Archive for January, 2010
Real Ads!!
Posted by: | CommentsSeeing it’s Friday
Braille dictionary for sale. Must see to appreciate.
FOR SALE BY OWNER: Complete set of Encyclopedia Britannica. 45 volumes. Excellent condition. $1,000.00 or best offer. No longer needed. Got married last weekend. Wife knows everything.
Help wanted, singer for rock band. Must be female or male.
Wanted: Part-time married girls for soda fountain in sandwich shop.
Man wanted to work in dynamite factory. Must be willing to travel.
Christmas sale. Handmade gifts for the hard-to- find person.
Wanted, man to take care of cows that does not smoke or drink.
Three-year old teacher needed for pre-school. Experience preferred.
Wanted. Widower with school-age children requires person to assume general housekeeping duties. Must be capable of contributing to growth of family.
Tired of working for only $9.75 per hour? We offer profit sharing and flexible hours. Starting pay: $7 — $9 per hour.
Full sized mattress. 20 year warranty. Like New. Slight urine smell.
Joining nudist colony! Must sell washer and dryer $300.
Exercise equipment: Queen Size Mattress & Box Springs – $175.
ALZHEIMER’S CENTER PREPARES FOR AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER.
Free Yorkshire Terrier: 8 years old. Hateful little dog.
Free puppies: ½ cocker spaniel, ½ sneaky neighbor’s dog.
Free puppies: part German Shepherd, part stupid dog.
German Shepherd, 85 lbs. Neutered. Speaks German. Free.
Cows, calves never bred…also 1 gay bull for sale.
Nice Parachute – Never opened. Used once.
1 man, 7 women hot tub. $850/offer.
Stay Happy!! Dean Letfus
The Ethical Investor
Brave New World 2010
Posted by: | CommentsPERSONAL UPDATE BY DEAN LETFUS
Welcome to 2010 everybody. This is my first newsletter for the year and I’m not sure whether to laugh or cry. Things are unfolding exactly as I thought and said they would which means good things for educated investors but much pain and sadness for many. The good thing is that it will cause us to pursue those things that really matter I hope, our passions, our loves and our dreams. So in the midst of the storm, make sure you know who’s got their hand on your rudder 
Stay Inspired and Stay Safe ~ Dean
The Ethical Investing Strategist
PROPERTY UPDATE BY DEAN LETFUS
Well my 12 month programme is over subscribed and I received 2 more applications today! (I’m considering a second group so let me know urgently if you would be keen to join the year of unprecedented success ) The feedback from our first webinar has been most humbling. I only teach what I do but it seems to be revelatory to many.
One of my new students rung me just to say he feels like a drug addict as he starts looking at property he is so excited.
It’s funny, when it comes to property there is no secret bullet, as Yoda would say “There is just do or not do”. I rely on Trademe for my main source of leads and this week I showed my students how easy it can be to uncover deals when I emailed an agent about a property I had identified as potential through keyword searches on Trademe. After emailing the agent he replied back to arrange viewing and in his email offered long term settlement and vendor finance from the owner. I didn’t know this agent at all and I hadn’t even met him yet or seen the property.
I see this sort of thing happen every week because I keep doing the same things, simple things well. If I spent all my time trying to find some secret system I would never develop the skills to execute simple things effectively. I see people spending big money on fancy search software and I always wonder what they need it for. I find more deals on Trademe than I can ever follow up, for FREE!!. What would I want more information for??
I suspect that this year you will see the looney idea brigade out in force again so remember to engage brain before opening wallet and if it doesn’t have a genuine 100% money back guarantee don’t do it.
THIS year is the year to make money out of good old fashioned smart real estate investment and trading.
And in a similar vein I met a man today who is doing something simple but very effectively. I am going to offer his services to my mentoring clients in 2 weeks. It makes selling at valuation easy and buying with no money down as simple as tying your shoe laces.
