How To Invest Anywhere In The World As An Expatriate

Here is a preview of Todd's newest article on NuWire Investor. If you are an expatriate investor there are many useful points to help you increase the performance of your investment from anywhere in the world.

The DO's and DON'Ts of investing in real estate for expatriates

"The expat lifestyle has many benefits, such as traveling, living and working in exotic locations and often better compensation and benefits than that of domestic jobs. The expatriate life may be full of adventure, but one place that investors definitely don't want thrills is in large investments. High earnings allows expat investors more disposable income for investments, but whether saving for a home, planning for retirement or seeking cash-flow from current investments, expat investors face obstacles and needs quite different from those of average investors."

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$30 Million In Nanotechnology

Alberta isn't only about the oil sands. There is a diversified economy that helps support this economic wonderland nanotechnology will be super-funded by the Stelmach government in hopes that Alberta will lead in this burgeoning field.

"The money comes out of a $130-million fund the Stelmach government announced last May to expand Alberta's nanotechnology sector. It also tapped that fund to pledge $15 million over five years in research grants for Alberta nanotech businesses.

Alberta, eager to compete for researchers and sales in a rapidly growing worldwide market for nanotechnologies, boasts about 45 companies with combined annual sales of more than $300 million, the government said."Full Article

Great Tool For Landlords

A rental property has to have a lot of things going for it to ensure it puts money in your pocket. Nice location, above average amenities, sturdy construction, neutral yet stylish design and the list goes on. However, none of this will mean much if your property is overpriced.

The "put the For Rent sign out" and they will come mentality doesn't work in every market. If the market is tight and your vacancy rate is low you can rent for a little more but if the vacancy rate is increasing then your rent not only has to be in line with the market but also cover your expenses and reflect the quality unit that it is.

So...?

Someone brilliant has invented Rent-o-meter.com you simply fill in the fields for address, province or state, postal code, current rent, number of bedrooms and units in the building. Press the Analyze My Property and you get a clear spectrum of the average, high and low rents in your particular area.

The site not only shows you where you unit is on the "Rent-o-meter" but shows other rents of comparable properties in the area with pictures and addresses on a Google map. The property I put in was compared to 103 other units within 5.39 miles (8.67km) of my property.

Mind you there is nothing wrong with being on the high-end if you property is a real beauty.

Rent-o-meter works for Canadian, American and London locations.

Canada's Layer Cake of Housing

Vancouver and Victoria are the icing too sweet and rich for most tastes but tempting I will give you that.

Calgary Edmonton and Toronto are the cake substantial and Ottawa, Hamilton and Montreal are the pan lower cost ( I know I am grasping for that one).

"Three cities are leading in terms of year-over-year percentage gains in house prices, both new and existing — Saskatoon, Edmonton and Regina. Price advances in Alberta’s other major centre, Calgary, have eased. Winnipeg’s new home sellers are finally participating in better housing markets. Windsor, due to its auto sector woes, is the only city in the country with declining house prices.

As for absolute house prices, there are three obvious tiers in Canada. House prices in Vancouver and Victoria, on average, are in a class by themselves, at approximately 50% above any other city in the country. Calgary, Toronto and Edmonton house prices form a second tier. Ottawa, Hamilton and Montréal are in a third lower-priced grouping."

These graphs show the year over year change in Canadian home sale prices and existing home prices

Come On Gen X - What's Up?

I am worried about my generation. They didn't want anything and now when they realize, "Hey money is all right!" They are so in debt that they can't get ahead nor can they save for their future.

This article is such an eye opener for me, I am so happy that I made the choice to give up new clothes, that cool car and nice furniture for a few years to pay off my student loans and all my credit card debt. I am also happy that I learned to invest and wait, to not let my current appetite steal from my future feast.

Facts From OppeinheimerFunds

* 62 percent say they live paycheck to paycheck

* 56 percent have an outstanding credit-card balance of $3,000 or more.

* 62 percent of women say they have not bought any investment products.

* 45 percent of women would buy 30 pairs of shoes before saving $30,000 in retirement assets.

* 65 percent of women and 48 percent of men said they do not know how a mutual fund works.

* Nearly 65 percent did not know that when interest rates go up bond prices typically go down.

* 38 percent of women have not started saving for retirement.

"Generation X may have shed the slacker image over the past decade as its members moved beyond coffee shop jobs and into the suburbs, SUVs and corporate boardrooms. But when it comes to saving for retirement, the description still fits.

