Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Land Investment One Of The Most Lucrative Type Of Investment

As everyone knows, the cost of building a commercial complex or a residential complex is considerably huge, even if you own the land. So, if you want to make money with investing lesser money, land investment is a very good option for you. In fact, Buy land for sale is as lucrative as any other investment, due to a large number of benefits which are sure to make you dizzy.

To begin with, the capital that you invest in land for sale is much lower when compared to the residential or commercial property investment. You can enjoy the same benefits such as leasing a land, renting it out, or making other people develop your land. A huge amount of land in the suburbs is considered as the hot cake of the industry now, because all big companies and residential complexes are mushrooming only in the suburb areas due to over crowded city areas, water scarcity, pollution, and the huge amount of money required to get a land in the middle of the city.

So, the options are plenty; you can lease the land to a company for a long tenure to get a big amount in your hands, or you can rent it out to get rich dividends, or the other option, probably the most important of them all, you can make other people develop the land for you. You can have a land developer who will take the pain of building the premises, and the end user who is going to use it, and you can earn a good return for just letting them use your land. This option is very popular, because, apart from the good return that you get from the deal, as the value of the residential or commercial complex on your land increases, your land value increases dramatically.

The returns are unbelievable; the peak return in a developing suburb land would be as high as 24% per year, or the capital could be doubled over a span of three years. So, investing shrewdly in a land is the best option for small investors.

By: Robert Goldsmith

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Investment Series : Risk Free Investment Methodology

For a millennium, mankind attempted to define and measure risk.

From the early days of Pascal and Golton to the modern forerunners in academia, defining and measuring risk has been a relentless pursue. Until we properly define and measure risk, there seems no way to mathematically defeat risk, creating risk free financial markets and economies.

Mathematics opened up a new door for mankind with the invention of probability study. Mankind started using probability studies in real life statistical research in the 1660s, starting with a man called John Graunt. Gruant’s methods evolved through many hands into what insurance companies of today still use to calculate insurance premiums. Even though probabilistic study is a useful mathematical tool for defining the probability of the occurrence of several outcomes, it has certain flaws. Flaws rendering it useless in helping the world prevent or predict the Great Depression and the subsequent World Wars and each market crash that followed. Probability has 2 major flaws; Firstly, probability is based on each outcomes being mutually independent and random, resulting in a normal distribution and secondly, probability cannot take into consideration more outcomes than what was taken into consideration! Yes, that’s what we all mean by being “taken by surprise” isn’t it? Mankind has indeed been “taken by surprise” more times than we are willing to admit.

Because new information and new outcomes cannot be predicted, no studies depending on past results and occurrences are valid in the face of new information. That is why investment reports always states “past results do not guarantee future performance”. Uncertainty is the main component of risk. Treasury securities are so “risk free” because it has a high certainty of performance.

However, risk is not only uncertainty of outcome but also the consequence of outcome.

Too long has mankind defined risk based on the probability of occurrence without taking consequences into consideration! Uncertainty is the engine of risk and consequence is the end result of risk. Consequence of risk truly defines what is risky and what isn’t!

I define risk as the possibility of a catastrophic loss.

We live in a risky environment all the time, almost everything we do is risky but we do it because the possibility of a catastrophic loss is small or that the negative outcome cannot be regarded as catastrophic.

This brings us to the true nature of risk; Risk is different when regarded by different people. To some people, a 20% portfolio loss is acceptable while for some other people, that same 20% portfolio loss is catastrophic! When an investor is able to define what constitutes a catastrophic loss to that particular investor, the investor will be able to use modern risk prevention tools to create totally risk free investment portfolios!

If even a 1% portfolio loss is catastrophic to an investor, then that investor should not consider investing money. If one defines a particular level of catastrophic risk like say, 20%, then one can use methods like the Protective Put (http://www.optiontradingpedia.com/protective_put.htm) or the Married Put (http://www.optiontradingpedia.com/married_put.htm) option trading strategy to ensure that one’s stocks will never drop below the level defined as catastrophic risk! In fact, a simple stop loss policy implemented portfolio wide can limit losses to the level defined as catastrophic loss. If you know you can never lose more than you want to, would you still regard your investment as “Risky”?

Taking steps to limit the potential downside of a portfolio is said to be adding “convexity” to a portfolio. A convex portfolio has unlimited potential upside while having a limited downside potential. Building convexity is extremely important to modern risk management because there are no way to predict what would possibility happen. All we can do is to make sure that the worst that can happen falls outside of ones’ definition of a catastrophic loss. Such a portfolio was hard to come by a long time ago but with the invention of great financial instruments like stock options recently, convexity and risk free investing is open to anyone and everyone who asks themselves, “what does a catastrophic loss mean to me?”.

By: Jason Ng

Orlando Investment Property – How Can You Make Money In Property Investment There?

Florida is the crowning glory of holiday destinations in the US and Orlando is the shining jewel in the crown. It is located almost centrally in the state and attracts millions of tourists both from within the country and overseas. Orlando investment property is the best option to make your hard-earned money earn higher returns. Capital appreciation of the real estate investment acts as a cushion against inflation.

Orlando is the top choice of families looking for a vacation spot. It has the world famous Walt Disney World and Sea World amusement parks. It is the cradle of the theme entertainment industry. The tourist traffic continues to grow and this means Orlando investment property assures one of regular rental income. In fact, Orlando is the preferred second home location for vacationers and retirees.

