Leading on from yesterday…

The sources of my education are limitless. Books are a number one source and an obvious one. But its more about the books that you choose. If property is your game, you are likely to go and pick up books that talk about property in some capacity. But you already know that you like that topic. What if you took a little risk, what if you went and got a book called “The Google Story”. Nothing to do with property, however it does outline the story of the world most successful and fastest growing multi-billion dollar business.

I read this book for this very reason and I LOVED it. It taught me many, many things that I didn’t expect to learn and that I was able to apply to my property deals, my business, my personal life, my mindset and more. This book really did open my eyes and make me see a bigger world. And most people probably just think it’s a story about a search engine, but you wont know till you give it a go.

At any given time I have a book in my handbag, another in my car, one in my desk drawer, another in the toilet, and about ten by my bed. I read all the time. Every single day without fail. I make it a rule not to go to bed each day until I have learnt something new – otherwise it’s a wasted day of my life.

I also read magazines of all sorts. But its not just about reading the articles. I look at the adds and see what companies are out and about and what they are doing. I look at the way they advertise, how the marketing is structured, what colors they are using, the language and “copy” of the add etc.

When I go to seminars its not just about listening to what the speaker is saying and the information he or she is giving, but how the speaker is talking, the energy they have, the way they speak, their stage manner etc.

So don’t just be willing to learn, open up your eyes and mind and be willing to learn things that you might never usually pay attention to. Study subjects, read books or watch programs that you may normally not.

You don’t know what you don’t know and what you learn could very well change your life, or fill a void you never realized you had.

You can’t learn less, so there’s nothing to lose!

Cheers,

Carly Crutchfield

Yo! I went to a meeting today and after I brought up a few points the guy I was meeting with asked me “how do you know all this? Where do you learn this?!?”

In fact I am quite often asked this question. And I thought Id make it the topic of today’s blog.

You see, I just DON’T STOP LEARNING. I figure I can’t learn less and so I soak up everything I can. And every time I take in information I am thinking about how it is applicable in my life or how it could be, what could I do with that info etc. There is no use learning countless information if you are not relating it back to how it is applicable for you. Information is only valuable if you use it.

And don’t limit yourself with regards to the topics you learn about or the sources you learn from. You see, you don’t know what you don’t know. Think about that.

You don’t know what you don’t know.

So how can you try and guess where you will learn from and what you will learn – you don’t know until you try! And you cant learn less, so try everything!

I guarantee you will discover ideas, opportunities, information and concepts that you didn’t even realize you wanted to know!

Tomorrow Ill talk more specifically about some of the sources I learn from and how I adapt the info I learn into education that I apply.

In the meantime, why don’t you randomly pic an author that has contributed info to this site and see what they have to say and if you learn something you never knew you needed!

Cheers,

Carly

Gday,

I had lunch today with a good developer friend of mine. About 4 years ago he told me about a deal that he had heard of and was working on. Actually it wasn’t even his deal, it was a deal a friend of his had found and had asked him to be involved in.

Its in country NSW, many acres of land that is being rezoned to be residential. A fantastic deal – if it came off. The thing about rezoning is that it is usually a very long process. So unless you catch the land at the tale end of being rezoned you can be in for a long wait. My friend got involved in this deal at the beginning of the rezoning process. So he knew there would be a bit of a wait.

He didn’t invest any money into the deal, so he didn’t have to concern himself with “holding costs” of the land. However he made sure he stayed in the loop on what was happening and he made himself available to the guy who was actually doing the deal. He offered advice, help, info, tips etc.

My friend has continued to mention this deal to me on a few occasions over the last 4 years. Just today he told me that the re-zoning had come through and the deal was going ahead. He was getting 30% of the profits from the deal and still is not putting any money in. 30% profits on this deal is in excess of $5 million. Not bad for an investment of NO MONEY. But he did invest in this deal. He invested his confidence that it was possible, his time in being interested and his help and knowledge when needed. And he was persistent and consistent about offering these things to the guy who owns the deal.

I thought it was a very good example of how you can get involved in property development using none of your own money and how your “assets” does not just mean your “cash” or economic assets. In this case the asset he offered was his experience and willingness to help.

Goes to show that if you are persistent, willing to help and positive about the outcome – who knows what can happen. You could end up with $5 million coming your way!

Cheers,

Carly

One of the biggest break-throughs that I have personally had in business is to realize the power of joint ventures and working with other people.

You don’t need to try and build your business or success on your own – in fact it just wont work! I believe life is all about working with other people and finding those relationships that will help empower other people’s success and business as well as your own. If you can start to understand this and use it in your life, the sky really is the limit and your life will be all the richer.

In fact you will have opportunities start to present themselves that you had never even thought of!

I was impressed today when a client who has attended my course called to see if we could meet up. He said he had some great ideas for how we could help each other. I loved the fact that he had thought about this, had the guts to call and he had approached it in the right manner. He wasn’t calling to ask if I could help his business – he was interest in us helping each other.

It could be worth your while to sit down today some time and work out ten people with whom you could build a reciprocal relationship – you help them, they help you. And open your mind right up!

Cheers,

Carly Crutchfield

Aaahhh…auctions, auctions, auctions. They crack me up. Personally I am not a big fan – you tend to get carried away with the competition and spur of the moment and it becomes more about winning than smart investing/purchasing.

And this Auction was a classic case of how not to buy property. There was a couple there that wanted the property way too much. And they weren’t buying it as a home, it was an investment. Now, I don’t know all the circumstances as I was just looking on. But they seemed too attached to NEEDING the property. They bid heavy and consistently and pushed the priced higher and higher. At one stage they both bid – thus bidding against each other! They ended up winning the property. Or did they. They bid about 180k more than the valuate price, not a win in my books.

So… If you ABSOLUTELY HAVE to buy a property through auction, it is a very good idea to get someone else to bid for you. Let them know your absolute limit and let them know not to go above it no matter what. You should also make sure you do all of your due diligence before the auction. If you have any special conditions you want to put in place for the purchase, you need to talk to the agent/vendor before the auction and get written approval on those conditions.

For example, if it is a development site you are looking to buy at auction you may want a delayed settlement. However the normal auction contract may call for a standard 6 week settlement – so be sure to get your conditions approved prior to the auction.

Hope that helps if you have an auction coming up!

Cheers,
Carly