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Second half of 2009!!  Can you believe it?  And still the beat goes on as they say.

Property remains front and centre in most media as it has for much of this year. The messages are even more confusing though aren’t they?
We had a brief period of consistent bad news as the market totally tanked, now you can be as double minded as you like by reading the good news articles or the bad news ones.
They are all in the same editions of the same papers everyday

The current market:

I won’t bore you with all the stats that are coming out because they are simply unhelpful at best and in many cases total nonsense.  They are generally 3 to 6 months old, which is an eternity in this market, and many of the numbers being thrown around are from real estate companies.  If you gathered all the information published in the last month you could conclude that property prices are either rising or falling and the market is either improving or worsening.  Both sides are fairly sure they are right!!

Kieran Trass and Bernard Hickey are both more predicting trends based on history and their info is more valuable and can at least help us decide what is more likely to happen next, but overall the global meltdown means we are all still making educated guesses.

What I can tell you is how I am finding the market personally and what my friends, clients and banks are saying.

Buying:

There is no arguing that this is a good time to buy.  Whilst there is uncertainty about values in the medium term one can find positive cashflow pretax in main centre’s again so providing you know your rules it is a good time to be hunting for deals.
I was talking with a senior exec at a major bank today and his observation was an increasing number of people who had become unemployed in recent weeks were going to generate a significant number of forced sales in the next quarter so there will be bargains to be had.
The other big opportunity in this market in terms of buying is utilising vendor finance or lease option type techniques to secure property you couldn’t otherwise do. As an example a good mate of mine just “bought” a property without any money to live in.
They basically have 100% vendor finance for 3 years and have bought at around 25% below valuation. Their payments are a little under 4% of the purchase price and they have 3 years for the market to start a recovery and having bought so well they will be fine even in the market does nothing.
Had they tried to buy this conventionally they would have needed nearly 300K deposit and be paying double the weekly payment.

Selling:

Now this will sound like a contradiction to the above comments but my personal experience in both cases is true. I have had several properties for sale and after marketing, auctions etc. without much success I have in the last 2 to 3 weeks seen a dramatic lift in interest and more realistic offers being made.  Certainly nothing like they are worth in my opinion, but at a level where one can sell, pay the break fees and live to fight another day.
I am at a loss to explain why this activity is there other than the fact that I only own or trade property in areas where there is good potential.  Comes back to ones rules again. I would hate to be dealing with property in small towns or really bad areas in cities.
In areas like East Auckland most agents are selling cheapies like hot cakes whilst the top end languishes, but now would seem to be a good time to try and offload stuff.  If you are in areas with very high investor rates, like Clendon, Manurewa and Otara etc. then this is not true.  You need to sit tight for some time or be willing to take a big hit, depending on when you bought.

Trading:

If there was an area where there may be some genuine “green shoots” it is in the area of trading. A quite unique situation has arisen in New Zealand where many people who are looking to buy their first or next home are in a financial position to do so but are terrified of making a mistake.  Finding a property for them is a great trading strategy right now.
Similarly many people wanting to sell but not in any trouble just don’t know what to do other than sell at a discount. This creates enormous opportunity for options related strategies to work.
I also have clients doing well with straight trading strategies but they are all farming small areas they know well, which is my 101 trading rule, but many people ignore it: AND typically they have a trusted agent working with them, (my 102)

Finance:

Well money is going to be a major controlling issue for a while as the banks sit on their ever increasing mounds of cash and swat any hands that get near it.  However even in the current climate entrepreneurs are starting to arise and the first no-doc product is back in the market with a non bank lender. AND one main bank is offering over 80% loans again.
Now I know I’m a one song repertoire when it comes to referring finance and you also know I have an interest in his company but the fact is I am yet to find a broker who comes close to Kris’s work ethic and “creativity without dodginess”.  So if you’re looking for money talk to Kris Pedersen 0213000192 or visit his site HERE.

I worked with 5 brokers prior to Kris who all eventually let me down.  Kris never tells lies and never covers anything up and that is a real and rare strength these days.

