Trust your property-buying instincts

Trust your property-buying instincts
Cameron McEvoyDecember 8, 2020

Let's be honest; the outlook for 2012 is probably best described as “turbulent”. Some of the more influential voices in the community (Michael Yardney, Catherine Cashmore, for example) are touting 2013 as the more positive year for investment property.

With 2012 being an arguably tough year ahead, young investors feel the stress of this as much as, or even more than, experienced investors. This is because even at the best of times, new investors face the challenge of discerning mass volumes of data, stats, opinions, and trends, so in more ambiguous times, navigating the brevity of data becomes an even greater challenge. More and more conflicting opinions and even hard data (numbers, statistics, and trends) become harder to understand.

From here, new investors begin to question not only the data, but their own skills in interpreting it. They begins to lose trust in themselves and ask questions like, “What am I getting myself into?” and “Am I just throwing money blindly at something and hoping it works?”. You're not alone in doing this; I too go through these doubts from time to time, all based on the conflicting information I uncover.

One of the best ways to combat a case of analysis paralysis is to invest in your own property sleuth skills. Become like a detective; don't be afraid to follow a hot lead based on instinct, and remember to use all of your instincts and logic to lead to you the answers you seek. This means using logic such as questioning current data/numbers and comparing it to historical data, listening to the opinions of experts and agents, and comparing these with market sentiments observed on trusted media sources such as Property Observer and community blogs. As for instinct – go with your gut feeling. Sometimes a great deal that just doesn't feel right, probably isn't right for you. This does not mean it isn't a great deal – it just isn't the deal that's the right solution for your brief.

It's like anything in life: you need to use logic and instinct to achieve the best results. For example, lately I've been trying to improve travel time on my 15-kilometre journey to work each day, so I can map out a new route that gets me there faster. So the logic-based influences that I deduced were things like; Google Maps (for the shortest distance map), personal experience of the busiest stretches of the journey and the number of traffic lights I encounter on such a journey. Then there are the instinct-influenced factors, such as knowing the likely effect that bad weather has on traffic congestion, plus the day of the week it is (Fridays for example have a different flow to say Tuesdays).

Absolutely do your due diligence on any property decision you set out with,yes, but remember to use both logic and instinct when arriving at decisions, and you'll be making the best and most informed decisions you can. So trust your sleuth skills, listen to others, but invest first and foremost in yourself first, and in property second.

Cameron McEvoy is a property investor and maintains a blog, Property Spectator.

Cameron McEvoy

Cameron McEvoy is a NSW-based property investor and maintains a blog, Property Correspondent.

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