If you invest in residential property, how can you be sure that it\u2019s going to work out for you?<\/strong><\/p>\n The media talks about a property boom or even a bubble, whether the government should abolish negative gearing<\/span>, the RBA\u2019s warning banks to not be too exuberant to lending money and so on.<\/p>\n There\u2019s lots of noise about property that puts doubt in people\u2019s minds. If you are going to borrow money to invest in property (and nearly all investors do), you must get a decent amount of capital growth to offset the cash flow cost of holding the property.<\/p>\n If you cannot be confident of achieving this level of capital growth then my advice would be; invest in something else.<\/strong><\/p>\n So this begs the question: how can you be confident that an investment property will appreciate insufficient value on average over the long term?<\/p>\n The short answer is quality.<\/p>\n The longer answer is contained in this article.<\/strong><\/p>\n The quality of your assets will determine your success<\/p>\n Without a doubt, the quality of your assets will determine 80% of your financial outcomes (i.e. how much money you make).<\/p>\n That is, if you invest in high-quality assets, you should expect high-quality returns. <\/strong><\/p>\n The reverse is also true.<\/p>\n Therefore, to increase the probability of being a successful investor (or put differently, reduce the risk of being unsuccessful), you need to focus your energy on only investing in quality assets.<\/p>\n A quality property is often referred to as \u201cinvestment-grade\u201d property.<\/p>\n Investment-grade properties should double in value every 7 to 10 years on a perpetual basis (which equates to a 7% to 10% per annum compounding growth rate).<\/p>\n There are a two important points to make about this definition:\u00a0<\/p>\n <\/strong><\/p>\n It is true that mathematically, property can\u2019t double in value forever as eventually, no one will be able to afford it.<\/p>\n However, there are plenty of investment-grade properties that will double in value every 7 to 10 years over the next say 30 years \u2013 and probably even longer.<\/p>\n The discussion about property eventually levelling out is a valid one but not relevant to this article.<\/p>\n There are thousands of examples of individual properties that I can point to that have appreciated in value at average rates of 7% to 12% p.a. (compounding) over the past 30 years.<\/p>\n Many two-bedroom, single-fronted houses in Prahran, South Yarra and Hawthorn in Victoria (for example) sold in the early to mid-1980 for $75k to $80k.<\/p>\n The same properties would be worth over $900k today \u2013 that\u2019s close to 8.5% p.a.<\/p>\n THEY DO EXIST.<\/strong><\/p>\n Scarcity essentially means that demand will always be greater than supply (as the supply of scarce properties is typically fixed or in decline).\u00a0 Compare two examples: firstly an apartment in a block of 200 versus a Victorian-style, single-fronted, two-bedroom cottage.<\/p>\n There\u2019s very little scarcity with the apartment because there are literally hundreds and thousands just like it.<\/p>\n There is scarcity with the Victorian cottage because no one is building period-style cottages anymore and many are typically located on very (scarce) valuable land.<\/p>\n Arguably, the supply of these types of assets is in decline whilst at the same time, there is increasing demand.<\/p>\n Conversely, investing in a brand new house in a new residential estate doesn\u2019t make a good investment because land supply isn\u2019t scarce \u2013 it\u2019s often abundant.<\/p>\n Just like with diamonds, scarcity pushes prices up.<\/p>\n Every established property\u2019s value is made up of two components; land value and building value.<\/p>\n It is commonly understood that buildings depreciate over time and land appreciates. Tenants will typically be attracted to properties with more building value (accommodation) whereas investors should be attracted to properties with more land value.<\/p>\n That\u2019s why newer properties tend to achieve a higher amount of rental income and lower capital growth.<\/strong><\/p>\n Consider the example of a new apartment worth $550k that is located in a high-rise building.<\/p>\n In this situation, it would not be uncommon for the building value to be $500k and the attributable land value to be $50k.<\/p>\n For this property to double in value over the next 10 years (value of $1.1m), what needs to happen?<\/strong><\/p>\n Well, the building component will depreciate to say $400k at the very least (probably lower).<\/p>\n Therefore, the land value needs to be $700k (being $1.1m less $400k) \u2013 so it needs to increase from $50k today to $700k in 10 years or 30% p.a. compounding over 10 years.<\/p>\n Alternatively, consider a 2-bedroom 1930\u2019s apartment that is worth say $600k.<\/p>\n In this situation, the land value is likely to be $450k and the building value is, therefore, $150k.<\/p>\n In the next 10 years, the building won\u2019t depreciate that much \u2013 maybe another $30k.<\/p>\n\n Therefore, for the total property\u2019s value to double, the land needs to increase from $450k to $1.08m or 9% p.a. compounding.<\/strong><\/p>\n Of the above two examples above, which one do you think has the most chance of happening?<\/p>\n That is why land value is very important and one of the reasons buying property off-the-plan<\/a> doesn\u2019t work.<\/p>\n It is important to check the past sales history of potential investment property to assess their past performance (NB: we can provide you with this historic sales data at no cost \u2013 just contact us).<\/p>\n The reason for this is that the fundamentals that drive property values tend to be objective (not subjective) and static \u2013 or if they do change they take many decades to change.