Regretting buying property?!

Thanks everyone for your kind words!i guess it is natural to feel some remorse as it is the biggest financial decision I have ever made.i just keep worrying that the property may not go up in value over the long term and then it's all for nothing!seems like such a big risk.
I don't think I really knew what I was getting myself into until now...

 

Yep just starting to see this.part of me now feels really tied down and restricted,like if I wanted to just get up and travel or something I couldn't do it.kind of like being tied down when u have kids (which is why I decided a long time ago not to have any!)

 

I have insurance with Terry sheer (just landlord) and what seems to be a good property manager although I havnt known them that long yet.they are pretty responsive to my emails and seem onto getting things done so far

 

Where is what?

 

But only if your property goes up enough in value!

 

I have a lot of cash in savings to cover any expenses.mypriperty manager cam recommended but I have no experience to know if they got me a good tents by,although these tenants have rented with the estate agent for the last 18 months and have apparently been very good

 

@sash and @Bargain Hunter are highly sucessful investors, excellent people to learn from, they definately walk the walk.

 

@Amber83 It all comes back to your reasons for investing. If you're investing and hoping that;

1. your property is guaranteed to grow in value
2. it will be minimal stress
3. you wont have maintenance bills
4. You wont have to make sacrifices along the way
5. It will always be a clear path
6. There is little to no risk

Well I can tell you now, that's never gonna happen. You need to seriously take some time to ask yourself

1. What are my actual reasons for wanting to invest in real estate?
2. How important are these reasons?
3. If I don't invest, am I happy to accept the financial provisions that the government has for my retirement and will it be enough to give me a decent standard of living?

Only thing I will add is that risks can be managed, tenants can be dealt with in a professional way, debt can be kept under control, stress can be put into perspective and fear while normal, can be faced and triumphed. It will just take a little more time, effort and knowledge though, imo.

But its all doable.

But you have to actually learn how to tackle those things. Otherwise, many people experience, like you are now, overwhelming feelings of stress, risk and fear and then allow that to completely halt their investment journey.

But you can change all that.

Good luck.

 

In low socio economic area, so that explains it - Rutherford and Logan central.

PM are on it, court tomorrow and Monday

 

The risk to investing in properties is not bad tenants and property managers, the risk is exposure to too much debt and the financial inability to hold onto property in market downturns.

Cashflow from rent is not always enough, if you have a larger property portfolio sometimes you need other sources. You can't rely on market factors to save you.
Keep your J.o.b and get another one too.

 

The property

 

Your property managers have dealt with theses tenants prior so you should be fine.

Your biggest concern I see is, the value of your investment not going up in value which makes you worried. And this happens, and can happen regardless of spruikers telling you that housing always goes up. It doesn't.

So to keep things really simple, make sure your return on the funds you invested, give you a better return than a savings account. (3.5%) You can do this through rents, and capital growth over the years if you sell, but if growth doesn't occur, then make sure your rents give you a good return to cover everything and return a profit.
This may mean, pay down borrowed debts if you borrowed. This will improve your return.
Do not borrow more money if you borrowed, until you understand your investment.

Get a team of awesomeness around you. An Accountant that can speak basic English and break down the returns for you. Property manager that has time for you and looks after your investment. Insurance you have terry scheer for landlord, I'm assuming it's a unit/apartment? If not get building insurance immediately. Get the best interest rate with an offset account. Continue to ask questions on this site, there are some wise accountants, lenders and investors on here that will help you.

 

You mean tribunal but yes they are lower socio but it could just be bad luck have had this across 3 places before just push through

 

Tribunal/ court.. similar (but my PMs call it court)

Thank you @sash trying to push through

 

Thanks!i have Terry sheer for landlord insurance and building with aami.im getting a 5.4% return on the property from rent

 

Part of investing is not just reaping the rewards but also dealing with challenges. I have had allot of issues come up with my investment properties so the only think I worry about is fixing it.

I always advise my clients that if they can't handle stress then they should not invest for that reason.

 

Well, the good news here is that one of the reasons I am back with property instead of regular business is that I can have a regular job and be able to go away and use my spare time improving our position, where with business you really are stuck to many of them and cannot do a thing & many businesses, if small, is hard to get staff who can do the work properly or be trusted where money is involved if you do want or need a short break.

So there, anxiety number one can be pushed aside

 

I have multiple investment properties and sometimes I wish I never bought them. When everything is going right: the properties are increasing in value, there are tenants who pay their rent on time and are looking after the houses etc, it's a dream and I am glad I bought them. When the values are going down, the properties are empty, or tenants are behind on their rent, or complaining all the time, or lots of things, sometimes I regret buying them. Ups and downs. Overall though, it has been worth it.

Well, for me, it's been good most of the time, so it's fine.

 

Mindset..

 

Allow at least 6 months after settlement for the property to "settle" down. When we bought our first property, repairs and requests felt like they kept coming in, but it was really just the first few months. But it's just the nature of the business.

Have insurance, have buffer in place, and know your "sleep at night" factor.