all your options.  Sure selling your property is a valid option, but there are other options out there.  I am advising clients to:

• look at your borrowings (possibly with the help of your Mortgage broker) - can you restructure your borrowings to ease your cashflow: change to Interest only loans, have the loan term extended, or possibly get a cashflow Mortgage (although a binding ruling from Inland Revenue as to the tax deductibility of the capitalised Interest has me in two minds about this product at the moment…);
• look at ways of adding value and rental to your rental property: maybe your have lots of land to subdivide, build a new house, minor dwelling on, add an extra bedroom, deck, cosmetic renovation, fix that dilapidated fence, splash out $60 on a new letterbox with decent numbers on it;
• look at ways of getting extra cashflow outside property (for some people it may be getting a second job, getting involved in a network marketing Business,getting a payrise/bonus from your job or extra funds from your Business;
• look at ways of getting extra cashflow from property - eg. propertytrading or Lease Options (my good friend and super investor and developer Steve McMenemy has put a two more Lease Option deals away this month giving him and his wonderful family an extra $25K surplus cashflow per year.  Imagine if you had a few good Lease Options under the belt like Steve does and what that could do for you?
• look at applying any extra cash you get from savings, cashflow sources above, inheritance money etc, to reducing your debt.

Financial Freedom

The strategies you choose and actions you take determine your success and failure.  It is ok to choose the path towards financial freedom and to get help along the way.

The day is today – the day in which you regain control over your financial portfolio.