Property investment forums such as Somersoft and PropertyInvesting.com are great places to hang out with fellow investors – and are a treasure trove of investment stories, tips and ideas. Some really smart investors donate a lot of their time and experience to these communities – and you can benefit from their knowledge for free.
That said, there are many traps that can make it a risky proposition to use forums to guide your investment decisions.
Here are 3 tips that will help you to safely navigate property forums.
1. Limit your time
Lets face it – hanging out in property forums can be pretty addictive. There’s a relentless flow of new content – new investment ideas, new hot tips and new raging debates. Before you know it, all the time you had set aside for investing has been used up.
Remember, nobody has ever made money from reading property forums.
To limit your time in the forums try scheduling it after you’ve completed your main investment tasks. That way you can still get stuck into some juicy forum threads without stalling on the real actions that will move your investment plan forward.
Another tip is to use the forum’s time saving features such as daily digests and the “subscribe to this thread” button to have content that interests you delivered to your inbox or feed reader – rather than you going back to the forum every 10 minutes to check for updates.
2. Be aware of whom you are taking advice from
There is something about the altruistic community atmosphere in forums that often lowers people’s guards as to whom they can trust. The fact of the matter is that it can be hard to know who is behind the content that is posted on forums – and what their motives are.
For example, it is not unheard of for marketers to buy established forum profiles or to pay someone to build out a mature profile in order to use it as a platform to market their products. Of course, if the forum administrators discover this then the profile will be suspended – but savvy marketers will participate and influence rather than directly pitch their wares.
Since most forums allow for some level of anonymity, the only way you can get a feel for who’s advice you can trust is to get to know a few key forum members over time by following their posts. If their posts are generally unbiased and of high quality then that may be sign that their opinion is worth noting.
And of course, beware of strong direct product/service recommendations from users with only a handful of low value posts.
3. Always back up with your own research
In any case, remember that property forums are just like a digital version of a huge room filled with people you have never met and are not obliged to properly introduce themselves, sharing their ideas and opinions (whether informed, ill-informed or downright wrong) about property investing.
You’ll want to back up anything you read with your own due diligence – which may include consultation with an accredited professional.
Now, back to the forums – I’ve just heard an insider tip about a new Gold Coast highrise property development…
The information provided in the Talking Property podcast is general in nature and should not be relied upon as a substitute for professional advice. Always consult with a professional advisor before making any investment decisions.
