"Wish I have bought that when I was younger"

It's Friday, and looking back our lives before the weekend.
Looking at the market: Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and all the other cities.
Some complained that the price is so high, we cant afford it.
Politicians keep playing the Housing Affordability card.....

Have you ever regret you didnt buy "that" property five,ten,fifteen years ago? Didnt buy that piece of land 10km from the city which now sits many new expensive houses?
How many boats have you missed?

The young(er) people I talk to these days tell me they want to wait: wait for better market, wait til they have husband/wife/kids/holiday.... What do you think?

 

Thats assuming the next 20-30 years will deliver the same results as the last 20 or so years.
The interest rates at almost zero , there not much left to stimulate our economy in the future, only airy fairy stuff that most have realized doesn't work.
.

 

Pre most recent Melb and Syd booms ppl were saying to wait.

The waiting never ends for many.

 

it can be a very loooooooooooooong wait, nothing could be achieved at the end of it.

 

As my mentor JR said:
"I find it fascinating that most people plan their vacations with better care than they plan their lives. Perhaps that is because escape is easier than change."
So yes many will not know better, will complain and wait and think something out there will change or they wills win, unknowing to them, it is really UP TO THEM.
As JR said, you cannot change the circumstance but you can change yourself! You cannot change the storm while sailing or the weather but you can change the set of sails, your skills, etc...
'Humans have the remarkable ability to get exactly what they must have. But there is a difference between a “must” and a “want.”'
I suppose it means:
It isn’t what the decision of talking action will cost. It’s what it will cost you if you don’t take action instead.

 

Early days... at several times used to agonize over a choice between buying one of two properties.. should have bought both!

Can't live in regret though... and can't complain because we took action.

If you take no action, you'll never be in danger. But you'll never give yourself a chance of success either.

 

As always its in retrospect, I bought my first place at 18 (11yrs ago) small town NZ. Knew nothing. it literally did nothing for 9yrs. Not even 5% over that period.

I sold it yr9 at the worst possible time.... its literally doubled in 2 years. Shoulda bought 10

Whilst it was a terrible decision to sell, it taught me more than anything else, think long term, don't sell early unless funds are better served and just keep on accumulating as you can afford too. Despite what the media tells you.

 

What town was that ?
Wellington was very much like that ...dead for 9 years then the properties doubled in 2 years
Rents went up 50pc in 2 years
Interest fell by a quarter
Income tax doubled

 

A place a little south of Queenstown. I’ve just looked it’s done another 23% in last 12 months.

“Goes & Gets gun”

 

Did you invest the money in something else that zoomed away ?

 

Nope. Brisbane. Hardly zooming. Just a mistake really and a lesson learned.

 

Lesson learnt : never sell !

 

Correct. Wellington, Gisborn & a couple down south sat still for a long time, and then went crazy. A lot of the $$ flowing from Auckland.

My next pick is Chch, the earthquakes really screwed that place for a decade. But like everything ppl have a short memory, the median is low relative to everywhere else, yet with all the new construction, it’s quickly becoming a new city and very much like Melbourne. Of course chances are an earthquake will hit again at some point

 

The Wellington market was dead for so long and rose so fast that valuers and people were caught off guard.
Many properties brought 2012 to 2015 seemed like they had overpaid as historic sales data did not support current prices.
(All my purchases (29) in these years were well above registered valuations or second tender bids)

 

Plenty, but when I think about the ones I was realistically able to buy there was only really one to two. The ones where I regret most of all and possibly if I had it today, would it into my long term financial goals/plans was one in Ashburton and Glen Waverley Victoria in 2007.

But as people above me have stated, it's always easier on 20/20 hindsight. I had purchased an old commission house in Chadstone back in 2004 for $287K - I was 23 years old at the time and on 35K a year in a graduate position. Granted I did have a somewhat big savings back then - about $45K from working odd jobs part time before uni and then part time in uni. By 2007, I was on 60K a year and there were two opportunities in Ashburton and GW (near Syndal) asking for $520K - the Ashburton one sold circa $570K. Both rectangle blocks in small streets around about the 650m2 mark with BV 3 bedders. I was able to afford deposit with the savinbgs I had between 2004 and 2007 and banks allowed me to borrow up to 500K - my folks were happy to loan me the difference.

I made an offer for the GW one but was iffy and doubt how I could pay it off so I put in a clause subject to pest inspections. The owner wanted a quick sale and I even met her in person via an agent inspection. She naturally sold it off to the other offer which was 5k less than mine as she wanted a quick sale and wanted to move on. The land itself it worth $1.5 million today (similar house sold recently), possibly during its peak around the 1.6-1.7mil mark.

The Ashburton one was actually on the market about 4 months later, having lived in Chadstone and seen moderate increases already within 3 years, I was confident Ashburton was about to skyrocket too (back then still had the stigma of drugs and filled with commission housing). The position was superb - about 12kms from the CBD and surrounded by wealthy suburbs it was literally a diamond in the rough...and I could actually see the gentrification happening. The block was up for sale asking $550K but I baulked again....