Archive for September, 2011
Kiwis finally catching up with Australia??
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NO I don’t mean the rugby or league, although I am looking forward to watching the Warriors, I do think THEY will win!!
But I was thinking about the numerous meetings I have had this week with kiwis wanting to invest in the USA. And all these people were long term sophisticated investors who had finally had enough of the NZ market and after doing their own research realised that actually they could retire immediately by rearranging their funds to include the USA.
For example one client had been investing in New Zealand for 25 years and had done pretty well. They had plenty of equity and genuine cash flow of $23,000 PA. Now in their fifties they had 2 issues, banks not so friendly and needing to have lots of time and resource to try and hunt down any cash flow deals here. And in their fifties they were aware that time was ticking away to reach that desired goal of $80,000 a year in passive income.
So in one meeting we arranged the sale of an unwanted freehold rental delivering $12,500 a year in income and replaced it with 10 homes in the USA. Her passive income has just moved from $23,000 PA to $75,300.
I kid you not, that took one day and they handed their notice in last night 
.
This client said they had so much negative stuff thrown at them from uninformed people and professionals it took them 2 years of research and 2 trips to the US themselves to realise they were being robbed of their retirement by these people.
So they are a little older than planned but now financially free.
And this is just one story of many I people I have met with just this week who realise this is just a fact, it’s not too good to be true, it is true and it is very good!!
Maybe you have heard about the US or been to one of the awful hardsell events from professional sales companies and decided to keep away. Well just make sure you aren’t turning your back on something that could just be the answer you are looking for, for cash flow.
And if you’d just like some information or to ask me a million questions then let’s do coffee or skype sometime soon. Just email me to set that up!!
Get Going and Stay Safe ~ Dean Letfus
Good in the bad
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I have been a vociferous opponent of the poor legislative drafting and the tactics of the REAA since its inception, however I was talking to one of the complaint board legal beagles this week and he advised that the REAA had been able to remove several bad agents from the industry who really needed to be dealt with.
So that is a good thing to see happening. Hopefully their assault on innocent traders may taper off now that their former cop hatchet man has departed the agency and they will focus more on cleaning their own industry up.
In the mean time there is a rumour that they may be looking at allowing buyers agents to exist in NZ. That makes so much sense and is so reasonable I don’t believe it is true but you never know, larger miracles have occasionally occurred.
And speaking of miracles I find it amazingly clever of the government to plan an election smack bang on top of the world cup. It is nearly October and there is no interest or publicity around the issues because we are all watching rugby .
Should be good for a National shoe in!
And lastly, whilst on politics, I also hear there is a serious inspection/referendum regarding MMP coming up. This is the worst thing that ever happened to dear old NZ so if actually egt any chance to get rid of it make sure you vote. When it came in we were told it was a one term trial and would then be reviewed. This never happened. It has been a disaster, we were lied to when it came in, let’s make sure we get rid of it if we can!
Get Going and Stay Safe ~ Dean Letfus
Perspective
Posted by: | CommentsI have always been fascinated with perspective in art and life.
Whether it’s something like this:
which is funny and clever, well brilliant actually, right through to people’s perspective on life and how that affects them.
For example it has taken me 2 years to change my perspective fully on property investing because I had to reframe my world view to allow for the US market. Even though I have done a lot of investing in New Zealand it has taken me a lot of “work” to stop being surprised at being able to buy houses for only 50K instead of 300K. And to stop looking at 10 to 15% net returns with a “too good to be true” attitude.
I have been amazed at how long it has taken me and just how hard it was to reprogramme myself so that I could look at this new market and learn to benefit from it without being starry eyed. And what I also learned was that cliche’s can be dangerous programming also.
I have often said and heard it quoted ten gazillion times: “If it sounds too good to be true it probably is”.
And in many ways that statement is absolutely true. HOWEVER it is true positionally but not situationally. What do I mean? Well avoiding shonky deals by applying this principle will keep you out of a lot of trouble, but if you uplift a set of rules from one country and drop them down in another country, change the situation in other words, then this principle itself becomes silly.
