Margaret Lomas
Best-selling Australian Author
Hi there, I'm Margaret Lomas.
I've always loved to write. As a kid in primary school I wrote all manner of stories and poems.
Then for years, we raised five children and ran our national business. I had no time to write anything other than financial reports, and it was hard to make them interesting! In 2001 I combined my love of writing with my business and I wrote my first book - about property investing!
That was over 20 years and 8 bestselling non-fiction books ago. Now, as I begin to think about how I'd like to spend the next phase of my life, I've realised that it has to be writing stories that people can enjoy.
I hope you like my fiction work. If you do, write and tell me. If you don't then still write and tell me how you think I can do better! Life is an amazing journey and I never stop learning.
About Margaret
Margaret Lomas is an author, TV host and well known property investment expert. For 10 years she hosted two weekly property investment shows on Sky News Business, and she presently creates, produces and hosts ‘Property Investing Matters’ on the Web TV channel, ‘My Property TV’.
She is the best-selling author of 8 Property Investment books, including titles such as such as ‘20 Must Ask Questions® for Every Property Investor’ which was recently revised and updated, and now includes 50% more information, ‘How to Achieve Property Success’ which is a revised and updated compilation of Margaret's first three best-selling books, and ‘Investing in the Right Property Now!’.
In addition to being the Founder and Director of Destiny Financial Solutions, Margaret is the past chair and current board member of the Property Investment Professionals of Australia (PIPA) and past board member of the Real Estate Institute of NSW (REINSW). She is a Telstra NSW Business Woman of the Year and Westpac Business Owner of the Year recipient, and was voted one of Australia's 100 Women of Influence in 2015. Margaret is a qualified financial adviser and investment property adviser and a Senior Associate with FINSIA - the Financial Services Institute of Australasia.
Margaret lives on the Central Coast of NSW, where she has raised five children and is now grandmother to three. She has just begun her foray into fiction writing.
Fiction Books
Book details
The Network
A plot with a twist so shocking that it will leave you reeling!
Sam Canon is a brilliant journalist, with the perfect life and boyfriend - until their relationship ends abruptly. Lost and hurt, Sam calls on her best friend, Bella, to help her to escape from the bitter memories which block her from moving on. An opportunity in Indonesia enables Sam to complete her escape - the warmth of Jakarta and her new workmates enhance this vastly different life, and she finds happiness again. And she also finds love - or did love find her? As the months speed past, passion and desire return to her - until her instincts are awakened, and doubt begins to cloud her judgement. As the strange bond between her new man and his friend begins to eat at her, everything she has secured for herself in this country, so rich in colour and culture, is called into question.
Who can she trust? The more she seeks the truth, the more shocking and dangerous are her discoveries. With nobody left to help, she turns to her oldest friend Bella for help - but will Bella be too late?
This story of love, fear and deception is filled with intrigue and surprise - with actions at a breathtaking pace that will leave you engrossed in the subtleties of Indonesia and the people who share Sam's life.
The Recommended Retail Price for this book is A$29.95 excluding delivery, and this book should be available from most Australian and some International book stores.
You can purchase a copy of this book from the Destiny Online Store for A$24.95 including free delivery (normally $9.20) within Australia.
You can purchase a copy of this book in e-book format from the Destiny Online Store for A$7.95 including free electronic delivery.
This book should also be available for purchase in Amazon Kindle, Apple iBook and Google Book formats from the Amazon Kindle Store, Apple iTunes, or Google Play respectively. It may also be available in other e-book formats such as Kobo and/or Adobe Digital Editions from Australian and International book stores.
Non-Fiction Books
Current books
Book details
Diary of a Small Developer
If you have always wanted to develop a property you may already own, or you want to buy a site that you can later develop into more than one dwelling, then this is the book for you!
Written in a diary-like style, well-known property expert Margaret Lomas (author of 8 titles including the best-selling 'Twenty Must Ask Questions for Every Property Investor' and 'How to Achieve Property Success') tracks the progress of two developments over 3 years, utilising the expert guidance of Peter ‘The Property Professor’ Koulizos, and his 'Ten Steps to Develop a Property'.
This is an engaging and compelling read as Margaret and Peter encounter problem after problem, end up in the Environment, Resources and Development Court and struggle to build even one new property.
Full of comprehensive guidance supported by anecdotal evidence and real life dramas, this is the book that every small property developer needs, whether building a single house or four- to six- dwellings.
