The One Factor That Could Stop You from Building Wealth Faster [VIDEO]

Who do you turn to when it comes to building a higher level of wealth?

Some would argue it has never been easier to build a greater level of wealth.

There are books, podcasts, the internet and access to professionals that may not have been so easily accessible even a decade ago.

People who have had huge levels of success, have fine-tuned their craft and have a proven framework and strategy are at your fingertips.

It still amazes me that some people shy away from seeking advice and finding a solution, believing they can do it on their own.

It was a song by Skyhooks that claimed, “Ego is not a dirty word”, well it appears it may be when it comes to building wealth.

Here are my thoughts;

Some Questions

If you had a tooth ache, would you do your own dental work?

If your car were making a strange sound, would you attempt to fix it yourself?

If you were being prosecuted in court, would you represent yourself?

If you had a cut on your arm or leg, would you attempt to stitch the wound yourself?

Unless you were a Dentist, Mechanic, Lawyer or Doctor, the answer to each of these questions would have been no.

So why is it that some investors choose to go it alone?

Ego

While there are many reasons why people choose to go it alone, overwhelmingly, from my experience it comes down to Ego.

I sit with many investors at the start of their journey, but equally as many mid-way through their journey.

For those starting their journey think that investing in property is fun and simple.

Many may be professionals and specialists in their own field and feel that this will naturally transfer into the property space.

They have already achieved a level of success in life, why would they need assistance now?

They come in with checklists and data and have developed their own plan after reading a book and undertaking a few hours research on their iPhone.

Then there are the investors that have attempted to build a portfolio on their own and are rarely review the portfolio with an open mind.

I sat with a client last week that has 6 properties worth around $2.5million.

Initially, they were looking to buy another property and did not see any benefit in working with us as they could do it themselves.

In their opinion, they were already “successful” investors what value could we possibly add?

With 6 properties they were half right, as only a small number of investors achieve such a milestone.

But at the end of the day, the number of properties you own is irrelevant, as it is the quality of those assets that really matters.

How We Helped

As the client was looking at buying another property, the easy thing to do would have been to keep moving forward.

Most Buyers Agents will do this as they are simply order takers.

Instead, to their surprise and despite previous advice, we suggested taking a step back.

On the surface, they had done well, but by digging deeper, our experience highlighted their existing properties were not working hard enough for them.

They first thing we did was show them what would happen over the next two decades if they did nothing more and simply held their existing assets.

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Their properties had performed quite poorly and averaged somewhere between 2% - 4% growth per annum.

To highlight our point, we used the absolute best-case scenario of 4% and applied it to their existing asset base of $2.5mil.

They were quite proud of themselves as they explored the numbers, even though in reality, it would not have been enough for them to reach their goals.

We then showed them how we would be able to assist them to grow their wealth faster an achieve the goals they had set.

We suggested they remove some of their underperforming assets and replace them with only A grade, blue chip assets that have generally performed at over 7% per annum over the last few decades.

With low inflation and growth in the short term, I suggested we use only 6% as an average.

You could see the penny drop as they took in the possibilities.

While the first 5 years showed nothing alarming, at the 10 year mark the difference was closer to $800,000.

By year 20, when they had planned to retire, the difference was a staggering $2.54mil.

By taking this approach, they would be further ahead after 15 years, than if they had chosen to continue to go it alone after 20 years.

While the accuracy of numbers and figures can always be debated, there is no doubt we have substantially boosted their chances of reaching their end goals.

Property Investing is a Profession

In any field, you just cannot beat experience.

It is the reason why we hire professionals and do not choose to undertake difficult tasks ourselves.

How can you compete with someone who has dedicated their lives to their profession?

In the book Outliers, Malcom Gladwell calls it the 10,000-hour rule, you are not considered an expert with practicing that profession for 10,000 hours.

As a part-time property investor how long will it take you to reach the required 10,000 hours.

Even if you committed and dedicated 5 hours per week, it would still take you 40 years.

You can never catch up.

You just can’t beat experience in any field.

In Summary

I could have called this article “How Your Ego Could Cost you $2.5millon”.

That is what it could have cost one investor had they not dropped the ego, swallowed their pride, and sought professional advice.

You wouldn’t attempt to fix your own tooth or stitch your own wound, you would use a professional to ensure you get it right.

It should be no different when you are looking to build a greater level of wealth.

Property may be fun and exciting, but unless you have decades of experience and more importantly perspective in building greater wealth, you are at a severe disadvantage.

The fastest way to get somewhere is to work with someone who has already been there and done that.

You just cannot beat experience, but the good news is you can hire it!

Why not get the independent team of property strategists and buyers' agents at Metropole to help level the playing field for you?