Does Property Education Have A Bad Name?
What are your thoughts on property education?
Discover my top 10 refurb hacks; why it’s important not to cut corners, set a budget up-front and avoid large projects so you can break-even as quickly …
Firstly I am going to run through my own property education experience, what I liked and didn't like. Then I am going to go through three red flags to look for when selecting your property education provider.
When I first discovered property, it was through a friend of mine. I had come across property investment before, but at the time, it seemed inaccessible to me. When I saw what my friend was doing, it sparked my interest, and it broke down some of the mental barriers for me.
There is a saying "If you think education is expensive, try ignorance" and I couldn't agree more. I don't like to gamble. I like to take calculated risks. I decided to enrol on a few different free events and travelled around the country to try and acquire the knowledge I needed.
In general, it was a good experience; however, it was really, really intimidating. One huge positive is having your eyes opened to the bigger picture; it allowed me to understand there are other ways to leverage the deal without three years accounts or a considerable sum of money to invest.
It's worth pointing out that there is a vast amount of content available for free in the form of books, podcasts and other online content. There is so much information out there to get educated. The difficulty here is to decipher the quality information from the bad, which if your new to property investment is going to be a challenge.
The courses I attended were also great for networking, and it's inspiring to meet people who are further ahead of you on their property journey. I've now built up a great network, and I think that's one of the most significant benefits of the property education industry.
If you do attend a free event, make sure you prepare for the upsell. I got warned before attending, not to buy the course, but what did I do? I ran to the back of the room, and in the buying frenzy, purchased a two and a half thousand-pound course. To be honest, it was great, and I learnt loads. However, this leads me onto the three red flags to look out for when choosing the right package for you..
In this episode, you will learn about:
My experience with property education
The risks with educating yourself with free content online
The top three red flags to look out for
Do I think you should invest in property education
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Podcast Transcript↓
[00:00:56] Welcome to another episode of the podcast where we talk all things property, Creative Cashflow and, of course, how to be financially independent today, not in 25 years. And on this show, I'm going to be discussing; has property education got a bad name? And I'm somebody that recently went through property education, about three years ago.
[00:01:24] So I recently went through the whole process of choosing, selecting, making the decision, you know, sort of analyzing its advantages and disadvantages. And I thought it'd be cool for me to share my experience in case you're thinking about getting educated in property. And I just think it's a great debate generally. So please, whether you agree or disagree with me, please hit me up on social media. Let me know. Check me out on Instagram, Facebook, all the good stuff. Please join the Creative Cashflow Facebook group if you like free amazing, brilliant, wicked content and updates on my property journey and loads of other people. We've got nearly a thousand members always posting from our property projects. You can see what I'm up to. So I'd love to see you there.
[00:02:12] So the structure of this podcast is going to be like this. I'm going to talk about my experiences and what I liked about property education, but then I'm going to highlight three things I didn't like and I still don't like and three things that I would be on red alert if you're looking to get into property education. So please stick around till the end of the podcast for those. And we're just going to take it from there. So, for those that don't know my story, three years ago, I had a successful career in music. I've had a blessed career, but I felt like I needed something else. I didn't know what it was. I was lost. I wasn't happy with my financial status and the amount of control and independence I had, and I wanted to be in a position to be able to look after my wife, to be able to potentially have kids one day, to look after my old dears, you know, all the things that you want to do when you start reaching certain ages.
[00:03:19] So I was looking into trading. I got a business management degree, so I was looking into maybe just getting some type of business job. And then I found property. And when I found property, it was through a pal of mine that the penny really dropped. That's the thing with property. I think sometimes you feel like it's out your reach; unless you've got a lot of money, you can't get into it. So therefore, I was aware of it before, but I didn't think it was available to me. And I actually remember wanting to buy a house when I got a big check years ago and my accountant just telling me I needed three years accounts and it put me off and I didn't buy and I ended up buying a BMW instead. Fatal error.
