Kathy's Blog

Essential Resources for your Property Education

In my last blog I covered some of the benefits of investing in New Zealand compared to some Asian countries. I also mentioned that I would be presenting at the Property Women's Annual Conference in Surfers Paradise during November 2010...Well done Property Women!

What an inspiring event, in particular to the Brilliant Diamonds, a group of  25 women who have been mentored for the past year by Property Women. Listening to their achievements reinforced my belief that no matter what your background, education or experience; property is a wonderful vehicle to attain your goals.

My belief is that an integral part of investing, is initially getting as much information and education as you can, and then actually using it.

My topic for this blog is to explore some of the resources for getting information and education and briefly discuss what is happening in the NZ property market.

Books

At the start of my investing and for many investors that I have spoken to, the book Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki was the book that inspired us to get out and start investing in property. After reading his book I started my hunt for as many other related books.  A few that I’ve read were by Dolf de Roos, a successful investor from New Zealand living in the United Sates, Andrew King’s Planning for Property Success and Proportunities by Dorien Forster, as well as more recently, Property is a Girls Best Friend by Property Women.

Associations

In most cities and towns in New Zealand there are property investor groups. I joined the Auckland Property Investors Association and attended as many meetings as possible. This was an opportunity to network and meet all different types of investors from new starters, long term investors, traders, property managers, real estate agents and mortgage brokers.

Just listening to and talking with other investors, hearing their experiences, both challenges and successes was invaluable. I gleaned a huge amount of information and contacts to get started. Some of whom I have maintained contact with to date. One of the benefits of joining the Auckland Property Investors Association was a free subscription to the New Zealand Property Investor Magazine. This magazine has a varied range of articles written by specialists and covers other investor’s experiences.

Seminars, Coaching and Mentoring

If you browse through the local property investor magazines and newspapers, there are usually seminars advertised. The local investors association often runs seminars too. Often the seminars are run by veteran investors. Many of these investors have coaching and mentoring programs. The seminars are a great way to learn and to network with other investors.

I recall one of the first free seminars I attended, some of the information on the cycles of the property market was invaluable, however this seminar, being free, was biased towards the properties they were promoting.  Some investors prefer to be coached or mentored, either as a one to one or in group sessions. Again this is all a personal preference. Often at these events good information will be conveyed, and then it’s up to you to get out and take action.

Listening to the Brilliant Diamonds, one thing I heard was that the group dynamics was such that they encouraged each other and this helped them to get out, take action and do deals. Other investors prefer to work on their own, and knowing what works for you and taking the opportunities as they present themselves is the key to your success.

NZ Property Market

From the media commentary, the New Zealand property market is at the bottom of the cycle and prices have stabilised. For investors this is one of the best times to invest. As predicted in the media, rents are increasing and the number of building consents is down by comparison to the past years.

This is a good indicator that there will be an under supply of property which will have an upward effect on both the rental income and property prices.

New Zealand interest rates are relatively low and with the Official Cash Rate remaining at 3%, it is predicted by some economists that the interest rate will possibly remain unchanged until mid 2011 and possibly even as far as a year from now. For current investors with floating or low fixed term rates this is good news.

Speaking to mortgage brokers, it appears that banks are easing up on lending criteria for home buyers and to a lesser extent investors. This is encouraging news also and a good time to ensure your pre approval is in place.

Thanks to Property Women, for an inspiring and encouraging Annual Conference, and well done to everyone for attending.

If you are looking for some reading material or audio visual material to keep you on track over Christmas and to set the scene for 2011, Property Women has excellent resources in their Online Shop.

Best wishes to you and your family for Christmas and may 2011 be a prosperous year, full of fun and exciting journeys for everyone.

To find out more about becoming one of the 25 Brilliant Diamonds for 2011 click on the link below, be quick there are only a few spots available:

http://www.propertywomen.com.au/events/brilliantdiamonds/

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