Ubiquitous technology means that news travel fast and bad news even faster. Human nature forces us to focus on the property market doom and gloom and forget that real life goes on. Well I say no more!

Life is busy and seems to be getting busier by the day. And even when it is meant to not be, those amazing but dreaded devices in our pockets, will make sure to fill the gap. Technology is everywhere, meaning that in this virtual world we now all find ourselves in, concepts like time, personal space, and geographies are no longer relevant and news travel fast and far! And bad news, travels even faster and has people even more worried! Out of sight, out of mind is no longer possible!

Enter real estate – everyone’s favourite topic of conversation! Commentators, industry experts, media, investors, property managers, bankers, brokers, and politicians are constantly glued to every result, opinion, and graph published. Who can blame them? The way things are portrayed, one would think that the world as we know it, is ending. Our jobs and livelihood are on the line, catastrophe is looming, and the value of our beloved homes and investments, will reduce by 10%, 20%, or even 40%! We heard it all and I suspect, there is plenty more to come!

We live in a world where no one really knows what will happen, and yet everyone is agonising about what may or may not be. At the same time, not much is changing in our day to day lives!

We agonise about what may or may not be, when in reality not much is changing in everyday life!

Here is the thing…. Whilst we all spend our lives communicating and interacting constantly on the “cloud”, the reality is that the world – real life that is – still goes on… In fact “it is going on” right now as I am writing this blog!

What is “real life” you may ask? Real life is….

• A middle aged single lady I spoke to this week, who is looking to move apartments,
• A couple whose rented home is getting sold and have 6 weeks to find something else,
• Two friends who decided to move in together are are looking to rent,
• A recent immigrant couple with a baby, living with the brother of the husband, now looking for their own place,
• An 18 year old doing her HSC exams, whose dad is telling her to get a summer job and save for a deposit to buy her first property (that’s me by the way),
• Someone who sold their Sydney home and bought in Newcastle – moving there in 2 weeks,
• Someone in Melbourne who proudly told me that him and his wife have 10 properties and are currently planning their exit strategy,
• A colleague who hates their job and is looking to move,
• A 26 year old who left their well paid job and is following their dream of starting a business,
• A couple who had a baby and is looking to upgrade, and
• A friend who hopes to buy a property at auction this weekend.

These are real life examples of real people I met and heard of this week, for which, one way or another, housing is at the heart of everything they do. The point is… we get caught up on the hype of the media and social media and forget that real life still goes on! A life that goes through cycles – just as the property markets do – where NOTHING much changes every day but moves on and evolves. It is a life that cannot be stopped by the markets, the politicians, the banks OR ANY OTHER FORCE ON THIS GOOD EARTH!

We get caught up on the doom and gloom and hype of media and social media and forget that real life still goes on! A real life that does not care about what is reported!

I am not saying that things will not be tough. What I am saying is that just because banks may have tightened up lending, politicians look to fiddle with negative gearing (which btw I doubt they will, given the current state of the market), and the Banking Royal Commission may bring in more controls, people still need to live and work somewhere. They will still buy their first home because they are settling down with someone, and some will look to rent somewhere because that’s what they chose to do. Others will decide to upgrade because they have children coming and others downgrade because their children have moved out! And in the middle of all that, our population will continue to grow and more housing will be needed.

People still buy, rent and move every day, and will continue to do so.

We live in a country where the fundamentals are right. We are blessed to be here and we wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. If we have our good health, we should be grateful as not everyone is so fortunate! The rest is just a big song and dance that all of us, at this point in time, happen to be in. A dance that will continue for the rest of our lives and for ever after.

Final thoughts

Property cycles come and go, as do good times and bad times. The cruel reality is that we really needed this slowdown in real estate, as FOMO and greed had settled in and prices [and some practices] were getting out of hand. And if the price retreat allows more people to get into the property market, then I say “bring it”.

What about me you may ask? If I could buy more property, I would given we are on a buyers market. So sadly, I have to wait…. In the meantime, I refuse to let the doom and gloom get to me. I have long started preparing – mentally mostly – for this phase of the Sydney and Melbourne cycle, while patiently waiting for the next. That would be when – with development firmly stopped on its tracks and available stock depleted – rental property demand will outstrip supply and rents will start going up, which will signal the re-emergence of the battered property investor. And if our politicians and policy makers haven’t made it easy for investors to come back then, I am happy to leave it to them to figure out where housing for all people will come from! 

Property cycles come and go as do good times and bad times. It just so happens that right now we are in the middle of a much needed down time.

Who we are:

NextGen Property Mgmt (www.nextgenpm.com.au) is a boutique Real Estate licensed agency that specialises in property management. NextGen Property Mgmt does NOT has a sales team unlike most other agencies that specialise in Sales and have Property Management as a side business.

Our area of focus is residential property and we operate in Inner and South West Sydney, as well as St George.

NextGen was created from its infancy to cater for investors as it was founded by investors who quickly realised that in a highly regulated industry like Real Estate – competence, expertise, care and service by property managers varies greatly.

As an investor, you need to have trust for and feel valued by your property manager. You need to know that your property is being looked after with minimal disruption and you are getting maximum return for your investment. At NextGen we understand that because we are investors living busy lives ourselves, so our promise to you is that you will no longer have to worry about your most valued asset because we will make sure to take care of it as if it is our own.

If you want to learn more about us just click here to organise a time for a chat. Or call us on 0414 494 840. We would love to hear from you and to share our story.