The world is constantly on the move and new trends come and go – in the Australian property market especially. This can overwhelm, and even frighten, investors.
How do you control this fear and keep on investing?
First of all, you need to come to terms with the fact that the only way to move forward is to adapt. Next, start following the new disruptive trends. These trends are going to change the property market and they will continue to do so.
Once you start evolving with the market, you’ll be well on your way to success.
Humans are biologically programmed to be constantly on the alert for any possible negativity in our surroundings. This is why we always pay attention to the scaremongering rumours and stories that follow disastrous events. After all, this trait has allowed the human race to survive to this day. Subconsciously, we’ll always jump to the worst-case scenario. The human brain dictates that it’s always better to be safe than sorry.
So, what does this have to do with Australian real estate? You’ll find out in a bit…
Take a look at the news and you won’t see a lot of good going on in the world. It’s death, disease, war, and poverty everywhere you look. But is the world such a gloomy place?
No one’s saying that it’s all sunshine and rainbows. But things are usually better than they’re portrayed in the news. Put on the news and you might hear about how global poverty is getting worse by the day. However, poverty actually peaked in the 1970s and has been on a downward trend ever since.
So, it is only natural that you’ll hear negative stuff about the property market in Australia. After years of strong growth, prices went down in 2018 and most of 2019. The fear of this trend could deter you from entering the property market and creating a stable passive income that may even replace your day job.
One thing is certain. You won’t achieve your dreams if you keep focusing on the bad news about the property market. Doing that will just fill your mind with negativity. Your brain might even overwrite the story about a successful mother of three who managed to replace her day job with passive income from property investing. You might remember a story about how property prices are in decline, instead.
For some reason – probably that tendency to focus on negativity – people always doubt progress. When it comes to technological advancements, most of us don’t see the potential until it has become a huge trend.
And it’s even worse if you have a personal stake in the matter. For instance, back in 1876, Western Union, then the world’s largest telegraphic services company, distributed an internal memo denouncing the telephone as an unrealistic advancement. They pointed to the telephone’s “many shortcomings” and refused to consider it a threat to Western Union’s business model. They went on to say that the telephone, as an innovation, had no value to them.
In a similar vein, Ken Olson, the founder of Digital Equipment Corporation, a dominant player in enterprise computer systems at the time, claimed that there was no reason for anyone to want a computer at home. When the iPhone was first released, respected journalists had a lot of negative things to say about it, including how it would never become mainstream.
The point here is that to be sceptical is to be human. People don’t believe that a new technology is going to change the world – until it does. That’s when they call it a disruptive technology.
The same goes for property-related disruptive trends. The thing that seems too far-fetched to become mainstream may end up proving you wrong.
This doesn’t mean that you should adjust your future plans for every trend that makes a noise. It does mean, though, that you should always keep an open mind.
Listening to what the experts have to say is seldom a bad idea. People who have knowledge and expertise in a particular matter tend to know what they’re talking about.
But they can also be wrong.
Here’s an example. Back in 1929, a professor at Yale’s Department of Economics claimed that stocks had reached a “permanently high plateau.” Now, this was almost a century ago. Do you think he was right?
And here’s something that you probably hear often: “Property prices are at a peak.” More often than not, though, the experts turn out to be wrong. Even when they’re right, property prices move in cycles and the overall trend in Australia has been upward since the 1950s.
If everyone believed that property investment was a bubble, no one would be making money in properties. Now, we all know that this simply isn’t true. Lots of people have gotten rich through property investment. Many people are still able to live off the passive income from their property investing.
So, pay attention to what the experts have to say, but don’t trust them blindly.
Even when people notice a trend, many are still reluctant to adapt to it. This is only natural. The older we get, the more difficult it is for us to adapt. This doesn’t have to do with declining brain capacity. It’s because we want to think that we’re always right.
Embracing change, however, is crucial to progress. One good example in real estate is Airbnb. Many property investors chose to disregard this new techy trend of short-term home rentals and lived to regret it. Either that, or they ended up embracing it late in the trend, when they could have profited earlier.
Pay attention to the changes that won’t cost you a lot, and figure out if you can profit from them. Don’t be afraid to give them a whirl. As a rule of thumb, the early adopters always do better than the Johnny-come-latelies.
If you allow fear to prevent you from getting into real estate, or from moving forward, you’re making a huge mistake. You need to embrace tech advancements and be aware of the changing trends. Listen to what the experts have to say, but you may want to do your own confirmation.
