Welcome to the Second Annual Investor of the Year Awards edition, where we pay tribute to property investors across Australia. This year has been particularly exciting due to the challenging events that transpired. While Australia has been mostly spared, the global financial crisis has left considerable devastation in its wake in the international banking sector and the impact on some investors has been dramatic.

However, it's been truly inspiring (but not surprising) to read the record number of entries we've received. Many Australian investors have jumped at the rare investment opportunities provided by the past year, even as the talking heads and mainstream press tried to outdo each other in prophesying the demise of Australia's property market. And these brave investors have been rewarded very well! During the first 10 months of 2009, investors in Sydney and Melbourne saw their property value surge by more than 9% and 14% respectively.

Like last year, our search for Australia's Best Property Investor opened up a treasure chest of amazing survival stories, from unusual wealth creation strategies to lucky breaks, and led us to meet people from all corners of the country from all walks of life. Each story is brimming with inspiration and valuable lessons to learn from.

Choosing a winner this year has been extremely challenging, with so many astute, passionate and highly deserving investors vying for the title. Our panel of judges spent hours comparing the stories, weighing up different strategies and achievements of applicants and eventually decided on three finalists.

We are proud to present the 2009 winner of Your Investment Property and RUN Property Management Investor of the Year Award - Prue Muirhead from Adelaide, SA!

Prue wowed the judges with her investment logic and the depth of her understanding of property investment fundamentals. Having acquired an impressive $3.5 million positively geared portfolio within four short years, she was able to retire before she turned 40 - is a truly remarkable feat.

Big congratulations also go to our two runners up - Mathew Cosgrove and Anne Morelli, both from Brisbane, Queensland. Mathew's mature and savvy approach to building up his portfolio is an extraordinary achievement and Anne's story is an inspirational tale that will encourage everyone to go out and achieve their dreams.

As everybody knows, the first rule of property investing is that there are no hard and fast rules. However, hard work in conducting meticulous due diligence, patience and the thirst for learning are the common traits shared by successful investors. It's evident from the entries that those who put in the hours got the results back, plus more. In short, there is no magic formula for success that replaces blood, sweat and toil.

We would like to thank all of you who took time to share your stories with us and wish you the best in your investment endeavours in 2010.

To read the winners' success stories pick up a copy of the February edition of Your Investment Property magazine.