6 Myths That Stop People Investing & Why They’re Wrong
Property experts Bryce Holdaway and Ben Kingsley unpack six common investing myths that keep Australians from building wealth – and explain why it’s time to rethink them.
2 min
When it comes to property investing, most people don’t fail because they picked the wrong suburb or mistimed the market. They fail before they even begin, buying into limiting beliefs that hold them back.
Here are six myths that stop people investing, and the reality behind them, according to property experts and authors Bryce Holdaway and Ben Kingsley.
1. You Need to Be Rich to Invest
Many assume investing is only for high-income earners. In truth, wealth is built through strategy and discipline, not salary size. Even modest incomes can support investing with the right plan.
2. I Need to Learn Everything Before I Start
Education is important, but waiting for perfect knowledge often leads to inaction. Investing is a long-term game, and you’ll learn more by starting than by endlessly researching.
3. I Missed the Boat
This fear pops up every time prices rise. But property markets reward time in the market, not perfect timing. Yesterday was the best time to invest; the next best time is today.
4. Property Is Too Risky
All investing carries risk, but avoiding it altogether can cost you more. The key is research, advice and a long-term approach focused on well-chosen, quality assets.
5. You Need 10 Properties to Retire
It’s not about quantity but quality. A few well-performing properties can generate the income you need without the stress of managing a massive portfolio.
6. I’m Too Young or Too Old to Start
Age is often used as an excuse. Younger investors benefit from time and compounding, while older investors can succeed with focus and clear goals. It’s never too early or too late to begin.
The Real Barrier? Mindset.
Most people don’t get started because they focus on what could go wrong. Shifting that mindset to focus on what’s possible is often the first and most crucial step.
Bryce Holdaway and Ben Kingsley are co-authors of the new book, How to Retire on $3000 a Week and co-hosts of The Property Couch podcast.
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Continue reading “ASX falls 0.7 per cent as miners and property stocks retreat”
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Continue reading “What mortgage holders should do before the next RBA decision”
A five-bedroom Palo Alto home designed by Steven Ehrlich is listed for $44 million, making it the city’s most expensive listing. Built around a dramatic concrete spine, the home features four courtyards and a pool.
3 min
For years, tech entrepreneur Asher Waldfogel and his wife, Helyn MacLean, dreamed of building a modern house in Palo Alto, Calif.
The couple, however, worried about clashing with the Mediterranean-style architecture typically associated with their neighborhood of Old Palo Alto.
So they tapped architect Steven Ehrlich to create a design that paid homage to its surroundings with stucco, mahogany and titanium zinc cladding. They spent $20 million over several years building the house, completed in 2005.
Now looking to be closer to their adult daughter on the East Coast, they are putting the five-bedroom home on the market for $44 million—the most expensive listing in Palo Alto.
Waldfogel is an angel investor who co-founded Redback Networks, a telecommunications-equipment company. MacLean previously had a career in fundraising.
The couple purchased the roughly 0.4-acre site for $7.1 million in 2000 and demolished a circa-1930s Spanish Colonial home. The house they built pinwheels around a central staircase. It has 7,900 square feet of livable space, with four distinct courtyards and a pool.
A key feature of the home is a cast-in-place concrete wall, or spine, that is two stories high and about 80 feet long. “There’s a little bit of controlled chaos in what comes out of the form,” unlike a perfectly uniform surface, Waldfogel said. “If you want that, you do it in plastic.”
Waldfogel said he and his wife are thinking about the next phase of life now that their daughter is grown, although they have not decided where they will move. They also have a home in Sun Valley, Idaho.
“Right now we’re just trying to emotionally let go and decide what to do next,” he said.
Palo Alto, an epicenter of venture capital and tech startups in Silicon Valley, is home to some of the country’s biggest tech titans. Sales volume and prices are rising, with a median sale price of $3.5 million for the three months ending in August, up 5.8% year-over-year, according to real-estate brokerage Redfin.
Arthur Sharif of Sotheby’s International Realty—San Francisco Brokerage has the listing.
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