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Real estate investor tips

admin — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 21:25:07 +0000

Becoming a successful real estate investor…!!!

Becoming a successful real estate investor requires being able to find good real estate investment deals and put them together. Your job is not to become an closing attorney, a management expert, or a repair person. Use professionals!

You must learn how to appraise and find the true value of real estate this information will help you make better investment decisions. Realtors, appraisers, and banks determine what a property is worth by looking at comparable sales usually three to five sales of similar property that has recently sold in the same neighborhood. You must be able to do the same.

Getting a list of comparable prices of properties bought or sold (and when it sold) for the neighborhood you need information about, and asking active real estate investors in your area what the market is like will be helpful and making a better investment decision.

What is the ideal market for investing?

There is no such thing as an ideal real estate market for investing. It tends to be more difficult to find bargains in rising markets if the market keeps rising the probability of selling the property quickly for a large profit increases. In contrast but when property values are falling more bargains become available.

You need to be able to assess the true value of properties based on when you expect to sell. Your purchase must be made at a good enough discount to allow for a profitable sale at a later date.
Leverage
Leverage is very important for investors because the less cash you put down on each property the more properties you can buy. If the properties go up in value your rate of return goes up. However if the properties go down in value and you have a lot of debt on the property this can result in negative cash flow.

Since real estate is generally cyclical negative cash flow is only a short-term problem and can be handled if you have other income or a cash reserves. This makes “Nothing down” investing very helpful to protect against negative cash flow for high leverage investor.

If you are a long term real estate investor leverage will work in your favor if the markets in which you invest appreciate in the long run and your income from the properties can pay for most of your monthly debt. Strategies to limit risk
To limit risk become educated in your local real estate market first by understanding the large scale trends from global down to national regional and specific neighborhoods. Learn about target neighborhoods with the help of successful real estate investors in your area along the way.

Real estate investors can help you interpret market indicators such as the average length of time houses have been on the market this month versus last month or last year. With this information it will help you make better investment decisions.
Exit strategies
It is important not to guess the future of a local real estate market you need to have a clear plan in mind when purchasing property. As a real estate investor you must know exactly how you will exit the property before you buy. And have a backup plan or two in case the first course of action doesn’t work. You must know your market and your plan before you begin to invest.

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it

admin — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 10:56:11 +0000

I like maxims and quips. Little phrases that tell a big story. I like the parables in the Bible because a child can say “I get it,” and an aged student can say “Oh… now I get it.” The principle of keeping it simple is a good one for most of life’s situations including trading. And while trading skills are not easy to master, they involve simple principles.

Mastery in most areas of life includes learning to conserve extraneous movement and effort. When it is done right it looks simple and onlookers often say “Well, I could do that.” But the “wanna be” soon finds that it is not as easy as it seems. Trading can be frustrating and discouraging, but when the market seems to get you down and you feel like you will never get it, remember Sean Connery’s famous line, “Impossible, but doable.”

Too often, traders experience real highs and real lows. While the give and take is normal and expected, big swings are usually the result of changing stride or technique inappropriately. Finding your stride or niche can really make the trading life a lot more consistent and smooth and therefore, profitable. Getting to know a few terrific trading stocks rather than collecting all the potential candidates from recommendations and scans begins to overwhelm a trader and changes the rifle shot accuracy to a shotgun splatter.

So, a while back in a Trader Talk Live training a student wrote “- the past 7 days of trading have been absolutely fantastic. I have confirmed again the value of following just a few stocks and getting to learn (as much as possible) their behavior. PD is one of my all time favorites”. She was referring to a principle that is trained in the Trader’s Forge two day trading camp that I conduct once a month. I advise students to build a stable of good trading stocks and get to know them. Pick your favorite 6-10 and back trade them repeatedly. Learn to recognize the patterns of behavior. Does it behave in similar ways around earnings? Does it make clean or sloppy turns? Does it have a tendency to throw certain chart patterns? In doing so, you get a feel for the traders who influence the stock and improve your chances to repeatedly tap that stock for pattern trades.

The patterns we observe are the behavior of people. Key Traders are interacting with various levels of traders, brokers, fund managers and the public. This cast of players is unique in each stock or group of stocks, bonds, commodities etc. Hence, unique patterns develop and that is the key. Instead of flitting around like a butterfly from bush to bush looking for a new flower, you can find certain flowers that keep producing on a regular cycle. You develop a routine and learn the cycle so that you can just stick around and harvest over and over again.

