Property Investment Strategy
Investors often ask why I consider having a property investment strategy to be so important. My response is always the same –
“What’s yours?”
Successful investors, whether in property, stockmarkets, commodities, have a strategy. My definition of “successful” is someone who invests full time and lives off the fruits of their endeavours. They are the owners of their own time and have complete control over the use of that time. They are “free” to come and go as they please. Some would call this “financial freedom” and although the term is too American for me, it does encapsulate the notion that you are not beholden to an employer.
Strategy = Success
A strategy is big hand, big picture, lacks detail deliberately, and focuses on the end state:
“I want to earn sufficient profits from property investing in order to retire in 5 years time”
Just look though at how the next statement implies a different approach to investing, as the time frames differ;
“I want to earn sufficient profits from property investing in order to retire in 15 years time”
The key word to define here is “sufficient”, but I think the statements illustrate the point.
Your strategy determines why and how you invest in property. It is the fundamental determinant of your approach, the amount of risk you are willing to shoulder and the types of investments you should be making.
On our fundamentals course we spend some time during the pre-course work and during the day itself formulating a strategy geared towards your investor profile, not mine. One of the issues I have with a “one size fits all” solution to property investing i.e. “this is the way to do it” is that it doesn’t take into account age, financial circumstances, family, time, motivation, tolerance to risk etc.
Investor profiling helps us form a strategy which we feel comfortable with, fits with our long term goals, and doesn’t keep us awake at night.
We will look at Investor profiling in future additions of this newsletter.
Property Investor Show, London
23-25 September 2005 – Property Investor Show, Excel, London
For free tickets to the UK’s premier property industry event, e-mail info@bewarethesharks.com with your name and address
Dominic Farrell has been invited to speak on “How to spot a hotspot” on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
"The UK property market has stagnated and declined since the summer of 2004. Many potential investors and first time buyers are sitting on the sidelines and wondering what to do next. However, at the same time other investors are making substantial returns?
Some property hotspots have risen strongly in 2004 and 2005 and will continue to do so as more buyers are attracted as the “story” unfolds
In this seminar, Dominic Farrell will show how to spot the “story” in advance and be ahead of the crowd and make strong profits in all market conditions. Using simple to apply economic tests, a potential hotspot can be spotted well in advance giving the astute investor a high competitive advantage."
He is also a panellist on a live question time debate, “Emerging markets - where and how to make profits”
"Property investors have increasingly been looking overseas in recent years. Established markets like Spain, France and Florida have been popular for years as holiday home destinations. It didn’t take long for investors to realise serious profits could be made investing in these countries. More recently the talk, and profits, have been made by those looking at Eastern European countries, Dubai and South East Asian countries like Dubai and Thailand.
In this debate our expert panel considers the pros and cons of investing in these very different markets. Some of the questions that shall be answered include:
Where has the real money been made in the last few years?
Is it sustainable to stick with these countries or should investors start looking elsewhere?
Where are the next boom countries going to be?
At what stage should investors get involved? Is it too late once property companies start marketing “investment opportunities” in the UK?
What are the pitfalls of foreign property ownership?
How can investor’s best prepare themselves in deciding where to put their money?