Adi Chanda's Linkedin Analytics

I’ve never felt less important at Alaya Property. And honestly I kinda love it. One thing that’s become crystal clear to me lately - my team’s individual skill levels far exceed mine. → Miguel, my Ops Lead and the guy I go to with eveything, is ridiculously good at navigating tough client conversations. Where I tend to go into protective mode for the team, he finds the balance - somehow with clarity AND compassion. It’s disgusting. → Sam, after just a few weeks, is getting so good at those early discovery calls. He listens deeply, asks the right questions, and I usually sit there all proud like "yeah, that's my guy". → Tal and Sim? Two of the best property sourcers I’ve come across. Their ability to unearth absurdly good deals in ridiculous markets is something I used to dream about when I was flying solo. When I think back to my solo days - which, to be fair, was only 6 weeks ago lol - I’m honestly amazed the business worked at all. I was doing all of this by myself. And I was spread so thin I didn’t even have time to realise how unsustainable it was. Now, my role is different. These days, my job is to help this incredibly talented group do what they do best - and make sure they feel seen, supported, and celebrated while doing it. As a result, we’ve grown pretty fast in the past few weeks. Lots of folks seeing us as different in a sea of spruikers, and wanting to work with us, as a result. But it’s been manageable, because I got these guys in place before the demand took off. Kind of like how we invest in property here 😌 Honestly, one of the best decisions I’ve made in the past 12 months has been to stop doing this alone. Because now I get to spend 40 hours a week with people who share my values and are just as obsessed with property as I am. And every time I see one of them go above and beyond for a client or for each other, I remember exactly why I built this thing in the first place. This is a dream I didn’t know I had. But my god am I enjoying living it.

I’ve turned up on 2.5M screens in the last 365 days. But more importantly, I’ve turned up for 365 days. One promise (probably the only promise that I haven’t broken) I made to myself was to write every single day, no matter my circumstances. Some days I literally sit there writing 20 posts - others I work on 1 or 2 lines and then give up, because [insert first world problem]. But something gets clicked and clacked onto a keyboard, no matter what. I made that promise because, a year ago, LinkedIn was literally my only way to get clients. It was my one shot at building Alaya Property. → There was no lead funnel back then. There still isn’t to be fair lol → I wasn’t getting referrals, mostly because people didn’t who tf I was. → I didn’t even have a website. I literally just got one this week lol All I had was the commitment to show up and say something moderately useful in a way that sounded like me - unhinged and awkward. Some days, the posts resonated, but most days they were a blip on the radar. But I kept going, anyway, and slowly, that consistency became the backbone of the business. What started as a desperate attempt to bring in work turned into a daily practice I genuinely enjoyed. These days, things look a little different. → The business has grown beyond just me. → We’ve got more than one way to generate leads now. → I’m leading a team of people who deeply care about our mission. But I still write every single day. Because the writing is what got me here, so it will always be a part of this story. Today the stories are about property, leadership, challenges, the character building that comes with going from a solo act to someone responsible for a whole ass team, and a whole lot more. But I’ve realised a few things along the way: → You don’t need a huge audience to make an impact. → You don’t need to be especially clever or, hell, good at traditional writing - lord knows I’m not. → You just need to show up with something semi-useful to say - and the patience to keep going when no one seems to give a rat’s ass. That’s it. That’s the whole schtick. Oh, and if you stick with it long enough, people start to show up too. Because you’ve suddenly given them something that they didn’t have before. Trust. And trust, my guy, is how you turn up on 2.5M screens in 365 days.