[00:04:09] So there's a lot of like, you know, there's this, like, sort of stigma and this sort of - how would you say - this intimidation factor of property investing that keeps people away. So, when I actually saw a mate of mine that was just like me doing it, it felt more relatable. So I kind of inherited a mentor in him, but then also I decided I wanted to get education. I wanted to get as educated as possible because, look, I'm a big believer in studying and going deep on a topic so that I don't make mistakes.
[00:04:46] That's my thing. I don't like to sort of take too many mad chances. I'm not that risky like that. I like to do my research or make estimated decisions and gambles, not just gambles for the sake of it. And, you know, I think information is power. Knowledge is power. And you know what they say. If you think education is expensive, try ignorance. I couldn't agree more. So I like to do things efficiently, quickly and leverage other people's expertise so I don't have to make my own mistakes. So I decided to look into property education and I went down to a few free courses around the country. And generally my experience was pretty good. It was really, really intimidating. I remember being there on my own like a fish out of water and I'm sat down in this big auditorium listening to these speakers and it all sounds amazing. And one thing I can say that it definitely did for me was it was a massive eye opener. The free event was a massive eye opener. And it made me think, wow, people are doing this. There's other ways of doing it with less money than I thought. I can do this. I don't need three years accounts maybe. So it was a massive eye-opener. And I think in terms of property education, some of those events are amazing. I would recommend them.
[00:06:12] The other thing I would say is there's lots and lots of information out there, so whether you decide to go to any courses or just study online or read books or listen to podcasts, there's so much information out there to get educated, which I also think is amazing because a lot of that is very reasonable and a lot of it's free. But of course, the challenge with that is you've got to decipher the information and figure out what you think is the good stuff and which stuff to bin. I met a lot of people on some of the courses, so that was cool because I networked and, you know, it was inspiring to see there was not only people doing better than me, but people that were doing worse than me, people that were the same as me, people I was starting with at the same time. So we built a network, which was great. And I think a lot of the educational sort of systems, that's one of the biggest benefits. The network is like you say, you know, your network is your net worth. Your net worth is your network. So I think that's really, really important surrounding yourself with those type of people. And I learned loads, you know, I got booklets. I don't know if you've ever been to a property event, a free one, but there's generally an upsell. So they get you down to the free one to sort of tease a lot of the courses and then sell you the big ticket courses, and I remember my friend saying to me, whatever you do, Simon, don't buy a course, go like see the free information, but don't buy. What did I do? I brought. I ran to the back of the room and spent, I know two and a half grand or whatever on a course, which was good. But I suppose that brings me to the three things I didn't like about it and I felt like it lacked.
[00:08:01] The first thing is a lack of support.
[00:08:06] So, yeah, absolutely, there was loads of information and resources and loads of inspiration, but then you were just left to your own devices. And there was no support and it was not specific to my area, so I would come across things that I didn't really get or I didn't really know and it would scare me off. Or sometimes, in hindsight, one thing I've done in my journey is I've broken a lot of the rules because I don't believe there are rules. I believe, particularly in rent-to-rent, you rent a property, you add value and you rent it for more than you're renting it for. It's as simple as that. And, you know, some of the educational systems have certain things, you know, it will need to be four lettable rooms plus. Not actually true. True most of the time, but not all the time. You know, one bed SAs won't work as well as two, because you're competing with hotels, which, you know, I agree with. But I have discovered that on occasion, you know, in London and other areas, I've seen things operate differently.
[00:09:06] So one size doesn't fit all and the textbook can't always guide you. So lots of information, lack of support, not individual personalised. And even when you do sort of sign up for something that's supposed to be a bit more supportive, a lot of these people haven't got the time, so that was really frustrating, the fact that I was losing out on deals and this, that and the other and I couldn't get hold of people.
[00:09:34] Second thing I didn't like about it was the sales.
