I'm aghast at some of the comments on this Forum suggesting that Margaret Lomas is somehow less 'worthy' an author/commentator than other gurus because she "only" owns 7 properties.
To those who have this attitude, do you realise what a small percentage of Australians even own one or two investment properties? Do you realise what an absolutely miniscule percentage of Australians would own 7 IPs or more? Going a step further, do you realise how many people on this forum probably have a long way to go before they're anywhere near 7 IPs? In my humble opinion, when someone who owns seven IPs has something to say, you listen. At least I do.
I've read and enjoyed all Margaret's API articles and books, and personally I feel her positive cash flow strategies are far more realistic and financially more sound than many higher-risk 'creative' strategies I've seen bandied around.
I have no problem with anyone criticising her strategies - that's the sort of healthy debate that makes these forums interesting. However, you can't criticise her *results*. Anyone who has built up a portfolio of 7 IPs is a successful property investor whose comments/opinions are worth listening to.
From what little I know of Margaret's business (mainly gleaned from the short bio on her books), my impression is that she runs a small financial planning firm somewhere on the outskirts of Sydney. She's certainly not a mega-rich financial adviser/commentator like Noel Whittaker or Paul Clitheroe, nor is she a 'seminar guru' running a million-dollar seminar business. The point here is that whatever success she's had with her property investments has probably been achieved with a fairly 'normal' Australian income level... in other words, she's had to work hard and invest wisely to acquire each of her properties, like most of the rest of us in the 'real world.'
To be quite honest, for many 'average' property investors like myself (and probably many others on this forum) the opinions/experiences/strategies of someone who has acquired 7 IPs off a fairly 'normal' income may well be far more relevant, educational and worth listening to than the high-octane, high-risk 'strategies' of the big-time property gurus with their huge portfolios and million-dollar seminar businesses.
As someone else on here suggested, if you don't like API, don't buy it! For me, it's been a gold mine.