The Investor Lab

Have you ever heard the story of the tortoise and the hare?  If not, it’s a story about how a tortoise, slow as it is, still won a race against a hare who, being overconfident, lost a seemingly easy victory. The moral of the tale is that knowing where you stand and planning accordingly is just as - if not more - important as speed. Similarly in property, a lot of investors struggle with...

Did you know that the ‘Olympic fever’ goes beyond the fans’ hype and excitement for the event? For an occasion that happens only every four years with painstaking preparations made prior, it’s expected for the Olympics to have a long-lasting impact on people’s lives, especially those who are in the host city.  And it’s not only sports fans who feel the effe...

In our previous episode, we looked at the two sides of inflation to help you deliberate how you should be making investments in an inflationary environment. Now, we’ll attempt to unpack an even bigger peeve than inflation which is interest rates. Do interest rates really impact property prices? What really steers property markets? Should interest rates affect your investment decisions? Today...

You’ve probably heard about inflation in the news and have most likely subscribed to the popular belief that inflation is such a terrible thing. But, is it really? Should we be afraid of inflation? Is inflation our enemy? As an investor, where do you place yourself in an inflationary environment? In this episode, we talk about what inflation is and how it affects our lives. We address the ne...

Helping people create a life of freedom, choice and abundance has always been our passion.  That’s why when people come to us for help, we do our best to find the best property for each one. Naturally, however, something that sounds ‘too good to be true’ (even though it is) is typically met with disbelief, and we tend to get asked this question a lot: “If you say you c...

Why is it that most people avoid Capital Gains Tax (CGT) like the plague? Well, it’s really all because of perspective. Capital Gains Tax is a concept people tend to have a lot of fear around because they want to avoid tax altogether when in fact, it’s actually just a concept of business. If you sell a property you have to pay tax. Today, we dive deep into the topic of CGT from an angl...

Have you ever created a list of things you want to accomplish but got stuck on how to get started after creating one? Well, the truth is, setting your goals is one thing, but turning your vision into reality is a whole ‘nother challenge. In the previous episode, we pulled apart the process of setting goals, how to set the right ones, what your goals should be and more. Today, we help you fig...

Have you ever struggled with setting goals and achieving them? If you have, you’re not alone.  So many of us find setting good goals difficult, mainly because we don’t set the right ones, we don’t know how to get there, or more importantly, we don’t know what we really want! So how do we set things right? Today’s episode is about creating a life of freedom, choic...

A lot of people talk about investing in trusts, but not a lot know about what it actually is and how it works. In this episode, we cover the 4 key benefits of investing in trusts with Archana Manapakkam, Owner & Principal of Archway Legal.  If you’re someone who’s ever thought about how to get more tax benefits out of your portfolio, how to pass your property portfolio onto yo...

Looking for more ways to broaden your property portfolio? Well, property development may just be what you need. Today, we have a chat with Rob Flux, Founder of Property Developer Network and one of the go-to people who are incredibly knowledgeable about property development. We cover the benefits and risks of property development, who it’s for and how it ties into your portfolio. We also tal...

Scaling a successful property portfolio quickly seems far-fetched and impossible… but is it? And if it is possible, how do you go about making it a reality? Today, we’re going to hear about a real-life success story. Joining us are Dashdot clients Bianca Kennedy & Charley Valher, as we talk about how they were able to buy 8 properties in just 15 months - which is pretty wild! That...

Asset allocation is a topic that is under-discussed in property, especially in terms of portfolio-building.  You see, while it’s a common term in traditional asset classes, it’s also an important concept to consider when talking about real estate… And basically, if you’ve ever created a plan or strategy to build your portfolio, you’ve already thought about how a...

Most - if not all - of us have a dream home we’re working towards. However, that property we want may cost more than what we can afford at the moment and so we feel stuck on what to do next...  And the thing is, none of us really want to keep renting forever. So what’s the next best thing? Rentvest. Today’s episode is all about rentvesting and how it can help you get your dr...

From the outside, investing in the commercial property market can appear complex and open only to those with large sums of capital. In reality though, this isn’t the case at all. The stakes may be high and there are risks involved that may put you off investing in commercial property, but if this strategy is right for you, everything is well worth the effort! Today, we speak with successful...

Freedom is something most of us crave but often have a hard time achieving. Ultimately, we all want the same thing: to do what we want, when we want and with who we want. So, wouldn’t it be amazing to just have a formula especially made for you to achieve the life you really want? Today, we speak with award-winning property expert Bushy Martin about “the freedom formula”. We tack...

With so much information available for investors and those just starting, there’s a tendency to get confused over which ones will actually help you invest well... And with such a dynamic and ever-changing market, there’s just as many opportunities to make significant gains as there are possibilities to make significant mistakes. So what information do you really need to know? Today, we...

Everyone’s journey is different.  You might be a business owner experiencing wins left and right or you might be a property investor trying to navigate a frothy market that has a lot of hype and hubris. Regardless of your situation, it’s important to be able to assess risk, cut through the noise and make sure you’re making decisions to support your goals and give you long-te...

Every so often, financial jargon gets thrown around and while they’re all actually used in the real estate space, they’re not always used in the right context. When you talk about Return on Investment or ROI, do you actually mean Return on Capital? And what is that about, really? Or perhaps you consider principal payments a burden when in fact, it’s actually PROFIT for your prope...

If you own a home, or have ever thought about it, you have undoubtedly thought about how much the repayments are going to cost... It is natural then, to start thinking… “How can I reduce my debt!?” But… what if there was a way that you could actually use the debt in your home to fuel a powerful portfolio… And at the same time, reduce the cost of the repayments on y...

The world of property is huge and full of ups and downs, and a lot of people are still in the fog when it comes to what is best for them and how to manage different aspects of their property journey. In this episode, we share our thoughts on things like interest rates, stock levels, what’s been going on in the property space, LMI and if going that route is a good fit for you. We also look br...

It’s easy to mistake a cheap market for an emerging market. With multiple things to consider, how can you tell if you’re investing in the right one and not setting yourself up for a bad investment? Today, we talk about the 5 key metrics for selecting emerging markets. From defining what it is, how different it is from a hotspot, and why we should be talking about it, we unpack a lot -...

“What got you out of Egypt may not get you to the promised land.”  Once you’ve gone past three or four properties, tailoring the way you play your real estate journey becomes more important. So how do you get from here to there? How can you make your portfolio better?  Think of your investment as a business. In this episode, we explore how to think about the next big st...

You’ve probably heard the story of Goldilocks a thousand times or more by now, and her finding the porridge that was ‘just right’. In terms of property investing, finding the right time to invest holds a similar concept. You need to get into the market at a time when it’s ‘just right’ to get maximum profit from market cycles... And by understanding market cycles...

We usually talk about investing in cash flow positive properties in high growth areas, but how about using a totally different strategy in building your property portfolio? The reality is, there’s no one-size-fits-all strategy, and each one works for different people at different points of their life, for a variety of reasons...  And if you’ve never heard of blue chip property inv...

Do you want to buy more properties and build an exponential property portfolio, but you just can’t figure out how to make it happen? 94% of investors are stuck on their second property, and often never get past it… But what if there was a strategy that not only gets you unstuck but also helps you grow your portfolio faster, and steer your investment as far as you want, where you want?...