IP getting close to neutral - or have I misunderstood?

I know you know this DT - I've read enough of your posts ...but I couldn't resist:

Investing = "making money"
"when" is the key. Did you make money 2 minutes after buying a property? 5 minutes? 40 years?
When you bought shares did you make money 1 minute after buying them? Before the IPO? After?
When you started the business to invest in your future was it "profitable" on day 1 just after buying the initial stock? in a year?

Even if you bought property far BMV and, including buying costs, had a reval immediately of more than you paid, I wouldn't say you've "made money" until you have the dollars in your hand (sell or reval AND extract). Even then, the property may go down (Perth anyone? Darwin recently? mining towns?) under your loan in the future and perhaps making an early windfall not "making money" at all.
So really, there's no "making money" until you've 1) got all your costs back, and 2) made sure it's not possible for the investment to cost you more. For property, this is pretty much when you sell (although having a huge buffer is traditionally pretty darned good ). For shares, 1) probably covers it since even if the shares tank you have your money+ back. An advantage for shares no doubt!

 

You make money when you buy. If you pay more than fair market value, you're behind the eightball and waiting for externalities to change to your advantage eg: time (gentrification), legislative (rezoning), luck/timing (market forces/cycle).

@Phase2 - took me a couple of seconds