Rachel Barnes - Managing Your Investment Property: The Essential Guide to Property Management in Australia and New Zealand

Foreword

I have always believed that, in life, micro skills are far more important than macro skills. By that I mean, if you are building a property portfolio, what does it matter that you have a law degree from Australias most prestigious university or that you can write the best software program to assess the feasibility of your new development project? These will mean nothing if you dont know the nuts and bolts (micro skills) of property management.

Here is a book that just nails all of these skills so well. If you are proposing to self-manage your property portfolio, this book is a must-read. It is also very valuable reading for those who are preparing to engage a property manager to take the stress out of managing a property portfolio.

I was particularly impressed with the way the book deals with a major question for property investors: whether to DIY (do it yourself) or engage a professional manager. Investors in their early days of property investment often dont give this issue the serious deliberation it deserves. Managing a property yourself can very easily result, through lack of local knowledge, in overlooking at least one annual rent-increase for, say, even 5 per cent. This loss compounds every year over the five to 10 years that you own the property, leaving a real hole in the cash flow and your return. Fortunately for you, the reader, the authors give this topic the comprehensive and balanced examination that it needs.

So too is their treatment of how to select the best property manager if DIY is not for you. This book offers street-smart advice about the pros and cons of using boutique property managers versus large companies, and gives lots of important questions every property investor should ask a potential property manager.

And the book is full of many other helpful practical tips in so many areas such as buying off the plan, how to select the right property to rent for you, tenant selection, avoiding discrimination laws and so on. It is a real grab bag of helpful information and tips.

Congratulations, Geoff and Rachel. You have put something back into an industry that we know you are passionate about. You have also lifted the bar for all those who come after you in property management.

Rob BalandaPartner, MBA Lawyers Gold Coast, June 2010

Rob is a partner of the Gold Coast law firm McDonald Balanda & Associates (MBA Lawyers) and has practised as a solicitor for more than 30 years. He has significant experience in all aspects of development matters, having acted for developers, builders, the local authority and financiers along with many investors from all over Queensland.

He is also an accomplished presenter, published author of the industry standard book Clauses Made Simple, and author of a series of audio products. Rob is a regular contributor to, and writes a regular column for, Australias leading property investment magazine, Australian Property Investor.

About the authors

Rachel Barnes

Rachel grew up living in a caravan in the south-east of England. Her family was constantly short of money, despite the fact that Rachels father always put money aside as long-term savings.

When Rachel was 17, she was eager to leave the confines of the caravan and move out into the big wide world and into a real house! As part of this escape, she married quite young and although it wasnt a good match, it was a very good learning experience that strengthened her character as well as her compassion for others.

By the time Rachel reached 40 she was working hard, but quite content with life. She had a loving partner, a beautiful loving daughter, two wonderful step-kids, a great career and a lovely four-bedroom house (with a large mortgage!).

In 2000, Rachel and her partner John decided it was time to start planning for retirement. It became obvious that their employer contributions to superannuation would not give them enough to live on, even if they both worked until they were 65 or even 70, so they decided to purchase their first investment property. Maybe it was the lack of bricks and mortar in her youth that propelled her to build her successful property portfolio. Whatever the reason, it is a decision that certainly worked out for her.

John and Rachel purchased just one property in 2000 and by 2005 had managed to purchase a total of 75 properties, and they still hold 70 of them today. Rachel and John specialise in buying and holding positively geared properties, so that the investments pay for themselves. Rachel prefers to outsource the management of her properties.

This investment strategy allowed John to leave work in 2002. In 2004, Rachel was able to retire 20 years earlier than she had ever dreamed!

Although retired Rachel likes to keep busy and youll often find her sharing her experience at Property Women events or travelling the world looking for other real estate opportunities while also checking out the local coffee shops as she goes!