What's the scarcest resource for an investor?

[Aceyducey]

I've been thinking a lot lately about how easy or difficult it is currently to find some of the resources required for investing.

I was wondering what others were finding the hardest or easiest resources to procure.

I am defining resources as the people (advisors), ideas, knowledge, money, time and materials (ie: a property, patents, raw materials, etc) necessary to move forward with any type of investment.

Right now I'm finding time is in shortest supply. I can access money, knowledge and materials readily & good people & ideas fall in the middle.

Are others having different shortages?

Cheers,

Aceyducey

[Twitch]

I voted time, full time job plus a baby and a toddler means time is short.

Me: "After you've been looking after the kids all week, mind if I spend a whole Saturday at an investment course/at house inspections?"
Wife: :mad:

[Sultan of Swing]

I've voted KNOWLEDGE.

Knowledge in identifing opportunities, ie. where to buy at this present point in time. I've been convinced that buying in capital cities for CG is the way to go but not being familiar with these cities is a drawback.

Could OPPORTUNITY have been another option or is it covered in some way by one of the given options?

Cheers

[Rolf Latham]

Hi AC

One important one that you will get few votes for is courage, to some extent action is a part of that.

It does take courage to be different.
ta

rolf

[Ross]

I Think Sultan is "on the money" .....opportunities being the scarcest ! I know many say there is never a bad time to buy in Real Estate so long as its long term, I think there is some truth to this but is there still a large percentage out there buying like theres no tomorrow ? .....with current yields as low as they are, I think not.
Even if you could dedicate yourself fulltime, good deals are not easy to find

So we sit and wait for opportunity to return.

[Sailesh Channan]

I would nominate opportunity. :D

As a developer we continually source properties for myself. I also source property development opportunities on behalf of clients.

Finding opportunities is the hardest part of the exersice. While there are many properties that look like starters unfortunately a large number fail to meet the minimum requirements.

Just as well we are looking out for opportunities on a daily basis :p

[qaz]

I think ideas and opportunities are the same thing in many ways. Theres MANY MANY opportunities out there at the moment for those willing to broaden their horizons, invest in something beside residential property and think outside of the box. It's comming up with those good business ideas that I personally find the most difficult.


PS. I think materials and money are effectively the same thing.....maybe replace both of them with the word "capital".

[quiggles]

I voted money. I have 24 hours every day and no investing success or failure will change that - what I do with it is my issue. It's therefore not scarce, just given. (Not subject to demand and supply).

Opportunities?? Zillions out there.

Knowledge - I'll never know enough but it's lying around waiting to be picked up in any number of ways.

If I had more money, I could, with my present knowledge and opportunities, make more than i can without it.

[Aceyducey]

Ideas = Opportunities
Money = Capital
Materials = Physical things

No need to change anything :)

Qaz, many people on here don't have economic degrees so their understanding of 'capital' is quite different.

Cheers,

Aceyducey

[Andrew_A]

Surprised that time isn't rated higher in the poll.

It's the only finite item on that list.

[quoll]

Nice Poll topic Acey

I was going between time and money, decided on time.

I've found with the business purchase that is currently underway, I have been pushed for time. Mainly nagging people to do things, organising the deal, filling in forms, signing forms. It takes up a lot of time.

Also been really pissed off lately going to opens, got ticked off a while ago cause the agent wouldn't take an offer at the open she wanted us to go to her office at 6:30 on nice Sunday evening, Me the wife and 3 kids went to beach instead, heaps more fun.

The opportunities are everywhere but it takes time to rate them, some are better than others and we have to work out what will be the best use of the resources we have.

I'm also working 37.5 hours at the job, traveling 10 hours to and from the job. Doing activities with kids 5 hours, working on PPOR weekends. Add eating, sleeping, reading this forum, interaction with wife and kids and family and friends. There isn't enough time in the week to do everything. The job has to go.:D

Money was the other issue but that is now less of an issue. At the start it was a huge issue, didn't have much equity, when we saw opportunities we would approach the bank and get knocked back cause we couldn't service the loan or didn't have the equity to get under 80% LVR.

Cheers
quoll

[Lissy]

It took me all of a millisecond to answer "money"
I can think of so many deals that passed me by because at the time I either couldn't get bank finance or I didn't have the 20% deposits available. I still found plenty of other deals, but I could have done so many more if I'd had money.
I guess that's why recently I've started doing JVs - with people in the Time poor category!!! :p

[Spiderman]

I voted ideas/opportunities.

(but that's maybe because I'm re-reading Mcknight's second book at the moment!)

Fortunately this is something that can be changed by training oneself to see opportunities in things, so a current lack of these is not insurmountable.

At the moment I'm not that great at seeing opportunities that others see (though I'm probably improving). On the bright side I seem to be OK at seeing risks in things, so at least it's unlikely I'll do my dough!

Being able to see opportunities seems to require some sort of external or internally generated stimulus.

This could be a property you view, an ad you see or a pressing need that people have. Then you have to put things together (finance, right property, people and renovations or subdivisions) to make it happen.

