How these property investors decided to rise above their bad decisions
Lena Lindley and Lauren Curren have been investing in properties for over seven years, and while they have definitely come across hurdles and have made bad decisions, they reveal that staying on the path to success takes only simple steps—from creating a "goals board" to finding just the right people to take on their property investment journey with them.
According to the couple, their worst property purchase was a company title which only brought them stress instead of their desired results.
Lena shared: “We had to get approval for renovations, and renovations can only be done between 8 and 5, between Monday and Friday. It was just an endless [process] of putting in application[s] for doing renovations and them taking weeks or a month to come back.”
While they had a lawyer who was supposed to walk them through the process, Lena and Lauren still found themselves unable to know any better.
“Never again will I buy a company title. I had spoken to a lawyer about the difference between a company title and a strata title, and they really didn’t explain all that went into it. That probably cost us a lot of time and just a lot of stress,” according to Lena.
“You need a good lawyer who’s really transparent, and someone who’s explaining things to you especially if you come across things you don’t really know about.”
The unfortunate experience taught them of the importance of surrounding themselves with experts and professionals in the field of property investment. While it’s entirely possible to self-educate, nobody can ever learn everything they need to know, and a well-meant, good advice will always go a long way.
“For somebody coming from the perspective that doesn’t know a lot, I find that [a financial team] really does help. It’s been interesting for me… to have those sort of conversations. As we have them more regularly, I am learning more and more. In terms of finding the time, it’s necessary. You need to have those conversations," Lauren said.
“I’m quite proud of us. I think we’ve come a long way… Just let go and be aware of the people around you that do have knowledge… [Be] able to go, ‘You know what? This is scary at times and this is a risk, but it’s a calculated risk. So, where could we go from there?’ ”
Their final piece of advice for budding property investors is to always have time to determine and reassess your current position and the goals you want to achieve for the long term.
Smart Property Investment’s Phil Tarrant said: “The fact that you’re creating goals, that’s one thing, but keeping yourself accountable to those goals is where most people fall down.”
“I think that’s what works for a partnership—you need to say, ‘What are you up to today?’ Kick each other’s butts and get the fire started,” Lena concluded.
Tune in to Lena Lindley and Lauren Curren’s episode on The Smart Property Investment Show to know more about how the pair managed to build an impressive portfolio— what they have done wrong, what they have done right, and what they are most proud of.
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