Mappers on Today Tonight

Yep,

Saw the add on tellie last night. Looks like champagne all round…

A link to a transcript would be good. I won’t be home to catch the show tonight.

Cheers,
Michael.

I love journalism, especially the nightly current affairs type. So rich, so full in detail and analysis, so quick and ready with figures and costs and breakdowns….. NOT!!!

I have a few queries, forgive me if some of them seem obvious, but I am new here:

1 – Assuming that these people (in particular Mr $400K in debt man) did not borrow 110% of their purchase price, how did they come up with the initial finance for deposits? The guy with 750,000 worth of property for example, the softly spoken “quality of life” one, did he have 10% or even just 5% of that 750,000 before he began? Lending institutions don’t lend if you don’t have any “skin in the deal”, and this is often the biggest hurdle to acquiring multiple properties quickly, so if these people (again, especially Mr 400K in debt man) didn’t have these funds up front, how did they acquire them? And if Mr. 400K in debt man did have 100,000 or whatever in cash, then he’s not really 400k in debt is he?

2 – Was their income (you know, the bit at the start of the story when they stood in front of the camera and said in their best dorky impersonation “My gross income was 142,000”) inclusive of whatever their wage was in their everyday life or was this their investment income alone?

3 – Is Steve McKnight really that nerdy? (j/k)

Can’t answer that one for you, but I too am interested in the answer.

I’m pretty sure they said their “passive” income was $xxx. Implying that this income is exlusive of any wage or other such income.

3 – Is Steve McKnight really that nerdy? (j/k)

You saw him … you’ve obviously made your own mind up on that one. [biggrin]

Hey Duritz, read the books and many of your questions will be answered – particularly Steve’s second book with the mappers own stories in it.

Without getting into a heated debate about the program, and I must agree shows such as TT really are not the most reliable source of information. They are more “overview” type of programs aimed at attracting your attention and boosting their ratings.

The biggest criticism most people have of Steve’s second book (re the MAPPERS) is the omittance of “net” figures; specifically not outlining all the financial details, hence this oversight is interpreted by many as generalisation of gross estimates which are both inconclusive and of little worth in the greater scheme of things.

The TT show was pretty much just a celebration of targets that were achieved, and if nothing else, Steve and his MAPPERS deserve that recognition.

Jo

Regarding NET figures, it is not hard to work out the worst case scenario. Just take the gross figure and take away 48.5%. The sceptics should be happy that they have a NET figure then.

I’m no financial whiz, but even I know that the worst case scenario doesn’t necessarily equate to the above formula. There are people who have (and do) achieve huge gross earnings and who equally have run at an even larger loss!!!

Nonetheless, I am not disputing the MAPPERS successes and I agree they have done well, whether they could repeat this is another thing in the current market.

But all in all, they are deserving of the accolades, they rose to the challenge!!!

Cheers,

Jo

Wonderful to see that this is becoming discussed heatedly. As we all know, there’s nothing better than a good mass debate. However, the first question remains unaddressed – how did they get the skin in the deal, esp. Mr. 400K in debt man, virtually overnight?

I’ve read Steve’s 0-130 book, and like all books on property investing (positive and negative gearing included) think it has it’s good and bad points and needs to be evaluated individually and added to your own personal knowledge, and from it extracted the parts best suited to the way you as an individual choose to invest, however none of it described how to conjure deposits and legals etc from thin air. In his own case he talked about how he lived frugally and developed other income streams. If these mappers did that then perhaps that is also quite the relevant success story rather than just concentrating on the property aspect.

Not trying to pour cold water on the success stories so vaguely outlined by TT, but if this were a novel, there’d be some severe plot problems in need of the attention of a very good editor, or if I’m wrong can someone please tell me how to conjure deposits from thin air because I have a uni student brother who I am sure would get laid on campus more often if he were an overnight millionaire, and seeing as he is not starting off 400K in debt (not yet anyway, students in 20 years may be another matter), then he is well ahead of that particular mapper who was.

Hi,

Mortgage Adviser – you are exactly right… A lot of his deals were “no money down” deals, where perhaps the vendor left cash in the deal.

Some were subdivisions, with long settlement dates. etc..etc.. It’s not hard, “perhaps” all you need is a lot of GUTS and DETERMINATION and that Mapper had lots of both.

Duritz, get some education, and even perhaps read the book…

Regards,

Del (ex Mapper)

Thanks Steve for clearing up that bit about question one. That was pretty much the crux of what I was getting at – how did they get their “skin in the deal” in the first place. In their case, they borrowed 20% from family members. Getting “educated” as wilandel suggested wouldn’t have helped me guess that unfortunately, and to re-iterate I was not attempting to pour cold water, more to just cut through fluff to discover solidity and substance. In property investing, though I am new to it, I would assume that relying on fluff would be costly, whereas betting on the basis of solidity and substance would not.

What TT suggested and implied through their story was that Steve pretty much took a group of near bankrupts and those just treading water and transformed them into money printing machines. My queries are not levelled at Steve or the methods he uses but at the truth behind the vague headlines from TT, and when all is said and done had that particular mapper who was 400K in debt not borrowed from family he wouldn’t have his portfolio now. TT presented it as though these people were given free holy grails to drink deeply from, and it is not Steve’s fault that they present information this way, but it is perhaps the duty of the more diligent to search for the reality through the smoke.

Thanks for the responses though all, a most pleasing first debate began for this new investor.

Oh yeah and Wilandel don’t assume I’m not educated, whether generally or about this.