I don’t care about being the biggest BA in Australia. My obsession is to be the best for client experience. Every single week, my team & I are getting calls booked in, like the one attached - where folks seem to be stuck. Not because of their finances or because their brief is too challenging. But because they signed up with a big-name BA who talked real fast on a podcast - but had no real plan to actually deliver. → One client waited 6 months to see a property. → Another had to renew their pre-approval 3 times. A lot of them (most) are even willing to walk away from their engagement fee because their experience has been so shite. You see, these agencies are selling a dream - buy in a growth market, leapfrog to the next cycle, build your wealth faster. And yeah, it sounds great. But they leave out the part where: → The markets are small. → Supply is tight. → And they’re signing 100+ clients a month, with no cap in sight. That’s how lead times hit 6 months. And when the property finally comes through, it’s not a choice - it’s “take it or start the wait all over again.” At Alaya Property, I’m building something entirely different. Instead of trying to get on the AFR for fastest growth, I’m obsessed with experience. We’ve signed almost as many clients in the last 2 months than I did in my first year solo. So I scaled early - 4 full-time hires to help steer the ship. And every client hears from us weekly. At the very least, every 2 weeks. Even when we haven’t found the right property yet - we still reach out. Not because there’s always a groundbreaking update. But because I want you to know: → We haven’t forgotten you. → We’re thinking about you. → And we’re still doing the work to find the right deal for you. To me that level of communication is the backbone of trust, especially in an industry where trust is such a rare find. If you’ve trusted us with your money, your time, your goals - the least we can do is make sure you feel that trust being honoured. Because I’m finding out that growth is actually not all that hard, if your marketing channels are doing their thing. Scaling while still making your clients feel the warm and fuzzies - that's the part that takes genuine intention. And that is the business I’m obsessed with building.

Okay I’m so proud of my team for this one. $585k house on a 1,052sqm block, ~30km from the Melb CBD. That’s a 4-digit sqm block. That’s 4 with an F. That's a quarter of an acre. In the second biggest capital city in Australia. Wtf is going on? 🥹 Let’s run the numbers: → Purchase price - $585k → Population growth - 6% YoY (that’s a lot of humans ugh) → Stock on Market (Supply) - 0.7% and dropping → Vacancy rate (Demand) - 1.4% and dropping → Rental yield - 3.42% (not great but in 6 months this goes to 4.2% minimum, because did you see the vacancy rates sir?) → Building approvals - 0.6% (this means sweet-fk-all-new-builds in property terms) So you’ve got a chronically undersupplied market with zippity incoming stock, where the population keeps growing. So…where exactly are all these people supposed to live? Your house? But why did we pick this particular property? → Client wanted something with massive development potential and 1,052sqm gets you plenty of that. → According to Landchecker, this block is selling for 70% less per sqm than similar-sized lands. Umm, esqueeze me? → And to top it all off, there are houses on much smaller blocks going for $650k+. It’s bizarre that this off-market deal came along, but we invest so much in our relationships, so I’m not surprised these deals find us now. Honestly, it might just be the best deal Alaya Property has done to date. I also feel jealous of my client, which I guess is a good sign. (But I also wonder if I should make up a story to steal the property for myself?) I apologize for my intrusive thoughts. I’m just happy today, and I don’t know what to do with all this stupid positivity.

The yields in Melbourne absolutely suck. But it’s silly to dismiss it based on year 1 numbers. A lot of the Melbourne suburbs we’re currently buying in sit around 3.5% rental yield at purchase. That’s not great for cash flow, and I’m not pretending otherwise. But here’s what makes it interesting: → Melbourne is seeing some of the fastest rent growth in the country. → Vacancy rates are tanking across these suburbs. → And as a result competition for rental is basically becoming a WWE match. So, why’re we seeing this story play out? Well, because we saw a bunch of nervous investors exit stage left. → Land tax has made it harder to hold. → Tenancy laws have become stricter making landlords feel like they’re being attacked. → Interest rate hikes pushed many owners to the edge. → And of course the doom & gloom media fear cycles scared off the rest. Less investor activity = fewer rental properties. Fewer rentals = more competition. More competition = rents climbing, fast. As a result, the clients are now getting $80 - 100 pw increases at renewal. Sometimes even more than that. So that nasty ass 3.5% yield could easily be 4.5% in 12 to 18 months. That’s why “low yield” isn’t always the red flag it seems. Sometimes it’s just a beige flag and you gotta dig further. Because in a lot of these places it’s a year 1 number, not a forever one. Now, is all of Melbourne investable? Good lord no. But in the right pockets - where supply is drying up and rent growth is surging - the long-term story is far more compelling than it looks at first glance. So if you’re skipping over Melbourne just because the yield looks silly billy, then I hope this additional context helps. And if it doesn’t, well then I’m sorry for trying okay. PS - these suburbs are not the only spots we’re buying in, but oh boy they’re sexy.

