Behind the scenes of our new book

Prior to COVID, Pete and I caught up regularly when he was down in Melbourne. Our catch up of choice is usually a late night pizza restaurant in the city and we’ve paved out plenty of budget night webinars, podcast chats, and other fun ideas.

I asked Pete one evening, “why don’t we write a book?”. I recall his relaxed answer. “Yeah, cool.” COVID then hit, and like many other small businesses, we had other worries and tasks to focus on. Fast-forward three years, and I rekindled the conversation over another pizza.

Our book idea stemmed from a few podcasts and articles we’d co-produced. Our synergy is different to many, because Pete has a strong economic background, with the added benefit of a global outlook. His education and previous corporate roles as a Chartered Accountant bring a very sharp edge to his ability to analyse markets and connect theory to resultant outcomes. My coalface experience and love of real life story-telling blends nicely. We had a shared vision for a book that delivers two author’s voices sharing consistent messages in different ways.

Pete lives between the UK and Queensland, and shortly after we’d paved out a skeleton of book chapters, Pete and I were living in two very different timezones. I wondered how it would work, but funnily enough, our book chapters came to life very quickly. I’d work until late evening, save a version of the book and email it over to Pete. I’d wake up to a fresh version emailed back to me from England.

We certainly had a nocturnal advantage due to our time zone differences.

Within six months, we had a manuscript. It needed tidying, but we’d penned around seventy thousand words. We engaged an editor to proof our work, and our photographer for some back cover pictures. Pete flew down to Melbourne again, (albeit with just runners and jeans – thanks to the art team who cropped his shoes nicely).

Our discussions with publishers moved quickly and we were thrilled to accept a publishing deal with Lesley and the team at Major Street. All of a sudden our word file was on its way and things started to feel real. The title was determined first once the team had read our manuscript.

The Buy Right Approach to Property Investing: Mastering the skills to invest wisely in property

From book cover zoom meetings to marketing plans, the team moved very quickly and our cover was proofed over the Christmas break via a few whatsapp text messages between Pete and I.

We haven’t had a single disagreement, and every decision has felt seamless. With over 1,800 kilometres between Pete and I, we decided to create an audio interview series as opposed to a roadshow book launch.

We have collated thirteen episodes, each delving into the various chapters in the book. Our book chapters are as follows.

• Who are we?
• Who are you?
• What is the Buy Right Approach?
• Why property?
• Be cautiously optimistiv
• What can go wrong?
• Getting stuck into it
• Bidding and negotiation
• How to build a powerhouse portfolio
• Financing
• Navigating the future

The Buy Right Property Book podcast episodes will be launched in April 2024.

I’ve loved walking down memory lane with Pete and recalling the conversations, the stories in the book, and our own approach to building our individual property portfolios. It does feel a bit surreal to know that books are hitting bookstores and airport newsagent shelves in a month. But the hours and late nights, early morning calls and deadlines are not forgotten.

We’ve been very fortunate to have huge support from some dear industry friends, including our three foreword authors. Special thanks and gratitude goes to Peter Koulizos, Nicola McDougall and Catherine Cashmore for their kind words, and we’re very appreciative of the material we have had shared with us from Simon Pressley and Stuart Wemyss.

And of course, last but never least, a special shout out to our families who have heard the tapping of the keyboard into the early morning hours, and have ridden the journey alongside us.

Our biggest supporters.