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3 Hot Tips For Investing In Rental Properties

Choosing the right investment property, especially for a newbie investor, can sometimes seem to be a daunting task. But choosing the right investment property can also be a challenge for seasoned investors. There are three things I look for when choosing an investment property: long term growth potential, tenant “attractability”, and cost of ownership.

Long-Term Growth Potential

Most investors are taught that the cheaper the property, the better. This is only partially true. Your main focus for every long-term rental property should be appreciation, or the amount the property will increase over time. Appreciation is much more important than purchase price. The amount the property increases over time should be substantially more than any profits made from the buy. Because appreciation is much more important than purchase price, there are great potential investment properties in every market. So to sum this up in one short phrase, never buy an investment property without being confident that it will appreciate substantially.

Tenant “Attractability”

The type of home you purchase will attract a particular type of tenant. Upscale properties attract upscale tenants, and vice versa. It seems like common sense, but it is an absolute must when looking for the right investment property. You want to avoid properties that attract potential tenants who have financial distress or appear desperate. Invest in the properties that fit into your budget, but that also will attract the best possible tenants.

Cost of Ownership

There is ALWAYS a cost of ownership. As with anything you purchase, your property will endure wear and tear over time. The more upfront homework you do will have a great effect on just how much wear and tear your property endures. Choosing the right tenant, for example, will have an affect on wear and tear. The design of the interior of the house will also determine how much your cost of ownership will be affected. Tight, narrow layouts will suffer more damage than open layouts, for example. Tenants with children will typically cause more wear and tear to the property than those without. Also, flat paints needs more care than gloss or semi-gloss. Many things on the interior and exterior of a home have a predictable shelf-life. Do your homework and calculate these things upfront and it will save you tenfold on the back.

Understand that long term growth potential, cost of ownership, and tenant “attractability” will greatly affect the success of your rental portfolio. These three factors should be considered carefully before investing in any real estate property.…

Investment Bonds – An Important Option to Any Investor Today

If every story comes with a moral, the story of how we have invested our funds over the past 10 years has this one lesson to teach us: that you can’t just put all your money in stocks alone. This wasn’t the way things always worked. The general understanding not long ago was that if you bought stocks and held onto them for long enough, over the long run, they would actually perform far better than bonds ever did. And they did that with no more than the same amount of risk that bands came with. Financial advisors told their clients to only choose investment bonds if they needed somewhere safe to park their funds for a short period of time. Over the long run, the always felt that stocks won out.

As we all know though, stocks have managed to do particularly poorly over the last two years the of the last decade. It was so bad, the 2000’s compare with one or two of the worst investment decades since the great depression. In a time when the US economy is somewhat troubled, putting all your money in stocks is easily too risky a gamble to take. Anyone who invests for a reasonable period of time needs to consider buying fixed income securities as the kind of stabilizer for their portfolio.

Of course, when chosen as an investment, bonds call for some kind of scaling back of any ambition. Still, it doesn’t have to be as bad as it appears. Studies that compare portfolios devoted to treasury bonds to portfolios that are divided equally between investment bonds and shares find that the one with the bonds only earn about 2% less a year. This isn’t that much of a hit to take for all the security they bring you.

There’s just one problem in all this, of course; investment bonds may be a safe is a place to park your money. But when there is little risk involved in an investment, the interest paid is usually quite paltry. Add to that the fact that there are millions of investors around the country who are anxious to place their money in sound debt, and you begin to see why the government has no interest in raising the rates of return on investment bonds. If you’re wondering what sound debt is, consider what bonds really are – they are loans you make to the government in return for an IOU. You are selling debt to the government; since the US government is the most reliable borrower on earth, with vast funds to back any IOU up with, any debt made out to the US government is considered really sound. And that is so even if the US has borrowed staggering sums of recent. U.S. Treasury bonds pay 0.2% on bonds that you are allowed to cash in six months. Those are pretty low rates.

Investors do have a problem with how paltry their returns are with government investment bonds. But they are willing to take that if the alternative they have is in regular stocks that can tank like they did three years ago. If you wish to experiment with other kinds of investment bonds, make sure that you don’t choose anything to do with mortgages – like Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. The housing crisis is still about and dealing in corporations that are affected can’t be a smart investment move.…

Why Should Dubai Marina Be Your First Choice for Investing in Dubai Real Estate?

