Hey there folks . It's Bryce here , and Ben and I are excited to bring you our new podcast mini series based on our best selling book , the Armchair Guide to Property Investing how to Retire on $2,000 per week where we give you an insider's look at the making of our book , chapter by Chapter .
Now , the reason this mini series came into being is because , back in 2020 , we did a series of Facebook lives to help us bust out of COVID lockdown blues and , instead of reading the book word for word like an audiobook , we told behind the scenes stories , chapter summaries , anecdotes and back stories to bring each chapter to life in a unique and insightful way .
Now we've brought together all the audio from these sessions so you'll see for yourself why more than 45,000 copies and counting have been read on the way to retiring on $2,000 per week through investing in property , and we talked about these concepts in our trademark casual and conversational style .
So if you've ever thought about retiring on $2,000 per week or wondered how to live a life by design , doing what you want when you want , or you've dreamed of travel or philanthropy or anything in between , then this mini series is for you . We want to give you the armchair guide to actually do it for yourself .
And if you'd like to get a copy of this best selling book for yourself to play along at home , you can get a free copy at wwwtheearmchairguidecomau . We'll rush out a copy of the book to you on us if you simply pay for postage . We hope you enjoy the series and you design a lifestyle that you want to live .
So dive in and enjoy each episode as you learn how to retire on $2,000 per week . There it is , ben , the things we do when we're in isolation . And so today is chapter three on how to retire on $2,000 a week .
Because we did the armchair guide to property investing , we thought , whilst we're in isolation , ben , we thought we would talk about the chapter highlights of our book . Now , in the first one , we did Ben . In chapter one , we talked about building the knowledge base , which was a lot of fun around our tubes .
Chapter two was about the psychology of investing , ben , and that's where we went through the analogy of the digger , the levers . But then chapter three is the five essential steps on how to start which ?
Now , ben , if we want to borrow a sporting analogy , if they say that the third quarter is the Premiership quarter , I've got to say that this chapter here does a lot of heavy lifting because there are some very , very , very meaty concepts in this chapter , isn't ?
there there's some huge concepts . The first one is a very powerful one , which is effectively our five step process . And then there's the money smarts Because remember . Bryce , we did this book before we did the bestselling second book , which is the Make Money Simple Again , and we were talking about money smarts .
So we'll get to that in a minute , but we've got the five steps . What else have we got in there ?
Mate , we've got the five steps . We've also got we touch on money smart . We've got a diagram in here around money smarts . So we'll look at that . Folks just here around , how to set up your money smarts . Not only that , ben . We then go through and we talk about . This is amazing , because we show people who the industry players are .
Yes , so there's a bit to go here , but let's talk about the five steps , ben , because when we first met each other , we were talking about the fact that property investing is a process , not an event .
But our observation was that a lot of people saw it as an event , which typically started with them trawling on the internet , ben , and starting at what we'll talk about shortly at step four , which is the implementation .
But they just go on the internet and they would look for properties and really start at the bricks and mortar and we thought , wow , and remember this book's approaching six years old , ben , since we first put pen to paper An oldie but a goodie , yes , and some of these concepts that a lot of our community , through the podcast , we've been talking about these
frameworks , but at the time we were talking about some information that was new in the marketplace , wasn't it ? Yeah , I mean true .
I mean there's been a lot of stock is selling . That's been going on forever .
In a day , right in terms of but in terms of the framework , in terms of our five steps , oh , totally .
Yeah , definitely . I mean what you were able to do . I mean , let's be honest , it was your driving framework and what we wanted to try and articulate is , firstly , opportunity and potential . Secondly , how do you turn that opportunity and potential into action ? And the third point is review . And so how do you manage that ?
So there were the sort of broader concepts in terms of how do you keep moving forward ? And then you got to these five steps which we can share with you now right , clarify , evaluate , plan , implement and manage . And then we've got some subsets of those particular things .
So I mean , the opportunity and potential is in everyone's household to be able to get to where you want to get to . So we've got to collect the information and analyze it . So , same for you . You've got to gather and sort and get that information together . And why are you doing this ? What are your goals ?
