You’ve heard of the old man with a beard sitting in a corner waiting for the best time to buy property as he waits for the market to bottom out. I wonder what evidence people who do this use and why they think the grass is always greener. Miriam Sandkuhler has a view and she shares it with us.
Listen to the interview now:
Transcript:
Kevin: Quite often, I talk to people who want to get into the property market, and they tell me that they’re waiting for the market to drop or slow down. And when you ask them why, they really can’t tell you.
I’ve often wondered about whether or not we can talk about the best time to buy a property. That’s the question I’m going to pose of Miriam Sandkuhler. Miriam is the CEO and buyer’s agent from Property Mavens.
G’day, Miriam.
Miriam: Hi, Kevin. How are you?
Kevin: Good. Do you cop that question as well?
Miriam: Absolutely. In fact, interestingly enough, people use it sometimes as a way of making a commitment to actually get into the market and a way of procrastinating.
Kevin: What amazes me sometimes is how many times they will actually look for reasons not to buy a property when they tell you that they want to buy one. That’s a classic.
Miriam: It absolutely is, and that could be based on fear, that could be based on being ill-informed, that could be based on just a habit of procrastinating. So, there are often different reasons why people will use that as an excuse to not take action, but ultimately, in doing that, that’s a potential for it to cost them a lot of money.
Kevin: I did say in the opening there that you asked them why they’re waiting and they can’t tell you, because there really is no evidence in some case that the market is going to slow. Sometimes it’s just anecdotal, or it could even be their parents – growing up from your parents saying, “Be careful. Don’t do this, don’t do that.” You become too weary.
Miriam: Yes, and particularly culturally, depending on what cultural influences you have in your family. I know there are certain cultures who won’t buy property unless they pay cash, but the reality is that the market is escalating faster than people can save. Yes, there is a lot of programming in terms of upbringing that can affect people’s thinking as well.
Kevin: How do you overcome that kind of procrastination, Miriam, when you come up against it? What do you say? What do you do?
Miriam: I try and have a conversation with clients around it and I highlight and ask them to consider the possibility that is this what you’re doing? Is it an emotional consideration? Is it a form of procrastination? In reality, what is the genuine reason why you can’t buy straight away?
And then they start thinking about it, and a lot of people come to the conclusion that there’s actually really no reason. It might be that they need more information or they may need help or they’re concerned about where to buy and what to buy, and they just want that extra added support.
Kevin: The grass always looks greener, too, doesn’t it? Quite often, not just on property but in life. I was only talking to my wife today about some very wealthy people who can afford to give money away to people who need it. We came to the realization that while that may sound great, it comes with a whole heap of other problems that we probably can’t even imagine right now. So, the grass is not always greener.
Miriam: Absolutely. Again, the grass is greener is an excuse to not take action now. And when we spoke before about waiting for the market to drop, my recommendation is always when the bank will give you the money and when you find the right property, that’s the time to buy, because everything else is a punch or a gamble.
It’s a bit of a trading mentality of “Let’s wait for the bottom of the market.” But if you can’t pick it, you’ll never know when to buy, and if you assume the grass is always greener, then you’ll never make a decision to buy the perfect property in front of you because you will assume that there’s a better one coming along.
Kevin: I think you always have to look at property as a long-term investment. I don’t think anyone can ever pick the bottom of the market – and there is no one market anyway, Miriam.
Miriam: That’s exactly right. And again, most people don’t understand that. They buy into the myth of all property doubles every seven years, all property is a good investment, wait until the bottom of the market. There are so many myths in the marketplace that it does cause a lot of confusion for buyers.
Kevin: And therein lies another problem, too. This is where a lot of people come unstuck. They think that everything is the same, all property is the same, all property is going to go up. It’s one of those myths. So, therefore, if I buy a property, I’m going to become wealthy. And boy, isn’t that a big mistake?
Miriam: That is one of the biggest myths out there, and I’m going to be cheeky here and say that it’s been perpetuated by a lot of property spruikers and developers and selling agents who, quite frankly, want to sell the stock that they’ve got to sell you whether it’s right for you or not.
Kevin: I’m helping a young couple at present who are in the media, and I was horrified to hear that they had purchased some short-stay accommodation in central New South Wales. These are quite intelligent people and they admitted that they were sucked in. They were hit by a spruiker and it sounded so good.
Miriam: And it is. It’s a bit sale spiel, and there’s a whole lot of psychology and emotional language behind these selling presentations. I also call it edutainment. “Let’s educate you about property investment, but we’ll entertain you at the same time and we’ll do lots of smoke and mirrors and bamboozle you, and you’ll be a fool if you don’t come and buy one of these from us because, hey, it’s too good an opportunity to miss out on.”
And that’s the stuff that I’ve written about in my book Property Prosperity, to help people beware of the tricks and traps that brokers and developers throw into the marketplace to encourage unwitting people to buy poor-performing property.
Kevin: That book, what’s it called again?
Miriam: Property Prosperity: 7 Steps to Investing Like an Expert.
Kevin: Where do we get that?
Miriam: You can download it off Amazon, Kindle as well, Amazon.com.au. It’s only $3.99 on Kindle. You can buy it from my website, PropertyMavens.com.au, and I can autograph that for you or you can buy a hard copy through Amazon as well.
Kevin: Wow, that’s fantastic. I’ll grab one of those. I haven’t read it, Miriam.
Miriam: Aw, Kevin, how could you not have read it? I’m sure I sent you one.
Kevin: Yes. Well, that would be fantastic. Thank you. Will you autograph it for me?
Miriam: Absolutely.
Kevin: Good on you, Miriam. Miriam Sandkuhler has been my guest. Miriam is the CEO and buyer’s agent from Property Mavens and a gifted author, I might add. We’ll review that in one of the future shows. Good on you, Miriam.
Miriam: Thanks, Kevin.
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Kevin Tuner worked in radio as General Manager of various east coast radio stations. He started in real estate in 1988 and was ranked in the Top 10 Salespeople in the state until he was appointed as State CEO 1992.
He operated a number of real estate offices as business owner and was General Manager of several real estate offices in Christchurch.
He now hosts a real estate show on Radio 4BC and a weekly podcast at www.realestatetalk.com.au. He is the host of a daily 7 to 10 minute podcast show for real estate professionals at www.reuncut.com.au.
To hear more podcasts by Kevin Turner, click here
Disclaimer: while due care is taken, the viewpoints expressed by interviewees and/or contributors do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Your Investment Property.