I have a friend who taught me this principle in a dramatic way. He had a very narrow group of stocks that he got to know and not only did he learn the patterns, but he also studied the company’s behavior. He knew how they acted around earnings, what products they were releasing, and how their stock responded to economic news and events. One year alone, he made over $750,000 trading one company. It was interesting to note that others seeing his success always wanted to know, “What’s it going to do next?” Like the children’s story of the Little Red Hen, most fellow traders wanted to cash in on his valuable insight and very few asked him to teach them how to trade like he traded. It was folly to think that if he gave them the information, they would also gain the skill it took to glean the information. That, however, is human nature.

It is the nature of most folks to want to find the easiest way. Most want to find a secret or a magic strategy. A good deal of the GDP of this country is based on selling the sizzle, not the steak. We search for the fountain of youth, the short cut, and the edge so to speak, but in the end one universal constant remains. Working smart is better than working hard. And in the end, the magic is usually finding the key or core of the matter and developing some simple and specialized skills.

If you can find a piece of good ground that can be cultivated and harvested over and over again, you find one of the jewels of trading. The secret of most millionaires is finding a stream of residual income. Patterns are there because people are creatures of habit and the market is just people. With six to ten good pattern trading stocks in the price range you like, there will always be something ready to trade. When you run across a great stock, you can replace the weakest one in your stable and place it on the bench until it warrants taking a position on the starting lineup.

The problems come when a trader chases the latest hot stock or lets their field of vision widen too far. When you find an account size and a group of stocks and a few strategies that work, stick with it!!! And don’t mess with it and Dance with what ‘brung ya’.

I would love to have you spend a couple days with me in the Trader’s Forge. As a trading coach, that is where I can do the most good for you. I train folks in the Trader Talk Live mentoring workshops each week but that training is most beneficial to the folks who have been to the two day training of the Forge. Last week was a terrific training in Tampa. This month is Denver and then on to Detroit.

I hope to see you in the online web training classes held throughout the week and soon in a two day FORGE Trading workshop.

Ryan with Better Trade

Gold, a Hedge Against the Perils of Interesting Times

admin — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 10:40:15 +0000

While paper-based investments and real estate are vulnerable to effects of changing times, gold soars. A precious metals investment may save a portfolio when all else fails.

The old Chinese curse, “may you live in interesting times”, has particular relevance to the current epoch of U.S. history. There’s a lot going on right now, much of it scary. Major investors around the world are responding to the events of our perilous age by sinking their dollars, deutschmarks and yen into gold, silver and palladium; Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, and billionaire speculator George Soros to name but a few. Big financial institutions like the Central Banks of Russia and China are also leaping onto the metals bandwagon driving the price of these precious commodities ever higher.

This is spurring a gold rush not witnessed since the Misery Index years of the 1970s. Many financial experts now view gold in particular as an island of stability in a paper-based investment market growing stormier all the time, a development that bodes well for everyday folks who want to shore up their retirement accounts with a precious metals hedge.

“People the world over are losing faith in politicians, and currencies,” says Marc Lubaszka, President/CEO, World Financial, a highly successful investment firm specializing in precious metals based in Studio City, Calif. “This has resulted in a flight to gold and other precious metals, a storehouse of value for more than five thousand years. Investors are taking their money out of paper assets, and putting it where it is likely to earn a better return in uncertain times.”

Old Reliables Unreliable
Investments once considered as stable as granite are rapidly losing ground, Lubaszka explains. Real estate is but one example. Long praised as a slam-dunk by money gurus, home-buying is no longer viewed as a hurdle-free path to profit. Stratospheric pricing and higher interest rates are putting intolerable pressure on the current housing bubble, factors bound to bust the suds sooner or later and drive the overheated real estate market into deepfreeze.

“The housing bubble will burst rather than gradually deflate, following the rapid and violent pattern of decline of nearly every financial bubble throughout history,” Lubaszka says. “Higher interest rates negatively impact not only the health of the housing market but other economic segments as well. The stock market takes a hit because higher rates make it more costly for companies to pay for debt. Higher rates hurt corporate profit margins and reduce stock value, bad news given the deep debt situation so many companies are in today.”