So once we clarify those goals , you're in a far better position to be able to assess and evaluate . So I mean , you've got a great story about you know going to the docs and yeah , well , it's a really good way to think about this , isn't it ?
Because you talked about the five steps to clarify , evaluate , plan , implement and manage . What I want to say on that is part of our workshop is you were very firm on the evaluate stage Because at first I'm thinking is it forward ?
You get clarified , then you've got to do the plan and you were like no , the evaluation requires the diagnosis , it requires the slow thinking , it requires the merging of the practical experience , the technical experience . Sometimes just being in the industry for so long gets you a better sense of what people you know what's appropriate for people .
So it's kind of the marinade step , isn't it , ben ? You put the meat in the marinade , you leave it there for a bit so you get a better result .
Yeah , between step two and step three is effectively where the problem solving is occurring right , so where the solution is for what you're trying to do and your investment strategy and potentially , you know , really starting to get really clear about your priorities and life , your big rocks in the jar and those types of things .
So that's a big component of then seeing how people have that potential and you know that sits really really nicely in regards to you know how we were sort of putting this framework together .
So now , folks , if you've got a copy of the book , you can play along at home , you can open the chapter . We are not going to treat this like an audio book . We're not going to read it word for word , we are just going to talk about the highlights and some stories and some anecdotes around it .
So if you do have your copy you want to play along at home , do that . If you don't have a copy , we're going to put a link up shortly where you can go and get a free copy .
Basically , ben and I have gone and bought a number of copies from our publisher so that we can get this into your hands if you're interested in investing in property or you're interested in self-funding your retirement . So if you want to get access to that , go to the link , the armchairguidecomau , and we will give you a book , won't we , ben ?
But to all we ask , for is that you pay for it to be shipped to your place . You just tell us where to ship it , we'll send it . You give us the postage and handling and we'll send it off to you , because we bought a copy for you .
So , folks , so we've also got another little freebie if you stick around too , just for the record , well , we're going to go through that .
So there's another opportunity . So we're trying to give out some opportunity here , but the five steps is best . We think it's best showcased . If you think about going to the doctor , you talked about that before . So , first of all , if you walk into a doctor's office , what do you call it , ben ? A doctor's suite . It's not a tree , a doctor's room .
The first thing they're going to do , if they're any good at their craft , keep going . If they're any good at their craft , they're going to ask you some questions , ben . What's going on ? What symptoms have you got ? Tell us a little bit about what's going on .
Croaky throat , a little bit of coughing fever .
All right . So that's step one of clarified . Step two is I'm going to use the evaluation , the marinade . I've spent many , many years doing medicine at uni . I've gone through all the practical application at the beginning . Then I've actually gone through and done this for a number of years . So I'm using my experience in step number two is the evaluation .
And then step number three is I'm going to give you a plan , ben , based on that croaky throat , I'm going to ask you to do a couple of things . One , stop drinking red wine . Two , cut back on the chocolates with the almonds , because we know that you love your chocolate with the almonds . We want you to eat a few more salads .
We want you to take a walk around the block and we want you to take this prescription . That's the plan , ben . As you walk out of the doctor's surgery , there we go , surgery , yeah . And then , as you're armed with that plan Ben , what are you going to do ? You've got to go home and you've got to implement it , which is step four .
Yeah .
And then , typically , what do you do with the doctor ? You make an appointment to go and see them seven to ten days later . And then they say what do they say , Ben ? They say did you implement our plan ?
Progress . How are we measuring that progress ? What have you ? Have you managed the program of the drug taking or whatever that is , the exercise or whatever the plan was ? Did you ?
scale it back correctly , scaling back the red wine .
Have you ? Yes , all of the above , all of the above . That's exactly what happens .
So at the managed stage they go back to step one , ben . They clarify a bit further and work out if we need to go through . So that is essentially what a doctor does , and so we're suggesting that a property .
If you're talking to someone who's a professional , they should be going through that process , folks , to help you better understand your situation so that you can come to an outcome . So let's dive in a little bit , ben .
