Think you can’t do it? Listen to Desley’s story.
At the recent I Love Real Estate Super Conference, we had our annual Student Success Story of the Year competition.
This is one of my favourite things of the year. It’s fantastic to be able to share in people’s success, and these stories really bring it home to the heart and what’s important.
And no story brings it home quite as much as the story of Desley Ritter.
This is her and her daughter Nicole in the photo on the right. She’s smiling because she’s just won our competition and walked away with a winner’s cheque of $52,485. Bravo darling.
Now it is true that there’s a lot in Desley’s story that parallels my own, but I’m an impartial host, and Desley’s story is powerful in its own right.
Her story begins when she and her husband Murray sold their farm in rural Queensland. It’s not easy to sell a farm, especially one that’s been in the family for four generations.
But farm life is hard. It’s tough work, and the uncertainties are killers. The financial pressures are enormous.
Desley could see the toll it had taken on Murray (even though like most blokes he had kept it all to himself and just got on with things.)
She resolved to take on the financial burden of the family from that point on. She wanted to give Murray a break, and let him enjoy his retirement in peace. As she says:
“Murray supported us for all those years, and he just never let on how much stress he was under. I didn’t want him to worry about money ever again, so I took it all on.”
But then this was the thing. When she got into it, she realised that actually, it was going to bequite hard work.
In fact, Desley had never even filled out a tax return before. She’d never paid an electricity bill,she’d never talked to an accountant. Murray had always managed all of thosethings.
So suddenly Desley is feeling a bit out of her depth. They’re now on the Sunshine Coast and quicklyburning through the proceeds of the farm sale. She needed to protect the moneythey had, and set the family up with a source of income, and fast.
That’s a formidable task for someone still trying to get their head around internet banking!
Luckily, she found us. I’ll tell you the details of how she did it tomorrow, but ultimately she succeeded. With the help of her mentors and the professionals she had access tothrough the Platinum Program, she set her family up with a passive incomestream of $160,000 a year.
Finally, Desley and Murray could relax.
And everyone is so proud of Desley. As her daughter Nicole said at the Super Conference:
“I can’t believe what she’s been through. You’re a rock star mum. And she did it all herself. No one’s there at the kitchen table, just mum there by herself. Dad’s out in the shed… but mum sorted out the family. I’m just … I’m so proud of her.”
Bloody hell, now I’m tearing up again.
But I just really wanted to share this story with everyone for two reasons.
First, you can be the hero your family needs. You can be the hero that your own life needs. We are all capable of it. Life throws up its challenges, but there is a hero inside of us just waiting for the opportunity to prove its worth.
Be a hero.
Secondly, I know I say this a lot, but when it comes to property, any one can do it. It’s really true.
Now you might be saying, property is too complex, it’s too hard. It’s never going to work for me.
But look at Desley. This is someone who had never even filled out a tax return. She had raised some beautiful kids, she had kept the farm running – but even the most basic financial concepts were foreign to her at the beginning.
But, with a bit of education and a bit of mentoring, she got it. She got on top of it.
And she got results.
So good on you Desley. It was a well-deserved victory.
Your story is an inspirational to us all.
(Look out for the details of Desley’s deals tomorrow…)