Dealing with change

by Dean Horo on Aug 01, 2021
Article appears under: About Property Investment, Investment Strategy

For almost 20 years prior to becoming a buyer’s agent I had the privilege of working in various roles in the sports industry, helping pre-elite and elite athletes prepare for their pinnacle events.

It wasn’t until recently that it struck me how similar the present investment property and elite sporting environments are.

Never, well not in my property investment lifetime, has there been such a time of change and uncertainty in property investing, mainly but not solely due to the recent Government policies.

I can compare this scenario in our investor world with the uncertainty Olympic athletes, their coaches, and support teams must be feeling right now as they prepare for the Tokyo Olympic Games. The games are a year late, and will be delivered in the midst of a pandemic with many challenges and differences to what would be considered a “normal” competition environment.

While it may seem a bit rich to compare the two, the feeling of not knowing what the future holds or that the rules may get changed on you with no warning is real. For the athlete this may impact their confidence and/or decision making, and in the end their performance after years of preparation and sacrifice. For investors, what decisions we make now in these changing times may impact on the retirement we hoped or had planned to have, which is the reason the majority of investors entered the property game.

So, what does this mean? What can we learn from those athletes and their coaches to help us navigate these changing times?

Remember, athletes don’t just give up if things aren’t going their way or because their “eco-system” changes. They reflect, seek feedback from experts, make changes where required, refocus and adapt to their new norm.

Here are four lessons you can take from high-performance sport and apply to your investing.

1. Control the controllables. This is sporting performance 101. Athletes and their coaches focus their learning and training for performance on every facet of their sport based on “best practice” and on what they can control (of course they also prepare as best they can for the “what-if” situations).
   This is the secret to success in this market. We have control of many aspects of our portfolios, so instead of getting bogged down with negative thoughts and conversations regarding Healthy Homes regs, lack of tax deductibility, your LVR position, media and social media negativity or upcoming interest rates rises “reflect, seek feedback from experts, make changes where required, refocus and adapt to your new norm”.
   
   
2. Success is a marathon and not a sprint. The changes may slow your current strategy down but you will get there, perhaps just as quickly if you can adapt.
   
   
3. Focus on the fundamentals. I have observed athletes and coaches building to an event, where they focus on the one-percenters and lose sight of the importance of an athlete’s real strengths and true competitive advantage. I recently went back through the free iFindProperty investment course and the prompts to reconsider some of the fundamentals to successful investment were “gold”.
   
   
4. Effective support teams. Like the team around an athlete and coach eg: trainers, physios, etc, your team of advisers are more critical than ever to help you navigate change. Please invest in the best advice. Just smile and pay the bill. You are not only paying for these expert’s time, it’s their experience and knowledge that are critical.

We have noticed a spike in interest and demand for our buyer's agency service from new and experienced investors, requesting support to not just purchase an investment property, but to build a team and then a portfolio through this time that fits their long-term goals.

The purpose of this article was not to see how many metaphors I can squeeze in, but to remind ourselves that change is a part of our lives. So, go forth and reflect, seek feedback from experts, make changes where required, refocus and adapt to the new norm.

This article was published in the July 2021 issue of the New Zealand Property Investor Magazine and is shared here with permission from the magazine. 

The magazine is an excellent resource with digital and print options. We highly recommend it.