My partner & I plan to live in Sydney one day. Here’s how we’ll buy our PPoR there. Since it’s Sydney, we know that it’ll be at least $2.5m or more. This will hopefully get us a cozy little studio in Bondi, where the bathroom and kitchen coexist, and you can fry an egg while sitting on the toilet. Step 1 - Hire a Sydney PPoR Buyer’s Agent. ➝ I know my lane, and buying a home in Sydney is a completely different beast from buying investments. ➝ So unless I’ve built out a team that specializes in this exact niche, I’m outsourcing this bad boy. Step 2 - Liquidate a bunch of investments for the deposit. ➝ How much deposit? I’ll let my financial planner, mortgage broker, and accountant tell me that. ➝ But the bulk of it will come from the investments we’ve been stacking since 2014 - because the plan was always to make money outside Sydney so we could afford to live inside it. Step 3 - Fund repayments via business & investments. ➝ I don’t want to be grinding just to pay off a mortgage. The goal is to have the business and investments doing the heavy lifting - so we’re not drowning in repayments. Step 4 - Avoid the lifestyle creep trap. ➝ Sydney’s got a way of making you think you need things you really don’t. $9 oat lattes, reformer Pilates memberships because “everyone has one.” ➝ Just because we’ll have a place there doesn’t mean we suddenly need to start living like the Housewives of Sydney. Our priorities will stay the same - build assets first, lifestyle second. Step 5 - Remember why we’re doing this. ➝ My partner has always dreamt of having a home in Sydney. I’ve always been comfy with rentvesting. (So we’ve compromised and decided to buy a home in Sydney.) ➝ My partner’s family lives there, and as we think about starting a family of our own, we want to be nearby. ➝ This isn’t an overnight decision. It's taken years of toiling away doing the "right things". And if all else fails, I’ve been told I have dainty hands. I’ll be putting them to work on my OF page. I’ll check back in ~4 years to tell you how it went.

It’s funny, I HATE the hustle culture. Yet, I find myself working 16hrs most days. Here’s what my typical day looks like: → 8am - Struggle to roll out of bed → 8.30 - Discovery call with some prospective client → 9am - Team standup to set the pace for the day → Between 9am to 5pm - A mishmash of more discovery calls, firefighting with my team, onboarding new clients and of course rocking back & forth in the corner of the room. → 5-6pm is good old HIT training with Bill or Jodi. → 6-7pm is dinner with my partner. → 7-midnight - Catch up on emails, missed LI or text messages, content creation, ghostwriting service and whatever else I couldn’t get to during the day. And this has largely been my reality for  the last 6’ish months. Now, I know what you’re thinking. “Adi, this is a completely unsustainable work model and you’re a moron for doing this.” Bit rude, but also fair. But, in my defense, I have needed to do this as a rite of a passage as a business owner. There is no passive income or delegating or “I can’t be fk’d doing that part of the job” in the beginning. You have to simply suck it up, and get to work. Today, though, I have a team that collectively shares the workload with me - all with a singular mission - to help our clients achieve financial peace with their investing. Now, I can step away for a few hours, and things still progress. So I’m slowly but surely working towards a day where I don’t work 16 hours anymore. And yes, I hate the hustle culture. But the truth is, the culture has to be one of a hustle at the start. Because ain’t nobody handing you a “lifestyle” business in the first few months. Despite what all these LinkedIn gurus tell you.

I bought a property in WA for $220,000. 2 years on, it’s apparently worth ~$349k. Was it a good investment? I could give you the obvious answer but I’m a pompous ass clown, so I’ll give you a nuanced one instead. Firstly, why did I buy this place? → I was a tight arse and didn’t want to increase my budget. → I wanted something with explosive short term growth so a couple of years on, I could put it into a bigger & better asset without my own savings. It’s very cool to see that exact story playing out now. Am I a sexy, eccentric genius? I am eccentric, yes. After I sell this place, I’ll have ~$100k land in my bank account after loans, taxes and selling fees. Which is enough to get me into a $620k property with a 10% deposit. My guy, Redom, calls this the velocity of returns. Where you take a small amount, use market momentum to get outsized returns and then put the capital into bigger (and potentially better) assets. And then rinse & repeat. So, was it a good investment? Yes, because this is the exact outcome (almost down to the $), I was aiming for. I bought it sight unseen, made peace with the fact that the photos were from WWII, and hoped to all the gods, the fence wouldn’t fall over (it did). Would it have been a good investment for someone seeking stable long term returns? Absolutely not. Follow me for more convoluted answers to simple questions.

