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Dean Letfus - PropertyTalk.com Interview
-How did you start out in investing? Bought a couple of rentals on my accountants advice, then realised I didn’t have a clue what I was doing so started getting educated through books and courses. Thanks to that education we have been able to buy 15 million dollars worth of property in less than 3 years.
-How long have you been investing for? Started seriously in October 2004.
-Have you been through a complete property cycle? Not yet, started at the supposed end of the last boom, which is only now showing signs of slowing down.
-What are your top 5 tips for investing? 1. Get an education. Know what you are doing and why. 2. Deal with your emotional and head space issues. Understand that they are more important than strategies and techniques. 3. Never be in a hurry. Getting things right is much more important than doing things fast. I did do things very fast and stuffed plenty of things up as a result. 4. Only invest in high population areas with strong rental demand. 5. Surround yourself with honest and active investors so you stay up to date with the market and relevant strategies.
-Any tips on how to survive a complete property cycle? Get your LVR below 70% as quickly as possible and keep it there. In fact make one of your primary goals to constantly lower your LVR.
-What lessons or mistakes have you made along the way? That would take a book, (which I am currently writing actually). My main mistakes have been to A: buy on emotion, B: Not buy through fear of debt, and C: Not stick to my buying rules at times.
-How important is building a good team around you in the success of a business? Critical. Culture is everything. Culture is your most valuable asset. Build a team that gets it, and loves your culture and what you can all achieve.
-What strategies have you used in the past few years? Trading, buy and hold, Reno, developments etc. Trading is a primary strategy of mine. I use trading as a means of funding my buy and hold portfolio. My main buy and hold strategy has simply been to buy 20% below valuation in strong capital growth areas and watch my net worth increase. I am now involved in developments on a small scale. At the end of the day I believe that buying properties that increase your net worth as fast as possible is the secret to genuine financial freedom through property. Whoever said cash is king, lied!!
-What investment strategies will you be utilising in the next few years? I tend to be a more reluctant purchaser going forward. By that I mean I pass on more deals and only buy the exceptional ones. I am focusing on purchasing in Australia and doing more joint venture developments over the next 12 to 24 months. -What is your most recent investment experience? I purchase a property about every 2 to 4 weeks. My most recent buy and hold purchase was a 3 unit site in Takanini. Purchased for $200,000 with a valuation of $320,000. My most recent trade was a subdivisible property in East Auckland with a gross profit margin of $135,000. -If you had to be a superhero, who would it be and why? I would be a teenage mutant Ninja turtle because I love pizza and I like the way they say “dude”.
-Who inspires you and why? Jesus Christ and my wife. Jesus because He loves me and created a life and purpose for me. I am alive because of him, both literally and spiritually. My wife because I totally adore her and so just being in love with her inspires me in ways I can’t really put into words.
-What advice would you give anyone thinking of getting into the property investing game? Understand that it is not a game, it is a business. Property is a very safe wealth creation vehicle providing you follow the rules. You need to know what the rules are and know how to follow them. Don’t cut corners, don’t take unnecessary risks, and don’t assume anything in property. And at the risk of sounding like a broken record my main advice is to understand that the battle for success in property investing is fought between your ears. You must win that battle to really succeed.
