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March 25, 2009 - 4:52 am

Quote:

Rich is defined by anyone who has more money than you…ask Rupert Mucdoch if his is rich, and he will tell you he is well off, "…Bill gates though is rich"""

my favourite quote is from Johnny Carson at the end of his career, when asked about his $1m per show and he replied "the only thing money gives you is the abilty to not worry about having money "

The definitions of rich and money can be a nice side topic however are not my point at all.
I can attempt a definition of rich by saying that the measure of richness is the lenght of time one can stop working without dropping one's standard of living.

Definition of money? well there are a few good ones.
Money is the means by which a creative person finds the way to invoice another.
I like this one better: Money is a vehicle to express appreciation in creation.

As for my previous post, the point I make is very simple. The virulence/ anger/ bias/ resentment/ general bad vibes or ridicule expressed by some be it  directly, indirectly or by elevation against "rich people" (regardless of the definition in the person's mind) is, in my view, a handicap to success if success as objective has in any of its parameters, earning good amounts of money.

In other words, if you think that "money stinks", that "money does not buy happiness", that "you don't measure success by the size of bank accounts or assets", that "there is more to life than money", and also that "rich people are inherently dishonest and poor are inherently virtuous", you are not alone. You are one of the majority.

Not that there is nothing wrong with that !  (Seinfeld)  

If, on the other hand you admire Bill Gates or Murdoch or anyone you like that has a few billions under his hat and would like to be like him in all aspects and do not automatically think something is wrong with "those people", then you are in a selected minority and you will probably be like your mentor or hero and are probably on that way already.

The reason for that can be found in the very nature of the process of  making choices but that may be a topic for another time.

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March 24, 2009 - 7:14 am

I find some of the comments amusing.
There is an innuendo that "rich" people are somehow stupid for selling presumably at a loss having bought at premium price.. When that may be so in some cases, this is not exclusive of the (stupid) rich. Thousands upon thousands of (smart?) poor are selling below the cost at a loss. …..And many that sell, rich or poor today are doing so at a profit of sort, to upgrade in a buyers market.
For the last 3 years I come across thread after thread in this forum that reflect some form of attitude against those who presumably more stupid than us, have made their fortune allgedly by chance, inheritance or dishonesty (see comment about palm beach holiday house and Mosman and bonuses) And I say this comments are amusing because whoever is into investing is in it to make money, the more the merrier. If you hate those who have made the money and are straining the gnat of their actions to highlight their shortcomings, you will never make it rich ever, and mediocrity is your glass ceiling.

My opinion of course.

[1WinnerParticipant@1winnerJoin Date: 2004Post Count: 477]

March 24, 2009 - 4:12 am

http://www.randygage.com

Yes, there is alwasy an advantage by being local even if only by elevation.

The disadvantage is of course the emotional involvment that usualy wrecks our best judgement. That is why I make this tongue in cheeck post in this section. I find the choice of places for investing rather amusing.
On the other hand I know of some german friends who have made a killing buying old run down palaces in Poland when there was a change in governemt.

You never never know if you never never go!
What about cheap properties in the US?

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March 22, 2009 - 11:46 am

There is one truth in some of the negative post, and that is, property seminars, just like shares investing seminars are useful to that person that is ready to get in gear. A waste of time and money for the one that is not ready.
That does not make him stupid or incompetent. My wife is a doctor and a very successful at that, yet I couldn't take her to a property seminar or any other investment seminar not even by mistake.

So those who like some of the poster above have succeeded after attending seminars and mentoring, don't make the mistake of believeing you are successful because you attended such seminar. How many did with you and are yet to buy their first investment?

Seminars have value, some more than others. Some are a con, and a few have heaps of value, yet all of that is irrelevant. A person that is ready and willing will take value home even from a con seminar. The one that is not ready can go to 10 of the best seminars in the world and still think he has wasted his money….and he would not be wrong he did waste his money.
Yet not everyone does.

 

[1WinnerParticipant@1winnerJoin Date: 2004Post Count: 477]

March 22, 2009 - 11:30 am

Ah the good citizen with the rope. Where is that branch swing the rop over it  LET'S GET OURSELFS A GOOD HANGING.

Who gives you the right to judge? Are you so squeeky clean? Oh yes, you haven't been caught, thats true.

