if you were beginning now..

[georgejetson]

If you had say, $200,000 in cash right now and a stable job earning above Auckland's median, would you invest it in property? If so, how?

[artemis]

Definitely not residential rentals, at least until the outcome of the election is known, But regardless of the outcome there will be increasing compliance laid on landlords. And there will continue to be hassles with tenants.

Commercial property, maybe. A home to live in, probably.

There are property related shares available, including the retirement sector. Dividends, capital gain and hassle free if diversified.

[Anthonyacat]

Historically, when the masses are uncertain and scared, is a good time to buy. Is now the same? Who knows.

If you can find a good deal, it's always a good time to buy it.

[Nick G]

Would I invest - yes.

How? Well it depends on your goals, risk profile, life situation etc. If you want two properties to pay down for retirement then go ahead and buy them. If you want 10 properties and retire early that's different again. Everybody has different drivers, risk tolerances, timelines, time available to spend on property and resources.

So to answer your question I would buy an hour of a property coach's time to get a plan together. Let me know if you want an intro to the fella who mentored me a couple of years ago (I don't get any financial benefit). Cheers

[andyp2010]

Recently I looked at my portfolio and thought 'If I were offered this investment now at it's current value and yield, would I buy it?'. My answer was no, therefore I'm looking at selling.

Currently a big fan of p2p lending, that's currently the only investment I'm really keen on. Almost index funds but the share market feels very overvalued. P/E ratios out of this world.

[Sandie]

"Currently a big fan of p2p lending" Excuse my ignorance, but what is p2p lending?

Sandie

[Wayne]

"Currently a big fan of p2p lending" Excuse my ignorance, but what is p2p lending?

Sandie

Peer to Peer.
I lend to you, through a platform that enables this sort of thing.
Rather than I lend to the bank and they lend to you.

Look up Harmoney Money and a few others - p2p lending.

[Zorwarrior]

p2P = Peer to Peer lending. This is where you invest money to lend to other people, through an independant platform. There are of courses risks associated with this that you need to understand well. Examples are

https://www.harmoney.co.nz/

https://www.squirrelmoney.co.nz/

Property investing has been my vehicle for a couple of decades now but the landscape has certainly changed. Investing in Auckland as a starter need good strategy and a robust game plan. I have come across far too many people who believe that they will become super-rich by simply buying property, a complete fallacy. Property is a slow, involved investment vehicle. So the best advise would be to get advise first.

I assume you are reasonably young, so $200,000 is a good start. But be aware that $200k is also not a lot of money in today's world, so you could blow it quit easily with the wrong decision / advise. Also, a job is only as stable as it is today. Next week can be quite different, as those who have been through the GFC and the last few recessions.

[georgejetson]

It certainly feels difficult to know what to do at the moment. Capital gains are flat, rents don't seem to be rising to match current price expectations, Graeme Wheeler keeps the threat of rising interest rates on the horizon, share prices are at all time highs. The smart money in property (at least from what I can see in Auckland) appear to be taking a breather

[Nick G]

Recently I looked at my portfolio and thought 'If I were offered this investment now at it's current value and yield, would I buy it?'. My answer was no, therefore I'm looking at selling.

Currently a big fan of p2p lending, that's currently the only investment I'm really keen on. Almost index funds but the share market feels very overvalued. P/E ratios out of this world.

Don't forget leverage

[andyp2010]

Don't forget leverage

Yeah, even basing it as a return on equity it doesn't make much sense. My equity has gone through the roof in the last 5 years and rents have dropped a bit. Based on my other investments, I'd make approx 20% more income in completely passive with no work or debt whatsoever. Albeit without as much scope for improvement.

George Jetson - I wouldn't buy in to it myself right now but I'm basing it on yield. If you think there's scope to make money of capital gains, go for it but to me that's not investing, that's speculating. If I was you right now, I'd put it in a mix of 10% term deposits/50% index funds/40% p2p lending and sit on my hands for a while. It might go up, it might go down but you've got the odds on your side and you don't have tons of debt over your head if it does go awry.

With property, buy in when it hits the point where it's so cheap it's rude not to. The point where all the newspapers say it's a terrible investment and everyone is going/has gone bankrupt and 'The Block' et al haven't been on telly for a few years. It'll come back to that point eventually, it always does.

[Davo36]

So with p2p lending what are the risks?

[andyp2010]

The risk is that you don't get paid back what you've lent out.

The nice thing is though, an algorithm tells you what their chances of defaulting are, and in a stable market, it's pretty accurate. The higher the risk of them defaulting, the higher the interest rate they pay. Plus you're not lending one person their entire loan, you might lend $25 or $50 to 1000 people, spreading your risk out. From my calculations based on the categories I've chosen, defaults would have to be around 8x more than they predict for me to start losing money. There's risk but I'm comfy with it. The average return is 11.6% after defaults before taxes at the moment on Harmoney.

[Lovethiscountry]

Hi georgejetson

Yes I would buy now.

Look for a small leased commercial property, located where it would release easily if it became vacant, with a minimum 5% net return and would borrow 60% of the purchase price.
Preferably Auckland, Hamilton,Tauranga.

Leverage with others paying the bank interest, and outgoing expenses, is a great way to make real money over time.

[flyernzl]

As has been indicated, first sit down with paper and pen and decide what you are really trying to acheive.
Capital wealth? Good passive income? To finance a lifestyle?
Everybody is different, only you can decide your goal.

My own goal was to acheive a sufficent, largely passive, income so that I could (within reason) whatever I wanted to do whenever I wanted to do it.

Yours may well (and probably will) be different.