Financial Freedom
1. Will investing in property make me financially independent ?
The basic principles of property investment are working today.
Residential property is a good investment because there is an increasing pool of tenants who need to rent houses, which creates a reliable source of income to an investor. Over the long term the value of a property should rise because land is limited to any given area. In urban areas where the population is rising homebuyers and investors will compete for these limited properties which pushes-up the value of the properties.

This is the basic theory for property investment. In its purest form property investment is simple and reliable,that is why so many people are attracted to it. This is unlike most other credible investments like the stock market, which is heavily influenced by general economic events and requires specialist knowledge or a degree of trust, in corporate executives, advisers and fund managers.

Although property investment is relatively simple, it requires a common sense approach in order to succeed. For instance an investment property should be attractive to tenants and it should be located in an area where there is a history of growth in property values. The property should be realistically priced at the time of purchase and it should not be expensive to maintain.

The cyclical pattern of the property market also attracts unbalanced comments because it is easier to focus on a boom or a slump rather than considering the more important long-term trends.

The property market has been in a boom but there are huge variations in different areas. These variations will determine the immediate future of individual markets.

2. How quick will I become financially independent?
It is official, if you want to be rich, really rich, then property investment is the way to do it. At least that is the experience for most of the wealthiest persons.

Many of the wealthiest people made their money from property dealing. But it is significant that these people have long-term confidence in property investment.
Property as an investment has had a very good run over the last three years. It has been long growth cycle and despite several mini peaks, the property market continues to record strong growth in property values in most sectors. A reliable indicator of the immediate outlook for the property sector is the availability of properties for sale.

Inevitably the property cycle will turn and there will be a slowing in the market. If you study property cycles closely you would know that the property cycle could be anticipated with confidence. But there is something different about the current market and it is usually the factor that triggers the turning points in the cycle, interest rates.

A long-term property investor would take a strategic position on interest rates. Low interest rates provide the opportunity to build up equity, maybe take some gains and look to new property investments while values continue to rise. The long-term investor would also look to be in a position to ride out any future increases in borrowing costs.
But the very strong signals from the money markets, economic commentators and other economies similar to ours is that interest rates are likely to stay low for a much longer period than we had expected.

This has two implications for the property sector. Stable interest rates means less volatility in property sales. And the absence of sharp movements in interest rates means that other longer-term factors are more likely to be the trigger points for changes in the property cycle.

Stable market conditions and more natural outcomes in the property market are good outcomes for property investors. Stable finance costs means an investor can plan ahead with more confidence. Meanwhile the rich continue to get richer with property.


When Should I Buy an Investment Property?
The most common questions we are asked is "When is the right time to buy an investment property". We understand how difficult it can be to make sense of conflicting industry experts saying the market is at a low point or overheated.

The most important thing to understand about property investment, much like share investing, is that "it is not about timing the market, but time in the market". Another way of saying this is, if you could, would you buy your parent's home now at the same price they paid for it many years ago?

What we see all the time are people trying to time the best moment to enter the property market, and the vast majority of the time they are left behind wishing they had bought when prices were comparatively low.

Furthermore, It is never the wrong time to buy a property. However that statement comes with a caveat that it is only true provided you pay the right price for a property. The right price is the real market price.

You must see a detailed, full independent valuation before any decisions are made - clearly stating what similar properties in the same location have sold for recently.

Probably the most important thing to bear in mind when deciding to buy a property is whether or not you are ready, both financially and in terms of your financial understanding of the process.

10 TIPS For First Time Investors
Property investment is not difficult. The key to success is having a plan and getting as much market information as possible in order to make objective decisions. Here are ten handy tips for first time investors.