It is needless to discuss the current performance level of Dubai properties sector as everyone knows that it has not been at its best. According to current statistics, regional tourist activity has increased and it is a fact that not a single trip to Dubai is complete without visiting or staying in Dubai Marina. Due to a number of reasons, this community holds a great appeal for both investors and tenants. Dubai Marina to Dubai is what Venice to Italy – undoubtedly, a premium choice of living. Let’s review what other reasons make this the ultimate living choice for investors and tenants.

DubaiMarina is all about premium location and chic lifestyle

With its upmarket and modish communal lifestyle, nestled among high-rise buildings located along Persian Gulf, Dubai Marina is the most desirable community in Dubai. A large number of shopping avenues, a variety of al fresco dining options and a plethora of entertainment options entice buyers and tenants alike to spend more and more time there. The community was developed with a vision to create an awe inspiring city within city that offers the most urbane, modern and invigorating lifestyle. This all has been successfully achieved by finely diffusing high quality, infrastructure and the best location in Dubai to make Dubai Marina properties the ultimate choice for tourists, tenants and local residents.

DubaiMarina infrastructure

Dubai Marina’s broad and comprehensive infrastructure sets itself above and apart from all the high end communities in Dubai and other high end communities of Abu Dhabi or Ajman real estate. It is the world’s largest man made marina having extensive transport facilities including metro station, tram network and water transport station. Other than this, it offers a plethora of dining options, retail outlets, yacht club and its very own shopping mall – Dubai Marina Shopping Mall. The famous ‘Marina Walk’ is also located within it. One of the greatest advantages of living in any community style development in it is that inhabitants can find everything at a walking distance, be it a salon, grocery shop, laundry service, beach club or your favourite restaurant. Living in it is certainly a privilege. Most of the residential developments in this come with a number of facilities such as gyms, swimming pools and recreation decks. The quality may slightly vary from building to building.

Stable and secure investment

Investing in Dubai is always profitable as compared to investing in Abu Dhabi or Ajman real estate. Previous figures and earlier stats indicate that investment in it is one of the most stable and the securest form of investment in Dubai real estate sector. Even when the property market was slow, properties in Dubai Marina were selling like hot cakes. It won’t be wrong to say that it is once in a lifetime opportunity to buy properties in Dubai Marina and sell it at higher price when market will go up or enjoy steady return in form of rental amount. During hard times, when landlords were unable to find serious landlords, the occupancy rate in Dubai Marina was noticeably high.

Along with these world class facilities, 24 hours high alert security is also provided to residents. These all and several other options make it, the first choice for investing in Dubai real estate.…

Avoiding Bad Investment Firms

The sort of investment firm that you will want to avoid is the one that offers you lots of value. Value can be measured by how well your investment performs as well as how much it costs to obtain the investment. A lousy firm will offer you inferior investment vehicles and charge you an arm or an a leg to utilize them. Most of the problems with investment brokers arise when they pay their representatives commissions on the products they sell. Too many conflicts of interest arise and can make you get less than you would have at a more reputable firm.

Don’t be fooled by those that bill themselves as financial planners or financial consultants. It is likely the case that they work on commission and they are just trying to get you to invest as much as you can as many times as you can. This is because the more your investment is worth, and the more transactions you rack up, the more they earn in commission fees. They are in fact investment salespeople. They probably work for a large brokerage firm

All good investments can be bought on a no-load basis which means you don’t pay any commission fees. When you are working with a salesperson rather than a proper advisor there is no way you will get unbiased investment advice, unless they are trying to get fired or are your personal friend. A no-load mutual fund is a prime example of an investment that can be bought without paying a commission. Find an advisor that can recommend one of these to you and has no problem performing the transaction for you.

If you find that you’re unsure about any investment vehicle that is presented to you, and even if you are sure, you’ll want to request a copy of the prospectus. On one of the first pages it will list whether or not the investment involves any sort of commission that’s paid. It might be called a load. While the salesperson might be able to use a title and clever phrasing to disguise whether a fee is paid, the prospectus is required to have it stated simply and clearly.

