Do you regret not buying THAT property when you were younger?

Hindsight is a wonderful thing but how many of us regret not buying “that property” when it was available many years ago? It is all good and well looking back and wishing we had acquired that property which seemed too good to be true but the fact is we should be looking forwards not backwards. So, is there a good time to buy property?

Long-term strategy

There are some property investors who are able to make short-term profits on asset trading but very often this will mean taking risks which many of us would like to avoid. If you look at real estate investment as a long-term strategy, with the option of bagging a profit in the short term if the price moves, this is probably the best way to think about property assets.

If you pick a popular market, with good prospects and a strong local economy then all things being equal there is no reason why it you should not make a decent return in the longer term. The problem many people have is that they look to the short-term which is highly volatile and potentially very risky.

Look forwards not backwards

We will all have seen properties in years gone by which we now wish we had acquired at a “rock bottom” price. The key to being successful is to take emotion out of your investment decisions because if you are constantly chasing that “property you missed” then this may well impact on your thinking. Forget what has happened in the past, learn from your experiences, and look forward to the worldwide real estate markets which is getting more and more popular.

Looking back at property assets that you missed is pretty much the same as looking back at shares which you wish you had bought at a cheaper price. Something stopped you buying that asset in the past, whether it was instinct or you were not able to support it financially, but time very often masks the situation at that moment.

Is property investment simply facts and figures?

If you’re looking longer-term then you basically need to weigh up the cost of the property, the potential rental yield and how you are able to finance it. Then you look at the prospects for the region, the wider market and the worldwide market and if you look at these in the cold light of day the figures should really speak for themselves. That is not to say that experience does not bring its own rewards but if you strip out the emotion of acquiring any asset, especially property, this will give you a good foundation for the future.

Conclusion

We will all have seen assets in the past we wish we had acquired at the time – very often because they have risen significantly in price since then. These may be property assets, shares or some other form of investment but there is no mileage in living in the past. We all need to learn from our experiences, good and bad, and put them to good use– you can’t change the past but you can change the future!