The Recommended Retail Price for this book is A$34.95 excluding delivery, and should be available from most Australian and some International book stores.
You can purchase a copy of this book from the Destiny Online Store for A$29.95 including free delivery (normally $4.80) within Australia.
This book should also be available for purchase in Amazon Kindle, Apple iBook and Google Book formats from the Amazon Kindle Store, Apple iTunes, or Google Play respectively. It may also be available in other e-book formats such as Kobo and/or Adobe Digital Editions from Australian and International book stores.
Book details
20 Must Ask Questions® for every Property Investor (Revised and Updated)
When Margaret first wrote ‘20 Must Ask Questions® for every Property Investor’, the book was quickly embraced as the bible for anyone wanting to avoid the spruikers and successfully buy property. It contained the criteria that you needed to have in any property you were buying, regardless of where it was and how it was being sold to you.
In this revised and updated version of ‘20 Must Ask Questions® for every Property Investor’ Margaret has rewritten the original book to make sure that it not only remains current, but is also as relevant and useful to property investors as it has always been. In doing so, Margaret has added 50% more information, making this book the only guide you will ever need to ensure a safe and successful investment into property.
This book is about the research phase of the property investment process, and aims to equip all investors with so much knowledge that they will be able to lessen the risk of making poor choices and feel comfortable about buying in any market.
Unlike Margaret's other books, this book does not cover financing or conveyancing, tax issues or any other peripheral steps. This book is purely Margaret's 20 famous research questions, in depth, so that you can be sure that your property research is comprehensive and all-encompassing.
The Recommended Retail Price for this book is A$29.95 excluding delivery, and should be available from most Australian and some International book stores.
You can purchase a copy of this book from the Destiny Online Store for A$27.45 including free delivery (normally $2.80) within Australia.
This book should also be available for purchase in Amazon Kindle, Apple iBook and Google Book formats from the Amazon Kindle Store, Apple iTunes, or Google Play respectively. It may also be available in other e-book formats such as Kobo and/or Adobe Digital Editions from Australian and International book stores.
Book details
How to Succeed in Property Negotiations
One of the first and most important things you should do when you become a property investor is learn to negotiate well.
Investors are often all too prepared to spend A$10,000 to A$12,000 retaining a buyer's agent to negotiate for them on each property purchase, when spending a tiny fraction of that on educating yourself on how to improve your negotiation skills would be a far better idea.
Margaret's book, ‘How to Succeed in Property Negotiations‘ is a great place to start.
The Recommended Retail Price for this book is A$14.95 excluding delivery, and should be available from most Australian and some International book stores.
You can purchase a copy of this book in e-book format from the Destiny Online Store for A$9.95 including free electronic delivery.
This book should also be available for purchase in Amazon Kindle, Apple iBook and Google Book formats from the Amazon Kindle Store, Apple iTunes, or Google Play respectively. It may also be available in other e-book formats such as Kobo and/or Adobe Digital Editions from Australian and International book stores.
Book details
How To Achieve Property Success
Margaret has been working with property investors for almost 25 years and has written several books encompassing all she has both learned and taught. In this new book, Margaret takes the very best from her first three best-selling books, published in the early 2000s. She updates the important information and revises and adds new current content. The result is a one-stop shop for property investors - the ultimate must-have for new and experienced property investors alike.
Topics include:
- Dispelling the myths around property investing
- Truths about negative gearing
- Due diligence to avoid buying a lemon
- Buying and selling property
- Managing your property
- Structuring your investments and taxation matters
- Obtaining the right loan
- Creating an income for life
- Protecting your wealth
and much, much more.
The Recommended Retail Price for this book is A$39.95 excluding delivery, and should be available from most Australian and some International book stores.
You can purchase a copy of this book from the Destiny Online Store for A$34.95 including free delivery (normally $9.20) within Australia.
This book should also be available for purchase in Amazon Kindle, Apple iBook and Google Book formats from the Amazon Kindle Store, Apple iTunes, or Google Play respectively. It may also be available in other e-book formats such as Kobo and/or Adobe Digital Editions from Australian and International book stores.
Book details
Investing in the Right Property Now!
Investing in today's property market is different from investing pre-GFC. Old strategies are simply not working. So property expert Margaret Lomas set about comprehensively reconsidering the economy, property and the future of the Australian market. Slowly but surely she started to uncover ideas and information which no other property expert had really ever disseminated.