Our April was kind of insane. But this week was one of the hardest I’ve ever had. Alaya Property has suddenly gone from handling a few clients a month to dozens. And my job is to make sure the wheels don’t fall off while that’s happening. Have I had training to do this? Lord no. There’s no training on this anyway, you just have to learn by experience. It’s funny, our bank account is looking healthy. It’s funnier still, that I’m getting a ton of compliments about how I’m apparently killing it. But even though things are going well on the surface, the part you don’t see is me dealing with 300 problems concurrently whilst trying to build a meaningful business infused with my values. So yeah, this week was mentally taxing af, with a lot more lessons than wins. But I think some weeks are meant to be like that. They remind you that the path to something meaningful involves a series of tests designed to break you. I didn’t break this particular week, and that’s good enough for now.

I’ve recently gone from a team of 2 to 7. Man, it has forced me to grow up so much lol A couple of weeks ago, we were helping a client buy what I can only describe as a unicorn. 300sqm more land than anything else in the area. Bought for at least $80K under what its peers were going for. The kind of deal that just doesn’t happen in this market. And the only reason it landed in our lap? My talented af team. They’ve built such strong relationships with agents, that off-markets like this get sent to us directly, which is like a dream come true for me. Now, here’s where things got annoying af: → Finance approval was due Tuesday → On Friday, the broker asked for a short extension → The vendor flat-out refused And god I was so annoyed. They were being unnecessarily difficult. And honestly, a big part of me wanted to walk out of pure pride. But this wasn’t just about me anymore. I’ve got a team now. People who worked their asses off to secure this deal. People who trust me to lead with care, not just my fragile ego. So I took 10 very deep breaths (literally lol), and found a solution that got the deal across the line. And honestly, those deep breaths have been the biggest shift in going from solo to team member. I no longer have the luxury of making my decisions impulsively. Now, every choice has to answer: → Is this the best move for the business? → Does it protect the team’s efforts and mental health? → Will it give the client the outcome they deserve? If you’re scaling a business after being solo - I’m pretty sure the biggest change won’t be operational. It’ll be emotional. You’ll have to start leading like someone your people can rely on. And if it’s anything like my experience, it’ll stretch you in ways you never saw coming.

I used to have an incredibly toxic manager. So I built my own company to make sure that never happened again. He had all the hallmarks of a terrible manager/human. → He used to bully people, and blame it on “oh, I’m just on the spectrum.” → He constantly made people cry, like it was a video game challenge for this mf. → Suddenly his “I’m on the spectrum” excuse disappeared when there were buttocks that needed kissing higher up the ladder. → He would micromanage the shit out of you. I assume it wasn’t the only thing micro about him. So I know what it’s like to have the world’s worst boss. And the sad thing was, I had other shit “leaders” (some great ones too tbf) like him over the years. And now, running Alaya Property I think about those years a lot. And that’s why I’m very (VERY) conscious about running it with as much humility, empathy and compassion as my tiny, fragile body can conjure up. My general plan to do the opposite of these idiots: → ask questions before making asinine assumptions about someone’s performance. → care about the people in my charge. I work for them as much as they work for me. → provide feedback early and thoughtfully rather than just place blame. I’m confident that no one in my team ever has to shrink themselves to survive a workday because of me. Because where you spend 25% of your week should never be the lead source of your anxiety because of some low EQ idiot. So to all the shit "leaders" I’ve had - thank you for the blueprint of how not to do this leadership thing. And I hope you stub your toe today.

