Figuring Out When to Sell | Professionals Real Estate AU |

Figuring Out When to Sell

Professionals Real Estate Latest News | News for Investors | News for Sellers 14th April, 2015 No Comments
Image of a house and calculator

If you have bought your property for investment purposes then you really have to give some thought as to when you are really going to be able to capitalise on your investment, by knowing when to sell it. It is a tendency for some in this situation to follow the supply and demand concept only when they are looking to buy, and don’t give it much thought when they are thinking about selling.
It is right to assume that the prices for anything will go up if there is more of a demand for it then there is supply.
Look at the costs for opportunity:
You need to do some figuring, and see which is going to yield you a greater return.
For example, you have a chance to make a $500,000 purchase of a property that is going to grow at 5% per annum for the next two years.
OR
You can purchase one for $5,000 that is going to have a 10% growth per annum.
Losing the opportunity:
Which is going to be the better deal? With the two year 5% you have lost out on what you could have been making with the 10% so this is lost opportunity. This is how the majority of investors think, but they lose sight of holding onto their property in a poor market which is also a lost opportunity. If you are holding out on the sale until the market recovers then you may have lost out on other investment opportunities for which you could have used the sale money for to bring you a better rate of return. The one advantage of hanging onto the property is being able to avoid the equity recycling costs.
It is common for many financial advisors to use the buy and never sell advice. It is often the case that the property market remains flat rather than falling. It is usually seen that when market price drops when the supply is greater than the demand it only amounts to about a 5% drop. The bigger issue is the time it takes for the market to recover. The frustration sets in when you money is tied up in your property and other investments are taking off.
Timing the market against the time in:
It is true that equity will grow as you hold onto your property. The amount of growth is not constant and is up and down. You can take the uncertainty out of your investment by knowing when to buy and when to sell. Going into a property investment with the tunnel vision of holding onto it no matter what puts the investment at risk. In regards to SMSF’s (Self Managed Super Funds) there have been a lot of rule changes and these fund managers need to be observant in watching client investments.
Making the big sell decision based on cost factor:
The simple equation is if you are going to get more than what the recycled cost is going to be, then sell. Where it gets difficult is in accurate cost calculation. Trying to forecast what the future capital growth would be is where most of the error is made. To help you gain a deeper understanding into the figures the DSR score may be able to help.
What is the view on leases?
Some think it is better to have the property leased out when it is put on the market, and this is true if the purchaser is going to be an investor, but may not be idea for owner occupancy purchase. Doing your homework prior to it going into a down turn is important especially you have a tenant holding a long term lease. On average a two month notice is normally given to tenants. Every state has set laws for tenancy. Get your property manager to alert you to a lease expiry three months prior to it taking place. Then as soon as you are made aware of this do some market research and decide whether you want to sell or not. This keeps you within the two month period for issuing notices to move. Do touch-ups to the property before you open it for inspection. Expect a four month delay in getting any offers from the time you have researched the market. If the market begins to drop consider putting in on the market with a tenant pre-package for the buyer.