The range of investment commissions varies widely. That’s why it’s hard to know who you can trust and who you can’t when it comes to investment advice. When you go to get advice from brokers, consultants, and financial planners you should have an idea of what they make. If you have $20,000 to invest and choose an annuity they’ll get around $1,400. If you choose to go with a load mutual fund they will get $1,200. This gives them a big incentive to put you into these sort of products and not charge by the hour.…

Real Estate Investing – Should You Become a Landlord?

In investing there is an adage that says you can make either a fast nickel or a slow dime. Deciding to invest in long term rentals is the slow dime approach to real estate investing. Many investors are afraid of becoming a landlord because they have heard horror stories of calls at midnight from tenants to come and fix a leaky toilet. That is enough of a reason to convince people to not be a landlord. Here are some things you should consider before deciding if you want to be a landlord.

The first step is to make sure that you purchase your investment property at a decent price. A decent price is defined as a price that has a mortgage payment much less than what you can reasonably expect to receive in rent payments. If you monthly expenses are going to exceed your monthly income, you will not be a new landlord for long because you will be broke. You will also need to account for taxes and insurance each month when you calculate your expenses. If you are able to purchase a property at a decent price then you have a chance to be a successful landlord.

Getting a property at a decent price should be fairly easily for an investor who spends the time searching for properties. Once you have located a potential property, you need to ask yourself if you think you are cut out to be a landlord. A landlord is expected to be in contact with their tenants when they have maintenance requests and when you need to collect rent each month. This requires you to have very strong people skills and the willingness to go after a tenant when they owe you money. If you do not have the temperament to deal with tenants then you should consider a different line of business instead of becoming a landlord.

If you get to this point then you have found a good property and you know that you have the necessary people skills to deal with tenants. The last step is to determine whether or not you have the technical ability to handle repairs. Some people are great at fixing anything that breaks but others do not have this ability. If you are unable to handle the necessary repairs then you will have to pay a professional to do them. This can be expensive and you have to account for this as part of your monthly expenses.

Renting a property can be a very profitable business. Before you decide to invest in real estate, make sure you are cut out to be a landlord.…

Does a wood fence last a long time? Wooden Fences are the perfect way to keep your yard stylish and secure while protecting your privacy. Wooden fences are affordable. They are relatively cheap in comparison to other materials like metal. The installation process is typically easy and errors can be fixed quickly. However, the longevity of wooden fences is often the concern of home/landowners. What many persons do not know is that wooden fences are also durable. With proper care, the lifespan of wooden fences can be extended.

 

The question frequently asked when considering wooden fences is, does a wooden fence last a long time? The average wooden fence lasts for approximately 15 years. However, a wooden fence that is properly taken care of can last 20 years or more. Some fences may last significantly longer than others as the lifespan often depends on several different factors. Before opting for a wooden fence, climate and weather conditions should be considered. Wooden fences last longer in weather conditions that are not extreme. Too much exposure to UV rays, wind, rain, and cold, damp weather makes the fence more susceptible to damage.

 

Nevertheless, wooden fences are an excellent choice to beautify and protect your space. There are many different styles of fences to choose from. Whatever your choice may be, whether the extremely private board and board fence or the top-selling cedar privacy fence, fences can last a long time with adequate care. The initial setup might be costly but overtime wooden fences cost less because of their durability.

 

The longevity of wooden fences is dependent on the material used, how well it was installed and the care it receives. Taking care of a wooden fence involves giving it much attention.

 

A wooden fence that is neglected will deteriorate. The most important thing to consider is wood. Wooden fences being a cheaper option does not necessarily mean buying the cheapest material. Some materials are cheap for a reason. These tend not to be up to par. It is important to consider both quality and cost when purchasing wood, nails, screws, and other materials to complete the fencing. Another thing to avoid is installing the fence yourself if you are not experienced. 

 

Many people opt to do home improvements themselves because it is more cost-effective. However, that might not be the best idea when it comes to wooden fences. It is best to have this work done by professionals to make sure it is properly done and capable of lasting longer. Pressure-treating fence posts is another important preparation method to ensure a long-lasting fence. Since fence posts are constantly in contact with the ground, they need to be pressure treated with chemicals to prevent damages from water and bugs.

