I see every year as a time for learning and personal development and 2019 will be no different.
That’s one of the best parts of being involved in the property markets.
I’m continually learning from the property markets because they’re so dynamic that you never quite “solve the puzzle” because the puzzle is always getting reshuffled in front of you right when you think you’ve got it solved.
I’m learning from our clients, both the successful ones and the not so successful ones; I’m learning from my professional colleagues and mentors and I’m learning from my own successes and failures.
Having now invested for over 40 years I’d like to share a few of the lesson I’ve learned (often the hard way)…
1. Don’t let emotions drive your investment decisions
Market sentiment is a key driver of property cycles and one of the reasons why our markets overreact, overshooting during booms and getting too depressed during slumps.
Most of us think we’re making rational choices but when it comes to financial matters in reality we’re not.
So an important lesson is to never get too carried away when the market is booming or too disenchanted during property slumps like many are right now.
Letting your emotions drive your investments is a sure-fire way to disaster because we tend to be most optimistic near the peak of the cycle, at a time when we should be the most cautious and we’re the most pessimistic when the media is full of the doom and gloom near the bottom of the cycle, when there is the least downside.
Yet the regular market cycles mean each boom sets us up for the next downturn, just as each downturn paves the way for the next boom.
The lesson is that even as you take advantage of our booming markets, get prepared for the next phase of the property cycle.
2. Take a long-term perspective
In general, the Australian property market is driven by owner occupiers who make up around 70% of all transactions.
However, property booms are driven by investors and their F.O.M.O (Fear Of Missing Out). Similarly, property downturns are intensified by investor fear just like now when many are staying out of the market driven by F.O.B.E. (Fear of Buying Early.)
All this leads to the cyclical nature of property values and even though there are a few years of flat or falling property prices every decade, well located real estate has increased in value on average by around 8 per cent per annum over the long term.
In our capital cities, all market declines are temporary while the long-term increase in property values is permanent.
Imagine if you could buy the house your parents bought at the price they paid thirty or forty years ago; how many properties would you have bought then knowing what they would be worth today?
3. Property investment is a game of finance rather than real estate
This has never been truer than in the last few years as we experienced a credit squeeze with banks restricting finance to property investors as A.P.R.A. tightened credit extension.
Put simply: If you can’t get more finance you can’t buy more properties.
Smart investors understand the importance of having financial buffers in place and use an investment savvy finance broker to help them through the maze of different lenders as well as only holding “investment grade” properties to ensure their borrowing capacity is being optimally utilised.
4. There is not one property market.
While many people generalise about “the” property market there are many submarkets around Australia.
Each state is at a different stage of its property cycle and within each state the markets are segmented by geography, price points and type of property.
For example, the top end of the market will perform differently to the new homebuyers’ market or the investor segment or the median priced established property sector.
This year the Brisbane property market will outperform while both the Sydney and Melbourne property markets will drop a little further before stabilising later in the year.
But in each of these markets various segments will perform better than others.
For example, in Brisbane well located houses will grow in value while apartments will languish due to the oversupply.
In Sydney the more expensive segments of the market will fall more that median priced properties and in Melbourne established villa units with their strong land component and scarcity will grow in value while other segments of the market will fall in value
I believe overall sentiment will remain poor up till the election, but our real estate markets will be underpinned by our strong economy, jobs growth and population growth.
5. Not all properties are “investment grade”
While there are currently around 250,000 properties for sale in Australia, in my mind less than 5% of these are “investment grade.”
Of course, any property can become an investment – just move the owner out, put in a tenant and it’s an investment, but that doesn’t make it an “investment grade property”.
On the other hand, investment grade properties:
- Appeal to a wide range of affluent owner occupiers.
- Have a level of scarcity.
- Are in the right location – one with strong prospects on long term capital growth.
- Have street appeal and offer security.
- Have a high land to asset ratio – this is different to a large amount of land. I’d rather own a sixth of a block of land under my apartment building in a good inner suburb, than a large block of land in regional Australia.