Investors today need to understand the dynamics of how macro and micro economies operate and how they affect the property markets. Margaret explains this theory in her trademark easy-to-understand style.
The book also includes information on:
- The current property landscape
- Matching property with investor profiles
- Timing the markets to invest when an area is about to take off
- Finding strong cash flow and capital growth investments
- Recognising growth drivers to find the next hotspot before it becomes one!
The Recommended Retail Price for this book is A$29.95 excluding delivery, and should be available from most Australian and some International book stores.
You can purchase a copy of this book from the Destiny Online Store for A$27.45 including free delivery (normally $2.80) within Australia.
This book should also be available for purchase in Amazon Kindle, Apple iBook and Google Book formats from the Amazon Kindle Store, Apple iTunes, or Google Play respectively. It may also be available in other e-book formats such as Kobo and/or Adobe Digital Editions from Australian and International book stores.
Out-of-print books
Books available for purchase
Book details
The Truth about Positive Cash Flow Property
The aim of this book is to help to protect you against the many scams and dubious schemes which are so prolific today. In addition to uncovering the truth behind many of these, this book outlines the type of portfolio you do need in order to become financially secure, including examples of portfolios which every day people can build efficiently and without too much risk. The book looks in depth at many of those complicated structures which are often suggested today, and details lending structures and some tax information. A book for those who are already on their way.
Once you have begun your journey, and have either commenced buying property or are ready to go, this book is for you. This book relies on you having read ‘How to Achieve Property Success’ and completely understanding the concepts of positive cash flow investing, as it does not contain much of the detailed knowledge which is crucial if you are to be successful as an investor.
The Recommended Retail Price for this book is A$29.95 excluding delivery, and should be available from most Australian and some International book stores.
You can purchase a copy of this book from the Destiny Online Store for A$27.45 including free delivery (normally $2.80) within Australia.
We hope to make this book available in e-book formats, and we'll update this page when this book is released in e-book formats.
Book details
How to Invest in Managed Funds
From the author of ‘How to Achieve Property Success’ comes a book that explores managed funds.
Managed funds offer investors with relatively small sums of money the opportunity to access a range of investments across a spectrum of asset classes.
In ‘How to Invest in Managed Funds‘, Margaret explains the ins and outs of investing in managed funds in her trademark easy-to-understand style.
She discusses all aspects of investing in managed funds, including:
- Types of funds, how they are structured and regulated
- How returns are made and measuring fund performance
- When to use financial planners
- Matching a managed fund to your investor profile
- Maintaining a balanced portfolio using managed funds
The Recommended Retail Price for this book is A$29.95 excluding delivery, and should be available from most Australian and some International book stores.
You can purchase a copy of this book from the Destiny Online Store for A$27.45 including free delivery (normally $2.80) within Australia.
We hope to make this book available in e-book formats, and we'll update this page when this book is released in e-book formats.
Book details
A Pocket Guide to Investing in Positive Cash Flow Property
Actually, you would need an extremely large pocket to fit this book in - once Margaret started writing it, she just couldn't stop! The reference to ‘pocket guide’ is more about how to use it than it is about its size. After having written ‘How to Achieve Property Success’, many readers told of how they were full of great information that they then needed to disseminate into a process they could follow.
So, Margaret decided to do this for them. ‘A Pocket Guide To Investing In Positive Cash Flow Property’ is not an educational book, as such. Rather, it is a process guide. It relies on the fact that you have already gained the knowledge from reading the other books and it gives you a step by step guide for the actual buying process. Each chapter is a new step and once you have read the entire book you will own a property.
‘A Pocket Guide to Investing in Positive Cash Flow Property’ contains formulas, calculators, things to photocopy for your bank and lawyer, and a checklist at the end of each step to make sure you have completed the step fully.
Again, it will not teach you new information - it will simply organise the information you do have into a logical step by step plan. You will need to read ‘How to Achieve Property Success’ before getting to ‘A Pocket Guide to Investing in Positive Cash Flow Property’.
The Recommended Retail Price for this book is A$29.95 excluding delivery, and should be available from most Australian and some International book stores.
You can purchase a copy of this book from the Destiny Online Store for A$27.45 including free delivery (normally $2.80) within Australia.
We hope to make this book available in e-book formats, and we'll update this page when this book is released in e-book formats.
Books no longer available for purchase
Contact Margaret
Margaret would love to hear from you about anything! Please send her an e-mail and she will respond as soon as she can!