 

Pressure-treating the wood protects it from termites and fungal decay. The other boards that are above ground do not need pressure treatment. It is also important to stain your fence. However, you should wait at least a year after installation to stain or paint. This is to ensure the chemicals used on the wood is all dried out so the paint or stain does not trap moisture in the wood. Invest in a good stain that can last 5-10 years to avoid having to redo it every year. Fences should be inspected yearly and all repairs on boards, nails, hinges, etc must be professionally done. Small damages can exacerbate if left unattended so make sure to keep up with repairs. Also, trim bushes or vines away as these add weight and attract moisture which can cause the fence to rot and break. Wooden fences should be cleaned and repainted or resealed every 3-5 years. So the answer to the question, does a wood fence last a long time is yes. A wooden fence that is well taken care of can last almost a lifetime.

 …

“US Economy Will Collapse Within 36 Months” Say Hedge Fund Manager and How to Protect You From It

When I meet a hedge fund manager I always try to ask as many questions about their economy as possible. They have the best research team working for them and you always learn something interesting. What a Hong Kong based manager fund of funds manager, a global macro strategy specialist, with millions dollars asset under management, told me was a bit shocking. He predicted a collapse of the American economy within three years! Here are his arguments and the things he’ll do to protect himself from it.

-The American debt is raising every day

America’s national debt is 14 trillion dollars. If you don’t know what a trillion is that’s 14,000,000,000,000 dollars. And the U.S. national debt will grow to over $20.3 trillion by 2019. The current administration doesn’t want to cut the spending because they are counting on that to be popular. When I was discussing with a Honk Kong based hedge fund manger he even told me that it’s unlikely things would radically change if a new conservative candidate is elected in 2012. He said that G.W. Bush spent a lot while in office and governments just don’t know how to get re-elected without spending a lot to please voters. So it’s likely the US government won’t stop spending until the dollar fails.

-The FED has surpassed China as the leading holder of US treasury securities:

What does it mean? It means that America is basically borrowing from itself and is borrowing a lot. Not a really good idea to borrow from yourself when you’re broke.

-Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac still exist

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, both government-sponsored enterprises, were major causes in the subprime crisis. Following Washington orders, they spent billions to loan to low-income families. As we all know the results were disastrous. However, believe it or not, politicians did nothing to eliminate them. With Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac still operating another major crisis will occur said the manager.

How to protect yourself from a collapse?

Own other currencies:

The Swedish Krona, the Swiss franc and the Hong Kong dollar are among the best currency to own right now. That’s because these countries are controlling their spending and have a solid economy.

Own Hong Kong or Singapour based companies stock:

Hong Kong and Singapour are two of the wealthiest and economically healthiest places in the world. Invest here is pretty safe and allows you to have a diversified portfolio.

Own gold:

Gold is what you want to have when a crisis occur. Owning gold protects you from a fall of the dollar value because it’s a universal form of payment.

Is there any hope? The manager I met told me that only one candidate could stop the crazy spending: Ron Paul. Results of the recent straw polls are encouraging. Let’s hope American voters will make the right choice in 2012.…

Active Or Passive Investment Management: The Pros And Cons

An ongoing argument in many investment circles is whether to take an active approach where you pick and choose which securities to buy and sell based on a fundamental, technical and other types of research, or whether you should take a passive approach where you stick with an Index and follow that passively, most often through an exchange traded fund (ETF) or an Indexed Mutual Fund.

There are some very compelling arguments for each management type, which we look at here. The bottom line, however, is that both require active monitoring but often for different reasons.

Active Management

In an actively managed investment portfolio, the investor will pick and choose which funds in which to invest. These portfolios clearly involve a lot more work for the investor given the amount of market and specific security research that will go into deciding which securities to hold, but the test of success will often get measured against an index, such as the S&P 500. For this reason, active portfolio managers will often be sure to incorporate many of the index’s bigger names in order to provide several key, core holdings.

The management of actively managed portfolios is intensive as well and it requires considerable discipline. Since the success of any portfolio is often attributed to one’s asset mix, making sure higher growth assets are trimmed at times when it might “feel” better to let them ride is not an easy decision. And knowing what to do with the excess capital once those positions have been trimmed is not so easy, either. With active management, you are a lot more active.