<\/p>\n Things like proximity to shopping strips, hospitals, the CBD, arterial roads, architectural style, land size, and so forth rarely change.<\/p>\n Therefore, if these characteristics have been responsible for driving the value of a property up over the past 30 years, then it\u2019s likely that the same growth rate will occur for the next 30 years (assuming these fundamental factors don\u2019t change).<\/p>\n It\u2019s about investing in a sure thing because you do not need to take the risk of investing in a property that hasn\u2019t proven it can deliver investment-grade returns.<\/p>\n There are a number of fundamental characteristics that drive a property\u2019s value, including: \u2022 Scarcity and land value component, as discussed above<\/p>\n \u2022 Proximity to amenities such as shopping, medical services, parks, schools, public transport, arterial roads, and so forth<\/p>\n \u2022 The quality of the dwelling: good natural light especially in living rooms, privacy (visual and noise), security, logical floor plan, attractive architectural style (inside and out), car park on title if it\u2019s an apartment, structurally sound building and so forth.<\/p>\n Therefore, before you invest, make sure that the property has demonstrated strong performance in the past.<\/p>\n As I said above, the quality of your investments will determine how successful\/wealthy you will be.<\/p>\n Therefore, if nothing else, your attention should be laser-focused on investing in only the highest quality assets you can find.<\/p>\n To find these assets you should get some advice \u2013 or at the very minimum a second opinion.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t do my own dentistry \u2013 I go to my dentist.<\/p>\n I didn\u2019t write my will \u2013 my estate lawyer did that.<\/p>\n And I don\u2019t select the properties I invest in (even despite my personal knowledge and experience) \u2013 my trusted buyers\u2019 agents do that for me.<\/p>\n Knowledge comes from training, reading books, education, and so on. Experience comes only with time.<\/p>\n One is not a substitute for the other.<\/p>\n When you seek professional advice you are benefiting from these two components but arguably, the most valuable is experience.<\/p>\n They say that most people learn from their own experiences, smart people learn from other people\u2019s experiences and dumb people never learn!<\/p>\n When I meet with a new client I have an opportunity to share my experiences.<\/strong><\/p>\n The fact that I have been advising investors for many years means I have seen a lot of it before.<\/p>\n I probably haven\u2019t seen it all but there are very few scenarios or situations that I haven\u2019t come across.<\/p>\n I have the benefit of hindsight too because I have witnessed the outcomes of both good and poor decisions clients have made.<\/p>\n They can share their experience with you.<\/p>\n Research shows that there are two common traits of extremely successful and experienced investors.<\/p>\n Firstly, they are absolutely fanatical about risk, asking themselves; \u201cwhat can go wrong?\u201d and \u201ccan I lose any money doing this?\u201d Once they are satisfied that the risk of losing money is remote to almost impossible (they never want to lose money), only then do they turn their attention to the potential upside being, return.<\/p>\n Secondly, these investors only invest if they can exploit the risk-return equation.<\/strong><\/p>\n That is, they are looking to achieve very healthy returns for comparatively very little risk \u2013 they don\u2019t accept that you need to accept the higher risk if you want higher returns.<\/p>\n The only way you can take this approach when it comes to property investment is if you pay for professional advice and not try and do it all yourself.<\/p>\n In summary, you must ensure that all your attention is focused on only ever investing in quality assets.<\/p>\n All you need to do to become financially free is invest in quality assets as often as your circumstances allow it.<\/p>\n It really is that simple.<\/p>\n Editor’s Note: This article was written by Stuart Wemyss a number of years ago and has been re-published for the benefit of our many new readers as the content is just as relevant today as it was when it was first published.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n ALSO READ: 11 rules for successful property investing<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n![\"property](\"https:\/\/cdn.propertyupdate.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/52041438_l-300x257.jpg\")
<\/p>\nWhat is investment grade?<\/span><\/h2>\n
\n
Focus 1: scarcity<\/span><\/h2>\n
![\"property](\"https:\/\/cdn.propertyupdate.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/40242504_l-300x220.jpg\")
<\/p>\nFocus 2: land value<\/span><\/h2>\n
![\"property](\"https:\/\/cdn.propertyupdate.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/14733834_l-300x225.jpg\")
<\/p>\nI\u2019m sure you agree that this almost certainly won\u2019t happen.<\/span><\/h2>\n
Focus 3: Proven Performance<\/span><\/h2>\n
![\"property\"](\"https:\/\/cdn.propertyupdate.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/17574567_l-300x176.jpg\")
<\/strong><\/p>\nLearn from other people’s mistakes<\/span><\/h2>\n
Professional advice has two ingredients; knowledge and experience.<\/span><\/h2>\n
![\"meeting\"](\"https:\/\/cdn.propertyupdate.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/10718072_l-300x200.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"buyer](\"https:\/\/cdn.propertyupdate.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/15404997_l4-300x225.jpg\")
<\/strong><\/p>\nPlease, please focus on quality<\/span><\/h2>\n