As for advise, when I needed an expert in vintage engine's magneto I use to go to a guy who was an ex con and as mad as a hatter yet he was the best.
I also once had to modify an old army rifle into a sporting rifle and the best gusnmith for that particualr job was a person convicted of murder, not sure of the details sorry.
I lived once in a town subject to frequent earth tremors. Cracks in the brickwork were a daily thing. The best expert in underpinning cracked walls was a guy who had killed his brother in law because he dared come to ask for a deed for the horse he had sold him.
Yet I would go to him for fixing a cracked wall every time.

Take a chill pill guys, I don't like self appointed experts, particularly those who have little to show for themselvs, yet if someone has 10 or 20 times what you do, I would listen. Regardless of his past. After all. you are not planing to get married are you?

[1WinnerParticipant@1winnerJoin Date: 2004Post Count: 477]

March 22, 2009 - 11:01 am

When I can understand sentimentalism be drawn in, when there is family involved, for an investor to say "not for everyone" like a turist is a tad suprising. Irak is "not for everyone" and so is Manchuria.

An investment is either good or bad.
It either makes you money or cost you money, there is no "nice" bad imvestment nor is there "horrible" good investment.

If a house in Calabria can be rented fore more money than it costs to keep and if it increases in value, it is a good investment, regardless of aesthetics or emotional mumbo jumbo or pasta alla Calabrese.
If a house in Calabria is wonderful and poetic yet the prices go down every year, no one pays rent and it get's trashed regularly by scuatters, hey this "wonderful place" is not a good investment.

I say stay clear from anything in italy south of Napoli including Napoli…. come to think of it, make that Rome….or… better Venezzia….nee to many mosquitos in summer. I vote for the Italian cantone in Swizzera. Yes, that's it!

Best potential anywhere however is still Cuba.
My word, dont tell anyone though.

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March 20, 2009 - 9:00 am

If I wanted to invest in the Czech republic (perish the thought, I rather spend the money on Lotto tickets), I would look for the local consulate and the local Czech club. Then, dress in my worst possible cloths I would go and ask questions on this like:
"I have a distant cousin of my wife who lives in bla bla and I want to do him a favour and find him a place to stay. How could I go about helping him to purchase a place for himself? I don't have much money  but… etc

Come to think of it, Randy Gage spends some time there from time to time, his folks are from there, you could ask him.

I personally think that Cuba will be the next best place to invest as soon as the Castro mob kicks the bucket. When the embargo lifts, the floodgates will open and americans and dollars will flow again and be part of the Caribean again.
Anyone has a guess at when this will happen?
Send me an e-mail a month before please!     

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March 20, 2009 - 8:45 am

OK, I have a deal going with the local boat renting place. That was an easy one.

Another question.
The house came with an old fashion spa. I don't like it, never used it, I am too used to the one I have at home that is new, massive and works like a charm at the touch of a button.

However it seems a pity to rip it out. It is sunken in the deck, and has a pool fence around it. The cover is heavy and cumbersome to take off and the switches to the numerous pumps look daunting.

I suppose I can figure out how to work it and write a set of instructions, yet even if people will use it, I am left with the cost of drain the water and clean it every time. Perhaps this spa that may have been a novelty and a luxury back in the eighties, is now an eyesore and I am better off selling it for scrap and eventually get a nicer new one.

Which brings me back to the same dilemma. How do you go about spa and renters? The additional cost of electricity and water and cleaning bill is substantial yet not everyone wants to jump in a spa that is not their own, so it would not be worth while to increase the rent for everyone for an amenity that not everyone will use.
Anyone has a thought or two?

[1WinnerParticipant@1winnerJoin Date: 2004Post Count: 477]

