Creating your ultimate lifestyle by living where you want to live, as well as investing in property where your research and strategy leads to is achievable – and sounds quite tempting, doesn’t it?
The ultimate goal of living your perfect lifestyle all while following through on your strongly researched and planned investment strategy can be done.
Deciding whether rentvesting is for you should be well considered and your starting point should be defining exactly what you want and what your priorities are at this stage in your life.
Put simply, rentvesting is about getting the best of both worlds by renting where you want to live and also being able to invest where you want to invest with the purpose of maximising your living now, all while investing where your strategy best places you at the time. The double whammy!
There can be a few mental roadblocks when it comes to rentvesting, but rather than being bogged down by the traditional belief that ALL ‘rent money is dead money’, what rentvesting actually does, is it allows you to use renting as part of an effective overall investment strategy.
Now, if you do choose to rentvest, be prepared for some negative energy and old-school thinking around this for not buying your ‘own home’ sooner.
The reason for this is not because your friends and family don’t love you or care for you, it is actually quite the opposite. They think that the best way to move forward in life is to buy your own home to live in. Afterall, your busting the ‘Great Australian Dream’ fallacy and taking a powerful, non-traditional route towards your long-term wealth. Outside of the box thinking often makes people uncomfortable. But don’t let it stop you.
This confident approach doesn’t mean getting rid of your friends or family either, it simply means getting sound advice and talking to those who have succeeded before you in this area. If you wanted to be a star in Hollywood, you wouldn’t spend your time with someone who has never acted!
By weighing up all options, and then sticking to your strategy, this style of living and investing has the ability to create massive wealth in your life, long before your family comes along, the cost of kids schooling kicks in, and the expensive, but often necessary, ‘lifestyle hampster wheel’ consumes you.
I’m all about keeping it real, and let’s face it, there really is no one size fits all property strategy. So here are some of the pros and cons I believe you need to consider before jumping in.
PRO’S
- You have the potential to enter the property market sooner.
- You can live where you want to live and enjoy a better lifestyle.
- You can start building your investment portfolio and follow through with your strategy.
- You can take advantage of the tax benefits.
- You will have more investment property choices.
- You have the freedom to live in and try different parts of Australia – or even the world – so you can decide where you really want to settle down and buy your principal place of residence (PPR).
CONS
- The perception of ‘dead rent money’.
- Less stability in your living arrangements.
- You may need to develop a thick skin (keep your eye on the long-term plan – you’ll make naysayers uncomfortable by breaking the property mold and this could lead to negative backlash).
Now remember folks, buying a home or investment property does not make you a tree – roots can be planted when and where you want to. My advice, and based on my own experience with property investing, is that until you find your dream home in your dream location, rentvesting is a fantastic way to propel you forward towards your property goals.