If you wanted compelling reasons for making your Orlando investment property, here is the list:

• The properties in Orlando are still priced cheaper as compared to their intrinsic value. So, if you are an early bird you could make a bargain and watch your investment grow exponentially.

• The tourist traffic and retirees movement is bound to grow upwards and there are different property options like homes, condos and apartments. As people reach for the city throughout the year, chances of vacant homes is almost nil.

• The most attractive feature is of course the low interest rates on mortgages and zero state income tax. So, you pay less for your home loan and get to keep all the income you earn from rentals.

Another advantage of an Orlando investment property is that it could be a vacation home for you and your family. For a few days every year, you could enjoy the attractions of the place and come home with goodies from endless hours of shopping. This saves you expensive hotel bills. For rest of the year, you could rent out the property.

The time is ideal to acquire an Orlando investment property while the market is still in the growth phase.

By: Joel Teo
Copyright © 2006 Joel Teo. All rights reserved.

Investment Strategy - Why You Should Consider Offshore Investment

If we want to ensure that our future is bright there are several reasons why you should consider offshore investment.

If we listen to media you’ll have a picture of investor’s stashing money in illegal companies in the Caribbean to avoid taxes. There are shoddy offshore deals but the majority are legal and offer excellent options for tax breaks which is why you should consider offshore investment.

There are a variety of investment strategies that capitalize on advantages outside the home market including bonds, equity, and money market options that are sound investments. There are many advantages which is why you should consider offshore investment.

1. Tax Savings

Many countries have some terrific tax incentives for foreign investors as a way to encourage a healthy attractive investment platform that will attract outsiders. When these small resource limited countries are able to attract large amounts of investment it’s great for their economy and it’s legal. Because the corporations or individuals that are investing in these markets don’t run local operations they are liable for little or no tax which is why you should consider offshore investment.

2. Protecting Ones Assets

Offshore is also an excellent way of protecting assets with individual wealth transferred from an individual to another legal entity another reason why you should consider offshore investment. Individuals worried about foreclosures, lawsuits, or protecting themselves from outstanding debt may transfer some of their assets from their individual name to another entity in a country where they don’t live.

3. Confidentiality

Many offshore jurisdictions have strict banking and corporate confidentiality laws with serious consequences for those that break them. That means high profile investors can have a significant advantage both legally and financially. One they don’t have at home just another reason why you should consider offshore investment.

4. Diversifying Your Investments

Offshore accounts have a much greater degree of flexibility letting investors have unlimited access to international markets as well as any of the major changes which is why you should consider offshore investment if it would help your situation.

The biggest obstacle is cost. These accounts are not cheap and often the individual investment will dictate the cost of setting up an offshore account. So for examples some countries might require a minimum investment of anywhere from $100,000 to $1 million dollars.

Now that you know why you should consider offshore investment your investment strategy just got a little stronger.

By: Joel Teo
Joel Teo is the owner/webmaster of http://www.GlobalProsperity.info/ the free financial article directory
Copyright © 2007 Joel Teo. All rights reserved.

Three Reasons Why You Should Consider Real Estate Investment As An Investment Option

If you are like most of us, each day when you open the financial times, you are besieged with different investment instruments and opportunities and wonder with dismay how to make your money grow. Why not spend some time considering real estate which is one of the oldest investment options of all time. This article will deal with three reasons why you should consider real estate investment as part of a larger investment portfolio.

Firstly, have you ever wondered why when the rich after speculating, park their profits in investment property? One possible reason is that property prices tend to move slower as compared to other instruments and real estate prices move generally in response to macro economic factors. This means that for most people who have day jobs, they can go investment property shopping in the weekends and the prices would not have changed that much.

I am sure most of us know of macro economic factors like the national jobless rate, the basic economic growth data. Generally when people are more confident about the economy, they invest more into real estate and prices increase. Thus since most of us know when the economy is booming, there is a chance that you will know when property prices might increase.

Secondly, real estate investments can give you monthly cash flow in the form of rental. There are no other investments to my mind that gives you monthly cash flow for the private investor other than loans. The tip here is therefore to look for the properties in an area with the highest rental yield.

Another thing to consider when doing real estate investment for cash flow purposes, always choose a country or city with a strong rental culture before you invest. An good example of a place with a strong rental culture would be Sydney where rental is in such high demand that collecting weekly rental from an investment property there is possible.

Thirdly, real estate investment has low risk and gives you a better return as compared with leaving your money in the bank. The key to figuring out whether this generic observation applies to your particular situation is quite simple. Just calculate the rental yield and compare it with the interest that you would have gotten from the bank after investing the same amount.

In addition, while most of us would know property investment brings with it the possibility of capital appreciation, however some people spend their energy redesigning and decorating existing properties and then reselling them at a higher price. This opportunity to make money from flipping properties would never be open to the normal person who leaves his money with the bank.

In conclusion, there are compelling reasons for you to consider putting money into real estate and real estate is today no longer solely the domain of the rich. Real estate as compared to other forms of investments is readily understood by most people and should form part of an overall investment portfolio. The key to successful investment is to spend time researching and finding out as much as you can about your potential acquisition. Take massive action towards your goals with measured analysis and may real estate investment profits be yours.

By: Joel Teo