March 14, 2009 - 10:39 pm

Thank you for that, I agree on all points.
A few more thoughts.
In the area there are a few homes for rent, one resort and a couple of guest houses. The cheaper lower end of the market goes clearly to the resort; the guest houses or B&B offer something slightly different.
That lives a few dozen homes for rent that are scattered along many kilometres from Brooklyn all the way to St Albans. I rented  a couple of the houses on offer in my area to have a feeling of what's on offer and I know my property has an advantage. There is vehicular access to my boat ramp, the others don't. I am next to a reserve the size of a football field that I mow and keep as good as my own and so made it an extension of my backyard since no one uses it. We have two levels of very large decks facing north and facing the river, there is a separate unit in the lower level.
Against I have little space for parking at the front of the house, (one car in the driveway, may be two small ones) carpet has marks from previous owner's furniture. I will rip the carpet out and replace particle board with floorboards but that will take some time.
As for the river, it is deep water up to the house but on low tide it requires local knowledge to keep in the channel. We take a 26' cruiser there no problem but others don't venture with a tinny at low tide.
I see that you offer a bicycle for riding. That would equate to say a rowing boat. Thought of that too, however, the river flows at a good pace when the tide comes in or goes out and to keep up it would require a strong rower. A couple of kids mucking around would probably end up not being able to come back.
I agree with the linen and towels and shampoo and soap sounds like a good touch. The more expensive homes on the east end of the Hawkesbury offer all of that and command a very high price. The houses in our area do not for the simple reason that there is no linen service for hire in the area and the cleaners would have to do it themselves and wash in house. Not impossible mind you.
I will have to consider this as work in progress and what works will be apparent with time. As for the original question of the boat, perhaps I can work out a deal with the local guy that rents boats and ask for a discount for my guests, may be delivery to the house, will have to ask. If they then get into strife he can pick them up, that's his job.

[1WinnerParticipant@1winnerJoin Date: 2004Post Count: 477]

March 6, 2009 - 4:44 am

PS

Our holiday rental is waterfront and has it's own slipway and jetty. We often think in living a 13' tinny with a 5HP outboard (no need for license) for the guest to use and explore the river. The attraction for a potential guest is obvious and the extra cost is minimal however the incresed risk for litigation in case of an accident is also there.
I can't decide if it is a good idea or not. I don't see anyone offering this, yet it seems strange to have a waterfront property for rent and nothing to go on the river with.
What do you think?

[1WinnerParticipant@1winnerJoin Date: 2004Post Count: 477]

March 5, 2009 - 6:35 am

Hi guys, thank you for the replies and sugestions.
Those websites seem to be a good (and cheaper) alternative. Browsing through the holiday rentals offered in my area (Hawkesbury) I noticed that some offer linen and towels only to o/s turists and at extra cost per person.
There is already a good idea to cut costs.

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February 27, 2009 - 8:13 am

Thank you, too true!

The human being is a creative creature.
If you muzzle your creativity via some stupid idea that it is "wrong" because some half witted teacher working part time on 30k a year salary wants you to believe he has the answers to your problems, you have something else coming!

Creating is as necessary as eating and finding your vehicle to express such creativity is the only thing that should matter.
Once you found your way of expressing yourself, let it go free and wild and have piti of all those that judge you for it.
They have yet to find their own way and may die before they know they should actualy search for it.

Now think about this: Why is it OK if you have a  hobby that does not make you any money or worst costs you money and it is "wrong" to work in something you enjoy and that makes you heaps of money"?

Answer: Because there is an army of deluded, depressed, castrated underachievers who wasted their life gagged by their teachers, parents, and assorted religious rules and want you to be as miserable as they are in true "crab basket" style.

 

[1WinnerParticipant@1winnerJoin Date: 2004Post Count: 477]

February 27, 2009 - 6:49 am

So what if we are "incredibly wealthy" compared to Timbukto or 100 years ago? This is the old tran-tran pedalled by all religions known. Rich is evil and poor is virtuous. Modern version is rich is spoling the planet, etc. sick of it.

If anyone thinks that wealth can be achieved whilst feeling guilty about it he is deluded. And if anyone thinks that wealth is an objective per se, he is also deluded.
What I find hilarious is that self appointed experts, want others to believe they have this ethical inside of what the wealthy person thinks and what makes him or her tick.

I don't hear anywhere ambition and satisfaction spoken for what it is, the real motivator of most achievement by the human race.
Every single "famous person" you can think of, from the patriots and conquerors of old, to the moguls and champions of any line of business sport or art you can think of are pushed by ambition and search of personal satisfaction.
 
Some people feel motivated to climb Everest, go to the North pole or swim faster than others. Other people are more practical and feel ambitious enough to build factories and employ large number of people. Others ambition takes them to invent, to trade, to build portfolios, to collect antique cars, or make money in many other interesting ways.
 
Then comes the average de motivated depressed lazy moron and wants to pedal the concept that the others have succeeded at his expenses, the environment expense and in general all is wrong but themselves, and meantime go to Centrelink on Thursday and say you can not find work.

Up yours!

No not yours sorry, just an expression 

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February 26, 2009 - 7:11 am

When it comes to asking for approximate cost, I'm afraid you are asking how long is a piece of string.

