By Carly Crutchfield
Carly Crutchfield is the CEO of Australian property and investment firm CCORP and its subsidiaries companies. She is a property developer, investor, public speaker and self-made millionaire. In this new and addition to ThinkBig magazine, Carly provides you with personalised answers to all your property and finance questions!
Q. Is it not a bad time to buy properties under 500K as prices seem to be out of control? - Fabrice Bellard
A. With the current economic conditions, property has been affected in Australia, but not nearly as much as in other countries such as the US and UK. It is the top end of the market that has been affected the most here, while the tourism bottom-out has also witnessed many people having to offload their holiday homes. The lower end of the market has not been affected so badly and with Australians still largely demanding a supply of affordable housing. As long as your expectations are realistic, in today’s market there are many bargains still to be obtained.
Q.When choosing an architect for a property development, what questions should I be asking them? - Glen Hobby
A. When deciding on an architect to use for a property development you should find out what kind of experience they have and what previous developments they have been involved with. Cost is important: how much they are going to charge and how long it will take them to design the project? It is also advisable to find out whether or not they have previously worked with that particular council. You will need to know what the best use of the site is and it is also a good idea to ask the architect if he can give you some referrals.
Q.How do we juggle our lives and overcome procrastination to get on with the property game? How do we even find other people to connect with to help keep motivated? - Sheryl Dupleiss
A. This is the age-old catch 22. How do you stop being so busy so you can make money and stop being so busy! The trick is to schedule it in. Playing the property game has proven to be such a successful source of wealth creation for so many people, and in most cases the money that you will make in property will pale in comparison to what you earn through your normal job. You need to set aside at least 30 minutes a day or three hours a week to sit down with the newspaper property section or start searching online for possible property deals.
Also, by having the right tools at your fingertips you can maximise the use of that time. Tools such as Google Earth and rp data allow you to do 99% of your research in a short amount of time. Connecting with other people is a huge help as well and will motivate you and provide you with other views and ideas as well. You need to start networking with anybody and everybody that directly or indirectly relates back to property. This could be financiers, builders, architects, other investors, accountants etc. Just start calling them up, having a chat and forming relationships. You will come across some that you click with and some you don’t. Also, by attending seminars, expos and using online property forums and blogs you will be able to meet with likeminded investors and property people who can help keep you inspired and motivated.
To get your property and finance questions answers, email Carly on carlyc@ccorp.com.au and look out in our next issue to see if your question is featured!
Carly Crutchfield is a self made millionaire, the CEO of several national companies and has been involved in developments throughout Australia, New Zealand and America with a value of more than $200 million dollars. www.carlycrutchfield.com.
