Property Investing in The 21st Century

Purchasing Investment Property Without Fear Part 3

In the last two posts, we have looked at some of the more common fears a property investor will face in their journey of wealth creation. Today, we will focus on the one fear that many face, and that is the fear of failure.

Due mainly to conditioning throughout our lives, humans have a big fear of failure. This is especially true when dealing with money or investing. One thing that is even harder in a country such as Australia, is that the Tall Poppy Syndrome is alive and well. That is another story in itself, so I will move on.

Can you fail as a property investor? Absolutely, then again, you can fail at anything in life if you are ill prepared. What if you were to become financially educated and arm yourself with great property investor research tools, do you think that would make a difference!

Becoming aware of how property cycles and property markets work, will take away a lot of the fear for you. The majority of property investors actually only have one investment property, as they still don’t understand how the property market works. Do you think if you were better educated and stayed updated with current market data that you would be more inclined to add to your property portfolio.

Do not fear failure, rather, you should more fear not doing or not trying. That is real failure, when you don’t act. Of course, others may tell you different, and remind you at the state of the economy, or advise you that the property market has peaked or the property bubble is about to burst. Just ask yourself one thing, and that is, is the person giving yo advice a successful property investor? The cheapest advice you can get, is usually the advice that ends up costing you the most.

Purchasing Investment Property Without Fear Part 2

In the previous post, we looked at some fears property investors face when purchasing a property. These fears, if explored properly, can be unfounded.  Real Estate Agents and falling property prices have been discussed, so let’s have a look at some more fears.

Interest rates really do scare some people. This is because on the most part, interest rates are out of the control of the investor. There are ways to combat this, such as locking in your interest rates for set periods of time at a fixed rate. As a smart investor though, we look to purchase property with a long term view. With the compounding effect of an appreciating property, even if interest rates do hike up for a few years, we are still in front with the increased equity we have. Interest rates is the friend of the media, as they can suck people in to only see the doom and gloom. We know better though.

Another fear property investors have is Tenants. There are a lot of horror stories out there of unruly tenants trashing their landlords property and not paying rent. These are the exception, rather than the rule. With the recommendation of a great property management agent, any prospective tenant will be thoroughly screened and referenced. A must for all property investors, is taking out the correct landlords insurance. This is very inexpensive, and will cover you from non payment of rent, right through to worst case scenario and a tenant trashes your property.

That’s all for part two of this post. Next time we will look at another fear that may hold you back, and that is the fear of failure.

Purchasing Investment Property Without Fear Part 1

Buying an investment property can be a major even in a persons life. In fact, many people who want an investment property are to scared to go through with it. There are many reason for this fear, although many of these fears are unfounded.

There are lots of challenges when conducting a property deal, and this is normal. From experience I can tell you that the first property is the hardest, and after that what used to be challenges are just minor bumps. Often the hardest part of the deal is that first call to the Vendor’s Real Estate Agent, as there is a fear of an unknown person that you will have to deal with.

Real Estate agents are there to mediate between a vendor and a purchaser, and while there are some we would rather not deal with, the ball is always in your court. From the start, you have the advantage as you are the one in control of the price, more so than the vendor at least.

There are other fears, such as what if the property market drops. Perhaps the market may drop, if you bought during the emotional highs that can be experienced in a boom market. While it is best to purchase an investment property during the emotional low, it is still alright as if you are a smart property investor, then you will be purchasing the property for a long term view. Eventually, before long, the market as always, will rebound and you will be in positive equity again.

In part two, I’ll go through some more common fears property investors face, and explain why they are unfounded.