Four years of ‘analysis paralysis’: How this property investor finally started taking action

“I was a master of property but didn't take the jump [because] the old emotional factors got in the way for me,” the property investor said.

Grant ended up spending around $100,000 on his education in order to master the aspects of property investment that he wants to dip his toes in—a feat that even the most seasoned investors would deem nearly impossible.

Upon feeling overwhelmed by all the information he has gathered over the years, he decided to go out there and find his first investment property. However, it became a little too hard because what he wanted was the “perfect property”.

In the end, Grant ended up spending two years driving around Newcastle, only to realise that he’s suffering from the all-too-familiar “analysis paralysis”.

He shared: “[I was] looking … literally every weekend … [The] fundamentals were right but [I] just went back home and [said], ‘This wasn't right. This wasn't right.’ ”

“I was obsessed with getting the right property [but] I just couldn't find [it].

“I spent so long in Newcastle [that] when I rang … my buyer's agent and said … ‘I've been up in Newcastle for two years,’ he said,

‘Sorry mate. You've missed it … You should have been buying two years ago,’ ” Grant added.

Lightbulb moment

For a long time, Grant believed he has all the boxes ticked—his education was good, his financial status was good, and he even got the full support of his partner. It was a puzzle to him why property investment was not working out until he saw how his and his partner’s Naturopath business was doing well through the help of advisors, experts, and professionals from different fields.

He explained: “We've got 10 staff now and … five practitioners … I thought, ‘It wouldn't be right for me to be a Naturopath and then do the accounts and then do this and that,’ so we put on professional practitioners.”

“Then, I put on someone in reception who was great at the accounts. All of a sudden, our [business] started to flourish. I thought, ‘This is working—how do I apply that to my property development?’

“I thought … ‘If I can get myself a good buyer's agent, get myself a good broker, get myself a good accountant, and we could all kind of have a strategy, then maybe I could transition that learning from business into the personal side of things,’ ” Grant shared further.

Once he put this plan into action, Grant saw the “one of the biggest turning points” of his property investment journey. He started finding the property professionals who are willing to collaborate with one another in order to help him achieve his financial goals based on their understanding of his capabilities and limitations as an investor.

The property investor said: "We sat down and the accountant said, ‘Look, you're going to need a one-page plan. Let's just simplify this.’ ”

“The mortgage broker needed to talk to the buyer's agent. The buyer's agent needed to talk to the accountant. Once we got that right, the ducks just lined up,” he added.

‘Find the barrier that is blocking you’

While education is indeed one of the most important parts of property investment, Grant wished he had also spent more time finding the right property professionals and building his financial team early on in his journey. According to him, with a dependable team, he would have saved the time he spent driving around Newcastle and nitpicking every single investment property that he comes across with.

“That's what I think I was missing—I was being out there and I was going through the motions and physically present, but really not getting any value out of that time,” he said.

Taking action meant finding the reason why he wasn’t making progress in the first place. His advice to budding property investors: When it seems like things aren’t working out in your favor, identify the barrier that’s blocking your path towards success. Is it a lack of confidence? A lack of a financial team? A lack of knowledge?

“[Whatever it is], you need to find that out first,” Grant said.

The property investor explained further: “Find that block. If you're not buying a property in this kind of market and you're property ready … there's something not right—I don't think it should take two years for someone to realise that.”

“If you're not … moving your portfolio forward, particularly now with low-interest rates … you need to start … [thinking], ‘What am I doing wrong? What's within me that's holding me back?’ [because] there are other people out there doing it and doing it really well,” he added.

Once you have identified your barrier, seek out ways to overcome it, whether through self-education, mentorship, or other strategies.

For Grant, the simple solution to his problem was putting together a team of experts and professionals who will help him navigate his way through the unpredictable and ever-changing property investment landscape.

According to him: “We've all got an ego and it's nice to say … ‘I'm out there and I'm looking at all these properties,’ but fundamentally, if you do not have any value in that, you're just wasting your time.”

Smart Property Investment’s Phil Tarrant, an avid investor himself, agrees that one has to be critical of himself in order to become a successful property investor.

After all, no one can learn everything about anything—especially in property investment where markets are constantly moving, regulations are often changing, and no two journeys are ever the same.

Tune into Grant Iverson’s episode on The Smart Property Investment Show to know more about the challenges he faced throughout his property investment journey, including facing banks and his 12-month unemployment period, and how he and his partner overcame these obstacles.