Reasons you won't become wealthy

What are your plans for the future? Do you have something written down or do you simply have a vague idea of what you want to accomplish?

You might have heard the phrase “aim at nothing and you’ll hit it every time”. Well in the case of property investing, this phrase certainly fits.

There are any number of reasons why people don’t get rich, however, the following six are among the most common. Do you recognise any of these traits in yourself?

Reason #1 - Fear
This is a big one, and it can seem insurmountable, but it’s not. Education, both in the traditional, “book” sense, and education delivered through hands-on experience (which is arguably the best teacher) can deliver you from this one... for the most part!

When was the last time fear cheated you out of a great opportunity? Some common fears include:
•    Taking on more debt
•    Failure
•    Success (yes, this is a fear - e.g. will I lose my friends?)
•    Change (stepping outside of your comfort zone)

To succeed as an investor, you need to set your fears aside and rather than look at why you can’t invest in property, think about how your lack of progress is impacting your ability to move forward with your investments. Use your fears as motivation rather than stagnation.

Reason #2 - Waiting until your knowledge is complete
You don’t know what it is that you don’t know! In other words, the more you learn, the more you’ll realise you have more to learn.  

Don’t let a lack of knowledge stop you from investing in property. Of course, you don’t want to go in blind, either, but there comes a point when you’ve studied the market long enough, found the right property to fit your strategy and have the capital to get started.  

Don’t get caught up in the idea that you have to know it all before investing. Trust me, you’ll never know enough!

In short, don’t let your knowledge gaps interfere with moving forward on your wealth creation journey.

Reason #3 - Having no system for investing  
Following a strategy can keep emotional purchases at bay while helping you stay focused on achieving the results you’re after.

For example, if your strategy involves purchasing high growth property, you can automatically disregard every property you come across in your research, which doesn’t fit your criteria.

Reason #4 - Trading time for pay rather than growing a passive income
Passive income is a key way to create wealth. In fact, it can arguably be said that the only way you can expect to become wealthy (aside from winning the lottery or gaining an inheritance) is from acquiring a portfolio that is fuelled by passive income!

Establishing a passive income is efficient. You work very hard for a period of time and then reap the rewards of your hard work over and over again!

Reason #5 - Being impatient
A famous quote attributed to Warren Buffet reads, “Wealth is the transfer of money from the impatient to the patient.”

Property investing requires both persistence and patience.  Investing in real estate is not a “get rich quick” scheme. It takes time for your efforts to show results, so the sooner you get started and the longer you have your resources in the marketplace, the more time your investments have to create wealth.

An unfortunate choice that many fledgling investors make is to look for and ‘find’ the “deal of a lifetime” that will gain them instant wealth - kind of like a real estate version of the lottery.

Any seasoned property investor may recall a time in their career when they imagined such a deal - and they will quickly tell any new property investor to keep their eye on the prize and remember that investing is a long-term affair.

Don’t follow the crowd. Just because you hear of a “hotspot”, or maybe your friends tell you about a great little investment in “x” suburb it doesn’t mean it’s right for you.

Choose your investment property based upon your strategy and based upon what the market is doing - where it’s at in the property cycle.

Reason #6 - Analysis paralysis
It can be fun, studying the markets, looking for the best kind of property for a location, which is forecast to deliver great returns. It’s challenging, and when we’re finally able to secure a property there’s nothing quite like the feeling you get when you become the owner of a good investment opportunity.

A problem can arise if you never actually make good on your plans. If you’ve been looking for a long, long time - finding some great opportunities that promise good returns - but you don’t take the next, logical step to secure it, then you’ll stay right where you are - stuck - always wanting to own an investment property, but lacking the follow-through to do so.

The truth is, a “perfect” time to invest is a misnomer; it doesn’t really exist. Once you’ve done your homework, determined that the property and its location are a winner, then you’ve simply got to take the plunge and buy it if you want to make any progress in your efforts at wealth creation!