Propertywomen.com - Property is a Girls Best Friend

Foreword

I was surprised and excited when Property Women invited me to write this books foreword. When I thought about what to write, I realised that investors may be male and female, but ultimately they are people ; people with human fears and doubts, people with conceptions and misconceptions about all aspects of investment. Some are young and inexperienced and may think its all too hard or maybe naively think it seems easy. Some are people who have failed in the past and are fighting back; others are crawling slowly forward financially, scarred from bad experiences with other investment strategies; others may feel they just have to do something, maybe upon reaching a mid-life crisis or mid-career crisis, as I did. Whatever the reason that you are reading these words, the truth is that you have come to the right place to move on the people who have written this book have been there, done that.

From Jenny Storeys research strategies to Rachel Barness amazing investment history to a tax professional like Pat Fleming, who is an investor and an accountant what a blend of skills and experience from which to learn.

Where do we get our financial mindsets? We are all initially subjected to the programming and influence of our parents and friends. My parents told me to get educated, get a qualification, get a job, get a home. That was supposed to be enough for the first 40 years, and then you retired on the pension. But this didnt seem right to me.

For decades, I tried to figure out the mystery of what makes people rich. Is it about being smart? That question was answered when I saw people who had earned PhDs working after hours for under $20 per hour. It is not how smart you are academically; its how smart you are in your relationship with money and investment. One thing I do know is that its not how much you earn that makes you rich, it is what you do with what you earn. I have met people who earn masses of money, but are one pay period away from going broke.

Simple but enormously powerful strategies to take control of your finances are covered in this book. Some of them, such as saving 10 per cent of everything you earn to put into investments, such as property, that produce income, I have applied myself and they changed my life. It is all about making money work for you, not you working for money.

I personally know some of the women who have written chapters in this book. Rachel Barnes (networking, property-investment strategies, cash flow and gearing, negotiation), Judith Taylor (renovation), Jenny Storey (research), Lidia Sherwin (finance), Pat Fleming (holding title and tax) and Melanie MacDonald (options) are passionate about property. Writers of other essential subjects are Annie Stoker (mindsets), Jo Chivers (subdivisions and developments), Robyn Marsters (analysis) and Carolyn Wright (property management). Lets not forget investor and solicitor Rob Balanda (legals and joint ventures). With practical, road-tested information from these high achievers in property investment, you are in good hands.

I wish I had had a valuable book like this when I started buying and renovating property. I made heaps of mistakes, which hurt me financially and kept me working years longer than I should have. A book like this could have saved me all those mistakes (sorry I should call them learning experiences). One mistake will cost you many, many times more than the cost of this book; that is the difference between cost and value .

The other valuable aspect of this book is gaining inspiration from others perspiration; ordinary people such as you and me can choose and use these strategies to get similar results. Its like the writers have climbed Mount Everest before you and have given you their tools and the map they used to make your climb all the more easy. Now you can climb it, too.

I recommend this book to all investors, especially property women who are embarking on, or continuing, their property ascent.

As the title says, property is indeed a girls best friend and its fun, too!

Geoff Doidge

The Reno Kings

Brisbane, August 2009

Geoff is co-author of the best-selling book Real Property, Real People, Unreal Profits. The Reno Kings are nationally known property investors and educators. Geoff has been investing for 33 years and has a property portfolio of more than $25 million and rental income approaching $1 million per year.

About the authors

About Property Women

www.propertywomen.com

Property Women was created in 2006 as a result of an initiative by the Reno Kings, Geoff Doidge, Paul Eslick and Steve Blaby (their business manager). They noticed a growing number of women attending their workshops, and the trial Property Women workshop they set up was a resounding success. Judith Taylor, who had renovated numerous properties herself using the education she had received at previous workshops, was a natural choice to manage the enterprise.