“The past 12 months has seen huge growth in Sydney’s western suburbs, with the top five local government areas for growth Concord (nearly 26 percent), Camden (23 percent), Fairfield (nearly 21 percent), Blacktown (20 percent) and Burwood (nearly 20 percent).” A Current Affair story. So is location^3 a lie? Well, mostly yes. Every suburb has…

Negative gearing has a lot to answer for. I was sent an article with this quote buried deep in it. “If you desire to identify potentially overpriced markets, compare the monthly cost of owning a given home to the monthly cost of renting that same home. After factoring in taxes, if owning costs significantly more…

In Housing Boom I touched on a price-to-income measure for the state of the housing boom. For those who missed it, I simply questioned the disconnect between property prices and household wages. There is a flaw in my logic. Median priced homes are not bought by median income earners in every suburb. In Sydney’s eastern…

I don’t know what the immediate future of the Sydney (and other Oz capitals) property market is. Will it continue to boom? Historically low interest rates, poor stock market performance and the need to increase suburban densities suggest business as usual. Superannuation and commercial/industrial property funds are adding asset allocation pressure as well. The counter…

I suffer from analysis paralysis — a delusion that if I get enough data and study it enough, I can remove risk from an investment. To deal with this shortcoming I talk to myself. More than normal ;). I remind myself that Mark Twain has an answer for every occasion. In this instance he said…

I recently read a piece of marketing fluff posing as research from a financial advisor. It recommending holding firm in the face of losses in the stock-market to benefit from the bounce back. A lot can be learned from how an investor reacts to losses and continuing uncertainty. One option is to hold tight. All…

I was writing and publishing paper-based ‘zines and newsletters back when the Apple Macintosh was first released. They were a beautiful piece of kit and introduced the phrase WYSISYG to the world (What You See Is What You Get). Strangely, new writers asked published authors which computer to buy to write their novel. Did you…

Surprisingly often, beginners do good first deals in real estate, the financial markets and business. Why? Answer by clicking comments, but I’ll lead off with a fairly analytical approach. My theory is successful newbies are cautious and actually begin. What do I mean by this? Character traits of the cautious: Have an inbuilt drive to…

I used this metaphor back when I ran courses. So here’s a freebie. Remember when you learned to drive? As a child you were Unconsciously Incompetent. You didn’t know how to drive and didn’t realise it. Consciously Incompetent – your first time behind the wheel. You didn’t know how to drive and hooboy do you…

William Goldman opened his best-selling book Adventures in the Screen Trade with “Nobody knows anything”. Goldman writes movies. Good ones. His filmography to date according to the Internet Movie Database: Hearts in Atlantis (2001) (screenplay) General’s Daughter, The (1999) (screenplay) Absolute Power (1997) (screenplay) Fierce Creatures (1997) (uncredited) Ghost and the Darkness, The (1996) (written…