Richard Woodd, TPIA Executive Committee
We all think our life is a roller coaster ride at times, and it’s true. But for highs and lows, you’d struggle to find a better example than Nichole Lewis and we’re not talking here about despair and depression.
She’s about going for gold when it’s there for the taking, whenever, wherever, whatever it takes, and then picking herself up after the bailiffs come knocking and climbing the ladder again a wiser person. Well that’s what happened to her before she found her true inner self and calling.
It’s all in her book Property Quadrants, subtitled ‘The Passive Income Formula: own your financial future through real estate investing’.
“Mistakes are opportunities are opportunities to learn and I now have a double degree in learning opportunities. Although what happened to me was a very specific set of circumstances, there are many general mistakes I can share that will help you avoid similar ones,” is one of the messages.
The vivacious, engaging Nichole (she’s become known as ‘the queen of property’ aka ‘the queen of mistakes’) entertained and informed at the Taranaki Property Investors Association monthly gig in April.
She was raised by her grandparents after her mother died. “They were cautious, not risk takers, but I was determined to be my own boss.
“I listened to too many people, I got over-leveraged and didn’t buy for cashflow. I ended up working for a big Australian property developer as a commissioned global franchise manager on their $1.6 billion project. I was opening their new offices around the world, simultaneously investing in real estate and flipping properties; money was easy to borrow to the max. I had a company credit card with a $120k limit. But it was 2008, the global financial crisis happened I crashed and burned, I was left with the credit card debt. I was liable for $7000 a month in loan charges.”
She had a husband a two kids, was struggling to pay rent and power bills, but managed to rent a rural house from the Coatesville school (just north of Auckland) her kids attended. She sold horse poo, eggs and fruit at the gate from her 5 acres.
She avoided bankruptcy only by bank mortgagee sales and miraculously nobody asked her for the $70k break fee and she had nothing left, except a husband with a paying job and then he lost that, so they had to become a property investment team. She was his teacher. She got restarted with no-money property deals, where another party provides the deposit.
It’s all in her book written in the Covid lockdown. She liked Robert Kiyosaki’s ideas such as he shared in ‘Rich Dad, Poor Dad’ and ‘Cashflow Quadrant’ but he was her inspiration, she hasn’t copied him. She had to find a publisher, get her manuscript peer tested and it came out in 2022 to positive feedback. It’s in most bookshops, and online, $29.99.
Keyhook sponsor
The gig was sponsored by Keyhook rental property management co-founder Luke Nichoils who described Keyhook’s app-based landlord and tenant service which is a powerful stress-free tool with emphasis on quick performance and results.
“Tenant takes a photo of the issue and it goes straight to the maintenance support team who diagnose the cause and resolution before calling in a tradie. One in eight are in fact resolved that way. If not, we call the tradie. The landlord gets three quotes, ticks one and Keyhook does the rest.” There’s a lot more to the service, accessible online.
Keyhook membership is $4.99 per week per property (less for multiple properties). Currently Keyhook is offering 3 months free for NZPIF members, but you need to get the app and promo code for this (code is NZPIF).
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