WCC 15: The 16 most valuable properties I have ever built!

Morning guys? Monday morning. Oh, let me just check if this has been on a wallace. There we go. Well good, morning everybody? Jason here stopping by for another morning coffee and a chat, I hope everyone’s well. For those jumping over for the first time, Jason Witten’s my name. One of the founders of the Positive Real Estate been helping property investors for over 18 years, building a property portfolios and across Australia, New Zealand and one in Belinda, been investing over 20 years myself. Today, I wanna have a little yarn about the 16, most valuable buildings. Valuable properties I’ve ever built and I’ll tell you a little bit of a story. When I first started out investing, the reason I started investing many years ago, not only to create some wealth but I actually wanted to build schools. I used to be a teacher at a school in Sydney called Knox Grammar School and I loved it. I loved teaching. I loved helping young people and the problem with being a teacher for me was I didn’t earn very much money and what sometimes I don’t know if any of you guys listening in get this but sometimes you do something that you love, it’s awesome. But the financial rewards for it, are poor, they’re not great and you’re looking into the future and go gee, but it’s in the next 40 years earning this much or doing this much then I’m not gonna have much to show for it and that’s where I got to when I was teaching at Knox Grammar School and a buddy of mine gave me a book called Rich Dad, Poor Dad. I don’t know if anyone’s read this. I might’ve talked about it before, but he gave me this book Rich Dad, Poor Dad, and sort of said, well the job I’m not doing any investing, morning Alison, morning Haime, I’m not doing any investing. You know, I love my job but my income is pretty insignificant at that point in time when I was a teacher in Sydney, it was $36,000 a year. So 36 grand I’m living in Wahroonga and if anyone knows Sydney or all that but it’s a pretty flash place, Wahroonga. You know, I’m living in a one bedroom studio flat with my partner, Shay. When we’re just having a nice time, we’re getting pie but we’re not, you know, growing our wealth. So I really wanted to, you know make a change in the education system. Also, I was really passionate about it. I still am very passionate about education. I love education. I think it’s one of the keys to changing anybody’s life. A good quality education about a subject that can, that matters. So I was a teacher. I read the book, Rich Dad, Poor Dad. I had a bit of an Epiphany. Wow. This could be for me. I could actually buy some investments and investments can grow my wealth and do you know what went on? When I’ve got some money I’m going to build schools. I’m going to build a school in Australia ‘Cause I think the education system could be done a little bit differently especially for young fellows, but you know for anybody, girls or boys I think the education system needs an upgrade personally that anyway, that was my plan. That was my passion and off I went. And a few of you guys might know the story but I bought a few properties. You know, some of them went well some of that didn’t go well learned a lot of things skinned a few days. Anyway, fast forward, you know, literally sort of 10 12 years, you know, around the 2012, 2013. And I started in 2001 investing for myself. So 2012, 2013 and I’m feeling completely lost despondent. I just feel my life has just gone in the wrong direction for those sorts of things. I’ve made some money, absolutely started the business. It’s going really well. But I don’t know about you guys. Like sometimes when you’ve got all these things and things seem to be going well over there purpose, the value, the real value, wasn’t as meaningful to me. Money is really important. I’m very, very, I’m very, very happy and focused about making good money, a lot of money. ‘Cause I can do some good things with it that that’s like I don’t have a problem with money. Some people do. Some people think, oh, money is evil, rubbish. It’s the people who do stuff with the money that they’ve got a problem . Anyway, I was there. I felt off track with my purpose in life and I’m feeling quite despondent. Actually. I was on my way to Adelaide and I was going to one of our mentoring workshops in Adelaide, feeling a little bit down and walking in through the airport, I saw a book on the shelf, just jumped out, you know those airport bookshops, leaving Microsoft to change the world. And it caught my eye a lot. Okay, cool. I’m gonna grab a book to read. And I read this book on the plane and it literally changed the direction of my life. And I, I suggested it the other day to a few people to read for me, it was an absolute game changer. And that’s it like, I don’t have to build a school probably cause it’s quite hard to build a school in Australia. I could do, I could build schools elsewhere and have a huge impact. So after that I read the book, went to Adelaide. I actually canceled going to the seminar and I actually locked myself in my hotel room and I wrote a new plan for the next decade. And it was about creating wealth for myself, but also when I can and then magnify and multiply in another life. So we started a relationship with a room to read the foundation and started building schools. We built a school in Nepal and 500 kids went to school. Okay. It costs $30,000, 30 Grand. We built a school. It was amazing. Okay. And it’s really cool. Like it, read the room to read philosophy. It’s about a co-investment in a community and the community has to put in the land and the community has to do some stuff and it was brilliant. I love it. It was really, you know, 98% of your contribution gets to the community and funds the community going forward. And so to today 16 schools, 6,000 kids, 6,000 go to school every day again. 6,000 kids. Imagine the return, imagine the yield imagine the growth on that. Yeah. Into the future. And we’re building our 17th school right now. And you know, like I don’t I don’t tell the story to show off or say how good am I or whatever. And thanks Gang. Like, I really appreciate your feedback, but for me and maybe for you too, like sometimes, you know, the pursuit of money, like, Oh, did your property go up in value? And all of this other stuff it kind of seems a bit fucking naff, don’t you reckon? If you get wealth in whatever way then for me it feels great to grow that wealth and then reinvest it in other places that had this exponential return gives you the warm and fuzzies anyway, so that, you know, yeah. Giving back man, you know, because this is what I believe. I believe it’s our duty. I believe if you get a concept If you get it Your job is to teach and give back in one way, shape or form. You might don’t do it directly as an individual But carry your family and making sure you’re safe take some dosh and do something good with it. Change the world in a little while pretty is for you. ‘Cause I think that’s, I think that’s good. I think it’s cool. And you know that’s the philosophy really that is founded positive you know, Sam and all of the coaching team. they love this stuff too. And you know, we let them mention clients now as well. That’s part of our philosophy. So, you know yeah. And like , Shay said like we haven’t like we don’t sort of go visit them. It’s something that community gets to do without it feeling like charity, let’s be honest, we give we add value and we know the universal pay that forward expedientially, which is awesome. So we love doing that. I thought I’d just share that one today. They are the most valuable 16 buildings I’ve ever built. For me they’re like they’re the ones alright they my best investments ever. Dollars and cents, I get returns from other things. But for me the compounding future value, I think just imagine that six thousand, eight thousand, ten thousand kids going to school. One of those kids would be probably many of them be brilliant, amazing and change the world in ways I’ll never get to see. So that’s what I love about that stuff. So that’s what for me, that’s what money can do. Alright? Annoys me, these Facebook warriors sitting there carrying on like pork chops, being negative about people who’ve got some resources that they’ve got no idea what’s going on and I don’t have to answer them and nor do you, just do something important, useful, meaningful whatever it is like don’t my thing as your thing like do your thing, but don’t hold back, don’t ever hold back. ‘Cause you might find yourself one day a bit sad and despondent in an airport like Adelaide. Hopefully pick up a book and read it and change the direction of your life, might be nice. Anyway, Gang, hopefully. You’re awesome and well. I thought I’d share about share that one today. ‘Cause it was sort of bouncing around in my mind and hope you all have an awesome day and check back in tomorrow for another coffee and a chat, awesome gang. Alright. Take care hey. See ya. Bye-bye.

 

About the Author
From a small town boy growing up in the remote outback of rural Queensland, to becoming the founder of Australasia’s most powerful property wealth creation engine – Positive Real Estate Group CEO Jason Whitton is on a mission to change the way we look at wealth.