Rapid Fire Series: Top 5 Property Investment Blunders - Money and Investing with Andrew Baxter

For property buyers, buying off the plan can be a major mistake. You are effectively committing to buying a property that is yet to exist, putting a deposit down prior to construction starting. These are typically in highrise apartments or other apartment developments. Host Andrew Baxter explains that you are locking in a buy price down the line without any certainty of what it will be worth. If the value of the property increases from when you buy it, developers can often wriggle out of the contracts and look to sell them for more, slighting you out of a good deal. If the opposite happens however, and the value of the property decreases you will be stuck paying the initially agreed upon price and straight away have an asset worth less than what you paid for it. The added costs associated with the agency selling the properties then has to be added to the cost and by that point it is very difficult to really be getting value on the property for yourself when things do go well.   Because property is such a hefty transaction, property investments are generally the biggest investment decisions people will make. When it comes to investment properties in particular, the choice should really be focused on how much money you can make. Host Andrew Baxter explains when it comes to buying investment properties, there are a few factors to look at to determine if it is a good investment. Things that give a property inherent value like location are greatly important as this can have a huge effect on rent.Overall, investment properties are not places you are looking to live in, but are designed to make you money. That’s why it can sometimes make sense to buy in places where you wouldn’t necessarily want to live.