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10 Things I’ve Learnt (Part 2)
In this blog post we’re going to continue to think about 10 things which I’ve learnt over the past 20 years of investing for myself. Number two on the list is this: “Most Things That We Worry About Actually Never Happen”.
I say this because I meet so many new investors or “would-be” investors who take very little action especially in the beginning because they worry so much about getting it wrong. They worry about what might happen if things don’t go exactly to plan, and this results in them not taking very much action at all.
In my experience, the reality is that most of the stuff that we worry about doesn’t actually happen at all. In fact, it’s usually the case that if anything is going to happen, it will most likely be something which we haven’t even thought about. It’s the totally unexpected stuff which usual gets us unexpectedly.
Obviously, there are some measures that we can take to guard ourselves – and if there are things that we’re particularly concerned about then we can take steps to make sure that these things don’t happen to us. However, we do have to make sure that these concerns don’t stop us from taking action, because the fail safe and default for some of us is to make sure that nothing happens by not doing anything at all.
When it comes to property, there are some clear risks which we can evaluate even before we start, and of course, we can take some measures to mitigate these risks. Nonetheless, the best thing we can do to make sure that we don’t mess things up completely is to get ourselves educated.
Undertaking thorough due diligence is of course the main step, and possibly following the guidance of a mentor who’s been on the same journey and who has overcome the hurdles and the difficulties that we’re facing is a worthwhile step too.
What is important to realise though, is that there will probably be some stuff that we will worry about that we really shouldn’t – and it’s these worries that are likely to stop us from taking real action.
For example, concerns around the property market crashing at some stage in the future. Whilst it is a legitimate worry, we shouldn’t let this stop us from doing property. We all know that at some point the property market is going to crash, but rather than fret and refrain from taking action, we should instead take steps to lessen the risks in advance.
For example, we could do this by buying for cash flow, buying at a discount and by making sure that our finances are all secure and sound so that we don’t come up against any stumbling blocks from the banks in the future.
What’s more, rather than continue to worry about the market crashing, if we know that it IS going to happen at some point, then we should just accept it – and plan for it.
People often use their unspoken fears as an excuse to stop them from doing anything, and again, those are usually the things which are actually never going to happen anyway. So, we may as well just crack on and get on with it.
What am I saying? Don’t let “worries” stop you from doing anything. In fact, I wouldn’t even worry about the stuff that you’re worried about because it’s not likely to happen. What is going to happen is something you probably haven’t even thought about – and if you haven’t thought about it then you can’t really deal with it until it happens. So, until it does happen, you might as well relax and focus on achieving your goals.
Here’s to successful property investing.
Peter Jones
Peter Jones B.Sc FRICS
Chartered Surveyor, author and property investor
thepropertyteacher.co.uk
By the way, I’ve rewritten and updated my best-selling e-book, The Successful Property Investor’s Strategy Workshop, which is an account of how I put together my multi-property portfolio, starting from scratch and with no money of my own, and how you can do the same. For more details please go to:
thepropertyteacher.co.uk/the-successful-property-investors-strategy-workshop