{"id":29652,"date":"2020-12-16T07:50:31","date_gmt":"2020-12-15T18:50:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/propertynoise.co.nz\/au\/?p=29652"},"modified":"2020-12-16T07:50:31","modified_gmt":"2020-12-15T18:50:31","slug":"the-colourful-world-of-property-guru-chris-gray","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/propertynoise.co.nz\/au\/the-colourful-world-of-property-guru-chris-gray\/","title":{"rendered":"The colourful world of property guru Chris Gray"},"content":{"rendered":"

PHOTO: Chris Gray is well known for hosting Your Property Empire on Sky News.<\/strong><\/p>\n

REPUBLISHED WITH PERMISSION | API MAGAZINE<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

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This week we enjoyed an insightful chat with property market media commentator Chris Gray.<\/p>\n

Buyers\u2019 agent, investor and all-round property authority, Chris shared his thoughts and recollections on the sorcery and secrets of property buying, investment strategy and a lifetime in a dynamic industry.<\/p>\n

And despite being a self-described conservative investor, he also shed light on his recent innovative dalliance with cryptocurrency.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s start at the end. As owner of Your Empire Buyers Agents and Renovators you’ve recently decided to accept payment in a cryptocurrency known as Qoin (pronounced ‘Coin’). What prompted this payment innovation?<\/strong><\/p>\n

When I started the business back in 2004, like many other start-up businesses, money was tight, you needed to make it go further and you needed to try many different marketing avenues to see what worked.<\/p>\n

I used Bartercard for a number of years and then stopped after a while after my business took off and I had plenty of customers paying cash, which was easier to spend.<\/p>\n

About six months ago an old friend got in touch and mentioned Qoin. I noted the similarity with Bartercard and said I was happy to give it a go as I had nothing to lose.<\/p>\n

How did you decide upon this particular format given there are 240 registered\u00a0cryptocurrencies?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve never bought any crypto and know nothing about any of them \u2013 my skill is property and that\u2019s all I know!<\/p>\n

My interest in Qoin was purely about getting new business from customers from a new target market. While I would have no guarantee that by accepting Qoin it would have the same value as cash, I knew it would be worth something and that I would be able to spend it somehow \u2013 I\u2019ve got a skill in knowing how to spend money!<\/p>\n

I also didn\u2019t have a lot to lose. They would need to market my business in order for me to receive business and I could do more due diligence into its value later on.<\/p>\n

While I know nothing about Crypto, I do believe that it probably is the way of the future. Banks have a monopoly over our money and take days to transfer our money which doesn\u2019t seem logical in this digital age.<\/p>\n

You retired from full-time work having started investing in real estate at the age of 22 and since then have built a personal property portfolio worth more than $15 million. What drove you towards setting up a buyer\u2019s agent as opposed to a traditional real estate company?<\/p>\n

In 2001-2002, at 31 I was working at Deloitte and earning $60,000 after tax. At the same time, I had six properties worth $3.5m, which was growing at $600,000 per year in the boom.<\/p>\n

I tried salary sacrificing a Ferrari 355 and the tax partner worked out the Fringe Benefits Tax on it was more than my wages \u2013 it was that turning point that both Deloitte and I knew it was time for me to give up being an employee!<\/p>\n

Many people then asked how I could live on the beach, drive a supercar, skipper a boat and not work for a living, so I started teaching them for free. Everyone believed what I said as I was simply telling them my story and I had nothing to sell and therefore no vested interest in leading them down an alternative path.<\/p>\n

At the same time, I was doing extras work for fun to see how they made movies and TV adverts. The $22 an hour I got paid wasn\u2019t for profit, but it did pay for the petrol in the Ferrari to get me to the set.<\/p>\n

I started helping other extras with their property issues and one gave me a lead for a TV show they were making, and I ended up getting the role as the real estate expert on Channel 9\u2019s My Home TV.<\/p>\n

That then led me to hosting my own show called Your Property Empire on Sky News and being the real estate expert on Channel 10\u2019s The Renovators.<\/p>\n