My new friend simply took a concept and refined it till he produced a magnificent opportunity that will enable people to buy much more property than they could without his company. What is it?? Well I feel terrible doing this but it is only being offered to my mentoring students so if I told you I’d have to kill you and then you couldn’t read my newsletters
FINANCE UPDATE BY KRIS PEDERSEN
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Kris Pedersen
Finance Strategist
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Happy New Year!!
I hope everyone has had a good break and is raring for a productive and positive 2010. Property cycles generally are tied in quite closely with finance cycles meaning that as finance criteria gets more relaxed the market activity tends to increase and the opposite occurs when credit is tightened. While there isn’t any major signs of investment finance criteria relaxing at the moment one positive is that finance for owner occupied properties is definitely freeing up.
If you are wanting to get into the property market and have a smallish deposit in some occasions it may be better to look at getting your own home first as you will be more likely to obtain the funding for it. Give me a bell if you wish to discuss this in relation to your position in greater detail.
MINDSET SCIENCE BY DEAN LETFUS
It was refreshing to meet a like minded individual today who shared my passion for personal development and who admitted his faults so easily.
He has been very rich and very poor more than once and unlike many was able to identify his core issues, which is essential to any long term change.
I asked him what had happened and he simply said:
“Dean, the problem was the money just came too easy. Suddenly I was loaded and I didn’t know how to behave or to appreciate what a gift it was.
I would say that he discovered that his character couldn’t keep up with his circumstances and that is a huge lesson to learn. The fact is that we only develop personally through adversity. Now I can hear the Law Of Attraction and The Secret advocates getting their hackles up already but I have seen too many people screw themselves over through a lack of character and invariably they have had a lack of problems in their lives. The Secret is that we can’t attract good things to ourselves unless have the personal capacity to receive it and contain it. And THAT comes through fun stuff like pain, self control, perseverance, honesty when it costs us and integrity no matter what!!
I remember meeting a young man about 3 years ago at a dinner who “had it all” and a month later he was dead. This guy was seriously loaded, dating models, driving Lambo’s. When we spent an evening together it was obvious that he was a gifted businessman and entrepreneur but also very shallow. His money had come too easy and when something went wrong, nobody knows what, he ended his life. Tragic but too common.
I’m sharing this with you to encourage you to look at the adversity in your life as an opportunity to dig deeper into who you really are and grow. I have a song I love that talks about this. The lyrics say:
I knew all the answers
The way my life should go
And when I used to say my prayers
I would tell God so
It seemed He wasn’t listening
I thought He didn’t care
But lookin’ back
It’s plain to see
He was always there
‘Cause I prayed for strength
And I got pain that made me strong
I prayed for courage
And got fear to overcome
When I prayed for faith
My empty heart brought me to my knees
I don’t always get what I want
I get what I need
I’m not sayin’ that it’s easy
Or that it doesn’t hurt
When nothing seems to go my way
Nothing seems to work
These days I’m getting better
At goin’ with the flow
Accepting that sometimes the answer
To a prayer is no
‘Cause I prayed for strength
And I got pain that made me strong
I prayed for courage
And got fear to overcome
When I prayed for faith
My empty heart brought me to my knees
I don’t always get what I want
I get what I need
Every time I’ve had a door slammed in my face
In time a better one was opened in its place
I prayed for strength
And I got pain that made me strong
I prayed for courage
And got fear to overcome
When I prayed for faith
My empty heart brought me to my knees
I don’t always get what I want
I get what I need
Oh I don’t always get what I want
I get what I need.
I pray for you this year that you get what you need so you can contain what you want!!
Affordable (cough) housing
Posted by: | CommentsI have commented on this often but I see our media once again trumpeting the evil investor and landlord as teh cause of unaffordable housing. So once again here are some real facts without any spin to explain why housing is likely to remain somewhat unaffordable.
1. Consider the following:-
- The median section cost in 1992 was $71,000 and reached a high median of $480,000 range (there were months where distortions took the median price as high as $750,000 but I choose to ignore those months).
- Section prices went up a staggering 676% at their peak.
- Today with median section value at $322,000 that represents an increase of 453% since 1992.
