Property Investing 101: Three Lessons To Be Learned From Gambling

When you take the time to consider it, property investing and gambling share many features in common. Both turn on the principle that you invest a sum of money in the hopes of ‘earning’ a larger sum and both involve a significant degree of financial risk, especially for the uninitiated and inexperienced. 

With this in mind, it’s little surprise that many of the key lessons for success in one of these areas can also be applied to the other. This is certainly the case when we look at gambling and some of its most fundamental teachings and then apply them to property investing.

So, without further ado, here are just three of the lessons to be learnt from the high-stakes world of gambling. 

Lesson one: never stake more than you can afford to lose 

If there is one fundamental principle that every successful gambler must stick to, it’s that you should never bet more than you can afford to lose. Those who roll the dice regularly know that no matter how attractive the prize might be, it’s never worth the risk of leaving themselves out of pocket, and the same applies to property investing. While the potential profit can often be enticing, there is a line you must never cross, and it’s important to keep this in mind any time you’re making a decision pertaining to your expenditure. That’s why we recommend looking at your finances closely before you ever think of purchasing, and then working out a figure you’re not willing to exceed. Once you have this, make sure that no matter how enticing a potential addition to your portfolio appears, you walk away if the risk is too great. This way, if the worst happens and you do make a loss, it needn’t be catastrophic for your overall ambitions.       

Lesson two: shop around before you make your stake 

While we understand that time can be of the essence when a good opportunity presents itself, it is better to hold your nerve and see what else is out there than it is to jump in feet first. In the same way that a gambler should never go with the first good bonus they find, but should instead turn to a directory site like Bonus.net.nz to properly assess their options and see what’s out there, you must by necessity shop around if you want to get the most for your money. Do your research, speak to multiple agents, and utilise as many online resources as you can possibly find. This will not only give you a better idea of whether a potential deal is really as good as it seems at first glance but could also reveal some promising possibilities that you hadn’t even realised were out there.   

Lesson three: educate yourself 

Gambling is often viewed as a purely luck-based pursuit, but having a degree of skill can actually go a long way towards tipping the odds in a bettor’s favour. The same is true of property investing. If you want to give yourself the best possible chance of turning a profit on your portfolio, you need to fully understand what you’re looking at: the potential of a place, the possible additional expenses you could incur, and all of the external variables that could have an impact on how much you spend and how much you could make. This is why we suggest educating yourself in any way you can. Read property market publications, keep up- to-date with what’s happening, and talk to people who’ve done it themselves – preferably successfully. The more you know, the better you’ll do. 

Follow these three top tips today to make sure that any gamble you make goes in your favour.