pro·cras·ti·nate [verb]
to defer action; put off doing something; postpone or delay needlessly
– e.g. to procrastinate until an opportunity is lost.
Property investors can be a funny breed.
When the market is off the boil and property prices are slipping (as they did around much of the country in 2018-2019), many investors are too afraid to get into the market, fearing that prices might fall further. Or they wait on the sidelines, hoping that properties might get even cheaper.
They convince themselves that it’s not the ‘right‘ time to invest, but that they’ll buy in when the market hits bottom.
Oddly they often end up never buying anything at all!
When the market turns back up, those same investors hesitate again – unsure whether the market is really trending up or if what they’re seeing is just a “dead cat bounce” (with apologies to all feline lovers out there).
By the time they’re convinced that the market really is rising again, they feel they’re too late.
And once again they do… NOTHING!
I see this in every property ‘cycle’… Although there’s actually no such thing as a property market ‘cycle’ – the market doesn’t operate on any kind of regular clock.
Excuses, Excuses…
With the property market showing increasing signs of life across most capital cities lately, once again I’m meeting investors who think they might have missed the boat.
I ‘ve lost count of the number of people who’ve told me in the last couple of months that they think property has gotten too expensive (again)!
Every time the property market shifts up or down a gear, I hear excuses from investors all over the country ‘justifying’ why it’s the wrong time for them to invest.
Frankly, if you think this way then it will never be the ‘right’ time to invest.
Here’s a newsflash: There is no perfect time to invest.
There’s only ever RIGHT NOW.
“But…”
Even with the best property deals there are always 100 reasons not to do the deal.
For most people these reasons provide the easy excuses or justifications for a failure to take action.
(Which eventually turns into regret and unproductive self-recrimination about the “road not travelled”.)
Let’s be clear… Investing in anything is NEVER without risk.
Property, as a form of investment, is no different.
Smart investors know that they’ll have to accept a level of risk if they want to outperform and build real wealth.
They’re educated enough to know how to assess the numbers in a deal, how to perform due diligence to identify the risks, and will think of ways to minimise (not eliminate) those risks.
How to keep risk in perspective
Accepting that some risk is unavoidable does not mean ignoring the risks.
Always QUANTIFY your worst case scenario…
What would be the financial impact to you if the deal went wrong?
Could you wear that impact, pick yourself back up, and move on?
Or would the worst case scenario be your undoing?
If the latter, then maybe you shouldn’t do the deal.
But if you could survive the worst case scenario, recover, and move forward again, then the only real question is whether the anticipated return from the deal is conservative, realistic, and sufficient to outweigh the risk of that worst case scenario.
Beating procrastination (with a very large stick!)
When the numbers stack up and the due diligence pans out, our job as sophisticated property investors is to find the one reason to do the deal.
Put aside the paralysing excuses – and take the ACTION necessary to secure the opportunity.
An investor’s worst enemy is PROCRASTINATION. It leads to missed opportunities and to regrets.
And I’m no fan of living with regrets.
Putting it bluntly…
Frankly, your property investing success (or otherwise) begins with a simple choice.
You can choose to stay at home, spending time watching TV, playing on your phone, and living vicariously through others on social media…
…Or you can CHOOSE to take control of your financial destiny.
CHOOSE to get off the couch and TAKE ACTION:
Take action to get your finances in order.
Take action to get educated on the property market.
Take action to learn effective investing strategies.
Take action to get into the market.
Take action to get ahead with your property investing.
Take action to CREATE A BETTER LIFE for yourself and your children.
No excuses!
What will you choose this year?
– Simon Buckingham