- Houses by comparison rose some 330% ($160,000 to $528,000).
- What that means is that somewhere between $250,000 and $400,000 of the increased cost of homes is due to land increases (only $118,000 or thereabouts, is due to increased cost of materials and labour).
- Even if the use of medians distorts the exact position, the picture represents what is happening is accurate.
- In 1992 the introduction of GST caused median household incomes to drop to $32,800
- Household income (before tax) has doubled, houses (after tax) more than trebled.
- The median sale price of a home (new) is $528,000 of which $58,700 is GST.
- To develop a section you will pay the council somewhere between $20-90,000 in levy fees ,contributions and environmental compliance costs.
- Holding costs accrued from delays due to the inefficient resource management act add significantly to the increase.
- The monthly cost on a $100,000 mortgage to pay all these taxes is $640 and will use the first $10, 900 of the average household income of $67,800.
- It is an outrage committed by stealth upon the public generally.
The current approach has been to abuse the user pays philosophy and tax the new homes via levies to fund the infrastructure.
Major components in the increased costs are as a result of land rationing, excessive amenity requirements, excessively expensive infrastructure fees and approval processes and a general increase in inflation – Are these factors reversible? I doubt it!
- The majority of Australians taking advantage of negative gearing was in the $40-80,000 pa. tax bracket.
- Negative gearing encouraged private investment in rental housing, without which rental yields would be prohibitively low and cause investors to quit the market.
- Negative gearing helped place a lid on rental pressure by increasing the stock of rental housing and taking pressure off rents.
- Removal of negative gearing as occurred under the Hawke-Keating government in the 1990’s would immediately lead to an exodus of investment in rental housing causing rental shortage and rapid rise in rents (the Hawke-Keating government rapidly reversed their decision).
- Removal of negative gearing in today’s climate, especially given greater land shortages and higher development costs would have a dramatic impact on the rental housing market.
- I am confident the above would be broadly similar and apply in New Zealand.
Home ownership will become the province of those with above average wealth, or those with parents who can help. Dependency on rental housing will increase and future generations of Kiwi’s will not be able to aspire to own a home of their own and will suffer from rising rental costs.
I have yet to see Tax/Levy reductions and have no belief that they will come about. Conversely, there is no lack of example of increases – often indirectly. The local and national governments will not relax land supply and neither will the cost of raw land or development cost of that land fall.
Stay Inspired and Stay Safe ~ Dean Letfus
The Ethical Investor
I’m excited about this!
Posted by: | CommentsIt’s amazing to watch in my life time the world go from a place where it could cost a lot of money to get information to a world where we are in constant overload.
I clearly remember getting my first Encyclopedia and spending hours searching through the pages discovering new facts about people and places. Photos of other countries streets and towns would mesmerise me because I’d never seen anything like it ever in my life.
Today I can not only research any nation online I can literally go and look at it in full colour thanks to Satellite technology.
And then I could go and become friends with people in that nation via social media and directly interact with their culture.
Truly Amazing how technology is changing our lives.
Similarly I can find details on the internet about companies and people that were simply impossible to access a few years ago
So I’m excited today because there is a new technology tool available for property investors in New Zealand that not only gives you complete sales history and ownership information on every property in New Zealand, it also allows you to track when a property is listed for sale or sold and whether it has any debt on it. It creates enormous leverage for investors and has previously only been available to the real estate industry.
I’m running a free webinar to demonstrate it Wednesday evening and invite you to join me if you have any interest in making money out of New Zealand Property. Click HERE to register!!
This year was already shaping up well for investors so being able to add full Real Estate Data in real time to our toolbox just rocks
Stay Inspired and Stay Safe ~ Dean Letfus
The Ethical Investor
I love my job!!
Posted by: | Comments
This week I have been full on with initial consults for my current mentoring client intake. And I get to work with the most amazing people!! Many of us are looking for solutions for our retirement and working in jobs we don’t like so it is exciting to get to assist people in changing that.
The sad thing I notice is just how many people end up in jobs or industries they don’t like. I guess as people we too often allow life to steer us instead of the other way round.
