How to profit from real estate investments in a soft and declining real estate market January 21, 2009
Posted by Jeff Nabers in : real estate, Self Directed IRA Solo 401k , add a comment
Three years ago real estate investing was hot. Today, many people act as if the opportunity has passed. I contend that the opposite is true. In the past, as a mortgage banker focused on originating mortgages for investment properties, I started listening to and learning from my real estate investor clients and noticed two categories of real estate investors: real investors and blind investors.
Real Investors have the following in common:
- Profiting when they buy. Rather than believing an entire market is hot or cold, a real investor knows that the purchase price is what dictates the return on the investment. You can look in any real estate market to see property values and rental rates. Those are things the investor doesn’t control. The investor does control what he is willing to pay for a property, and that’s how a real investor knows what his return on investment will be before buying the property.
- Investing for income. Real investors buy assets because they produce income. What a property is selling for doesn’t even matter if (more…)
Weak economy strengthens the incentive for a Solo 401k October 18, 2008
Posted by Jeff Nabers in : Money, real estate, Self Directed IRA Solo 401k , add a comment
This is quite a simple concept so this post will be very brief.
- Our weak economy has brought very high inflation: currently 13% per year.
- Future dollars are worth much less than dollars today.
- With a Solo 401k you can make tax-deductible contributions to your retirement plan in today’s dollars and pay taxes later in less valuable dollars.
- Successful entrepreneurs and self employed individuals can contribute $46,000 per year or more to their Solo 401k.
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How the little guy can profit from $4 gas June 11, 2008
Posted by Jeff Nabers in : Self Directed IRA Solo 401k , add a comment
It’s everywhere: GAS PRICES! ENERGY CRISIS!
However, this blog post is different. Turn on the tube to CNN and hear about how “We’re trying very hard to find a viable source of alternative energy to reduce our dependency on oil.” Personally, you can simply buy an electric car (right now). Those savings can be significant, but they can only go so far for your finances. Besides saving money, consider making money off of $4 per gallon gas. Assuming you don’t own Exxon or BP, here are some ideas:
The Contraction of Real Estate Demand – Sprawl Reversal
In this instance I don’t mean “contraction” in terms entire real estate markets losing value, I mean “contraction” in the sense of density. Before recent gas prices started changing the world, suburban sprawl was rampant in the U.S. The easy to obtain mortgage financing provided by the growth of the housing bubble only multiplied sprawl. In cities across America, middle class people found themselves moving to the outer suburban areas where they could have a 4,000 square foot house with a 3 car garage. They were all sipping lemonade on their huge front porches, admiring their white picket fences, and trading stories about flippers and spec homes just before getting sucker punched by gas prices and their rising Adjustable Rate Mortgage payment.
As the “look I’m rich, I swear!” house of cards finally fell, many middle class Americans are finding themselves in one of two categories: (more…)
Self Honesty: Stock Market Strategies Worth Considering June 6, 2008
Posted by Jeff Nabers in : Self Directed IRA Solo 401k , add a comment
While I generally avoid mutual funds like the plague, I don’t avoid the stock market altogether. I’ll split what I do in the stock market into two categories: long and short. Either way, I’m honest with myself in admitting that no matter what I do in the stock market, it will be speculative and risky.
Long
“Going long” means buying a stock and expecting its price or income to rise so I can sell later for a profit. There are millions of people who have access to the same information as you, and that is generally reflected in the price of that stock. If you know something non-public about the company, trading it may be illegal for you. I’ve bought individual stocks before; I just treat the situation honestly; it is speculative in nature, and I only make such trades with very small portions of my portfolio.
I don’t go long on mutual funds because I don’t know what I’m going long on. It is virtually impossible to know what I’m actually investing in when I buy shares of a fund.
Short
Selling Short… A short position is the opposite of a long one. Instead of buying low and selling high, selling short is a matter of selling high and then buying low. For me to do this, I borrow shares of a stock and simultaneously sell them at the market price in expectation of a price decrease. To close this position later, I just have to buy back shares of the same stock at the then market price and pay back the borrowed stock. If during my position the stock price declined, I profit; if the stock price increased, I have a loss.
Ex: ABC Company seems to be doomed. It’s currently trading at $50, but I think it will go much lower over the next couple months. I sell 100 shares short. This means I borrow 100 shares and simultaneously sell them for $5,000. A few months later I see the stock price has declined to $35. To close my position, I buy 100 shares back for $3,500. I pay back the borrowed shares and retain the $1,500 profit, less fees and commissions.
I like short selling more than going long. I often notice (more…)
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