My name is Haakon. I am currently living and finding deals in Oslo, Norway. While studying in Australia a few years ago I attended one of Mark Rolton’s seminars. Since then I have been on a journey from master procrastinator to option holder!

Step 1: Getting Started

I attended a Mark Rolton one day event in Melbourne three or four years ago. I learnt many great strategies, but was struggling with actually choosing ONE and committing to it. After dabbling with different strategies over several years, occasionally being discouraged by skeptical friends and family, I finally had a brutally honest conversation with myself 6 months ago. It went something like this -

“If I continue dabbling I will never succeed nor fulfil my dreams. I have two choices.

A: Burn Mark's material. Think nothing of it. Continue living a mediocre life. Work in a job where I die a little every day. It won't be great, but hey, everyone else is doing it so I guess it is OK.

B: Commit on becoming a Property Mogul for life! Choose ONE strategy (splitters). Make it easy for yourself. Start small. Do not care if it takes 20 years to complete one deal. Take massive action every weekday.”

I chose B!!!

Step 2: Find the Deal

The first 100 properties I looked at, was actually in a high-end part of town, which is not an ideal area to do a splitter. Mark's free Splitter Series made that very clear and I found that series to be invaluable by the way. http://propertyoptions.com.au/online-education-splitters-series.shtml

I went to the local council for more research and got specific. I found another 100 properties that fit my criteria. I sent out letters and from that had two meetings. But still nothing. However I was tenacious and 9 property investigations further and three meetings with an owner later, I FINALLY put my first deal together!

The owner wanted to continue living in the house so I optioned the backyard. The backyard is roughly 1000m2 and I can fit three houses on it. To finance the deal I am using Other People’s Money (OPM), and negotiated a delayed payment to different stakeholders until I on-sell the property.

Step 3: Choosing the Right Strategy – Splitters

I am all about lifestyle and want to profit fast so I can quit my job and work on property full time. It will take 4 months to get the development approval (DA) and initial sale through. Developing, in my opinion, sounds too long because at the moment I want to focus on cash flow and getting more options and getting the DA through council.

Step 4: Know the Numbers

I spoke to many real estate agents, looked at comparables, and used these numbers to argument an above-the-market price. When I attend meetings with new owners now, I know roughly what I will make if the deal goes through. Land is scarce in Norway, and the market here is very strong so it can be a bit challenging to know exactly what something is worth. Remember that real estate agent estimates can be plain wrong. As an example the deal I have put together has an estimated net profit of $130,000-1,080,000(!). I am obviously cheering for the $1M sale, but my feasibility says the deal is worth approximately $315,000. Still pretty amazing!

1. Option Price: AUS $590,000 with 30 months option period
2. Cost: $145,000
3. Profit to Joint Venture Partners: $315,000 - $445, 000

Putting my first deal together has eliminated a lot of negativity and doubt in my life. It’s brilliant to know that these strategies can be used anywhere in the world to create cash flow. Today I am generally a much more driven and happy person. I cannot thank you enough Mark.