I know for me I ended up in printing because my dad and older brother were. I sometimes think of 5 or 10 years ago and what I was doing then and just can’t believe I did what I was doing.
I now get to do what I love and all it took was a thought and then a decision for things to be different. Everything else flowed from that one thought: “There must be a better way”
Once I decided that there was a better way, all I had to do was find it!
So what about you today. Are you really happy? I hope you are but if you aren’t you can start the process of change with a thought.
Thinking about this may be a new experience for you but if you want more of God/life/money/passion/time/fill in the blank, you will have to decide that you’re going to have it before anything will change.
There’s a sobering thought for a Friday
Stay Inspired and Stay safe ~ Dean Letfus
The Ethical Investor
Make a new plan Stan
Posted by: | Comments
My blogs this week have certainly caused a flurry of response from professionals confirming my opinion that the real carnage is coming in the business sector this year. Add the ridiculous tax proposals on the table and it’s going to be an exciting ride .
So in addition to my advice of yesterday what should we be doing??
Well firstly we have to get clear in our minds that we are not the cause of anothers misfortune and life happens to everybody.
If we start feeling guilty about everybody else we are kicking in emotions that will cripple our ability to make wise decisions.
Secondly we need to be clear on what we are wanting to achieve in the next 12 months and plan to achieve it.
And thirdly we need to remember that right now is a creative investors payday. Deals with no money, your price AND terms, “think outside the box you can have it” time.
And remember, as I have been telling my webinar clients and my mentoring students, it’s not hard to be a smarter investor than 99% of the country. Apply yourself to getting some skills and you can cream the opposition
Stay Inspired and Stay Safe ~ Dean Letfus
The Ethical Investor
Domino’s anyone??
Posted by: | Comments
So yesterday after my blog Independent Magazine Distributors went under as did a South Island preschool chain. Hill & Stewarts demise is also a cost cutting/survival exercise. Expect more of this as the domino’s start to fall this year.
You all know my views on the opportunity this creates for investors but let’s look briefly at what else should be on our minds if we are wage and salary earners.
1. Be the best darned employee in the company. Companies will continue to down size this year, make sure you are on the bottom of the redundancy list. Be early, volunteer for the cr*p jobs and make your self as indispensable as possible.
2. Most of us can see flaws in a business. In fact get into the lunchrooms of lots of companies and you could be forgiven for thinking that all the staff had PHD’s in business management. But if you do actually have ideas that might help your employers bottom line, write them down and give them to the boss. This is an opportunity to do everything you can to ensure your current income source survives. Do whatever it takes. If there’s stealing going on report the culprits. If it’s you STOP IT!! Gross inefficiencies in the next office/department/plant?? Tell senior management.
I remember 20 years ago writing a letter to the GM of a company I had just started with. I basically said how poor my induction had been and it appeared that the sales people within the company couldn’t even explain their own products to me properly so what hope would a client have. I asked for additional training as I took my job seriously and I didn’t want to be representing the company poorly. I was promoted 3 weeks later . So take the initiative. If you’re a floor cleaner and you have a great sales idea, speak up!!
3. Plan Plan Plan. Hundreds of great companies go under every year. So set a plan to be in control of your own income as soon as possible. It doesn’t have to be full time property investment or even self employment but get planning something!! A part time job, tutoring at home in some area you have expertise in. Sticking $20 a week in a high interest bearing account and never touching the compounding interest. Trading widgets on Trademe. I recently heard of a lady who had a nervous breakdown. She couldn’t work at all. She was book mad however and managed to get a couple of second hand places to give her their books from house lot sales and she started looking for free boxes of books etc on Trademe. She then started listing individual books back on Trademe and to her surprise they started selling. Became a full time business with zero cost of sales .
And finally remember the journey IS the destination, take time to enjoy everything you can. Redundancy and poverty can’t rob you of the beauty of a sunset, the smile of a child or the joy of an intimate relationship.
Stay Inspired and Stay Safe ~ Dean Letfus
The Ethical Investor