More and more people then asked me how to make money from property and so I set up a property education company to help teach and mentor them.<\/p>\n

Years later, a wealthy client said that he didn\u2019t want to learn how to do it as he didn\u2019t have the time and didn\u2019t want to deal with the agents. He said, \u2018just buy me what you would buy for yourself\u2019 and that\u2019s where the buyers agents business started.<\/p>\n

International buyers are thinner on the ground without international travel. Where is most of your clientele these days?<\/strong><\/p>\n

We\u2019ve never dealt with many foreigners as I\u2019ve always found they don\u2019t see the value in our services. They would rather buy a $1 million property for $1.1 million and say they\u2019ve saved $20,000 in fees rather than buy the property for $1 million and admit to their friends that an agent has charged them $20,000 \u2013 it\u2019s just not in so many people\u2019s culture.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve always mainly dealt with Australian residents and citizens. A number of them are expats but they do have the mentality of \u201cyou\u2019ve got to spend $1 to make $2.\u201d<\/p>\n

Without necessarily divulging trade secrets, what do buyers\u2019 agents bring to the table that first-time buyers or more experienced real estate investors might not possess?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I give away all of my knowledge on property. I\u2019ve created hundreds of videos and articles over the years, have written or co-written five books and have an online property course giving away all my secrets and what I have done to create wealth.<\/p>\n

Many people ask why I would do that, and the answer is that most people still won\u2019t be able to duplicate it without me and that\u2019s because 90-95 per cent of people will do nothing, and they will spend the rest of their lives working for a living. It\u2019s much easier to sit on the fence and do nothing than it is to make a decision.<\/p>\n

\"Chris<\/p>\n
Purchasing a Ferrari turned out to be a turning point in Chris Gray’s property journey.<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

If you are going to buy in the most competitive property markets in Australia, knowledge is part of it, but then it comes down to personal contacts and the way you interact with people.<\/p>\n

We rarely go to auction as even though I\u2019m a confident public speaker and know the auctions tricks, I can\u2019t compete with an uneducated buyer who has plenty of money and will pay what the bank will lend them, rather than what a property is really worth.<\/p>\n

Selling agents and auctioneers are good at what they do, and they can easily get someone to pay 5, 10 or even 20 per cent above what a property should sell for.<\/p>\n

Therefore, we need to persuade selling agents to sell it to us before it even gets listed or in the first few days of the campaign. That\u2019s not an easy feat, especially in a boom market.<\/p>\n

However, every single property we\u2019ve bought for a client has been based on a completely independent bank valuation known to be 5-10 per cent below what it might sell at auction.<\/p>\n

I looked at setting up a Melbourne and Brisbane office but even with my knowledge, it\u2019s very hard to compete with a buyers\u2019 agent that went to school with the selling agent, their families are friends, they drink at the pub with them and they\u2019ve done hundreds of transactions together.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why I decided to set up affiliate offices with buyers\u2019 agents that I had dealt with for years that were locals. That way clients can still get my expertise and guidance on strategy, but then have a local expert that will implement the plan.<\/p>\n

All capitals except Melbourne recorded September quarter price increases according to new ABS data. Where, and in what price ranges etc, do you see the national opportunities and risks for looking to enter the market now?<\/strong><\/p>\n

My strategy has been the same since age 22 and even though I\u2019ve done hundreds of TV interviews and get to hear the conversation behind the camera that\u2019s not shared with the public, my strategy has never really changed.<\/p>\n

If I\u2019m going to leverage up to 80 per cent and bet millions and millions of dollars, I want the assets that I\u2019m investing in to be solid and to ride out any GFCs, credit crunches or Covids and that\u2019s exactly what they\u2019ve done.<\/p>\n

I avoid CBDs as there\u2019s no limit of supply due to the limitless height and not many people want to live there. The inner-city blue-chip suburbs that are 5-15kms from the CBD do have three storey height limits and that\u2019s where all the young highly paid professionals want to live.<\/p>\n

My rules are:<\/p>\n