Buying Property
“The only thing they’re not making more of is land.”
So true. Even with time, you may not get back what you’ve wasted, but there’s always tomorrow. Not so with land.
I got interested in investing in land when a friend told me about a number of purchases he’d made via eBay. His main focus was buying undeveloped land in desirable locations – including lakefront property in Wyoming and over 4 acres of undeveloped land on the Big Island of Hawaii.
All on eBay.
All for extremely small amounts.
“Aren’t you worried that the land is crappy?” I asked.
“No,” he answered. “I mean, if I make enough purchases, I’m bound to get a couple of bad deals. But I’m sure to get a couple of really great ones, too. And I’m looking at these as investments – 20, 30 years down the road. If it pays off before then, great. But I’m not worried.”
True to his word, he buys up property for fun and just holds it. He collects cheap acquisitions like some people collect figurines. I know that he’s sold a couple of properties for a profit (again on eBay), but that was just to generate some income for larger purchases, I believe.
Another great benefit: he can write off vacations (or at least the airfare and some of the accommodations and food) when he goes to inspect the property. Which is pretty nice when you’re going to Hawaii.
On timeshares: I wouldn’t ordinarily suggest purchasing timeshares as an investment. I view them as purely a cheaper way of insuring you have a vacation spot, and some leverage to get to more expensive properties. I myself purchased a timeshare in Maui, Hawaii about 8 years ago, and I’ve used it to go to Kauaii as well (through Interval International Timeshare services, of which I am a member). The only advice I have on timeshares is TO PURCHASE THEM ON THE WEB. DO NOT PURCHASE THEM FOR ANY REASON AT THE TIMESHARE SALES LOCATION.
Why do you think timeshare salesmen adopt the hard-sell strategy? Because they know that you can go research the property on the web and find the exact same type of units for 1/2 to 3/4 the price.
I’m not kidding. Timeshares are like cars: you drive them off the lot, and you lose a substantial part of the value. Walk away from the timeshare presentation and get on the web. Better yet, if you can browse the web on your cell phone, ask the salesman for a moment to think about it, then Google the property and see how many firesale options you can find on the web. Probably a lot.
If you MUST buy a timeshare when you are at the vacation destination, then use various resellers in the area. Trust me, they will be offering the timeshare at a far greater discount than what you could get at the original sellers.
But with timeshares, the web is DEFINITELY the way to go.
