Find out how this ‘lazy investor’ found success in property investing

So, you’re a lazy property investor?

Jetlee Ganado: Absolutely, absolutely. I was actually just catching up on one of your other podcasts in the car while I was waiting for the time, and I think one of the quotes during it was “You must know your numbers.” I was just shaking my head in the car. I know next to nothing about my numbers, and I guess my point is that I feel comfortable not knowing the numbers because I have such good people around me. I’m pretty lucky where my wife is an absolutely amazing woman. She’s really intelligent, and I have all the faith in her that she’s doing the right thing by us and the family.

Also, I’ve got some great friends in the industry and I’m part of a very select group of golf for individuals that get together and network, and I’m able to essentially leverage off their chosen professions, but also their passion around property investment. I also know that specific group of individuals extremely ethical in the way they conduct their own businesses. So that gives me a lot of confidence to be able to put my faith and my hard-earned dollars into their decisions and the people they refer me to so that I can sleep at night knowing that I’m doing the right thing for my family and my kids in the future.

Was it a deliberate decision to seek advice from professionals?

Jetlee Ganado: Well, I did 12 years in the navy... and I got out in October 2012. I learnt a lot of lessons about money that way. When I got out of the navy, I didn’t have any debt. But all I had paid off was my car and a $15,000 boat. And then I met my now-wife, and thank her for everything we have at the moment because, otherwise, I’d probably just be still living in that kind of lifestyle, not really putting too much into the future.

I guess one of the lucky positions I’m in is that from my time in the Defence Force, I’ve got a bit of a cushion there, and I’ve probably got a little bit more in super than the average 35-year-old. I thought then, "Well, that’s enough for me," because I’m a pretty simple bloke. I’m happy to holiday in coastal areas. I don’t really want anything too fancy. I don’t need a big mansion. But as you get older, sort of things change, and I didn’t really take care of myself in those years as I should.

Now, we are in the family, just trying to get some better processes in place. That’s when I realised,  “Okay, it’s time to really get things going and really start,” and my wife definitely gave me the poke there, and I still thank her every day.

What have you learnt from working with a financial team?

Jetlee Ganado: One of the reasons, I think, why we’ve probably gone to a financial advisor now is because my wife and I have gone through a period of where we feel like we’ve got heaps, and we’ve kind of lost our way a bit in terms of saving and putting that away for the future. But [financial advisors], they provide more services than just advice around shares. A lot of these guys can coach you around how you manage your internal funds.

[They taught us how to] make your processes more streamlined so you can see how much you’ve got ... For example, you’re saving for a boat or you’re going on the holidays. For a lot of people, they don’t need that, but for people like my wife and I who just love to spend and spend whenever we feel like it, there are tools like that are really helping us have the fun but then invest in the future at the same time. I think, yeah, it might cost a few grand now for that service, but then that’s going to pay itself off in probably a few years and you won’t even think about what you’ve spent there. I wouldn’t have gone down that path had it not been for my buyer's agent, Paul, no way. The relationships that guys like Paul at Pure Property have, it just opens your eyes up to what the opportunities are out there for you.

For a bloke like me, I don’t want to sit there, and I don’t want to stew over the numbers. I don’t want to have the relationships with all the real estate agents in all the areas where I think’s going to be ... But that’s why these guys provide services is to help blokes like me get ahead with what I’ve got.

What is your main advice for budding investors?

Jetlee Ganado: Just get out there and get out there and get it done because this day and age, there’s enough information for you ... There’s going to be someone that can give you a hand if you get yourself in a position where you don’t feel like you can navigate.

And I guess the fourth thing, I’d just hand them one of (my financial advisor) Paul’s cards and say, “Go and sit down with him.”

Tune in to Jetlee Ganado's episode in The Smart Property Investment Show to know more about how he balances his love of spending money with his understanding of saving for the future.