Paper is Passé
According to Lubaszka, the U.S. dollar has lost more than 80% of its original value since the early 70’s when we went to a floating currency, a situation not helped very much by the debut of the Euro in the late 1990s. Unlike American dollars, a portion of the Euro is gold-backed, a stability feature that has helped it outperform the dollar over the long haul. It is for this reason that many foreign investors have been taking money out of U.S. dollars and putting it into gold and oil instead, one explanation for why the price of both has continued to rise in recent months.

“Gold prices are climbing right now because the Federal Reserve is printing dollars in flood proportions to keep the real estate market afloat,” adds Richard Russell, editor Dow Theory Letters, a stock market trends and securities report published since 1946. “This is creating inflation, which erodes purchasing power. All the world’s central banks are inflating right now, reducing confidence in paper globally and encouraging gold-buying. India and China are spurring gold prices as well. India is the world’s largest gold-consumer, and the Chinese government is actively encouraging its citizens to buy gold.”

All are extremely encouraging signs for gold investors. Over the course of the past 35 years, gold has climbed in value from a modest $35 an ounce to nearly $600. Contrast that with the battered U.S. dollar, a currency currently worth only 20% of its value in 1970.

“When gold peaked-out in the 1970s, interest rates were at an all-time high,” Lubaszka says. “Right now we’re waiting to feel the effects of the last 9 interest rate increases which generally take 6-9 months to begin impacting the economy. Now’s the time to buy gold because when rates go up, downward pressure is exerted on real estate, stocks and bonds and commodities like gold tend to increase. The opposite occurs when rates travel from a high to a low. That’s the time to reduce gold assets and increase the paper part of a portfolio.”

Buy Without Getting Burned
Michelle Henderson, a talent agency owner in Los Angeles, Calif. understands the stakes when it comes to investing. “As an agent I work in a commission-based world, and have to invest in both people and ideas all the time,” she says. “Though I’d had bad experiences with stock investments in the past, I knew I would eventually find something that would work for me. I invested in a diversified metals portfolio made up of palladium, silver and gold, and earned a profit of 38% with the palladium alone. Staying focused on making money, and following World Financials advice, I was able to earn an above-average return and greatly increase the overall value of my assets safely.”

Lubaszka explain, “It’s probably best for the first time investor to begin conservatively by purchasing physical metals instead of gold stocks, which can be very volatile”. According to Clearwater, Fla.-based talk show host and gold analyst, Tom O’Brien, when metals gain 20%, gold equities jump by fifty or sixty per cent. That’s great when it happens but the reverse can occur as well.

Buy gold bars or coins, and put them in a safety deposit box. If you chose to purchase coins from a coin shop, make certain you pay the lowest price possible and that they have a buy back policy. If you elect to go with a broker, fees will be inevitable because you are purchasing a tangible commodity.

There are brokers, and then there are brokers. The best of the breed will answer all questions, and make the process of first-time gold buying less nerve-wracking. Great brokers are also accessible when needed, and quick to call with any new information that affects the value of the investment.

Work with established companies, five years in business is good, ten even better. Don’t bother with firms that badger you with telemarketing offers or apply high-pressure sales tactics. Avoid paying high commissions too. Some brokers have layers of fees, through which they earn more money then they do investing on behalf of customers. There are also companies out there that will not buy metal back. Stay away from them as well.

“Check references and Better Business Bureau ratings”, Lubaszka adds. “Deal with a company that takes an active interest in doing business with you. World Financial, for example, offers a five-star customer satisfaction guarantee. If questions are not answered or we fail to respond to a prospect’s call or email within 24 hours, that person receives a one ounce silver American Eagle coin free of charge. A financial advisor’s job is to ease the investment process, and to insure that customers get the most for their money. Good advisers are merely good, but the best are worth their weight in gold.”

To contact World Financial directly call 818.264.4085. World Financial is the premiere provider of precious metals to investors nationwide. Aside from offering numerous incentive programs, World Financial offers clients the right type of precious metal strategy for every investor’s needs. They are located at 12198 Ventura Blvd Ste 200, Studio City CA, 91604.

Forex has the Advantage

admin — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 19:47:05 +0000

Greetings Fellow Forex Traders,

When it comes to trading in any market, Forex currency trading has a huge advantage over other players in trading business. Firstly, the Forex market has the advantage of time freedom. You see in the 4x market one can trade around the clock from Monday through Friday. In the stock market that is simply not possible since the market closes at 4:00. This advantage of time freedom allows those who have not yet earned enough money trading in the 4x market to maintain their day jobs while trading at night. It is also quite plausible to trade in the morning before a person goes to work. Trading the Forex can become an excellent second job for you.

