How to crack the property market as a Defence Force professional

GUEST OBSERVER

The life of Defence Force personnel is volatile to say the least. Serving members can suddenly find themselves sent off to the furthest reaches of the globe with little notice.

Or they can be shifting bases around Australia, New Zealand or the Pacific. Of course, they could also be sent into battle in the depths of a war zone. 

This is why the men and women of our Defence Force are so highly, and deservedly, renumerated - from subsidised costs in housing and education to transport and health. But it’s a little known secret that they’re in the box seat to get terrific benefits from property investment. Like many professionals, Defence Force personnel are time poor and probably don’t even think of themselves as potential investors.

In fact, Defence Force personnel have a head start over most investors due to the housing support and rental subsidy issued to them by Defence Housing. This means that their outgoing expenses are far lower than most Australians. It immediately gives them extra cash that can be used to fund investment. 

There are many good reasons why property investment especially suits members of the Defence Force. Let’s run through a few of them:

Secure with Long Term Growth

Australian property investment is deeply entrenched in the long-term.  For Defence Force members it’s perfect, as it requires very little management once it’s set up. Consider other investment options like shares, which are always going to be volatile. These options require the owner to be constantly agile and flexible and most of all, highly attentive and responsive to the market. Yes, you can have a personal stockbroker managing them for you, but this person will still be contacting you frequently for your sign off. It’s also been clearly demonstrated that property is a far more profitable and safe investment than stocks and shares in the very long term. 

Defence personnel make the perfect investors, yet most are unaware of their own massive potential.

Property is far less responsive and reactive than shares. A financial melt down in the US, for instance, is unlikely to affect the capital growth of a house in Wollongong. The property market in Australia has always been and will continue to offer stability. Australia will always be a desirable place to live and that is a certainty that cannot be said about other kinds of investment markets.

Once the investor has chosen an affordable property in an area of demonstrated capital growth, this means they have very little to stress about. As long as they have a good property manager in place, the property will ideally pay for itself as well as accumulating years of strong capital growth.

This suits the life of a Defence Force member, especially when they are deeply immersed in their work and their busy lifestyle that doesn’t allow them time to focus on investments. If you’re suddenly about to fly into the Middle East the last thing you want to worry about is selling your stock options. Fortunately, well-researched property investment means that you won’t have to. 

SAM KHALIL is founder and director of DPN.