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Everybody knows that the property market can be difficult to predict. Not everybody knows that good property investing is all about good quality information. The fact is that property investment is really a business operation. Like a business, how and where you source your information is the key to success.  In the property market the difference between good information and bad information is a major quality control for your investments.

The Value of Information When Investing in Property

If there was ever a case of information being literally the heart and soul of an industry, that industry is the property market.

This is why good information is so important: Read the rest of this entry »

Whether you’re already in the Property Investment game or looking to be, there’s a dozen things that could go wrong or right on your path to success. Whether you’re buying your first unit or considering purchasing an industrial warehouse or some Inverell accommodation, follow these tips to help you launch a successful property strategy.

• Start Small

As with all properties, unless you’re ultra-experienced or have lots of cash to play with, there’s no point in taking a big risk that you can’t afford. Many of us think that the better the risk involved, the better return on investment. Mostly, this is true, but if you also can’t afford to cover yourself if the investment falls through, you could be in for a lot more strife than you planned. The key when first starting out is to start small. Even if you can afford something bigger and better, find something that’s low risk and that’s almost guaranteed to give you a successful first foot forward.

•  Study the Success Stories

There are plenty of success stories out there when it comes to property investment and you should conduct some research into how these happened. What did these investors do differently? Did they buy at the right time? How did they structure their investment? All of these things will help you and give you ideas about how–and how NOT– to go about your investment.  You can also research failure stories to see what others did wrong and avoid the same mistakes.

• Take Risks

Of course, all property investment is a risk and you’re never going to get anywhere if you don’t take some risks. Low risk is great to start out, but as you start becoming more experienced or perhaps are looking at buying your second property, you can start to look at something that’s has a higher risk factor. And if you’ve got some useful property valuation software in your hands, the numbers will show you that higher risk means a better turn,  especially if you’re using your first property as collateral. While you should be wary of risk, you also shouldn’t be afraid of it. Taking risk is good, but always make sure it won’t leave you broke.

• Keep an Eye on What’s Hot (and What’s Not) 

No investment will be a success if you just kick back and don’t bother getting involved. So if you’re looking at investing long term, keep an eye on where potential property hotspots are cropping up. You can investigate this on a national level or a state one or just in your own city. But whatever you do, you need to know which areas are likely to boom in future and which ones are not and why. There’s no point in investing somewhere if they’re planning to build an airport next to you in ten years’ time. On the other hand, if you can see a new shopping centre is being developed in a particular suburb, you might want to get in now and reap the benefits later.

• Keep Trying

One of the biggest keys to becoming a successful property investor is to keep trying. Investment is a long term game and successful investors rarely ever just give up. There will be mistakes along the way and you can always learn from these, whether it’s investing too much or too little or simply buying at the wrong time. Once you’ve got one property, getting the next one is much easier, so whatever you do, don’t throw in the towel. Keep plowing forward and you’ll find that down the track, your success will start shining through.

The Australian property market can be a lot tougher than the starry-eyed version pushed in the industry papers. It can be risky, and if you’re working on margins, it can be brutal, particularly now, when it’s treading water and prices are looking iffy. The fact is that recitals of market values moving up or down a few percentage points doesn’t mean anything, relative to debt. Professional property investment advice isn’t a luxury in this market, it’s a necessity.

The tough side of the Australian property market

Whether you’re investing in residential or commercial property, the Australian property market has a lot of potential minefields:

Commercial properties: The market is based on very high rental rate values. Commercial rentals are big cashflow exercises. They’re also a very negative element in a highly sensitive market. Some commercial properties are absolute bombs, quite useless for retail purposes. There are dead commercial spots all over Sydney suburbs. These aren’t good deals, they’re good ways of losing money in large amounts.

Wholesale commercial properties and industrial: Arguably better, but still not exactly a sure bet, the wholesale and commercial properties are also highly dependent on individual circumstances. Some properties are definitely hot, others are undeniably not.

Residential properties: The residential properties are highly charged. Market values are reactive, and it’s a stop/start market. This is a very high volume capital market, and it’s fair to say that while it does produce excellent returns during its seasons, it’s really not a “gimme” market at the moment. Upmarket properties can sit on the market for ages.

Rental properties: The rental market is hyperactive, and it can get messy. There’s a shortage of rental properties in the cities, high rents and also a lot of resistance created by high rents. The mainstream rental property market is best in the mid range rentals and less impressive at the lower and upper ends. This is an often litigious and sometimes nasty market, and losses are not unknown.

Getting the advice you need

When you bear in mind you can be sinking a lot of money into these often messy markets, it’s a good idea to get your facts straight. You need reliable professional investment property advice, not purely because it’s industry best practice, but because it’s a highly mobile, erratic market, and current property-specific information is critical. Market research and property research are basic requirements in any form of major investment.

The basic requirements for investment in a touchy market are checking facts. This type of investment can be risky, and it means a major capital commitment in any event. Professional advice and guidance includes technical assistance with acquisitions and managing sales.

The fact is that not all property investors become millionaires. Property investment is a real business, and failure isn’t unknown. Successful investors in the Australian property market are themselves expert professionals. Talented as they are, they learned from experts. Professional advice is the real difference between success and failure in this market.