Hi all - thought I'd share a bit of my recent experience and thoughts.
In 2003 we bought our first IP. At the time it seemed like a good idea and a way to start retirement planning. We purchased 2 properties quite quickly, then nothing for a couple of years. For a while I was just being fussy as I wasn't seeing any opportunities as good as the first ones, but then again I wasn't putting much time into it.
In January this year I read Wink and Grow Rich. It was the first of this kind of motivation / inspiration book that I had ever read and connected with. I read it several times over the next few weeks and slowly some of the key messages started sinking in (there's still lots that I haven't got yet). I realised form the start that I didn't have a vision. I was just existing day to day with no clear purpose.
The book got me thinking, and after some time working out my passions suddenly a vision was clear. My wife and I sat down and agreed to the goal "By December 2007 we will spend every school holidays (and lots of other time) at our beach house with our friends and family". It was a great goal and we loved it but had no idea how it was going to happen. I thought hard about it for a while but couldn't come up with any tangible plans how to achieve it. However we kept the goal stuck to the wall in our bedroom and read it every time we walked past.
In July this year I had valuations done on our first 2 properties and found they had basically doubled in value. I asked for advice on this forum about keeping or selling and got 2 replies that made me think really hard. Both Julian and Dean said that if you are clear on your goals then it will be obvious which decision to make. Even though we had a clear goal I realised after a while that I hadn't really committed to it. I was still stuck thinking about and planning for life in 20 years time when our goal was all about living for today.
Once I realised this (thanks for the challenge guys!), the decision was a no brainer. We put the properties on the market and have just settled the second one. Selling the properties has reduced our reliance on working salaried jobs, allowed us to set up the lifestyle we want so we can have time with the kids, generate money doing the things we love, and still live for today.
We haven't bought the beach house yet, but with another 2 years to go on that part of the goal we know it's going to happen.
The jump for me to leave a good secure job was pretty big. I've always enjoyed what I do and where I work so haven't been in a rush to leave. However the job was just not compatible with the lifestyle we were planning so once we had decided to sell the properties I set another goal to be generating at least my current salary by doing things I love by April 2006. After a month I decided that was too far away and brought forward the goal to February 2006. I spent a lot of time dwelling on what those things would be, but didn't come up with any specific answers that would prompt me to leave my job.
But finally one day it hit. I was standing at the bus stop watching all the depressed looking people in corporate uniform trudging by (normally I ride to work and back and can't stand the depression of the bus). As I was watching these people I found myself smiling to think that from February I wouldn't be doing this any more. At that point I realised I really believed it would happen - very soon I would be generating good money doing the things I loved to do, rather then the things I had to do to pay the bills.
From that moment of finally believing it, the ideas started coming. I've now got plans lined up and have resigned from my job to make them happen.
So what's the point about this rant? A bit of self congratulations I guess, but more so to share my experience of setting goals and what can happen when you really believe in them. We all make choices every day about who we are, how we live, and what we do. Choose what you want, set clear goals, believe in them, and they will happen!
Gerrard
P.S. - For all you "never sell a property" people out there - I will never regret selling these 2 properties. Selling them helped to meet our goal. Keeping them would have gone against our goal!
P.P.S. - Having gone through the property experience in the last couple of years I've learnt heaps and know we can live today AND have a secure financial future. Property is still going to play a big part in our future!
In 2003 we bought our first IP. At the time it seemed like a good idea and a way to start retirement planning. We purchased 2 properties quite quickly, then nothing for a couple of years. For a while I was just being fussy as I wasn't seeing any opportunities as good as the first ones, but then again I wasn't putting much time into it.
In January this year I read Wink and Grow Rich. It was the first of this kind of motivation / inspiration book that I had ever read and connected with. I read it several times over the next few weeks and slowly some of the key messages started sinking in (there's still lots that I haven't got yet). I realised form the start that I didn't have a vision. I was just existing day to day with no clear purpose.
The book got me thinking, and after some time working out my passions suddenly a vision was clear. My wife and I sat down and agreed to the goal "By December 2007 we will spend every school holidays (and lots of other time) at our beach house with our friends and family". It was a great goal and we loved it but had no idea how it was going to happen. I thought hard about it for a while but couldn't come up with any tangible plans how to achieve it. However we kept the goal stuck to the wall in our bedroom and read it every time we walked past.
In July this year I had valuations done on our first 2 properties and found they had basically doubled in value. I asked for advice on this forum about keeping or selling and got 2 replies that made me think really hard. Both Julian and Dean said that if you are clear on your goals then it will be obvious which decision to make. Even though we had a clear goal I realised after a while that I hadn't really committed to it. I was still stuck thinking about and planning for life in 20 years time when our goal was all about living for today.
Once I realised this (thanks for the challenge guys!), the decision was a no brainer. We put the properties on the market and have just settled the second one. Selling the properties has reduced our reliance on working salaried jobs, allowed us to set up the lifestyle we want so we can have time with the kids, generate money doing the things we love, and still live for today.
We haven't bought the beach house yet, but with another 2 years to go on that part of the goal we know it's going to happen.
The jump for me to leave a good secure job was pretty big. I've always enjoyed what I do and where I work so haven't been in a rush to leave. However the job was just not compatible with the lifestyle we were planning so once we had decided to sell the properties I set another goal to be generating at least my current salary by doing things I love by April 2006. After a month I decided that was too far away and brought forward the goal to February 2006. I spent a lot of time dwelling on what those things would be, but didn't come up with any specific answers that would prompt me to leave my job.
But finally one day it hit. I was standing at the bus stop watching all the depressed looking people in corporate uniform trudging by (normally I ride to work and back and can't stand the depression of the bus). As I was watching these people I found myself smiling to think that from February I wouldn't be doing this any more. At that point I realised I really believed it would happen - very soon I would be generating good money doing the things I loved to do, rather then the things I had to do to pay the bills.
From that moment of finally believing it, the ideas started coming. I've now got plans lined up and have resigned from my job to make them happen.
So what's the point about this rant? A bit of self congratulations I guess, but more so to share my experience of setting goals and what can happen when you really believe in them. We all make choices every day about who we are, how we live, and what we do. Choose what you want, set clear goals, believe in them, and they will happen!
Gerrard
P.S. - For all you "never sell a property" people out there - I will never regret selling these 2 properties. Selling them helped to meet our goal. Keeping them would have gone against our goal!
P.P.S. - Having gone through the property experience in the last couple of years I've learnt heaps and know we can live today AND have a secure financial future. Property is still going to play a big part in our future!
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