Nice family homes in blue-chip suburbs are becoming increasingly difficult to acquire from an affordability perspective. This also puts pressure on one’s capacity to fund an investment strategy whilst repaying a large loan. So, a few years ago, a strategy called ‘rentvesting’ was popularised. But this has some limitations. I have formulated an alternative strategy which I’ll call livevesting.
What is rentvesting?
Rentvesting involves renting a house in a location where you would like to live. One that has all the lifestyle benefits and amenities that you desire, thereby freeing up as much cash and equity as possible to allow you to invest in pure investment locations. Investments that you can make without needing to consider lifestyle considerations.
In reality, there's a couple of challenges associated with rentvesting.
Firstly, there's an emotional consideration. That is, some people feel more comfortable living in a home of which they own rather than renting. To some people, rent money feels like dead money.
Secondly, schooling can be a concern. There's not a lot of certainty with respect to the longevity of the renting relationship. That is, the landlord can decide to sell or occupy the property and not renew your lease. If that happens, you've got to find a new home. And if your children are attending a school in that location, then you’re forced to find another house close to their schooling. That can be difficult at times, depending on what sort of rental stock is on the market.
And lastly, the other complication with rentvesting is a possible change of mind. If you implement a strategy that requires you to rent for the next twenty years, what happens if you change your mind in five years’ time? You might find that because you have exhausted your borrowing capacity, you’re
Spreading yourself too thin
One of the challenges that people are finding today, especially in light of the tighter credit market, is that they could be spreading themselves too thin. That is, their borrowing capacity might restrict them from being able to afford the size of home or location that they truly desire. Plus, their borrowing capacity might restrict how much they're able to invest once they have purchased their desired home. In this situation, sometimes people are seduced into compromising on the quality/location of both home and investments. In this situation, it's possible for people to end up owning two or three very average quality property assets.
A new strategy: Livevesting
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