I reckon that was a nice segue to how you pay and like in terms of so you were talking about . Well , is everyone a doctor in the property investment space , bryce ? Has everyone got qualifications ? Is everyone working in your best interest ? Because we know here , you know , we've definitely got a bias towards property . We're really clear on that .
If you ask us what is the best investment opportunity it's like asking a barber whether you need a haircut the answer is there's always . you know there's better barbers than others right , as is there's better doctors than others , so why don't you take us through that strategy , bryce ?
Because I like that strategy . Thanks for the layup , but so what you're trying to say is who are the industry players ? And typically , typically , what we need to be looking for in terms of advice is working out where the person who's giving the information gets paid , because there's really two distinct .
So , if we can make that a bit clear , there's a quadrant Ben and there's a distinct quadrant that you can see on the image there , on the left hand side of the quadrant . The person who's giving the information gets paid by the person who's selling the property . Then selling somebody which is fine , ben , if you put your hand up .
It's our salesperson and I'm earning an income from someone who's selling something . That is just a noble profession . That is fine . Just put it the correct .
And then , on the right hand side of the quadrant , ben , for those playing along at home watching on Facebook , on the right hand side is the person who's actually being paid by the purchaser , and so , ultimately , that is one of the frameworks that we need to be able to work out to understand the industry players . Ben , am I being paid by the seller ?
Am I being paid by the buyer ? Because once you understand that line in the sand . Well then , it's clear to understand where the advice comes from , because the person who gets paid from the seller the first person on established property is a real estate agent , ben .
They work for the vendor , don't they Bross ?
They do , Excuse me there . And the second person on working for the seller is if it's brand new , it's usually a project marketer . Now we talk about spruechers a bit later on , but that's potentially where they come , Whereas on the right hand side , the opposite of a real estate agent is a buyer's agent . Excuse me so a buyer's agent .
Let me know if I need to kick in there , mate , if I need to help you out whilst you're out of cough .
Well , there's nothing worse than a tick and a threat when you're going live , is there ? So the buyer's agent with the real estate on the opposite of the real estate agent , and then you've got a property investment advisor . So maybe you might be able to distinguish between the two sides , ben .
Well , I think if we play on the other side , you know , the buyer's agent usually gets paid a fee , and in some cases that fee is a percentage which is , you know , like you don't necessarily want an incentive to pay more , and the buyer's agent getting a bit more or a flat fee is just really clear in terms of what that cost is going to be .
And then you've got the property investment advisor . Now the property investment advisor , from my point of view , also receives a professional fee . They should have a qualification . They should be qualified at the work that they're doing . So not just someone who wears a suit and turns up and says I know real estate .
And ultimately , that's the juxtaposition between what we see as marketeers who are selling from a stock list and they're saying their service is completely free , but that's because they're getting paid by the developer . So you then want to know well , you know , is this the best property I could buy for my money , if I'm trying to buy it for investment purposes ?
So , whereas an independent , staunchly independent property investment advisor who only gets paid by you as the client , you'd like to think that they've got your best interests at heart . And if they ever take a clip on both sides of the fence there's a complete conflict of interest .
That does happen in our industry and that's disappointing , and I think it absolutely needs to be completely removed , and that's why we're passionate about regulation coming into the property investment space . That's a story for another day , but that's ultimately how it works .
So if you know who you want to be working with and how often that they do what they do and how long they've been doing it , for you'll get the best result with those experienced advisors .
So we go through all that in Chapter 3 .
Here , ben , we talk about what the real estate agents do , the project marketers but ultimately what we want to do is be able to help people better understand where they should be getting their information from , because if they can understand that fundamental concept of where the advisor is getting paid , then they'll just have an awareness bet around where the agenda
is for the information that we're getting . Now , within the project marketer space we've talked about this a fair bit on our podcast that where we talked before where you've got someone who is a salesperson and they are not masquerading as being anything other than salesperson , that is fine .
Then , on the other end of the spectrum , you have someone who's giving advice and they're not getting , they're not receiving anything from the product that they're giving advice about . It's just fee for service .
