Being a successful property investor can mean unlearning many of the thing’s society has drummed into you for your whole life.

The majority of people out there think they need to purchase their forever home as soon as possible and enter into a big mortgage for a few decades. If they work hard for long enough, they can eventually pay it off and retire.

But apart from a few holidays here and there or a new big screen TV, they don’t have much say over how they live their life.

Successful property investors see the world differently. B.Invested founder Nathan Birch built a significant property portfolio from a young age, which allowed him to stop working for a salary and live life on his own terms, using his rental income.

He was also able to keep growing, expanding his wealth and opening a number of businesses designed to help people do what he had already done.

So how do you unlock the mindset of a successful property investor?

Plan your own Australian dream

Forget the white picket fence and quarter-acre block, what does your own Australian dream look like? Retire by 30 and spend 6 months a year living overseas, or driving around Australia?

You can’t do this with a high pressure full time job and a massive mortgage tying you down.

So you need to build your wealth differently. Once you figure out what you want to do, it’s time to find out how to do it.

Educate yourself

Nathan learned many investing lessons the hard way along the way. He was also very diligent with his research. Buying all those properties and launching all those businesses gave him an excellent education in how to invest.

And it’s good that he did, because it means you don’t have to. A MAP session with B.Invested gives you access to decades of investment lessons and opens the door to strategical pathways that could help you achieve your goals. Not to mention a number of opportunities to buy specific properties for below market value.

Then there are the other experts you need. A good accountant that specialises in property investing; a savvy solicitor; and a mortgage broker that can get their head around your goals and set up loan structures that allow you to keep moving forwards.

And once you have your strategy, use information to keep getting better. Stay on top of market news, familiarise yourself with property data and learn to identify what drives growth so you can invest before it happens.

 Seeing opportunity where others see fear

The best investors buy assets at their lowest possible price and either sell at the top or don’t sell at all. In order to get the best price on a property, you need to be happy to buy when everyone else is telling you not to.

When there is a price correction in the market, others may often be too scared to buy in case values keep falling. But if you understand how historical property cycles work in Australia, and can see there is upside for value long term, you can create significant wealth on the way in to the market by buying at the right time.

When interest rates began to rise recently and prices came down, it wasn’t because there was anything wrong with the properties. The people who were selling for a discount were doing so because they had to, not because they wanted to. Savvy buyers were able to get properties for much cheaper than they had sold a year earlier, knowing that the market would eventually recover and grow again.

Making your money work for you

People often want to have a lot of money. But money is worth less every day that you have it in your account, because of inflation. The focus should instead be on wealth through assets.

Nathan, just like any successful investor, is always putting his money to work. As soon as rental returns come in to his account, they are filtered back out and being used to pay down debt or leverage into more wealth. Putting your money into your next asset means it begins to earn more each day rather than less.