18 habits of successful property investors -Part two

Published: Wednesday, 14 September 2011

10. FIND OPPORTUNITIES WHERE OTHERS SEE PROBLEMS

When confronted with opportunities, the average person will find reasons not to do something, yet successful people look for reasons to take action. Find ways to make the situation work. This is particularly true in property. If you can find a hidden opportunity that others fail to recognise – such as adding value to a tired property or solving a vendor’s problem – you’ll make money.

11. EMBRACE CHANGE

It’s often said ‘the only constant in life is change.’ See change as an opportunity and take advantage of the prospects that change presents. Property markets, interest rates, market sentiment and supply and demand all change, but whenever change occurs it opens up fantastic possibilities. If you’re committed to moving forward, you’ll have to step out of your comfort zone.

12. THEY INVEST AND DON’T SPECULATE

Speculation is based on hope. Investment is based on facts. Speculators look for the next ‘hotspot’ or latest fad and hope things will work out. Successful investors recognise that it’s not very exciting to buy property and wait for it to increase in value, but they don’t look for excitement in their investments. Rather than trying to pick their next hotspot, investors follow strong longstanding trends.

13. BUILD A COMPETENT TEAM

Successful investors surround themselves with people they trust, who know more than they do. They don’t expect to do everything themselves and they aren’t afraid to pay for good advice. It’s often said that if you’re the smartest person in your team, you’re in trouble.

14.  HAVE LEARNED TO USE DEBT WISELY

Successful investors aren’t scared of taking on debt. While beginning investors use finance to buy properties, sophisticated investors understand that once they have a property portfolio they can borrow against it and use finance to fund their lifestyle.

15. BELONG TO A GROUP OF LIKE-MINDED PEOPLE

Successful investors have learned to hang out with ‘winners’ not ‘whingers’.  Find a group of like-minded people and meet with them regularly to help you in your investment endeavours. Learn what makes winners, and copy their habits.

16. ACT WITH INTEGRITY

I’ve seen many people in the investment business who tell you they’ll do something, then create all sorts of excuses why it hasn’t happened. Some of them are acting as honestly as they can. Some of them never had the intention of keeping their commitments. To stand out from the crowd, you must do what you commit to do.

17. SEE THE BIG PICTURE

Successful investors think of the big picture; recognising that the value of their property, if well positioned, will double in value every seven to 10 years. Yet the average investor will worry about fluctuations in interest rates, land tax changes or other minor details; they become paralysed when analysing the situation, failing to act.

18. THINK DIFFERENTLY TO AVERAGE INVESTORS

I once read that if you want to be successful you should look at what everyone else is doing and then do the opposite. It’s much the same with property investment. Most property investors fail, with less than 10 per cent ever owning more than two properties and close to 50 per cent selling their properties within five years. The inconvenient truth is that close to 95 per cent of investors never reach their objective of financial independence. This means to become successful, you must do the opposite of what the vast majority of investors do.

Despite abundant advertisements claiming that property investing is an easy way to wealth, it is in fact a challenging business requiring expertise, planning and focus.

Those who become highly effective in real estate investors all share these 18 essential habits.

Source: API Magazine June 2011 – Michael Yardney