It's this murky stuff in the middle , isn't it , ben , where the spruke up has emerged because , unlike the financial planning industry , where it's heavily regulated , you can approve product lists . You have to actually recommend products that are only on the approved product list .
You saw it in your position as chair of people , ben , and you saw the dark side and the bright side , typically in the property industry . Unfortunately , all you need is a haircut and a suit to get involved , because the barrier to entry is low .
Yeah , I think the other part here is sometimes you'll get a professional introduction from a financial plan or an accountant to a property investment advisor but ultimately that account and all that financial planner could be getting a kickback that should be disclosed , but in a lot of cases it may not be disclosed .
The same sort of rules apply potentially when you go to a real estate opening and ultimately the real estate agent saying , oh , you need to use Broker Bob over here . That's potentially also because Broker Bob is going to give the agent a bit of a kickback as well . So it's really important just to ask the right questions how are you paid ?
Is anyone else receiving any money as part of this transaction ? And if they are , you need to be informed about that . In terms of then you make your judgment . Do you still think it's the right decision to take ? Because a lot of the time , a lot of this money is under the table and it's hidden away from you and we don't think that's right .
So that's why we took a section of the book to talk about this , so you can be informed on it , because there's a lot of people who won't be making any money out of residential property over the last couple of years and potentially for the next couple if they've bought the wrong asset in the wrong location .
So it's really important to understand that and we'll get into the fundamentals in the other chapters in the future , in the chapters further into the book , where we do talk about what are those fundamental drivers .
But right now it's about understanding the five steps that you take from starting and then also exploring those industry players , so you can get a good sense of all right , there's a high value transaction about to go on here . How does it all work ? And we're sort of sharing that with you right now .
So there you go , folks . That's the industry players . Ben talks about flat fee versus percentage of purchase price . We're proponents of the flat fee as a buyer's agent , and that could be another Facebook logo as to why that has been so . Really , we've gone from clarify , which was get an understanding of who you are , and that can be for some people , ben .
If you go to the previous chapter , we talked about time and target . Some people may have more time or bigger target or whatever , so it's about getting an understanding of what it is that you specifically want to clarify . So then the evaluate stage . You can have something that's not a cookie cutter , one size .
Now , as part of the step that we did there in the evaluation , we went into a little bit of detail , ben , around the money smarts . Now , what's interesting is this book here we wrote before we wrote Make Money Simple Again , which is all about our money smarts program , correct .
But since we've released both books , two things One , they're evergreen , they work in any market at any time , but two , the other one is really the prequel because it precedes this one , because it's about building that foundation so that you can purchase .
But in this chapter here we go into it , into a little bit of detail it's at the 30,000 foot level , ben so that people can get a better understanding on how to manage their money . So here on page number 62 , you get a bit of a sense of what the basic banking structure looks like .
But instead of sort of going into depth there , we might just let folks know who are listening to this that they can also get a copy of our first book if they go to makemoneysimpleagaincom .
Oh , make money simple again . That's the other book . Have you got the other book handy there ?
Bryce , Now I didn't put the other one handy . Do you have it there , Ben ?
I just happened to have a copy handed to me just then . That's the second book .
That's the .
That's how you organise your money . What does it say ? There A no BS money management system that works . It is a bestselling book . We've sold thousands and thousands of copies of that book as well . But the point . I just want to highlight a couple of critical points here .
Go on , bring it up .
The money management system is critical to trapping surplus . So , and the five step process only works if you've got money to play with . So you don't have money to play with to invest .
If you can't trap that surplus , in other words , if you can't organize your money , control your money , trap that surplus , chances are you're going to be working for a very , very long time and you won't necessarily have that financial transformation , which is what we're passionate about to find financial peace .
So we've , you know , with COVID-19 and everything going on , we've decided that this book here it's our Good Aiment camera Give it away , like we've got enough , we've sold enough . So you know , there's over 9000 people have downloaded a copy of this book , bryce . So we're coming up to 10,000 downloads . So we're giving it away .
