One of the saddest things in property is not when someone buys a deal that turns out to be average.
It’s when someone never buys anything at all.
I’ve known plenty of would-be investors who have spent months, sometimes years, telling themselves they are being careful, when really they are just stuck.
They are waiting for the perfect property, the perfect market, perfect interest rates, the perfect amount of deposit, and of course none of that turns up.
Now, before anyone gets the wrong idea, I am not saying you should rush out and buy any old thing.
That would be stupid.
Property is not a hobby and not risk-free.
Due diligence matters. Running the numbers matters. Knowing your strategy matters.
But there is a world of difference between being cautious and being paralysed.
Often, a reasonable concern about getting it wrong slowly turns into fear, and fear has an irritating habit of dressing itself up as common sense.
So people say things like, “the market’s not right”, or “there aren’t enough decent deals around”, or “I just need to do a bit more research first”.
Sometimes those things are partly true.
But often they are just respectable excuses.
The truth is that there is no such thing as a perfect market.
In a rising market, people worry they are buying at the top.
In a falling market, they worry things have further to fall.
In a flat market, they say there is no point doing anything because nothing is moving.
The same applies to the property itself.
A lot of inexperienced investors imagine that experienced investors are out there finding perfect deals all day long.
They are not.
Perfect deals are rare.
What usually happens is that an experienced investor finds something that is good enough, understands where the risks are, and then improves the deal through negotiation, refurbishment, better management, or simply by buying in the right area at the right sort of price.
In other words, they do not wait for perfection.
They work with reality.
I know someone who waited several years for the perfect property and the perfect market conditions.
If he had just bought a reasonable property when he first started looking, he would probably have had more equity by now, more confidence, more knowledge, and probably a second or third property as well.
Instead, he had a folder full of Rightmove printouts and a polished explanation of why now was not quite the time.
That is not investing.
That is spectating.
Another thing people often miss is that buying a property is not one giant terrifying leap.
You can break it down into stages.
First, you analyse the figures. If they do not stack up, you walk away.
Then you decide your price. If the seller will not come near it, you walk away.
Then the property gets inspected and, if something nasty turns up, you renegotiate or walk away.
Then the solicitor does the legal work and, again, if the deal stops making sense, you can still pull out.
The aim is not to become reckless.
The aim is to become decisive.
Reckless investors ignore risk.
Decisive investors identify the risks, price them in, and move forward anyway if the deal still works.
That is how progress is made in property.
Not by waiting for a mythical perfect deal, but by buying sensible properties, in sensible areas, for sensible prices, with a clear plan and a bit of margin for error.
So yes, do your research.
Know what you are buying.
Understand your market.
Understand your numbers.
But once you have done that, there comes a point where you simply have to act.
Because the perfect deal is rare, but a good deal, bought properly, can still do very nicely.
And that, hopefully for most investors, is more than enough.
Here’s to successful property investing.
Peter
Author, property investor and ex-Chartered Surveyor
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