And often something might look good, but when you work it out it might not be so great after your analysis. I suspect there are more 'good' ideas than genuinely profitable ideas!

So you need to be generate ideas again, analyse them, and repeat until you come up with something that's going to make money.

In the last week I have seen ads for the following.

* Industrial shed in thriving interstate regional city claiming to return 12.5% gross yield, and thus pay itself off, even if interest rates were to rise further. Yields of industrial property in the area are normally lower.

* WB house on large (2000 sqm) block in that same regional city selling for $80k. House needs work but ad claims it's rented at $90pw and land is approved for units. Suburb is not the most salubrious but not that far from beach. Putting another house behind it and renovating house No 1 could increase total rent to $260-300pw. Or subdivide, sell off 1000 sqm block ($20k?) and do up house.

I will not act on these, as buying them unseen would be highly speculative and too risky. But if I was to find a similar places that were closer, and I researched demand patterns and analysed returns and risks then they could be good investments. Especially if the risks are controllable and can be made fairly low. Also knowing that such opportunities are out there does boost confidence and keeps you thinking more.

Regards, Peter

[House_Keeper]

I voted Knowledge.

As my knowledge increases, I realise that I can get better returns from my investments without spending more time and money.

Knowledge also removes fear, that has been holding me back in the past.

Cheers,

[Bear924]

I chose time,

More time would give me the opportunity to acquire more knowledge or work longer hours for more money. If time was unlimited I could have a looooonng weekend every weekend and travel around looking at property or researching other investments. Time is the only factor that one can't buy back or work towards, after you've used up your amount its all over. Perhaps if money was unlimited you could outsource everything and then only use your time for things you wanted to do rather then need to do. However you are still limited to 24 hours a day.

I wonder what time would be worth if it was traded on the market... eg. I will sell you 10 hours of my time for $xxx. A little like employing somebody I guess however in this instance you would actually die 10 hours earlier (or whatever amount you ended up selling)

[Steve Navra]

I voted time because:

TIME = MONEY

Given time we can all make money, however the reverse does not apply. :)

Regards,

Steve

[Aceyducey]

So 19 people have so far said money & 25 have said time....

Sounds like there's room for some joint ventures :)

Cheers,

Aceyducey

[Steve Navra]

Sounds like there's room for some joint ventures :)

Okay first offer: How much for 10 years of your life?? :p

[Kenny]

For me it has to be TIME but opportunity is close.

Time grants opportunity to gain the other options where fruitfully used.

Time will show where knowledge is lacking and points the way for the opportunity to learn from your decisions.

Time, sadly does have a price. Many of us sell our precious finite resource every day in our day jobs. (those who are reading this on a tropical island, please stop smiling.)

The price of our Time is what we accept; whether it be the hourly rate or the salary we signed away for knowing it will keep us from the things we would rather be doing and the people we would rather be with.

Some of us beat that trap and love what they do. These people I admire most of all. They have found one of the secrets in Life.

For me, it can't be Money. It's only a means to an end. There's so much of it out there; my own decisions in life and what I accept from it determine how much I have.

I like Rolf's choice of Courage. How is it that we suddenly realise we are reluctant to break out of the Comfort Zone? It takes Courage to influence Change.

Regards,

Kenny

[Spiderman]

(maybe this should be another thread)

So having decided on what holds us back, maybe we should continue the discussion onto ways to counter it (Acey having already started it).

1. Money
- Borrow it
- Sell off existing investment
- Cut spending
- Job promotion
- New or second job
- Work more hours
- Money partner
- Look for cheaper way of doing it

2. Ideas
- Thinking exercises
- Books, forums, seminars, web
- Talk to people
- Marry a creative person
- Researching unmet needs
- Field trips

3. People
- Forums and investment meetings
- Canvassing, phoning, walking streets, placing ads

4. Time
- Cut out timewasting things (eg TV)
- Quit work, change jobs or reduce hours
- Do a time audit and prioritise things
- Outsource activities to other people

5. Materials (building materials for reno?)
- Auctions/demolition sales/wholesalers

6. Knowledge
(much the same for ideas above)

Any more?

Rgds, Peter

[geoffw]

4. Time
- Cut out timewasting things (eg TV) Um, eg this forum :D

[Aceyducey]

Okay first offer: How much for 10 years of your life?? :pDepends on which ten you want...

The first 10 - $20,000,000
The second 10 - $2
The third 10 - $100,000,000

I'll let you know about the next ten once I've finished with it myself :D

Cheers,

Aceyducey

[Pete]

Knowledge received my vote.

My thoughts below.

The nature of investing is using funds; so money will always be scarce for an investor (until they reach their goals). If an investor instantly had twice as much money then they'd find ways to invest it and again be limited by money. One always has to work with the funds available. Money is truly scarce when one begins; after that it is not so much scarce but 100% utilised - so I think it is not really scarce.

Ideas - I can't imagine a shortage of ideas. There are many ways to invest. It might be scarce for a novice investor.