Most Gen Xers, the oldest of whom are heading into their 40s, are woefully behind in saving for retirement. Nearly half of the 5,000 Gen Xers surveyed by Charles Schwab this year said they are so saddled with debt or live on such tight budgets they can’t even think about saving." Read Full Article Click Here

Skeletons In My Closet

What ‘skeletons’ do you have hidden away that may come out to haunt you? Sounds scary doesn’t it? And it could very well be….

I was recently negotiating on a fairly large character conversion/reno project for an associate of mine. He had considerable experience with rezoning and land utilization but not so much with actual conversation and restructure of the buildings. He was so ‘pumped up’ about the potential project that I wondered how much in depth research he had conducted, as there seemed to be some sizable obstacles to overcome before getting the project to the final stage.

I felt an icy hand on my shoulder and heard a deathly whisper in my ear ‘Do the due diligence now, run the costs and speak with your team, get the written quotes…’ What was going on? The voice was just my ‘friendly’ skeleton reminding me of the lessons learned 5 years ago.

See, I had been doing a sizable reno deal where the costs and time frame kept on extending. I had done the usual groundwork, quote gathering and cost analysis for the property, but it still was taking longer and costing more than planned. In the end the deal was completed and all went relatively well, but there had been a few months worth of stress and grey hairs from this seemingly simple deal. What happened next was I spent a period of about 6 months feeling rather reluctant to enter into another reno job.

My skeleton was keeping me out of the market. My repair job didn’t go exactly as planned, but still ended up being profitable, although not nearly as much as I had hoped. What I realized was that I needed a better system and a better team to rely on. I then went out and spoke with several of my colleagues that specialized in these sorts of projects. I then saw how I could ‘bomb proof’ my next deal, maximize my time, money and create more profit- all with fewer grey hairs.

The funny thing is how much my skeleton continues to teach me.

If I had chosen to ignore the initial ‘fear’ I had, I would have been reluctant to go on to other successful projects as I have. That kind of education is priceless and so is the use of a knowledgeable team to consult with.

As the details got clearer, my associate and I learned that this project was not as good as first anticipated, but this is what we did….

“I’ve had other skeletons that have been down right nasty. Skeletons that have tried to wreck my life. Do you have something unresolved, lurking in the back of your mind that keeps hurting you? It could be a financial kind of pain or a personal one.”

We sent in our surveyor to assess the best usage of the land and height restrictions on the Character conversion. We enlisted three separate contactors that we had a history with and asked for a lock in quote including materials (there is a big construction/labour shortage now so you need to get firm numbers.). We then rounded everything up by 12% and extended the project time frame by 6 weeks. We learned that due to inherent foundation flaws the project would cost much more time and money than initially thought. Our solution lay in the ability to scrap the conversion idea and turn the units into commercial storage space, and rent out making a better profit.

My point is that without first trying and failing on some levels I would never have been able to take the chance and learn what I needed to do.

We’ve all been held back by skeletons before. Until we learn from, and destroy them, they will keep dominating us. I’m sure that you’ve met people that are so afraid to make a choice for fear of being wrong or getting ‘burned again’. I cringe to think about all the other ‘little voices’, apprehensions and fears that we let hold us back.

I always try to examine any excuses I may have and check them for validity.

Move forward with knowledge and seize the opportunity.

Inspiration For Investors

Richard Homburg of Homburg Invest Inc. owns 136 investment properties, including residential and office complexes in Alberta and Montreal. He dropped at a school at 12 went to work in a bakery and through the power of his dreams became Canada's Donald Trump.

"I believe you have to have a plan in life, you have to have a dream. You have to be a dreamer, almost, to succeed in where you want to go.

As a kid, I dreamt about what I wanted to do. I dreamt about going to America, I dreamt about going to Australia or Canada, so I had my mind set that that's what I was going to do, and I had my mind set that I was going to be in business, I had my mind set that I was going to be successful. I had my mind set about what car I wanted to drive and all the things I wanted to do.

You follow your dreams."

His latest procurement is the $355 Million 17-storey Montreal Central Station Complex which sports a CN train station at the bottom.

Read The Full Interview

Renting vs. Owning - Who Hits Paydirt.

A quick excerpt on the R.O.I of renting versus buying.

"The results of this research show that only renters who are highly disciplined, savvy investors are able to match the wealth that owners can accumulate simply by making their mortgage payments," says the study. "If they meet these criteria, in the best scenario for renters, they can accumulate over 24 per cent more wealth than owners in Edmonton, Halifax, Montreal and Regina, and they can accumulate at least as much wealth as owners in Ottawa, Vancouver and Winnipeg. In Calgary and Toronto, renters cannot on average over our study period match the wealth achievable through home ownership."

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