And then there's also a free platform in which people can set up on , because that's how passionate we are about people who need to organize their money correctly . And then , once they do , they are they , they , they should feel empowered about the next step in that journey .
Well , we're giving everyone the opportunity for success , aren't we , Ben ? Because we're making the instruction manual for free and we're giving them a platform that implements all of the stuff in the book for free as well . So , and of course , if you want to get this book , you can get that for free as well .
So that was in the evaluate section , Ben , which was around money management .
Question without notice . What is smart ? Stand for Bryce Money smarts . What's the acronym there ? Tell me , talk to me . Strategy mindset application resources timeline and surplus .
You're trying to trick me out , aren't you ? Oh , I was Damn it Good nice work .
Well done .
What is it backwards , ben Go ? No , so it just means organize and thrive with your money . So we do say that in the book . So that's step two . Step three Ben is around the planning . Now . You've been the property investment advisor of the year a couple of years in a row , as well as our business being the property investment advisor of the year .
So what do you think are the headlines for the planning , ben ? That's really really critical for people to keep in mind as step three of our five essential steps .
Yeah . So there's two parts of planning and that is strategy and tactics . So the tactics piece comes down to how you line the ducks up and the strategy piece is how you make sure you've got the cash flows to make that happen . So you know it is tactical , especially if you're building a long term plan .
So the strategy in organizing that cash flow , getting the lending , making sure you're buying the right location you know , and implementing on that is how you're going to get that plan piece to play out for you . So it's incredibly powerful to make the invisible visible and you can do that with a proper plan .
You can start to think about well , at this point my wealth is going to be this , my cash flow surplus is going to be this . Some money's going to turn on and off . You know you might have kids , you might have other commitments in the future . So that's what planning is all about .
It's about organizing those big rocks and then basically making sure that we've got the cash flows to get you through it .
At the back of the book , ben , we've got case studies on how you implement what you just talked about there strategy and tactics . So if people want to get access and have a look at those , there's quite a few different scenarios that we've done in that so that people can get a sense of what our assumptions are and the like .
So there's a fair bit of IP in that . So if you want to check that out on page 215 , you can get access to that . So step one , ben , is clarify . Step two is evaluate . Step three is plan , which you just talked about .
Step four is the implementation , which we jumped to earlier , well over to you , mate , as a buyer's agent , as one of Australia's buyers .
we're bought in every state and territory in Australia . Tell us about what you need to do when you're implementing .
Thank you for that . Every state and territory , with the exception of the Northern Territory , ben . So that's the only one I haven't done , but I've been in there as part of the show . So , really , the implementation , as we said before , ben is not just about searching , is not researching . Online portals is not what it takes . There is an art and a science .
We talk about the science around Suburb selection . We talk about the science around what we're looking for in a particular asset , but there's also a bit of art to it as well . But understanding Around the status test and being aware of you know , some things are black and white , but there's a bit of gray as well been in terms of looking for .
So that takes a bit of time , but you need to understand that it's an essential need . Therefore , there is there is a an opportunity to exploit some of the inefficiencies , and then you purchase and then we talk about that Human interest and human behavior piece as part of that story .
So you're absolutely right . I mean , ultimately , 70% of the property market price is under occupiers , their price Makers . Investors should be smart enough to be priced takers , not the other way around is yeah , don't .
Don't swim upstream , folks Swim downstream . If the owner occupies and driving the market , just buy assets that they like .
Don't buy assets They'd invest with their hearts , not their heads , so that's a good strategy .
That's not their calculator spinning in . The last one step , five , is manage , and that that often gets missed Because people are spending a lot of , you know , burning a lot of fuel to get the plane to take off , but when it levels off , you need to be tweaking , you need to be fine-tuning , you need to be refining , you need to .
It was only it only feels like yesterday been but a year and a half , two years ago when apra dropped a handbrake on lending . That requires a bit of tweaking .
Your strategy may have looked In this direction and then the the challenges around getting finance might mean you need to pivot and do a little tweak over here , or Put , put back a property , or bring a property forward , or if you're going to take a sabbatical . So there's , there's little nuances that go along the way . So I think it's I think a rocket .