Passive Management

Although passive management implies that an investor puts money into and index fund and leaves the portfolio alone for thirty years or however long one decides, this is not the case. For passive investors, there will always the matter of rebalancing their overall portfolio so that they are not overexposed to one asset class or another. However, the bigger risk is investing in the wrong index. So while passive investment management means eliminating the need to pick individual securities, it does not let the investor completely off the hook. Given the sheer number of equity indexes out there, figuring out which one works best and at which time (remember, they are still equities) is the tough decision.

In other words, the analysis and decision making remains, even with index investors, but the scope and type of analysis is quite different. In some ways, it could be easier, but the investor will likely take a more macro view of which segment or index is likely to perform well.

For investors that really want to be passive, sticking with a broad index, like the S&P 500 index, can certainly make sense. However, with the returns such a broad index has returned compared to others, it may make more sense to get into an actively managed mutual fund instead, where security selection is looked after and where many have returned much better than the index.

Summary

Deciding whether to be an active or passive investor is not an easy decision. Both require a fair degree of discipline and at least some time to monitor the progress and performance of the portfolio. Working with a professional planner is often the best solution in both instances.A�…

Here Are My Top 5 Stock Market Investment Tips

If you’re looking for stock market investment tips keep reading because today I am going to give you my top 5 tips. Here are my top 5 stock market investment tips.

A� The market pays you to be disciplined – Trading with discipline is an absolute must, it will allow you to put more money into your pocket than you take you. At the end of the day the one constant truth concerning the markets is discipline = money.

A� Always lower your trade size when you’re trading poorly – All good traders follow this rule. If you have two losing trades in a row lower your trade size down to a one lot. If your next two trades are profitable, then move your trade size back up to what it was originally.

A� Never turn a winner into a loser – I am sure that you have made this mistake before. What we are really talking about here is greed. The market rewards you by moving in the direction of your position, you hold on in hopes of making a larger gain only to watch the market turn against you. Of you course you now hesitate and the trade further deteriorates into a substantial loss. There is no need to be greedy, it is only one trade, you’ll make many more so relax. One trade should not make or break your performance for the day. So don’t be greedy.

A� Your biggest loser can’t exceed your biggest winner – Keep a log of all your trades for the session. Take note of your biggest winner and do not allow a losing trade to exceed it. If you do allow a loss to exceed your biggest gain then effectively what you have is a net loss of the two trades. Not a good idea.

A� Develop a methodology and stick with it, don’t change methodologies from day to day – Write down the specific market prerequisites that must take place in order for you to make a trade. It doesn’t necessarily matter what the methodology is but it is important that you have a set of rules, market setups or price action that must appear in order for you to make the trade. You must have a game plan. If you have a proven methodology but it doesn’t seem to be working in a trading session don’t go home that night and try to devise another one. If your methodology works more than one-half of the time stick with it.

These are the best stock market investment tips I can give you, if you need more money…

Axis Mutual Fund Income Saver Fund

Mutual fund is one of the best way to save money. Different companies provide different schemes to save money in various ways. Axis Mutual Fund is a great organization and currently offers income saving fund.

Objective of the fund:

The main objective of the fund is to be an income fund which would provide regular income for a short period of time. The time duration would depend on the period the customer chooses to invest in. The Major portion of the money that is collected from the investors is invested in the money market securities as well as in the debt market. Consequently, a kind of regular income is generated from the fund not only in the form of dividend payments but also in the form of coupon payments.

In this kind of fund, a small portion of money is invested in the equity market as well, so as to get some derivative products. This in turn can help to generate capital appreciation in some form or the other. This is again done in order to get a regular income for the regular investors or the payouts by means of majority of the investment in the bonds, debt as well as the money market.

Minimum Investment:

The minimum amount that can be invested in the scheme for the regular income is about Rs 5000. Consequently, it can be invested in the multiples of Re 1. There is absolutely no entry load. On the other hand, there is an exit load of about 1% if the scheme is redeemed within 1 year right from the date of allotment.

How to invest?

If you are interested in investing such a scheme, then you can view the details in various websites. You can find the instructions regarding the mode of investment in the income saver fund. These websites also helps you to invest in the schemes online.…