I use to own a few blocks of flats in Mount Isa. Bought them very cheap, sold them at a killing price just in time.

However I sold them not because I had secret information as to what the market would do, but because I got fed up at being unable to do any repairs let alone improvements due to the lack of builders and tradesman charging less than 10 times what I pay in Sydney.

To rise a wooden house requires experience yet all in all it is an easy job. To build underneath is even easier and you avoid the cost of a roof and possibly foundations.

However this renovation is uncommon because it must be done properly, with council approval and needs coordination and must have carpenter, plumber electrician and bricklayer at the ready.

In other words it must be done by an experienced builder, so there is no point in asking what will it cost to do the plaster or the floor or the jacking up.

And here comes the sticky part. If you have a builder you can trust to do the whole job in time within budged and at a price that is acceptable, the renovation is feasible. If on the other hand you don't have a builder or your builder is unreliable or it charges too much or it will take 12 month because the father of the tiler is in hospital and the electrician cut his finger, you are doomed. Look for something easier unless you are game to do it yourself.

Like I said, it is not hard, I've done it, I have built a 2 story building with cathedral ceiling and rafters 7 meters long and 12 Inc wide by myself and I was over 50 at the time.

Yet I would never say to anyone you can do it. In fact I had carpenters refuse the job.

When it comes to renovations there are two things that matter.

To know within 10% margin how much it will cost and how long it will take

To have access to tradesman that are reliable, and cost effective, be it yourself or another does not matter. In fact there is little advantage in doing it yourself unless you are unemployed. Your opportunity cost will kill you or it will take forever like those people who build their own boat for 20 years and end up selling it for junk and an astronomical loss.

Another way to look at it is as follows. Get a couple of quotes from builders to do the job to lock up stage.

Then muster the local tradesman and get them to quote you for each of their parts. Compare and see if you can do the builder and what are you saving by doing so.

The carpenter is likely to be the more experienced in doing the part of the builder if he is old enough, and will tell you, if you are lucky, who must be called and when.

Good luck and don't be discouraged by what I say. You are likely to do many mistakes the first time, yet you may learn and be able to do it better next time.

Some valuabel information when it comes to renovations can be found herehttp://www.renovateforum.com/index.php

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February 24, 2009 - 10:01 am

If it is still functional, I would keep it and bake bread or pizza or a good roast in it. However you mention rendered the inside ( uhuu) and does its still have it's original door? Do you have room to store firewood? What is the rest of the house like?
I would love to have a wood fire oven in my kitchen.
Having said that I have a brick open fire in my living room and it was so poorly designed that I had to brick it up. Useless. We tried everything to get it to work and I mean everything.
As for you oven it may be a feature you don't want to loose. Make a wodden framed glass door, place a light inside the oven and store plates and glass…or maybe put the cat bed inside?  The soya been germinator? Hum…Pantry for tins and jars?
However if you want to do something special and don't mind spending a few hours of work and a few hundred dollars, here is what you do.
Get yourself a bar fridge, and strip the refrigeration unit out of it.
Make a well fitting frame to the opening, and a double glazed door. Sounds difficult but it is not. We are talking about a tiny puny little door, come on!
Fit the evaporator inside the oven and the compressor under the bench, or outside depending on set up. Seal the flue.
Take the cat bed out of the oven.
You have now a very original bar fridge.
Include some racks to stack white wine and beer in it.

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February 22, 2009 - 8:14 am

We live in an era of fulfillment of dreams.
When I was a kid, people would define an impossible con, one that is so obvious no one can pull it off, in this way:
Sell tinned air or bottle tap water.

When tinned air is something that can be purchased as a holiday souvenir and a bit of a joke, we have been purchasing tap water at  the same price of wine. In fact some go as far as purchasing tap water from Italy or France. Geniuses!
 
Another classic was to say "to tax the air we breathe". Carbon tax does exactly that.

If you add to that the tax on circulation of cars via e-tags, the tax to keep and to withdraw you own money from a bank you have no choise to be placed there by your employer, you have the realisations of dreams that would have made Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, Churchill, Franco and why not Margaret Tatcher's mouth water. I think that only the Pharaoh in Egypt had as much control as governments have over us today. And it is no small wonder that this is achieved through a form of religion.
 Fanaticism and religious zeal, followed by their counterpart, the battle against fanaticism and religious zeal that is in itself another religion, are responsible for almost all wars and human misery in the last 5000 years. Should I point out wich religion caused the demise of people in bush fires this time and all the other times?

