When cruisin’ down the Champs Elysees in Paris, Rodeo Drive in Hollywood, or Chapel Street in Melbourne, you would cop some pretty ‘dodgy’ looks if you were styled in yesterday’s fashion. If you want to walk the ‘Champs Elysees of property investing’, it would therefore be beneficial to leave your tracksuit in the wardrobe.
Since we don’t ‘wear’ our property investment strategies like our clothing, they are out of plain sight and therefore less prone to scrutiny. The scrutineers in this case would be twofold: people that also wear a poorly styled investment strategy tracksuit, and those that pride themselves on being seated at the front row of the catwalk wearing a trendy Blue Wealth polo.
Disappointingly, the Blue Wealth catwalk isn’t as pretty and vibrant as the catwalks of Milan and Vienna. Those in the front seat consist of skinny analysts with dark-framed glasses, mumbling in unnaturally deep baritones. The principle, however, remains quite similar, as we observe those in the proverbial tracksuits parading past.
The ‘style’ of property investing, like many things, is now changing so rapidly that it demands consistent full-time analysis, pioneering, innovation and consolidation. The ‘old school’ is no longer feasible, and those that aren’t open to change will be left behind.
What this means is that holding a preconceived idea about a property type, geographic location or market indicator will lead to failure. All property investment strategies will have their merits and shortfalls, but these must be considered on an individual basis before reaching a definitive conclusion. When I started here at Blue Wealth, the boss told me to leave any preconceived ideas at the door. We pride ourselves on an open-minded and objective property investment strategy.
Whether you’ve been told to only invest in house and land or apartments, hold a principal and interest or low-doc loan, invest locally or internationally, hold short or long term, consider why somebody told you this and whether they devote forty man hours per day toward maintaining a market-leading strategy. Keep an open and consultative mind, trust the experts, and above all else remember: you don’t know you’re wearing a tracksuit until you visit the catwalk.