Unlike the stock market, the currency trading market does not require a trader to pay a commission to place a trade. This will come as a welcome sign of relief to those who have grown accustomed to the vast amount of money they must fork over to their brokers which go towards clearing, exchange and government fees. In the 4x market you also do not have to worry about having a large sum of money in your account to sell your currency pairs. This concept of selling as you may already know is commonly called shorting in the equities world. You can buy or sell at will in the currency trading arena.

It is so amazing to be able to participate in this market right now. You can do so from the comfort of your very own home. As long as you have a computer that is connected to the Internet you are in business. You can begin trading with as little as 300 dollars. I will show you how to turn this 300 dollars into some serious money in no time at all. This should be a lot easier to do given the advantages that you know the 4x market has over its competitors.

The Forex market is traded by some of the world’s richest individuals including Bill Gates and Warren Buffett. You now have access to the same opportunities as they do. What is stopping you from getting on the road to financial freedom. You can start now. You do not have to wait. You have already begun the journey by choosing to educate yourself on the pros of the Forex market.

I personally love the fact that you can trade whenever you want to with the Forex. You see, in the stock trading world you are flagged if you are deemed to be a daytrader. In other words if a trader of stocks chooses to trade every day, he or she must have an account balance of 50,000 dollars to do so. There are no such restrictions when it comes to trading the 4x. If you work at night, you may trade in the daytime. If you work during the day, you may trade at night. You simply trade according to the schedule that works best for you.

I want you to think about money for a moment. Who uses it? The whole world does in some form or another. Another advantage that the Forex market has is that there will always be a need for money. You are simply trading one currency for another in the currency market as the 4x is commonly reffered to. The Forex market is not going anywhere. It is here to stay. The only question is then who will be a part of it. We need money to buy the things we use everyday and so do those who live in the other parts of this world.

Another advantage that 4x has over stocks is the advantage of trading focus. Instead of having to choose between over 4,000 stocks you can deal with 4 main currency pairs. Any good business person knows that focusing on too many things is a recipe for financial disaster and this can hold equally true in the stock market. A stock trader also must grapple with the time issue doing research on all those potential stocks presents. It is also much easier to become familiar with 4 things as opposed to 4,000 things. Focus is the name of the game and 4x trading makes it much easier to do so.

The ball is now in your court. Will you take it and make the decision to win with currency trading? 4x is indeed the winner’s game and those who win consistently know how to play it well.

Much continued success,

The creator of “The 4x Express”

$300 + 10 Minutes a Day = $30,000?!?

admin — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 19:28:47 +0000

We all know the saying, “work smarter, not harder”, but could it actually be possible to work THAT much smarter? Working only minutes a day and replacing, Exceeding your current Income? Don’t worry, Its perfectly legal and people are doing it right this very second around the world!

Its FOREX Trading, and what you don’t know, could be costing thousands of dollars.

Forex stands for Foreign Currency Exchange Market, commonly referred to as FOREX, FX, and 4X. You may be familiar with the stock market, but there are a few reasons Currency Trading can blow Stock Trading right out of the water!

There are 3 Major reasons why Currency Trading can out preform the stock market any day!

There Is a Very low Investment of only $300 dollars needed to start. This is a lower investment when compared to the investment you would make with stocks, futures, or day trading. Of course you can start with something more than $300, but just start where you are, whatever that is and it will grow.

Forex is the most liquid market in the world so it offers a leverage of up to 100:1. The Stock Market offers 1:1 and and Futures 15:1. This gives your money awesome room to grow and gain even more leverage!

The Forex Market Open 24 hours a day and has a trading volume of almost 2 Trillion dollars a day. This makes the market trend well and technical analysis works pretty well too. You can focus your attention and analysis on one or two pairs of currency instead of the 40,000+ stocks in the Stock Market.

The Forex market is open 24 hours, can be accessed anywhere in the world with an internet connection, and can be the ultimate tool for building wealth. Make money working 10 minutes a day, or a few hours a day. Work day or night, and make money while the market is up or down. The Forex is flexible and can fit around anyones schedule!

Not sure you want to risk that $300? Gain the experience you need by playing around with a free demo account, then when you feel ready open your first account and start building your wealth! What do you have to lose ?

Best Wishes

Maranda Mann