In my corporate days, I had to be quiet. No matter how obnoxious the customer was. Because we had a few golden rules: → The client is always right. → Stay professional no matter what. → Never match the tone of the customer, no matter how bad it was, because “that’s not who we are”. Which was corporate speak for - “you’re getting paid to be a punching bag to entitled, disrespectful clowns”. We all had stories like that. Dealing with idiots who seem to dedicate their day to ruining yours, and you were hamstrung because you had no support. But in the world of running Alaya Property, I’ve made myself a promise. “My team should never have to shrink themselves to accommodate someone else’s shitty behaviour.” That promise was tested recently. A client came on board, and very quickly, the red flags started piling up. → Dismissive tone. → Constant complaints, even when we’d gone above and beyond. → Rejecting properties for no real reason except “it doesn’t meet my standards”. He escalated on a team member - cc’ing me in a snarky, passive-aggressive email after HE himself misread a contract. He followed it up with a snarky WhatsApp message like we owed him instant access to our calendars. Man I was seething lol. I wrote back something along the lines of: “Please don’t speak to my team like that again. You’ve trusted us with this, so please let us do our job. We’ll present you 1 more property, and if you don’t agree, we’ll part ways.” I had already spoken to my team members beforehand and made sure they were comfortable with my approach. Leadership, to me, for as long as I can remember, has been about protecting my people. If they’re supported, the business usually takes care of itself. And funnily enough, the client’s tone shifted almost immediately. Suddenly, he was more polite than an Indian kid talking to his mum. I didn’t build this thing so I could recreate the same culture I left behind, and cater to the whims of entitled people. I built it so I could do things differently and make sure my team feels safe, respected, and proud to do the work they do. If you’re building something from scratch too, I encourage you to take a similar approach. Otherwise, what is the bloody point? If anyone treats you or your staff poorly, toodaloo mf.

I just shut down my $15k/m ghostwriting biz. All to get 10 hours/week back in my life. Over the weekend, I made a decision I didn’t expect to make. I shut down a business that was earning $15K a month - something that used to be my full-time salary - just to get 10 hours back in my week. I loved writing for others, and helping them share their stories with the world was so incredibly fulfilling. But Alaya Property is growing like crazy. → We’re now seeing a dozen or more clients join us each month. → I’m now responsible for a full team of wonderful people. → I’m now making dozens of daily decisions that impact a ton of lives. And when you’re leading something with that many moving parts, you start to realise just how precious a spare 10 hours in your week can be. So after chatting to my partner, I made the call to shut it down - not because it wasn’t working, but because the cost of keeping it had shifted. 13 months ago, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t start the BA business for money (and purpose, of course). When I started the ghostwriting business in November, I’d be lying again if I said the money wasn’t attractive. I mean - suddenly this middle-class kid was earning his highest corporate salary from about a day’s work a week. But, you see, my priorities have completely changed now. This weekend it dawned on me that I’m building something that’s going to change a lot of lives, with people that mean everything to me - so I have to be a little more ruthless with my time. I know leadership often looks like doing more. But this weekend, for me - it was about doing less. Now, we grow Alaya into a force of nature in this industry. Let’s do this. PS - I promise you, the privilege that affords me a decision like this is not lost on me. I'm grateful to be in a place in life, where I can prioritize my time over money.

My partner & I have been discussing money lately. These $ goals are what we’re building our life around. 1 - Buy our Sydney PPoR - ~$2.5m → My partner wants something cosy while being near her parents, so my job is finding us something cosy near her parents. → I will of course be debt recycling because no thanks non-deductible debt. Brother uhhhhhh. 2 - Buy a dog rescue shelter in Bali - $150k purchase and ~$60k annually to run. → I expect this cost to blow out considerably and become a source of financial drain 🤗 → This is everything I’ve ever wanted since I was like 10 so come at me financial ruin. 3 - Make sure our parents have everything they need in retirement - ~$50k a year. → Our folks are the reason we can even have a list like this, so we both know what we have to do. → Their job will be to travel, eat well, remind us how they sacrificed everything to bring us to Australia, and so much more. 4 - Passive income of $80,000 per year. → Both of us want some level of freedom for discretionary spending without needing a stressful business or a boring job. → This will cover a few holidays and let us buy brunches and $17 coffees in 2040. 5 (bonus) - buy my mum a Mercedes something or the other because she’s wanted one for as long as I can remember. → (Sorry Jayden, forgot to tell you about this one. Please adjust some numbers, por favor.) We also haven’t factored kids much into this. Mostly because I’m scared and I don’t wanna, but also because everything here will become irrelevant as we’ll be sleep deprived and crying a lot. The truth is, by putting these down on paper, we now have end goals to reverse engineer. Which makes achieving them a whole lot easier. My friend, Terry, talks about this a lot. It’s easy (and pretty useless) to talk about money in abstract terms. But once you write it down, and attach emotion and meaning to every line - it becomes a lot more real. And that’s when the work actually begins.

