Cam McLellan - My Four-Year-Old the Property Investor: The Straight Line to Wealth

My four-year-old

the property investor

Published by Open Corporation 2014
Opencorporation.com.au
Openwealthcreation.com.au
2014 Cam McLellan
Written in collaboration with Matthew Lewison

This publication is copyright. All rights reserved.
Except as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968 (Cwlth), no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted by any means, electronic or otherwise, without the specific written permission of the copyright owner.

National Library of Australia
Cataloguing-in-publication entry:

McLellan, Cam.

My four-year-old the property investor / Cam McLellan.

ISBN: 9780646576534 (pbk)

ISBN: 9780992549442 (epub)

Real estate investment Australia.

332.63240994

Disclaimer
While reasonable care has been taken to produce this guide, no guarantees are given for the accuracy of its content or the material in the web links. Property investing is a complex, ever-changing field. Every persons circumstance is different, and therefore no reader should rely solely or partially on the information in the guide or the material in web links provided by the author. Any person or organisation reading this guide or obtaining material in the web links is responsible for their own investment decisions. The Open Group of companies, its directors and employees are neither liable, nor responsible for the result of any actions or losses incurred, whether whole or partial from the use of the content, information or tools provided. The author is simply sharing information he uses when investing.

Cover concept: damonza.com
Illustrations: Kim Fifield, fatfergusdesigns.com
Photography: ilonanelson.com
Final edit: Paul Hassing, thefeistyempire.com
Typeset and eBook: palmerhiggs.com.au

For Angus, Lucy and Hannah

Learn all the rules.
Then tear this world apart and build a better one.

There are many people I want to thank for their help and support in writing this book.

I assured my wife Felicity this would be a two-month project at most. I ended up writing night after night for well over a year. She reminded me a few times that I wasnt in fact married to my iPad. Felicity, thank you for your patience and your humble way.

The quality of this work is largely due to Matt Lewie Lewison. Each month or so Id hand Matt a pile of typewritten pages and not long after hed return them decorated with his signature red pen. Most of the time it was simple grammatical corrections, but every so often Id find a line through my work and PTO (please turn over) written beside it. Anyone who knows Matt will appreciate this. His finest contribution to this book is the developers activity chain. This diagram gives a fresh perspective on market movements that I know readers will find valuable. Matt, a massive thank-you from my family and me.

Charlotte Newman has the uncanny ability to decipher my handwriting even when I cant! She turned my drawn diagrams into professional, print-worthy illustrations for this book. Thank you so much for all your hard work.

Gerard Ferrari, the time you spent proofreading this work will always be appreciated. I applaud your passion for investing, business and, most importantly, family.

Jonathan Hornet Horn, thanks for your painstaking work correcting my grammar. You are The Word Whisperer!

Michael Bozza Beresford, I told you a dozen times this would be the last time I needed my Excel formulas reconstructed. Keep living and breathing property!

Steve Lewison, thank you for your help and guidance when I was a rookie investor. You taught me the principles to succeed and kept me on the straight and narrow in the early days. Youve never stopped reminding me that time is on my side.

Thanks for photographic mastery by Ilona Nelson, illustrations by Kim Fifield at Fat Fergus Design and cover concept by Damonza.

Denise Mooney and Paul Hassing, I cant thank you enough for fine-tuning my work. I look forward to working with you on many more projects.

Palmer Higgs, thank you for bringing it all together.

Al Lewison, I know youre not a hugger, so all Ill say is Cheers!

My sincere thanks to you all.

Like all parents, Felicity and I encourage our kids to share. The one thing I ask, when you become an educated investor, is to share what youve learned with others.

The knowledge Ive acquired over the years has been largely due to other investors kind enough to teach me the principles of success. Not one of these people asked for anything in return.

Ive since developed a full understanding of the property market and the factors influencing it. This expertise has let me form a systematic investment strategy, which Ive set out for you in this book.

Id love to know your thoughts on what you read here. Im always interested to hear stories, answer questions and discuss investment ideas and strategies.

Drop me a line at

I hope you enjoy reading this book as much as I enjoyed writing it.

I wrote this book for you, kids.

The idea came soon after our first daughter, Hannah, was born. Like many new dads, I had that moment of realisation: nothing else mattered except being a dad.

Soon after, I went for a medical. As I sat in the waiting room looking at all the sick people, I realised I was doing pretty well. But I also had a gut-wrenching thought: what if something happened to me?

Kids, you dont dwell on these things, but in case anything did happen, I felt responsible to pass on what Id learned that I felt no one else could teach you.

This book is your guide to a life where everythings possible. If you follow this step-by-step investment plan, I know you wont have the financial worries I had in the early days.

This guide will help you build a portfolio of exceptional residential property. One that in time will give you passive cash flow and growth. Ill show you how to identify properties with strong rental yield and excellent growth potential, and how to use these investments as a platform to duplicate your portfolio. In this book I set out not just the basic knowledge and skills you need, but also the tools to help you keep everything in check.

I want to give you the means to choose your own adventure in life.

Dad, whats a portfolio? Kids, its a collection of investments owned by individuals, a company or a trust. Ill explain trusts later.

What does yield mean Dad? Rental yield is money received as rent for a property. Its usually viewed as a percentage and compared to the propertys cost.
Rent = (weekly rent x 52 / purchase price) x 100
e.g. Rent = $450 per week. Purchase price = $450,000. Yield = (450 x 52 / 450,000) x 100 = 5.2%