Investment Education – Hurry up and Wait
I spent a great deal of time in the military when I was younger. In fact from the time I was seven my Dad was in the Army, then I joined the Air Force Cadets at 13 until I was 18 at which point I spent four years in the Army. So for pretty much 17 years of my early life I was exposed to one of the most enjoyable and frustrating concepts of the military – Hurry up and Wait.
The concept of “Hurry Up and Wait”…
Hurry up and wait is a popular expression that explains the endless hours of doing nothing but waiting around for orders. Many times you literally had nothing to do so you would sit on your pack and contemplate.
Then from seemingly nowhere you would receive orders and everything would be Go! Go! Go! You would bound into action to get the task done in the shortest possible time.
They would then be followed by more waiting. The cycle repeats, periods of absolute boredom followed by intense activity, boredom, activity, boredom, activity. Hurry up and wait it is.
Hurry Up and Wait whilst not quite as authoritarian as the military; is a concept in property investment and it's an important part of your emotional intelligence and the development of your portfolio.
Building a portfolio has periods of intense activity when many parties are directing you to do this, send that, sign here and pay that… Then when the property is let out boredom sets in. Then a tenant will move out and you'll have an intense period until a new tenant moves back in… then boredom.
This is particularly true of off-plan property which can become frustrating as the developer builds the building but takes longer, delay after delay with very little communication or direction, then a period of intensity, then more boredom.
Don't get me wrong, in an up-swinging market these delays will make you money, lots of money. so in some ways it's welcome. Similar to the military, the waiting means you're not running up some hill for the fifth time, or digging a hole and filling it back in. Hurry up and wait it is.
The lesson here is property investment just like the military is not all Go! Go! Go! It's a lot of sitting around waiting for other people to do things..
Property investment is about holding a capital appreciating asset for the long term and this means periods of nothing but hurry up and waiting. It's as much a part of the process as the buying, remortgaging and selling, just not quite as exciting.
There is lots the team can do to make your hurry up and wait much more comfortable and enjoyable. After all, these are the times that should be spent on lifestyle, not digging holes just to fill them in. Give the team a call on +44 (0)207 923 6100 or www.ezytrac.co.uk or directly on their mobiles and they can take through your lifestyle options.
Live with passion,
Brett Alegre-Wood
(Cadet Under Officer in Air Training Corps and Bombardier in the Royal Australia Artillery)