I spent last week in Japan with my fam. And hurtfully, Alaya Property ran a lot better without me 🥹 I shit you not. For the first time since starting my buyer’s agency, I wasn’t glued to my laptop the entire time, trying to keep everything from falling apart, including myself. Sure I still worked a couple of hours each day, replying to queries and stepping in where I had to. But the biggest difference this time? I wasn’t holding the whole business up by myself on my dainty little shoulders. ➝ We signed new clients while I was away. ➝ Clients were matched with the right properties. ➝ Problems were solved without me needing to solve them. In the past 12 months, I’ve taken 3 “holidays”, which loosely translate to “I worked through most of them because I didn’t have a choice.” (I should actually stop calling them holidays - they were more like location changes where the stress came along for the ride.) Japan felt different, though. Not because I didn’t care, but because I finally had people I could trust to care with me. People who are smarter than me. Better looking than me and a lot better at what they do than me. The only credit I can give myself here is that I was able to find them and convince them to come work alongside me. And now, I’m slowly learning to let them do what they do best, without me always needing to be in the middle of it. But my god that part is hard. I’ve spent so long being across every deal, every client, every tiny detail, that stepping back still feels super strange for me - like what do you mean things are happening when I’m not there? But I’m working on that part of me too. Because this trip gave me my first genuine taste of freedom. Not freedom from the business, but freedom in the business. And I want more of it, going forward. And as for you - if you’re still trying to do everything yourself, I get it. I was literally there 2 months ago, so it would be mighty weird of me to give you advice on it. But, having now felt that sweet, sweet freedom - I can tell you, hand on heart, finding people to do this with, is 100x better than doing it alone. So yeah, I’m learning to let go. Because for the first time, I actually have people to catch it.

I interviewed Sam a few weeks ago. I’m pretty sure I offered him the gig during it lol (Poor guy was shell shocked. Said he didn’t have any time to think. Brilliant recruitment tactic, if you ask me. 😏) Sam, in a nutshell: → He lives one suburb over from my partner’s parents. So naturally, I’ll be standing outside his window when I visit, to make sure he’s working. (It’s a very common work practice so don’t even come at me.) → He’s traveling to Europe for a few weeks this summer. I will likely be there at the same time too. (I’ll be taking my stalking to international waters. Again, completely normal and healthy behaviour.) → He’s bought 2 properties from 2 different buyer’s agents, and neither of them were amazing experiences. (I’ve asked him to make sure we never treat our clients that way.) → He’s a massive fan of a big buyer’s agent. When I asked him why he didn’t go for a role there, his response was “oh, I don’t think they were hiring”. (Bit of a hurtful response, sheesh.) → Sam’s a family guy. He asked me if certain hours of his day could be kept free because he had family obligations at home. I practically tripped on my way to say “good lord, of course man”. (It told me everything I needed to know about his character, too.) What will Sam be doing? → Well, he’s our Client Success Partner. Did I make up that title? Of course, I did. I just thought of the 3 words important to the role, and slapped them together. → His job will be to guide Alaya Property clients through every stage of their journey - with honesty, empathy, and top notch communication. Everything he didn’t get himself. Welcome to the team, Mr. Calabro. Thank you for putting your faith in me. Ps - he’s the genius in the middle trying to jump his way to Tal’s height, but still falling 8ft short.

My cost base for Alaya Property is up 2,566.7%. That’s a lot of dollarydoos, you see. In dollar terms, I’m now responsible for ~$40k per month in wages to my team. And it all happened in the span of about 6 weeks, which in and of itself is terrifying to think about. Don’t worry, I haven’t lost my mind. I think there was a reason for my hiring spree. But, why did you do such a crazy thing, Adi, you silly potato? → I now have a leader in the team + 2 x property consultants, who dedicate their days to building agent relationships. I also have someone who handholds clients through the whole journey. → With a diverse team, I can now focus on what I do best - bring in leads via LinkedIn, podcasts, begging people on the streets, coercing my dad to buy a property even though he’s 66 etc. → I never planned to take money from the business in the first 2 years. Being in a financially sound position meant I could reinvest every dollar back into it. → Although, Alaya Property’s cost base has dramatically increased, so has its ability to help people i.e. we can comfortably service 5x the number of clients now, without compromising our service or anyone drowning. In our leadership meetings, Miguel and I often talk about the health of the team - both mental and physical. It’s important to me that no one is working at 110% capacity 7 days a week. That’s a shit work environment, and one I will never foster. So, based on some notional projections on what’s coming down the pipeline, I did more hiring than I technically needed, to ensure there was enough redundancy and help in the team. But doesn’t that reduce your profit margins, Adi? Sure, but remember what I said above? The health of my team is more important to me than anything else. So, I’d much rather have extra pairs of hands sharing the workload, so we can all work at a sustainable pace, while keeping our clients as top priority. Thus, is the story of my cost base going up by 2,566.7% in 6 weeks. Follow me for more terrible business advice.