- Have the potential to add value through renovations.
6. Follow a system
Let’s be honest, almost anyone can make money during a property boom because the market covers up most mistakes.
But when the market turned, like at the end of the mining boom, or during the GFC, many investors without a system found themselves in trouble.
And it will be much the same this time round.
Warren Buffet said it succinctly: “You only find out who is swimming naked when the tide goes out.”
In other words, if you aren’t following a system that works in all market conditions you will be caught naked when the market changes.
Strategic investors follow a system to take the emotion out of their decisions and ensure they don’t speculate.
This gives them consistent profits and reduce their risk.
I suggest you make your investing boring, so the rest of your life can be exciting.
7. Get Rich Quick = Get Poor Quick
Real estate is a long-term investment yet some investors chase the “fast money.”
They’re often influenced by the latest get-rich-quick artist with a great story about how you can join them and become stupendously wealthy.
They often pander to the wishes of people who would like to give up their day job to get involved in property full time but, in reality, it takes most people many years to accumulate sufficient assets to do this.
Patience is an investment virtue.
Warren Buffet said it right when he explained that: “Wealth is the transfer on money from the impatient to the patient.”
8. Beware of Doomsayers predictions
Fear is a very powerful emotion that the media uses to grab our attention with messages, particularly from overseas “gurus”, of why property values will plummet.
While some people missed out on the opportunity to develop their financial independence because they listen to these messages, over the 43 years I’ve been investing well located properties have kept doubling in value every 10 years or so making many ordinary Australians property millionaires
9. Treat Property Investment like a Business
The successful investors I know have grown a substantial asset base by treating their investments like a business.
They do this by surrounding themselves with a great team of advisors, getting the right finance, setting up the correct ownership and asset protection structures and knowing how to legally use the taxation system to their advantage.
10. There will always be a reason not to invest
Every year brings its own set of crises and lots of reasons not to invest.
You can go back as far as you like in history and there won’t be a crisis free year.
Sure, some years are worse than others but there is always bad news and much of it is unexpected.
Where investors get into trouble is that rather than focusing on their long term goals, they see these crises as once in a generation events that will alter the course of history, when in reality they are just the normal path of history.
11. You know less than you think you know
There is a nearly insurmountable amount of material to learn about in the fields of property, finance and economics.
The big lesson is that I know so much less than I think I know.
The markets will humble you if you don’t check your ego at the door.
Always continue learning.
12. Don’t mistake money for wealth
I’ve often said that any problem money can solve isn’t really a problem.
While this means money will make your life easier to a certain degree, if you let money own you it will make you miserable.
I became a lot happier about 25 years ago when I realised that money isn’t true wealth. (And I learned it the hard way!)
True wealth is what you are left with when they take all your money and properties away – your health, your family and friends, your knowledge and mindset, your spirituality and your ability to contribute to society.
These are my 12 lessons, please let me know what you learned in the comments below.
And here’s to hoping that we learn a lot together in 2019.
The more I learn, the less I seem to know.
Maybe next year I’ll have 13 things on this list for you.
What are you going to be doing in 2019?
Are you going to take advantage of the property markets in 2019 or are you going to get caught by the many landmines and traps ahead?
If so and you’re looking for independent advice, no one can help you quite like the independent property investment strategists at Metropole.
Remember the multi award winning team of property investment strategists at Metropole have no properties to sell, so their advice is unbiased.
Whether you are a beginner or a seasoned property investor, we would love to help you formulate an investment strategy or do a review of your existing portfolio, and help you take your property investment to the next level.
Please click here to organise a time for a chat. Or call us on 1300 20 30 30.
When you attend our offices you will receive a free copy of one of my books – you can choose which!

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'12 Important Lessons All Property Investors Should Remember in 2019.' have 19 comments
February 8, 2019 Hoping
We started investing in 2011. We have 10 properties. I retired at 60. My husband plans to retire at 60. I am 62. My husband is 48. It is better to be late than never.
