I joined this forum seven years ago.
Nearly seven weeks after my seventeenth birthday, roughly seven weeks before graduating year twelve. I found this place through the old Freestylers forum, now (sadly) gone. Perspective; there are now 10,427 members on Somersoft; I'm #188.
A few months ago, it occurred to me that if I timed it well, I could end up with 1,000 posts on the same day that I would mark being a member of this forum for exactly seven years. That day, is today. Unfortunately, I've been a little busy and this is only about post 902. Doesn't mean a lot but the idea appealed to me at the time.
Seven years ago, September 2002, the world was a very different place. For me; then, a high school student between part-time jobs, and the only cares that I had in the world were whether I could beat my own time around the 10km course that I used to run, and whether I had the balls to ask the next girl out.
I remember looking at units after school, to avoid studying; I was always looking at property, even then. You could buy in suburban Melbourne for $100k. The GFC wasn't even a consideration. No-doc loans were available in abundance. I'm sure you can all remember the story, as well.
This forum, in many ways, has also changed significantly. Personnel aside, the tone and nature of information shared has changed, as well.
Yet, the interesting thing for me, is that whilst so many things have changed over time; the basic investment strategy underlying most conversations here, has not. Buy quality negatively-geared property when you can, hold it until the value and rent goes up and use the equity to refinance, buy again, and keep holding until retirement.
I'd like to ask, particularly of those who subscribe fervently to that theory, 'why'...?
Without hearing the old, property has always gone up and always will; what's that saying; past performance does not guarantee future results?
I ask why, because that's what I always do. Every day, challenging my own assumptions (and often, mischievously, those of others) rather than accepting what is, or what was, or what should be.
Property, I believe, is still an excellent vehicle with which to build wealth. Generally speaking, I consider myself (slightly) more of a bull than a bear. So please, don't get me wrong. I'm not suggesting that the widely-held view here is invalid, per se. I'm not even looking for an answer to my question, above. I certainly don't pretend to know everything, but I do know the buy-and-hold theory as well as most. But, rather than recycling and regurgitating the traditional views, do many people here seriously question the reasoning behind the path that they are walking down?
Such rigorous analysis may show that the theory is still sound, for you.
Or, perhaps, it may not.
Personally, I have found that by constantly challenging my own theories in this way, I can evolve - or confirm - my strategies to suit the changing circumstances at hand. It's worked well for me, and I wanted to share this line of thinking, in case it might be helpful for someone else here. Hopefully, I have not rambled on too much in the process.
It's such a powerful question, 'why?'. Do you ask yourself, often?
Nearly seven weeks after my seventeenth birthday, roughly seven weeks before graduating year twelve. I found this place through the old Freestylers forum, now (sadly) gone. Perspective; there are now 10,427 members on Somersoft; I'm #188.
A few months ago, it occurred to me that if I timed it well, I could end up with 1,000 posts on the same day that I would mark being a member of this forum for exactly seven years. That day, is today. Unfortunately, I've been a little busy and this is only about post 902. Doesn't mean a lot but the idea appealed to me at the time.
Seven years ago, September 2002, the world was a very different place. For me; then, a high school student between part-time jobs, and the only cares that I had in the world were whether I could beat my own time around the 10km course that I used to run, and whether I had the balls to ask the next girl out.
I remember looking at units after school, to avoid studying; I was always looking at property, even then. You could buy in suburban Melbourne for $100k. The GFC wasn't even a consideration. No-doc loans were available in abundance. I'm sure you can all remember the story, as well.
This forum, in many ways, has also changed significantly. Personnel aside, the tone and nature of information shared has changed, as well.
Yet, the interesting thing for me, is that whilst so many things have changed over time; the basic investment strategy underlying most conversations here, has not. Buy quality negatively-geared property when you can, hold it until the value and rent goes up and use the equity to refinance, buy again, and keep holding until retirement.
I'd like to ask, particularly of those who subscribe fervently to that theory, 'why'...?
Without hearing the old, property has always gone up and always will; what's that saying; past performance does not guarantee future results?
I ask why, because that's what I always do. Every day, challenging my own assumptions (and often, mischievously, those of others) rather than accepting what is, or what was, or what should be.
Property, I believe, is still an excellent vehicle with which to build wealth. Generally speaking, I consider myself (slightly) more of a bull than a bear. So please, don't get me wrong. I'm not suggesting that the widely-held view here is invalid, per se. I'm not even looking for an answer to my question, above. I certainly don't pretend to know everything, but I do know the buy-and-hold theory as well as most. But, rather than recycling and regurgitating the traditional views, do many people here seriously question the reasoning behind the path that they are walking down?
Such rigorous analysis may show that the theory is still sound, for you.
Or, perhaps, it may not.
Personally, I have found that by constantly challenging my own theories in this way, I can evolve - or confirm - my strategies to suit the changing circumstances at hand. It's worked well for me, and I wanted to share this line of thinking, in case it might be helpful for someone else here. Hopefully, I have not rambled on too much in the process.
It's such a powerful question, 'why?'. Do you ask yourself, often?