In this Friday Fundamentals episode, Luke Oxenham and Polly Chu unpack a common property investing myth:

Waiting for the perfect time before you start.

From interest rates and market cycles to cost of living, family plans and global uncertainty, there always seems to be a reason to hold off.

But as Luke and Polly explain, waiting for perfect certainty can sometimes leave people sitting on the sidelines for years.

This episode explores how to plan for uncertainty before buying property, including stress testing your repayments, modelling higher interest rates, allowing for rental changes, planning for holding costs, and keeping cash buffers in place.

They also discuss why trying to time the bottom of the market can be difficult, and how big life goals should be considered before building an investment strategy.

Got a question or a “hill” you want us to unpack? Send it through here 👉 https://thepropertycouch.com.au/topics/

Timestamps

00:23 – Welcome back to Friday Fundamentals
00:41 – The myth: waiting for the perfect time
00:55 – Why people feel they need to wait
01:13 – There’s always another reason to hold off
01:43 – Why uncertainty feels uncomfortable
02:19 – How planning helps manage uncertainty
02:22 – Running the numbers before buying
02:36 – Modelling higher interest rates
03:21 – Planning for worst-case scenarios
03:31 – Rental income, holding costs and maintenance
04:07 – Stress testing your loan repayments
04:39 – Why cash buffers matter
05:06 – The danger of using every dollar to buy
06:20 – Should you wait for a particular time?
06:38 – Why waiting for the market to turn can take years
07:08 – The problem with timing the bottom
08:08 – Waiting for life to settle down
09:24 – Big life decisions vs borrowing capacity
10:04 – The big rocks in the jar analogy
10:26 – Final takeaway: there is no perfect time