Why it took this property investor four years to buy his first asset

According to him: “[I had four years’ worth of education]—I was a master of property but didn't take the jump. The old emotional factors got in the way for me.”

For four years, Grant researched about properties and looked at potential investments but he never did end up buying anything. Admittedly, he became obsessed with the venture and the possibility of earning a lot and becoming “the next big property mogul”. He invested heavily in education, spending roughly $100,000 on resources and dedicating two years of his life educating himself and basically becoming an expert on the different aspects of property investment.

At the end of the day, despite his dedication, he ended up overwhelmed by all the information.

He shared: “After two years, I went out there and I said … ‘Now, it's the time to start.’ It took two years [of] looking—literally every weekend—for me."

“I went up there and fundamentals were right, but just went back home and [thought], ‘This wasn't right … ’ I was obsessed with getting the right property [but] I just couldn't find [it].

“I just couldn't make it happen. I just had to work out [everything that is] going on here,” Grant added.

 Getting started

Grant’s interest in property investment was ignited as he was working in the hospitality industry, where he spent two decades of his life.

“I was working at a big pub that went through a massive renovation. It was just an eye opener of what the pub [can still do],” he said.

He loved the process of it so much that he immediately decided that a career in property is what he wants to have in the near future. After going on a 12-month sabbatical, he met his partner and joined her in working on a business, which eventually got them in a good position, financially speaking.

Spending years educating himself about property investment taught him that aside from dedicating time on books, seminars, and other resources, it’s also important to be able to build a reliable financial team that can guide him throughout his journey. After all, no one can possibly know everything there is to know about wealth creation through real estate, or any venture for that matter.

He eventually got over his “emotional investment” on education and started to look at property investment the same way he looks at his and his partner’s business.

According to Grant: “I felt that I had all the boxes ticked—finance was good [and] education was well. I just felt that there was something missing. I kind of couldn't work out what it was.”

“[Then], I took a step back and I thought, ‘What am I doing well in business … ?’ I thought, ‘How can I take what I'm doing in business day in and day out and apply that to my property development career?’ ” he added.

One of the keys to their business’ success was their effective team, which is composed of 10 staff and five professional practitioners. Upon realising that they can’t do it all on their own and employing the help and services of other people, their business started to flourish. This same strategy is what drove Grant to kickstart his property investment journey.

He got a good broker and a good accountant to discuss his goals as a property investor and the different ways through which he could achieve them.

Grant shared: “It worked … We sat down and the accountant said, ‘Look, you're going to need a one-page plan. Let's just simplify this—the mortgage broker needed to talk to the buyer's agent. The buyer's agent needed to talk to the accountant.’ ”

“Once we got that right, the ducks just lined up,” the property investor added.

The most important lesson he learned: Education is not about learning how to do it yourself but about understanding what needs to be done and building a team to make the process more efficient. After all, you can’t compete with a professional who spends most of their time focused on a certain aspect of property investment.

A self-educated investor can’t get the same deals and opportunities alone as when he uses a buyer’s agent who spends 40 to 50 hours on the field.

According to Smart Property Investment’s Phil Tarrant: “If you're not using a buyer's agent, you need to be as skilled as what they are in order to be finding the assets that they're finding. They do it day in, day out. That's what they do for a living.”

“Unless you can do that, it means you're competing in the market with people like that … A lot of people enjoy doing it … but … I'm a busy guy … [and] I want to spend time with my family,” he added.

From being a mere property expert, Grant eventually took on the role of a project manager and leveraged the skills and capabilities of different professionals to get the job done. Property investment became an enjoyable venture for Grant, so much so that he was able to build a three-property portfolio in the short span of two months.

Grant said: “[The team] just took the whole stress out of it. I was relying on these guys to guide me [but] I wasn't taking their absolute nth degree of what they were suggesting. I had the education to [challenge them].”

“To have someone say, ‘Oh, look, I think you're a bit off the mark there. Let's come back …’ just takes the stress out of it. It makes it fun and that's really what I was looking for in it,” the property investor concluded.

Tune into Grant Iverson’s episode on The Smart Property Investment Show to know more about the challenges he faced throughout his property investment journey, including facing banks and his 12-month unemployment period, and how he and his partner overcame these obstacles.