February 8, 2019 Hoping
Correction. My husband is 58.
February 8, 2019 Michael Yardney
Thanks that’s a great lesson – it’s never too late
February 7, 2019 David Mattock
Great article but doesn’t the Tax system need fixing?
A friend of mine bought a property in the 1990’s for around $100k. It is now worth over $500k and he has refinanced several times so that his debt on this investment property is over $400k. As a high income earner, this has allowed him to reduce his tax significantly and upgrade his home. I’m sure this is replicated many times around Australia and this should not be allowed to happen. A sensible approach would be to limit the interest deduction allowed to a loan for the purchase price of the investment property. This would involve a relatively minor change to the Taxation Legislation. Property investors would be supported through the first few years of their investment with appropriate Tax breaks but as the property and rent grew in value, they would begin to pay an ever increasing amount of tax. This is a better and fairer solution than eliminating Negative Gearing and abolishing CGT concessions. Speculators and clever accountants have hijacked residential property investment and changed it from a conservative, long term wealth creation tool. Successive Governments have failed to remedy this.
February 7, 2019 Michael Yardney
David – that’s obviously a better option than that suggested by the Labor government
February 7, 2018 Marcua
Hi Michael. My name is Marcus, and I’m from Malaysia. I love the consistency of your content, wisdom and ideas. It inspires me to do further thinking & reflection too. Just wanted you to know that you’ve got a pretty loyal fan from across the ocean 🙂 Cheers.
February 7, 2018 Michael Yardney
Marcus
Thank you so much for that lovely comment – it has really made my day:-)
January 20, 2017 Peter Fritz
Every buddy property investor should print this on A3 and stick it on their fridge and their bathroom mirror. Very few people will follow this advice, which is why there are very few professional (and successful) investors. The foundational blueprint is right here on this page.
January 19, 2017 Matt
Hi Michael,
Watched a lot of your videos, but I think this is one of the best. Very thorough summary of some points that would takes years, or a whole career to learn. Condensed epiphanies. I liked the pace at which you delivered the information also nice and slow. A lot of mind chocolate there thankyou.
January 19, 2017 Michael Yardney
Thanks for the kind words Matt. They really made my day
February 16, 2016 Alex
I’d like to come, Michael, do you plan any events in ACT though?
What is your opinion on effects of negative gearing proposed change?
February 16, 2016 Michael Yardney
Alex
No I have cut back my travelling commitments – I’m not coming to canberra
February 16, 2016 Alex
Thanks Michael for your wisdom and help. I started investing this year while I aplroach my 50s birthday. My concern is that I don’t have too much time to accumulate wealth should I make this decision 10 or 20 years ago. What’s your advise to people like I?
February 16, 2016 Michael Yardney
Alex – you’re right you should have started 20 years ago, but the second best time is today.
You don’t have the luxury of time on your side, so I suggest you get a good mentor and learn from him or her – rather than making the mistakes others make.
This comes at a cost – but it’s an investment in your future – why not check this out: http://michaelyardney.com.au/
January 20, 2017 Jan Berry
I started investing in property in 2003 when I as 54. I am now 67 and have 15 properties and have been retired since 2013 so it took ten years to become financially independent. It’s never too late to start.
January 20, 2017 Michael Yardney
Well done Jan. I hope your words encourage others
January 30, 2016 Caroline
I’ve learned that wealth (the spectrum of) comes from me aligning my focus in life and activities with my values. Doing this involves awareness, choices, discipline and sometimes tough decisions. The benefits far outweigh the challenges.
February 16, 2015 Chris
I spent 530K bought an off plan 2b apartment in Risehill on main road before came cross your blog and book. What should I do now while realizing this is at least an unwise investment? Regards Chris
February 16, 2015 Michael Yardney
Chris
I can’t give you advice over the internet and I don’t know your circumstances.
Sometimes the right thing to do is sell and use your money more effectively. For other investors the right thing to do is wait for the market “to work its magic” and increase the value of your property