[00:09:41] It's like they would give you some wicked value and you'd get a lot of content, but then they would hit you with the sales and it just felt a bit forceful, a bit in your face. Didn't really take into consideration who I was or how much money I had to invest, and it just played on my emotions a bit and I didn't really like that. I don't agree with that. You know, I feel like if you want to get educated, you should be able to get educated. It's like university, for example. People might say, hey, come to X University and you can learn this and change your life. You'll go to the opening day and they'll sell it to you. But nobody's going to say, if you sign up today, it's 500 pound instead of nine grand and, you know, and nobody's going to say, you know, if you don't do it this that and the other, put pressure and get too salesy. But the end of the days is on you if you want to do it or not. And that should be based on if you're ready to do it, because I think a lot of people get into property education, they're not ready. They spend a lot of money and they don't get success. And that really annoys me. And look, at the end of the day, that's not an attack on anybody. But I think the principles at play make it impossible for certain people to do a good job in terms of education.
[00:11:02] And the reason is because if you're just selling into a big old room with no insight into who you're selling to, what their situation is, how much money they've got to invest on the deals once they've got educated, how much time they spend at work, where they live, what their personal situation is, then you're not in a position to solve their problem and therefore it's misleading. That's my issue.
[00:11:24] And finally, the third thing I don't like is it felt like some of the property educators, if it felt to me like they were full time educators, because I've got a business now, property business, and I know how time consuming it is, OK? So therefore I know I wouldn't have time to be teaching courses every day and doing this. I wouldn't. You know, I mentor a select amount of people, but the majority of my time is on my business, just like the majority of the money I make is on my business. And I think a lot of people who are training in property education, you start to wonder whether they're doing it. Maybe they were doing it at one point, but how much are they doing it now? And I think some people it's a bit of a...I don't want to say Ponzi scheme, but the definition basically is if they're making more money through teaching us than they are through property, it's a bit naughty, isn't it? Because you start to think well, you know, you're making more money through teaching me than than you've ever actually made in property, so why should I listen to you? I don't like that. I don't like that. I know that it's going to happen. You know, you could say the same thing about loads of education, but, yeah, it never really felt right to me.
[00:12:54] It's like, yo, if you're here every day, then when was the last time you actually did property? Are you just a property teacher?
[00:13:00] Because I by the way, I do believe that some people do and can't teach, some people do and do teach, and some people can't but they can teach. And, you know, I think you really want to try and find somebody that does and can teach. That's the ultimate. You don't want somebody that teaches and doesn't do. If you've got somebody that does and can't teach, they're pretty rubbish as well, because just because they could do it, they can't put it into words how they're doing it.
[00:13:30] So, look, guys, property education, should you do it? Yes. Should you be really, really careful? Absolutely. Make sure that you're going to get the ongoing support and that it's specific to your area. Otherwise it could be wasted.
[00:13:46] You know, the second thing is, if people are selling too hard, be mindful before you part with your hard earned dough. Sleep on it. I read an article, always sleep on a big decision. So if you going to any of these events or whatever, you know, be mindful. The course is still going to be there next week. So don't make the same mistake I did, which was like run to the back of the room and then, you know, realize I had to put it on a credit card and it is a lot.
[00:14:13] And then the third thing is, be careful of people that don't appear to be doing it.
[00:14:21] You know, people can't show you they're doing it and they're knowledgeable and they've got the current insight into what it's going to take. Be mindful of that, because just because they can teach doesn't mean they're going to be able to teach you or help you. And I personally always wanted a mentor. I've always learned more from people that are doing it, you know, do as I do, not as I say. But yeah, overall, guys, property education can be amazing. I don't think I would be here without it. But remember, one thing, it's always going to boil down on you. You can do as many courses as you want. If you're not willing to put in the action, put in the time and make it happen, it is not going to work. So just, you know, a final point. Make sure that you're ready and you're serious to commit because, you know, there's no point just having the course and not actually applying it.
[00:15:17] So anyway, guys, that's it for me. I'll see you next Monday, as always. And please, if you haven't already subscribed, rate, review, like share. And of course, remember, don't wait twenty five years, get creative.
[00:15:41] Thanks for listening. For more information, check out Simon Smith online dot com. See you next time.