SHOULD YOU be fixing the interest rate for the term of your investment loan … or simply running with the best variable rate?
Lurking behind that question is another concern: Will interest rates fall any further; and if so, by how much?
SO LET'S GO right back to basics … and just break down a Commercial property investment into its fundamental components.
You see, very few investors seem to spend enough time to fully understand what's involved.
And you may care to explore each of these aspects in a little more detail. [Read more...]
SOME PUNDITS seemed to be genuinely confused, and others even disappointed with?the RBA's decision at its last meeting.
However, those closely studying what's really been happening over the past 6 to 9 months were not surprised in the slightest.
Sure, a weaker Producer Price index (and a benign underlying inflation at 2.3%) certainly gave the RBA plenty of flexibility. [Read more...]
OVER THE PAST several months, I have been recommending you refrain from trying to pick the bottom of the Commercial property market.
And certainly not wait for overwhelming evidence of prices being "on the up".
Anyway, last week you were probably given the best confirmation you needed in an article by Carolyn Cummins (The Age, BusinessDay: 24 Jan 2013).
In the article, she talked about high net-worth investors having now joined institutional investors & sovereign funds, at the top end of the Commercial property market.
Driven by lower interest rates, demand has increased for health-care properties and large-scale shopping centres; plus traditional offices and industrial property. [Read more...]
WITH THE PROPER guidance, Commercial property will prove to be a very rewarding investment — and in different ways.
However, there are several Golden Rules you really should keep in mind. [Read more...]
THROUGHOUT the last half of 2012, you would have seen our articles consistently predicting a turn-around in confidence, early in 2013.
And more particularly, we also explained why there would be a rebound in China's growth — following transition to the new Administration. [Read more...]
THE REST of the world looks upon Australia with envy. And you only need to scan these graphs to understand why.
It all comes down to a feeling of comparative well-being.
Australians have had it so good, for so long … that the current slower pace somehow makes us feel gloomy — because it's simply "not normal".
Meanwhile, most other countries just wish they were in our position. [Read more...]
ONLY RECENTLY, I flagged the emerging opportunity being provided by Industrial property. But I felt it was important for you to understand the underlying reason for that.
In a nutshell, it comes down to our persistently high dollar.
In last weekend's Financial Review (page 24), Joanna Heath posed the following question:
Can you name Australia's second-largest export?
She went on to point out that it's not … coal, gas or wheat. Instead, it is actually Australian Commonwealth Bonds! [Read more...]
I THINK it was management guru, Tom Peters, who came up with probably the best advice on how to overcome procrastination — stemming from the need to have everything perfect BEFORE taking action.
And even though his advice may have originated in the 1980s … it certainly still holds true today, when it comes to Commercial property investors.
Tom Peters' simple strategy was: "Ready … Fire … Aim!" [Read more...]
IN VARIOUS recent articles, I've tried to explain how Australia's underlying fundamentals are actually very solid.
And by most measures, our economy seems to be travelling at close to its full capacity.
However, the contradiction is that Australia's budget should now be running at a substantial surplus. And the reason it's not relates to a number of structural issues. [Read more...]
THE LABOR government is crowing about its latest statistical achievements — low inflation, low unemployment, strong growth and booming investment.
So, why aren't Australians feeling an overwhelming sense of warmth and well-being? Probably, as my earlier articles have explained … it all comes down to an overall lack of confidence.
Most people are still expecting the RBA to further reduce interest rates. However, barring a European meltdown, that would seem to be rather unlikely in the foreseeable future.
You only need to study these graphs to understand the RBA's hesitancy — because clearly, the average measures of inflation currently sit at the bottom of the target band adopted by the Reserve Bank. [Read more...]
"From a very early age ... Chris Lang has always sought to discover what the RULES were for each new challenge — so he could finally master them. And then go on to succeed, at whatever he undertook". More ...
