$200,000 to invest. Your chance to help in the decision

[Rich Weese]

I'm bored to death sitting in Quito. That is in Ecuador, on a LONG flight delay. I just put a deal together to sell a foreign property I wasn't counting on and it should net a fair amount.    I've always tried to be well prepared for all possibilities and really don't have a strong feeling in any one direction on use of these funds. BP has MANY other opinionated posters (like me) and I'm curious on your thoughts. I have most of the basics, so it is a question of where to invest more and what to acquire more of.     This would probably be determined on your view of the future. These funds are not needed to live on and can be long or short term investments. So, I really want to know what you would do and why.   More food, barter items, gold, silver, titanium, F&C real estate, mortgaged to the hilt RE, options, stocks, mutual funds, land, movies, HML lending, transactional funding, JV's or others.   I'd love to know your thoughts and back them up with why. I've been open with my personal situation, so most know my beliefs. This current situation has me somewhat confused and unprepared for. There will be no tax consequences on these funds and no need to do 1031 etc. Appreciate any replies. Rich

[Vikram C.]

I think Rich is talking about investing the money in something that gives him a good return at reasonable risk. I do not think he is talking about charity or investing in the lives of other people. Rich, you can correct me if I misunderstood you.

If you do not mind getting involved in your investment, I would recommend flipping properties. If you do not wish to get very involved, I would recommend hard money loans to others who flip. Both of these, if done properly, should give you the following characteristics:

1. Good ROI. Better than or comparable to the ROI that you can reasonably expect from longer term investments.

2. Short term. This insulates you from the possibility of a continuing spiral downwards in RE prices. (You can always wait for a couple of years and do your long-term investments at lower prices than today's.)

3. Liquid. While not as liquid as cash in the bank, these short-term investments give you sufficient liquidity that if you start seeing other opportunities to invest your money, you will not have to wait more than a few weeks / months before being able to start getting involved.

4. Safety. This is related, in some ways, to the short-term nature of the investment. If you comp the property carefully, you will find that these investments (either flip or hml loan) are safer than a long-term investment that could be affected by macroecnomic factors.