Empower Blog Asset Selection

When is the RIGHT Time to buy your First Home?

In the November issue of Money Magazine I contributed to an article written by Maria Bekiaris on the 10 Home Buyer Traps, which was all about the pitfalls waiting for home buyers to avoid costly mistakes. (It’s a great article by Maria, so get the November issue of Money). The article got me thinking about the first homer buyers and how I ofte...

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Why Most Investors FAIL to build a Multi-Million Dollar Property Portfolio

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The Impact of Time

In a previous article, we began discussing the “inputs” that will be required for an Investment Strategy by talking about the role of money. Another key factor in any investment will be time, and time influences the outcome of an investment strategy in a number of different ways. The Investor's Time The first aspect of time that we need to c...

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Recognising an ‘Investment Grade’ Property

We are often asked by people "What are the good suburbs to buy in?"  If we could pick a better question to ask a Buyers Agent though, we would ask them "What makes a property an investment grade property?"  The answer is not all that detailed, however SO many people get it wrong.  Like one of team member says, "it's simple but it's not easy!" T...

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Growing Your Property Portfolio, Five in Five

Five properties in five years. It has a real nice ring to it, but most experts would agree that it makes a better headline than property investment strategy. They will tell you it’s dangerous to target a number, and that you shouldn’t stockpile properties just for the sake of adding to your property portfolio. But that headline certainly sells ...

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The Block Post-mortem

I wonder if the same rating success would come from a TV program built on shares as what comes from the success of a show built around renovating a property.  Short answer is no – Why?  Well in very simple terms, people can relate to it because property is a part of their lives, it’s where we grow up, where we have some of our most fond memor...

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How Does a Property Investor Ensure that they Buy Well?

Every aspiring property investor is gripped with fear about the impact of their selection when I first meet with them. Their questions range from "where should I buy?" to "what do you think of off-the-plan apartments?" The answer is simple - there are MANY factors that you need to take into consideration to ensure that you buy well; it's not JUST a...

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Predictability in an Unpredictable Time

How does that saying go…"Change is the only certainty in our world”.  It’s true, all things change, some quicker than others, but over time change is inevitable. When you put your investor’s hat on the same thing rings true. Markets are constantly changing.  Investments that were nice earners over the past few years might now be stagna...

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Scarcity Value – Not Just in the Land

Statistical evidence shows us that when it comes to property  the land portion is the portion that historically appreciates in value.  This is a result of the scarcity of the land combined with the demand for that land, as once a lot of land is allocated and built on , the amount of available land decreases and the lot of land can’t be re-used ...

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Property Selection Myth

Location, Location, Location was and still is the catch cry from most Real Estate agents when it comes to which properties outperform and which properties don’t. When a property investor is looking to make a property selection for investment, maybe we should adopt this principal but with a little more creative license.   Location One: Id...

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‘Time is Profit’

Last month I wrote about how timing of a purchase was not so critical if you have a long term view of your investment property and you bought in a sound location, such as a major city like Melbourne close the major employment centre. This month I am focusing on the message that time is profit when it comes to the capital growth measure for property...

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