A common property investing rule of thumb is that you should “buy property and never sell”. That’s because prices always trend higher over time which means you benefit from compounding capital growth. Of course, the rule-of-thumb should be adjusted to include “buy quality property and never sell” to ensure you maximise investment returns. But the reality is, that…
A property’s value is typically divided into two components: the land value and the value of any improvements, such as the dwelling. Conventionally, land tends to appreciate over time, while buildings depreciate as they get older and suffer more wear and tear. However, the rise in construction costs poses an interesting question: what impact do…
One of the most interesting things I do is meet many investors every week (i.e., prospective clients). It is something that I have been doing regularly for almost 20 years, so I’ve literally spoken to thousands of investors. It is interesting because it provides me with the opportunity to reflect on people’s past investment decisions…
Many people can be very focused on repaying their home loan in full before they begin investing. They are so averse to debt that they cannot envisage doing anything else until their home loan is gone. However, often this isn’t the best approach to take. At some point, investing is more important than debt reduction….
Have you ever had a strong opinion (belief) about investment markets that was subsequently proven to be incorrect? A recent example was when many people predicted borrowers would be forced to sell their properties due to the Covid lockdowns and the market would crash. This outcome now seems unlikely. It is my view that a…
If you invest in residential property, how can you be sure that it’s going to work out for you? The media talks about a property boom or even a bubble, whether the government should abolish negative gearing, the RBA’s warning banks to not be too exuberant to lending money and so on. There’s lots of…
Now that home loan interest rates have risen by 4% this cycle, is it still worth investing your surplus cash flow, or should all cash flow go towards repaying your home loan? Many of my clients invest some surplus cash flow in the share market each month. This has been very easy to do over…
As a completely independent advisor, I have no vested interest in how my clients invest. Whether they invest in property, shares, or any other asset class makes no difference to my life. Of course, I want them to invest in assets that are most appropriate for them and assets that provide the highest returns without…
It is often suggested that it’s a lot more difficult for people to buy their first property compared to many decades ago. It is true that property is a lot more expensive. However, I would like to suggest that in many respects, buying a property today is easier than it was many decades ago. I…
Borrowing capacity has reduced by around 30% over the past year due to the impact of higher interest rates and the increased 3% interest rate buffer that banks must use to calculate your borrowing capacity. This was eloquently depicted in this chart by CBA in February 2023. I wanted to explore the common strategies that people can use to…
