The story was great, Olympics, World Cup, economy was booming, then it tanked, currency dropped over 50% killing the value of the investment.  

I understand in China people's homes were taken away with no renumeration because of the Olympics.

Better than any Olympics that i am grateful we didnt get.  

Capital appreciation can be a lucrative, but speculative investment.If your strategy is to benefit from immediate cash flow of high yielding properties (7% to 12%), then another option is Japan, but outside of Tokyo.

Also, not sure if it would work (or how well) but what about products like Deckover or Restorehttp://www.olympic.com/products/olympic-rescue-it-...http://www.behr.com/consumer_ca/products/wood-stai...Have you ever used them?

The museums, downtown, stadiums, and other pluses of the city (not to mention the mountains) all make it a wonderful place to be.Other favorite places to live include Tokyo and Sydney.

As an American living in Tokyo who's been extremely active in the Japanese real estate market since diving in head first 4 years ago, I feel like I could write a book about my experiences... and yet I often feel like I'm still new to the game, and find myself learning something new everyday.Long story short in REI in Japan:Japan banks offer 100% LTV loans - including all closing fees, insurance, and taxes - for in excess of 30x your pre-tax annual salary at anywhwere from 1-4.5% over 23-40 years.There are zero tenant issues in Japan.

If you can read a book on being an olympic swimmer without ever having been in the water and then, after you finish the book, can jump into the pool and start swimming with the professionals, then don’t pay for coaching, just jump in.

Then I use the sw Olympic white for bathrooms, cabinets and trim.

Any way curious if there are any good CPA's on the olympic Peninsula.