Show me the (mentoring) money

"There does seem to be an awful lot of companies at the moment offering seminars and a lot of mentoring - really expensive mentoring - $20,000 to mentor you into how to do it properly, and they are a bit of a worry because it’s information you can get from a lot of other places for virtually no money."

King said he was also concerned that some are little more than money making scams.

"There's a lot of money to be made in rental property and whenever there's a lot of money to be made, there's a lot of scammers who come in and try and rip people off basically."

The main issue for King however, is the fact that a lot of information is available either free or at very little cost.

"There's a lot of good books now available from New Zealand writers about how to invest in property, you don't even have to buy them, go to the library and have a read there."

He also advocated talking to people already involved in property investment and contacting your local property investment association (PIA).

"You will find people that are doing it and doing it in lots of different ways as well," he said.

"You'll find someone who's probably in your situation or who has been in your situation and will be able to give some good unbiased information as to how to do it, not just painting a rosy picture because they want to make a quid out of you."

He said a good book on property investment could cost as little as $30, while membership to a PIA was between $150 and $250 a year.

"That's nothing like the thousands that they get charged [for mentoring] and you will get good, unbiased information as well."

He also said some of the colossal fees charged for mentoring - Landlords is aware of one high net worth individual paying $40,000 for such a service - is money that could be better spent elsewhere.

"Use that money for a deposit, that'll be much better for you," he said.