Seb,
I am you, but 10 years down the track. I joined the forum in 2003 and am now 29 (with the big three oh not far away!).
I started out like you as well, researching tirelessly and trying to learn from others. The advice I would give you is don't look for a single mentor. One person's method and ideologies are more than likely going to be different to what works for you and trying to emulate how they do things or taking their advice above others is not going to get you where you want to be. Learn as much as you can from as many as you can and then put the pieces of the puzzle together to form your own ideas and opinions. The comments about joining investment groups and going to forum meet ups are on the money because you will meet more like minded people.
The above post is the only one of yours that I've read so I'm not sure if you already own any property but If not then my second piece of advice is to pull the trigger and buy something! Doing will teach you more than researching ten times over. It will also give you the confidence to move on with the next one and hopefully the passion and craving for more! When I was 19 I read a property investing book which I thought was ground breaking, and nowadays I realise it was basically full of outdated ideas and marketing spin – The one good thing about the book though was that it got me so pumped about buying a property that I purchased my first IP a few months later which was the biggest single step of the whole journey.
The last thing I would say is maximise your employment income – Cash truly is king, and income will always be a more important factor in any loan application than LVR. If you can get a job that will add in some way to your passion for wealth creation or help you learn from others (eg: real estate, finance) then that's a huge added bonus.
Today I own an investment portfolio with net income of over $100k (before tax), and my PPOR is paid off. My first child is now 12 weeks old (named Sebastian!) and my wife is on maternity leave with no intention of ever going back to work. I plan to leave work at the end of next year and have time to raise a family and do all the things I've worked so hard to be able to afford over the last decade. Hopefully you find this motivating, and it gives some context to my earlier advice.
I know your post was mainly about finding a mentor, but you sound so similar to what I did when I joined the forum so I thought I would weigh in with a couple of ideas that helped me along the way.
Best of luck with everything, and don't hesitate to PM me if you want to discuss anything further.
Steve.