Then I might butcher this a little bit , but the general gist is a rocket , on the way to its destination , is usually on track Only about three percent of the time , and for the remaining nine percent there's 97 percent .
There's always these subtle adjustments to make sure that it's back on track and essentially , if you think about like that , that's what the manager's doing , just making those little subtle adjustments over time to flex with your circumstances so that you still Arrive at the destination .
Yeah , so we call that manage . And if you were breaking that down into sub context , we talk about that being measuring and monitoring . So what Bryce is talking about is you measure , monitor , measure , monitor , measure , tweak and those types things .
So if you're doing those types of steps , chances are you're going to end up very , very close to your destination , if not right on the money when it comes to your your plans around investing in property .
They have a focus the five essential steps when building a property portfolio . It's really important . The way to sum that up and is very simple property investing is a process , not an event . That process is a five-step process . You need to . You need to do step one before three , you need to do before four , you need to do three before four and five .
It's it's just really really straightforward and really really simple .
So hopefully that's helped folks to give you a bit of an idea on , just just for the record , because of this book and because we've sold over 20,000 copies , the amount of people that come into our business quite often been , I'd say , very , very high percentage Of the people that come and see us ask how to build a portfolio to retire in 2000 a week .
So we're not talking theory , we're actually talking practical stuff that we get to see on the ground each and every day , not only in the building of the plan but the implementing of it in terms of buying the assets . So we're really keen to say that we're we consider ourselves subject matter experts .
We don't consider ourselves gurus who are , who are talking about concepts that we've never done ourselves . Not only have we implemented it in our own personal portfolios , but we've implemented in hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of Clients portfolios as well .
So , folks , what does Molly Meldrum say ? Do yourselves a favor . Do yourselves a favor and grab the book .
Well , you just knocked out the Gen Ys Ben , because I don't know how Meldrum is . But yeah , folks , if you want to get access to that again , we might see if Stiggy can help us and put the link back up the link has been up all this time , bryce , I'm lucky enough to see it on the screen All this stuff happening around me .
It's great . All I've got to do is concentrate on talking .
We surround ourselves with Gen Ys , so it happens that way . So there you go . So there you go , folks . We've been through three chapters now . Chapter one was building the knowledge base . Chapter two was all about the four foundational levers . Been in terms of Setting yourself up for success in terms of psychology .
The third chapter that we've just been through , folks , is the five Essential steps we want you to play along . We're going to read out each and every chapter , ben , over the next coming weeks . We're also gonna talk about our 18 strategies , ben , which we've actually actually haven't even talked about these 18 strategies on the podcast .
So this will be the first time , so you should check this out as we get to that later on in the chapters . So , ben , it's been fun Break a bit of ISO here .
Oh , 30 minutes goes pretty quick when you're talking the stuff you love to talk about .
Yeah , very , very true . So there you go , folks . Hopefully , if you're enjoying this , if you could leave a comment below , maybe tag one of your friends who you think might be interested in listening to this as well . That would be super .
And , of course , ben and I have a podcast where we try and deliver as much gold as we can , ben giving the insider's guide on property finance and money management . We do that each and every Thursday at three o'clock Australian Eastern Standard Time , so if you wanna check that out , go to thepropertycatchcomau . Hey there folks .
Bryce here again to say thanks for tuning in to the latest step of the armchair guide to Property Investing Mini Series , which we hope is adding value for you as we show you how to retire on $2,000 per week . Now , before you go , ben and I are keen to get a copy of the book into your hands , so we've bought a copy for you .
All you need to do is to get your hands on it is to go to wwwdiamchairguidecomau and give us two things One , tell us where to send it and two , simply pay for the shipping and we'll do the rest Once you leave your details , or rush a copy out to you . Then you can start reading along with us as we unpack the book chapter by chapter here .
And if you like the audio book version , we've got you covered too . You'll receive an option to get that when you enter your details , and you'll be able to get your earbuds on that too . Go to wwwdiamchairguidecomau to get started . Thank you .