All Forum Posts by: Jason Paine

New Real Estate app

How much do you think this will shake up the industry?

So as I sit here in my hotel room enjoying a little staycation with my wife and away from the 3 kids, I think to myself "who is the bozo that is building a 63 floor tower blocking everyone's view of the greatest skyline on the planet?"   Curiosity gets the best of me and a few google searches later, I find the man, Cheng Yu-Tung, #34 on the Forbes List.   

He has a fascinating story.  At the age of 15 he started riding his bike from Guangzhou to Macau, roughly 150 miles to escape the Japanese occupation during WW2.  Along the way his bike is stolen by Japanese soldiers, so he walks the remaining 60 miles to Zhuhai and sneaks on a boat to get to Macau.  Once there he finds a family friend who runs a jewerly shop and works for him.  After the war, he moves to Hong Kong and targets the wives of wealthy businessman.  That was 1946, fast forward to 2012 and he owns the largest jewerly business in the world after his IPO.  

There are two things that struck me about his rages to riches story.  Early in his jewerly business he started to invest in real estate and now that portion of his business dwarfs his jewerly branch even though it is the largest in the world (Chow Tai Fook).  So it seems with the wealthy no matter what industry they get started in, eventually they become real estate moguls.   

But the interesting lesson I learned from this "bozo" was his perspective on investing.  At the age of 90 he is passing on his investments to his grandchildren.  In fact, Rosewood Hotels is the fastest growing hotel chain in the world and is lead by his 31 year old granddaughter.  Cheng Yu-Tung has built his business for generations to come.  I have trouble thinking beyond a 5-10 year time frame.  Most of my mistakes in real estate have been because of my short sightedness.  I know this forum was supposed to be about our success stories, but success starts with the right frame of mind.  

How would you invest if you thought generationally?

Who is the bozo now?  Yep its me.

Happy investing

Jami,

  Curt is spot on, if your main goal is appreciation then look for jobs and population growth.  You want to buy a house that you can sell at some point (even the next generation) which often means newer and better neighborhoods.  So like Curt mentioned the 120k-180k ballpark in the midwest.  Honestly, as an out of state investor it is nearly impossible to achieve both good cashflow and good appreciation.  You kind of have to lean towards one or the other.  

Going back to appreciation, look at where the jobs are going and what kinds of jobs are being created.  Also look at the key industries, is it  diversified, and are they stable?  Universities and government services create stability, which do shield the community somewhat during a downturn.  So where are these places that are in somewhat affordable markets?  I'm sure there are others, but North Carolina and Texas seem to be creating jobs and growing in population.  

If you haven't already, I'd recommend writing down your RE investing goals, making them specific enough to take action, and then go for it!

Welcome Andrew,

  You came to the right place at BP, I wish it existed 10 years ago when I started.  I think you might like the following thread, its quite long over 200 posts but I read through all of them and I think there are many golden nuggets when venturing into RE from afar.  Ignore the banter, although sometimes it is amusing :)

Turnkey Properties - questions and concerns

Best of luck

Thanks for the tips guys!  I've been listening to the podcasts at night, great stuff.   Matthew, nice to see some other expats on here.  I have family in Ames, great college town with some potential there.  At this point, I'm looking at single family, 2-4 plexes.  

Hi Everyone!

  I work and live in Hong Kong (the most expensive RE in the world) but grew up in Southern California.  I have had some RE experience in the past owning properties in New York , Los Angeles, and Hong Kong.  My results have overall been slightly positive, but I've made many mistakes and still very much consider myself a beginner.

After liquidated my RE assets 5 years ago I'm ready to begin again.  I have family in California and Iowa, but friends all over so I'm not locked in to a certain area.  I hope to make some new friends on this site.