This is my new secret weapon, Simrat. And she’s far better at her job than I ever was. Here’s a little about this amazing hooman: → She’s an ex-nurse who worked in mental health, so empathy and attention to detail are basically built into her DNA. → She loves property, wanted more time with her young family, and was ready for a career change. → She was ripped off by a dodgy buyer’s agent before. Do you know the slick-backed-hair, shiny-shoe wearing, fast talking car salesman type? I've seen the photos - I’m pretty sure he was the prototype. So now, she’s joined Alaya Property as our Melbourne-specialist property consultant. Her role is to source properties in high-demand suburbs for our clients - and guide them from engagement to keys like an absolute pro. And when I say she’s good, I mean scary good: → In 2 weeks, she’s brought in like 20 UNBELIEVABLE off-markets from booming suburbs like Frankston North, Carrum Downs, and Craigieburn. (It's genuinely hard to explain how hard this is lol) → Her due diligence process is so fast and detailed I feel like a confused boomer, and almost feel embarrassed I used to be in her shoes lol. → She’s a kind soul to boot. The kind that makes everyone else on the team show up better, just by being around. What’s my job in all of this? To support her. To remind her she’s safe now - far away from scumbags - and that she can finally do her heart’s work, her way. And a massive shoutout to my guy Miguel for making the intro - the brother seems to know everyone in the industry. As we settle into our rhythm at Alaya, one thing’s becoming very to clear to me: I was never meant to be the best at everything. I was meant to bring the best together and give them everything they needed to thrive. My god, I’m loving this phase of my life. Feels like such an unbelievable privilege to have people like Sim in my life. It’s surreal.

I just signed up for a 9.54% interest rate. And I’m still calling it a great decision. I’m in the process of buying another property. My goal was pretty simple - stick to a 10% deposit and move fast while the data was still ahead of the sentiment. But because my company is pretty new and I’ve got no official ATO paperwork yet, my options were…limited. → Muchos low-doc loan. Basically a “trust me Adi’s got this” letter from my accountant. → Interest rate of 9.54%. → And a $12,000 risk fee just to get it over the line. (That’s lender speak for “we don’t trust you, but we’ll take your money.”) Most people would look at those numbers and think, “Why would you ever agree to this?” But I did so very happily. It’s in a location where supply is non-existent, demand is rising and price growth is already starting to build momentum. This isn’t a “set and forget” buy for me either. Not one of them generational assets. It’s a calculated move I’m making because the medium-term upside far outweighs the short-term pain. In 6 months, once I’ve got my BAS lodged and my first set of financials in, I’ll refinance into a product with a much better rate. Something closer to 7%. But I wasn’t willing to sit on the sidelines for half a year, twiddling my thumbs, while the market moved on without me. I talk about this with clients all the time, but let me say it again here: → You don’t need perfect conditions to make a decision. There’s no such thing. → You need conviction, a long-term plan, and a bit of stomach for discomfort. → Sometimes the fastest way forward is with a whole lot of pain today. And this is how I’ve always invested. Use the tools available to me now to enter the market. Then optimize later. Because the cost of inaction almost always ends up higher than the short-term sacrifices you’re scared to make. So sure, I’m paying 9.54% interest. Yes, I copped a $12k risk fee because I’m a risky fella. But I also secured a great asset in a rising market, and in 6 months, I’ll have reshuffled things to my advantage. To me, all of this is to get my partner and me to our goals. So everything else is just noise. Please join me as I now tell my partner about the interest rate and watch her look at me like I’m a lunatic.

This is the happiest I’ve been in my business. And it’s all because of these guys. Talented, kind, hardworking people doing incredible work for our clients who trust us with some of the biggest decisions of their lives. And I get to stand behind them, supporting them however I can, while they do what they do best. This photo was taken while they were working through how we can keep showing up at our best this year - while I was standing there like 🥹 I’ve got no big life lesson to share today. It was just a really surreal moment for me. And one I never want to take for granted.