A good case in point re this, I recently had a client contact me saying Kris hadn’t been able to get them a loan but they had gone to another broker who had.  I was so surprised by this that I did a lot of digging to find out what had happened. It transpired that the broker they used had withheld information from the lender to get the loan approved. This used to be common place in the Wild West days but is a great way to never be able to get a loan again these days.
If the bank ever finds out that they were lied to the borrower would get blackballed by the mortgage insurers and banks and could potentially be prosecuted.
SO THAT IS WHY I AM VERY FUSSY ABOUT WHO I RECOMMEND FOR LENDING!!

Do yourself a favour, find the best and stick with them!!

What’s up in Massive Action land?

When I caught up with many of you at Geekversity the other week I must have been asked 50 times when I was running my next event.  Well I am not an “events” company and will never run one just because I have nothing better to do
In fact I only run events when I feel I have something worth saying and there is an obvious need for that education in the market.
I have been watching the unfolding uncertainty over the last 9 months and waiting for some clarity and direction before advising people on what they could/should do.
Whilst things are still uncertain there are definitely some opportunities developing and the time is coming to get going again.
So for all those of you who keep asking when I am doing another event the answer is……….
Soon!  I am in the planning stages of a couple of things for later this year.  Don’t worry; you’ll get an invite as soon as I set the final dates!!
There will also be a webinar series shortly to deal with some of the pithier issues you may currently be facing!

What makes you tick?

The wealth creation industry talks a lot about passion.  And so it should as passion is the key to motivation, leading to action.  But this is only true for around half of us.  The right brained ones like me embrace passion as a word and can identify what makes us tick.

For me it is simple, I am passionate about God, the poor in Fiji, my wife and kids AND inspiring and motivating people to success.

But if you’re a left brained person you may be saying to yourself already:
“Passion? I’m not passionate about anything, there is too much to do to be worrying about passion”.

So here is a different question for you to consider that will address the same issue:
“What are your highest priorities?”

I realised that only talking passion can actually alienate people like my gorgeous wife who operates from a base of order and tasks, rather than warm fuzzy, “I just swallowed a kitten” type feelings.

So whichever way spins your wheels if you want to get to your dreams and real goals then you must answer these questions.

My knowing the answer to these questions is the only thing that has kept me going in recent times.  I refuse to give up when things are tough because the people of Fiji will suffer. I refuse to take easy shortcuts because that would dishonor God and I am committed to loving and honouring Him.
I would never entertain things like opting out of life because I am committed to my wife and kids.

Does this make sense?? When you know what it important you can live by the principles underlying these passions or priorities.  It is only in adversity that the power of this is realised. So don’t wait till things are crumbling to try and establish these principles, think about it TODAY!

I met an acquaintance recently who had the day before had to go bankrupt, losing absolutely everything. This was through no direct fault of their own, just a set of circumstances involving unscrupulous third parties and the impact of a recession.
Whilst it was tragic, in fact he told me in a food queue and I had to fight to not burst into tears because I so felt his pain, what was amazing was that he was at an event to learn some new wealth creation strategies and he had his kids with him as they were planning on how to rebuild together.  THAT was inspiring because it showed his family lived by principles like

• Failure is not final

• Failure is an event, not a person

• Whatever we face we’ll do it together

• If we can make it and lose it we can make it again, and

• Never stop learning

Make these a part of your life today

For people with too much time on their hands please become my friend on Facebook and join my “Darwin Awards, maybe he was right” group on Facebook for a regular laugh.  Many of you send me funny and inspiring stuff via email, PLEASE KEEP IT UP!! Many of the funnier ones will get shared via this group.
And if you really have no life then you can follow me on Twitter as well HERE !

Final words:

Life is all about relationships and Raewyn and I wanted to say thank you to so many of you who email or ring with encouraging words and thanks for the inspiration try to provide through Massive Action.  We are looking forward to bringing you even bigger and better educational opportunities and joining you on your journey, but to hear of the changed lives emotionally, spiritually and relationally and just the connectedness we feel with so many of you in so many nations is truly humbling and something words cannot contain.
Time to look up and start reaching for the stars again, let’s do it together!!

Stay Inspired and Stay Safe ~ Dean Letfus @ www.MassiveAction.tv

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