People - I don't understand a scarcity of people resources. There are umpteen people resources.

Time is clearly finite for an investor. It might be scarce for investors who have limited time - say a 65 old who decides to start investing for retirement. But I don't see time as a scarce resource because it is a known resource and one can plan around it. A little bit like my comments about money, one always has to work with the time available. Plainly this could be scarcest for some, but not me.

Materials are abundment, for me, and should be for most investors too.

Knowledge is the one for me. Saying money or time are scarcest, for me, would be using them as excuses. What limits me is knowledge of the best way forward.

cheers,

[Kenny]

Depends on which ten you want...

The first 10 - $20,000,000
The second 10 - $2
The third 10 - $100,000,000

I'll let you know about the next ten once I've finished with it myself :D

Cheers,

Aceyducey

Hi Acey,

Surely all the "Firsts" (eg. first car, first girl/guy etc) must be worth more than the $2 you have attributed. :)

Regards,

Kenny

[Aceyducey]

Surely all the "Firsts" (eg. first car, first girl/guy etc) must be worth more than the $2 you have attributed. :)
They were all in the first 10 years - I was an early starter ;)

Cheers,

Aceyducey

[Kenny]

They were all in the first 10 years - I was an early starter ;)

Cheers,

Aceyducey


Hi Acey,

OK then, I'll buy those 10 years for $2. Barely used and still in original packaging I assume.

Can you do vendor financing? :D

Regards,

Kenny

[keithj]

Hi Acey,

OK then, I'll buy those 10 years for $2. Barely used and still in original packaging I assume.
You'd be buying yourself a lot of homework & pimples:D

[geoffw]

Depends on which ten you want...

The first 10 - $20,000,000
The second 10 - $2
The third 10 - $100,000,000For sale. One set of untarnished principals. Going cheap to the highest bidder :D

[Steve Navra]

For sale. One set of untarnished principals. Going cheap to the highest bidder :D


Pricipals as in 'Principal" of a school??? :confused: :confused: :confused:

They wouldn't be worth much would they?? (Well not my ex principals)

Untarnished . . . well we should all certainly hope so :p (We entrust our children to these people :eek: )

Now GeoffW if it is your (or Acey's)PRINCIPLES for sale, then why are they going so cheap, or is there something you're not telling us :D

Regards,

Steve

[geoffw]

It's about time you caught one of my mistakes Steve.

It was Acey who started selling his life off cheap :D

And the principals were the CEOs of Financial Advisory Service companies ;)

[the.j]

I went for time, and then read the follow up posts.

It occured to me that with my (just) new work arrangement, where I only work Monday to Thursday - I should stop drinking beer on a Friday, thinking it's a long weekend (like every weekend) and sit on - sharescene or something to day trade - for more beer money.

Cheers
J

:p

[Bear924]

I'm a four day weeker however the problem I'm faced with is whether to accepth a 'promotion' that will give me more $$$ with less time (eg. five day week) or stay put. Excluding such things as job satisfaction it is very much a case of determining your highest priority. (time or money)

[Medine]

I voted time!

If I calculate out my portfolio, compounding, over the next 15 years or so, it's obvious to me how PRECIOUS time really is :p . (And a very interesting exercise if you haven't done it recently!!)

On the other hand, in terms of building that portfolio, I think that Rolf has it - COURAGE.

Cheers, Medine.

[Andrew_A]

TimeI voted time!

If I calculate out my portfolio, compounding, over the next 15 years or so, it's obvious to me how PRECIOUS time really is :p . (And a very interesting exercise if you haven't done it recently!!)

On the other hand, in terms of building that portfolio, I think that Rolf has it - COURAGE.

Cheers, Medine.I agree.. Once you have your yearly living expenses covered in income from investments, then it's just a case of sitting back and watching your capital compound to infinity (in theory). Compound interest is truly a wonder, I like telling kids the story of the chessboard and the grain of rice....

[wish-ga]

Maybe it's good I can't service another loan quite yet. Gives me time to keep learning and researching.

(despite the fact that I wish I could build faster)

:D

[Olivia]

Patience

Exhale…its ok…it will all happen again and again. Don’t be scared.

[wish-ga]

Am on the path to increasing my cashflow. Interviewing for new positions at the mo. Hopefully will give a boost to my ppor repayments so I can get going....

[iKwak]

This was a very good thread and I need to chime in. Hehe.


If you become 20 years old again as of this year, how would you start your career as a IP investor? Meaning, what books would you start off and/or what method to get a head start?


I'm in this shoe right now.

[willair]

iKwak,


If you become 20 years old again as of this year, how would you start your career as a IP investor? Meaning, what books would you start off and/or what method to get a head start?


Iikwak,
if i was 20 again?.
take a week of work, spend everyday reading whats inside
this investment forum,if something like this was around 20 years ago
then i do think that things would be different, but for me i would
rather have made all the mistakes,failures,the cheques in the mail,
stories,because after a while you will discover your own personal
attitude to any investment risk, and learn to say no and walk away.
good luck
willair..

good luck
willair.