How do you choose the right investment property?
After years of investing in real estate and running one of Australia’s largest investment companies, Positive Real Estate’s Sam Saggers condenses years’ worth of learnings into three simple guidelines for aspiring property investors.
1. Stick to the big cities
In order to provide the best services to his clients, Sam made sure to spend time on the ground and see the areas for himself so he could conduct a thorough research on the different growth drivers.
According to the property professional: “That's the exciting part about property— there are so many different cycles and so much to learn. I'm still learning.”
While there are markets within markets across Australia, and every market moves in unique ways, he believes that the safest strategy would be to invest in the big cities like Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, and Brisbane. Big cities often guarantee a stable economy, which is a significant contributor to the growth of investments.
Sam advised budding investors: “Choose a good location because you can never change it. Safeguard your investments by choosing big economies because in a downturn, you know, they're quite stable."
“Not everything always goes up in real estate. Sometimes, things do go down or sideways, so crystallise it that way.
“Make sure you're buying a property which is going to meet the owner-occupier market—make sure it's visually nice, make sure it's got a really good behaviour, and make sure it appeals to the broader market through reflective design logic,” he added.
2. Buy well
Buying properties that stand out is a good strategy to implement, whether you’re investing over a short period or for the long-term.
Sam said: “You can do very, very well from real estate over the short-, medium-, long-term. If you ever have to sell your property … there's usually someone there to buy it off you because you've bought something unique, something interesting—that's probably the best advice I can give people.”
“I think the real estate market today in Australia is very affordable if you actually get out and about and go and see properly,” the property professional explained further.
3. Go and see the property
Avoid finalising a purchase without seeing the property for yourself, no matter how good it is advertised online or through real estate agents. Aside from the property’s backyard and interiors, you also have to take its surroundings into consideration as it may very well affect the performance and growth of your asset.
“There are big differences from one side of the road to another in suburbs. Make sure you pop out there and have a good look at … what you're potentially looking at,” according to Sam.
Tune in to Sam Saggers’ episode on The Smart Property Investment Show to know more about his take on the so-called property crash as well as his advice to investors about the ‘big three’ points he looks for before purchasing a property.