For example if you were offered a twenty five percent return property today in Auckland you would know immediately that there was an error in somebody’s numbers or there was something seriously weird/dodgy going on. But that very level of return is on offer every day of the week in the USA so it is no longer too good to be true, it is situation normal.
I have used the US example because it has been my recent journey but you will have mindsets and stories embedded in your mind that affect/protect and limit you everyday.
My encouragement to you this morning is to stretch yourself mentally. What is your biggest worry or daily issue, your reprogramming needs to start right there. What are you believing about yourself that is a lie??
Discover it, expose it, and then start changing it!!
Get Going and Stay Safe ~ Dean Letfus!!
Keep Buying!
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I read with much amusement the raft of recent advertorials about the recovering market. Even some of my peers are telling me how rosy the market is. NOw of course in some very specific locations, especially higher priced properties, the market is doing well. This is a supply and demand issue and probably represents less than 1% of the market. A handful of properties in locations where the purchasers are well heeled does not a national market make.
I have sold 2 properties in the last 2 weeks, one in an investor area and another in a relatively blue chip area. In both cases we marketed well and had outstanding agents on board.
In BOTH cases the properties were given away compared with their less than 3 months old valuations, well over a hundred grand under in one case.
In BOTH cases the final sales prices more closely represent 2003/2005 levels.
So don;t be fooled by any hype. It is a buyers market still. Most buyers want fully renovated, gorgeous quality homes for the price of a shack and that if anything is becoming more embedded in our market.
So anything that is considered B grade, even in an A grade location, can be picked up heavily discounted.
We had to market one home at 200,000 under it’s realistic value to even get any interest. And that is in an area that people die to live in, in one of the best streets in that area.
Money seems to be freeing up at least anecdotally so check with you broker, you may be able to borrow money now that you couldn’t 6 months ago.
Now is the time to get going in New Zealand.
And if that doesn’t work for you we now have bank lending in the USA for you
Get Going and Stay Safe ~ Dean Letfus
You must be joking?
Posted by: | CommentsYou mean to tell me I have to be responsible for my own outcomes?
You mean I can’t point the finger at other people and try and blame them?
You mean that even though I accepted full responsibility at the outset in reality I wanted a free ride and so now I can’t just opt out of the fact that I signed that agrement, bought that house, married that person?
You mean to tell me that the only person who will be held to account for my life is me?
Have a great and responsible day ~ Dean
Keeping on
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If there’s one thing I’ve learned in Real Estate it is that you have to set goals and pursue them, no matter what. I don’t mean your goals don’t get modified or the strategies to achieve them don’t change but unless you have a goal you end up at the mercy of the waves.
I set a goal many years ago to serve God in Fiji and that was why I started investing and it will be why I will stop investing when I have completed my end game. The last 8 years has been an incredible ride covering too many highs and lows to list here but my goal has never changed and I have continually sought to complete that goal. This has forced me to consider numerous alternatives to my core strategy as the world unravelled and look for out of the ordinary solutions to impossible problems.
I am still not there however I am so much better equipped today and each day is much more fruitful now thanks to the experiences of the last few years.
My bank balance may have taken a hammering here and there and the future looks very uncertain at times but I am a bigger person today, more able to love, more able to execute, more able to do things I don’t want to do when it is necessary and most importantly more in love with the God who created me.
I didn’t sell down in early 07 and with hindsight I should have. That has added maybe 5 to 8 years to me being in Fiji but good things are worth waiting for and we will be of much more use to the nation having gone through those years.
And of course my journey has led me to the ultimate cashflow solution that means I can now turn a tiny nest egg into huge income. And I have been able to help hundreds of people in multiple countries recover quickly thanks to the work I have done to make the system work for them. That alone has been worth the journey!
So what about you my friends? Do you have something keeping you going? something that empowers you, something you love, something that defines you? I hope so and if not I pray that you open your heart to find one.
It will be the best thing you ever did in your life!!
Get Going and Stay Safe ~ Dean Letfus