And no, we don't learn from our mistakes.
We only refine them.

 

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February 19, 2009 - 8:35 am

Hi bespoke. Renovations or additions for adding value to investment properties is an interesting topic. I have done my share of reno, mostly by myself. I am proud of what I did and I put to shame many carpenters and plasterers and electricians, Joiners and glaziers.

 However when you ask for opinions, make sure you can distinguish between the investor who renovates using a builder or even an architect, paying for every change he makes, and the investor who happens to be a carpenter or handyman and lives in, whilst renovating with his own two hands and some occasional tradesman, and moves out once finished for selling and going to the next place.

I think that since you can no longer trust prices to go up for a while, making money renovating using the services of a builder will be not an easy task. Yet not impossible.

As an example, if you call a company to renovate a bathroom you will spend for a modest renovation $10,000. Yet you can do it by contracting a tiler and a plumber for approximately $6000. However you can also spend $12000 because you contracted that tradesman friend of mine who lives in Lakemba and you will need to do it all over again, therefore $6000 x 2 = 12000 …If the second time you get a tradesman who is from Cabramatta, then it will cost you $18,000 since $6000 x 3 = 18,000.

 Renovating is like any other business. Ask me if one can make money importing technology from the US. I can tell you it is possible, I do! Yet it is also possible to lose a lot of money if you don't know what you are doing. Can you make money farming? What about owning a petrol station?

 Renovating is not different and if you are experienced in all the building areas, you have an advantage.This has always been so, and scores of investors have squandered zillions of money on dodgy Reno and dodgy builders yet still made money only because the steady increase in value cancelled out all those mistakes not because they did not make them.

 Today one factor of money making, the price increase is gone for now, so you are competing with the professional builder. You want to pay him to do his job and add your profit and sell at that price. Not sure how much there will be left unless you paid a pittance and then your profit comes from your good purchase ad not the renovation.

 On the other hand you can do it yourself. So you turn into a builder. Do what you can yourself and contract typically the electrician and plumber.

Can be done even without a license sometimes. Just make sure you know at the end of the day how much you are paying yourself in wages. Add the hours and price them at your opportunity cost and see if you have purchased a job or a business.

If you discover that you can make money by contrcting tradesman to work for you, bingo! you are making money as a builder.

You can advertise and do reno for others and make money without pruchasing any property.

I know of a guy who needed furniture and spent thosands in machinery to set up a workshop and made all his furniture. He recons he saved money, I think he worked untold number of unpiad hours for the satisfaction of a job well done.

Emotions, pride, achievement in an unknown area, the thrill of the challenge all contribute to our responses.

At the end of the day, the investor who considers renovation must factor the cost in as if conducted by a third party. Only then the real picture will show if it is worth it or not.

The example above, of a reno that costed 210 to buy, 75 to renovate is missing the only number that makes it all count. The price of the sale. Since it is not for sale, we will never know and so it is not an example that can be used to decide if renovating is good business proposition or not.

Renovating can be very rewarding or the source of nightmares…yet so can selling insurance or mustering cattle for that matter.

Ouch, I feel bum pain and leg cramps just by thinking of a saddle.

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February 19, 2009 - 7:33 am

I thought you have to live in France in order to be able to pruchase real estate. Did this change? If so when?

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February 19, 2009 - 7:30 am

Oh yes, Calabria, nice place. Love it. Have you ever been there? I mean been as in lived there for more than a day?
I can tell you. It is one of the most dangerous and crime stricken places in Italy. Whoever thinks in buyin there for investment without living in Italy must have his head examined by a specialist.

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February 19, 2009 - 7:25 am

Of course not. How does $950 turned down to $900 "combat poverty" ?
How does a computer per student make an education revolution?
How will sinking the country into billions of debt help the economy?
It is not spending but earning that must be stimulated. Making money, high achievement, success must be promoted, inaction and voluntary unemployment as seen aboundantly in Sydney West, abolished.

Yet we are under an almost totalitarian pseudo socialism with someone at the helm who has no sense of direction and spent his holiday writing an essay against private property and capitalism.
Considering Mao is dead and Castro is not far behind, there is clearly a market there.
Go Kevin go! see who can throw the billions further, you must match your soul mate Old Bamma!