An investor's 3 best friends?

Something see_change said here reminded me of what I hold to be my 3 best "friends" (as an investor).

In no particular order, they are money, time (or timing), and information.



Money

It doesn't have to be cash, it could be equity, a cash-bond, a loan. It may have been saved over many years, or it may be a windfall, a gift, an inheritance. Perhaps you are borrowing 100% (or more)? Or not borrowing at at all. Perhaps you've struck a deal such someone else pays all the bills. But ultimately any "investment" has a money component - at the start (getting in), as it is happening (getting through), and certainly at the conclusion (getting out) (profits, please!).



Time / Timing

Do you buy and hold? Ride the boom and dump? Reno and sell? Flip? Wrap? Build from the ground up? Redevelop? Time (or timing) is essential. If for whatever reason the timing of a project isn't right for you, then you cannot do it. If you know a project will take a given amount of time (assuming you are beginning with a specific end in mind) and you haven't got this time, what do you do then? Time to make things happen, to coordinate things, just being in the right place at the right time - we all need these things.



Information

Research, market smarts, knowledge, facts and figures, projections, forecasts, support networks, costings, quotes, forums, discussions, chat rooms, seminars, gut feelings, hot tips, rumours and innuendo even! Possession of information, either by design or accident, and then using this information advantageously* (perhaps before the masses do) is what sets out smart investors from ordinary ones.



So these are my 3 best "friends" when it comes to investing.

What are yours?

Mark


*Ordinary information used advantageously is better than quality information not used at all.
 
Mark,

Great post! Loved it!!

Basically distills the essence of what it will take to win in the REI game. Maybe under time just add "patience". i.e. the ability to act at the right time based on your "information" and not just when you are able to act based on your "money".

For me, in REI, time in and timing are equally important. Some seem to favour the time in (-ve gearing CG) over the timing, and some the timing (flip, reno and sell) over the time in. I like to think that the market dictates which strategy is best at any point in "time".

Cheers,
Michael.
 
MichaelWhyte said:
For me, in REI, time in and timing are equally important. Some seem to favour the time in (-ve gearing CG) over the timing, and some the timing (flip, reno and sell) over the time in. I like to think that the market dictates which strategy is best at any point in "time".
For me, the time issue is also important. Reason being, even if you are a slow and steady investor i.e buy and hold, over time your rents should increase and loans possibly decrease (depending on your strategy) so that eventually your investment becomes positive or at least neutral, thus freeing up more money to further invest.

All we need is time.

Great post Mark.

Regards
Marty
 
Hmmm,

What about

The Broker, the paper and building contractor

or

The Banker, the vendor and home renovator

or ?

Michael G
 
Pitt St said:
So these are my 3 best "friends" when it comes to investing.

What are yours?
Excellent post, thanks Mark. ;)

From an investment point of view, personally I see as my:

Best friends: My tenants, my PMs, my accountant, and (under extreme circumstances only) my solicitor!!!

Adversaries: :mad: : (Just the one)....The Taxman!!! :mad:
 
Monopoly said:
Adversaries: :mad: : (Just the one)....The Taxman!!! :mad:

Sort of off topic, but what is it with the personification of the tax system. Almost everyone seems to call the tax system, or parts of it thereof, the "taxman". :rolleyes:

Great post, Pitt St. Fantastic. :)
 
duncan_m said:
Great post! :)

My three are something like Balls, Enthusiasm, and Determination! :)

Well I certainly hope I don't possess your first preferred attribute :)
Agree wholeheartedly with Enthusiasm and detemination though, for these are the elements that drive you after all.
Would also like to add that a sounding board (in my case my partner) can literally prove to be a best friend, in that you're not making decisions based only on your own opinion. Support and backup can't be underestimated.
 
Merovingian said:
Sort of off topic, but what is it with the personification of the tax system. Almost everyone seems to call the tax system, or parts of it thereof, the "taxman". :rolleyes:
Okay Merovingian, (just for you) I shall reword my post to appease your sense of political correctness:

Best friends: My tenants, my PMs, my accountant, and (under extreme circumstances only) my solicitor!!!

Adversaries: (Just the one).... :mad: The Tax System!!! :mad:

Better??? :D ;)
 
Monopoly said:
Okay Merovingian, (just for you) I shall reword my post to appease your sense of political correctness:

Better??? :D ;)

No need to do that! :D

Nah, it's just that for as long as I remember, I have heard the term "taxman", and always envisioned a big man in a large black or blue suit that comes to your front door if you don't pay your tax, and he was "the taxman".

Anyway, not to derail this thread any longer... :)
 
Merovingian said:
a big man in a large black or blue suit that comes to your front door if you don't pay your tax, and he was "the taxman".
That's him!!!! ;) :D

Okay, enough frivolity, back to the topic..... :p
 
Time / Money / Info

Agree Pitt St

Everything else fits into on off those 3 categories .. Time / Money / Info

If I don't have the money I'm stuffed, unless I have info that might get me money or time which will get me money.

If I don't have time I can use money to buy time from others.

If I don't have info I can use money to buy that.

Anyway

Negotiation is a money/time/info thing, if the vendor has had the property on the market for a long time, they might accept less money if you have the info to know.

Otherwise if the property has not been on the market for long you might have the skill/info to negotiate a better price.

I could ramble on like this all night but ...



... well actually I can't I'm fed up already.

cheers
quoll
 
Mine are a calculator to do all the sums; a computer for nearly all aspects; and a telephone for those cheeky REA's who won't answer emails.
 
Pitt St said:
Something see_change said here reminded me of what I hold to be my 3 best "friends" (as an investor).

In no particular order, they are money, time (or timing), and information.

Money

Time / Timing

Information

So these are my 3 best "friends" when it comes to investing.

What are yours?
All the above are ranked very highly but none rate higher than

EXPERIENCE

regards
 
My three would be

Knowledge
Experience
Attitude

These three will allow you to access all the others - knowledge and experience will help you acccess money, experience and attitude will help you build your team, the combination of all of them will match your resources and your opportunities, while tempering or mitigating your risks.

I would add that I could add others to the list, but these are enough. Ask Peter Spann and others who started with no money, little knowledge, zero experience (but some atittitude). The garnering of knowledge and experience assisted in the acquisition of money, but if Spann were broke today, I bet he'd be back on his feet much faster than he was first time round. Money is your servant, the others are your partners.
 
A total greenhorn's opion may not count for much so I will put question marks after mine.

Patience (?)
Knowledge (?)
Network (good conveyancer, MB, PM, accountant etc) (?)

If I have patence and build my knowledge then it doesn't matter that I have limited earnings in my dayjob.

If I build my knowledge steadily then my experience is worth much more than chalking up the years. I reckon reading Jan's books has saved me a good 10 years of blunders (just me, not talking about anyone else who would have figured things out much easier/sooner)
 
Just to simplify:

Cycle - everything goes in cycles, order in the madness
Compound - Einstein's wonder
Cashflow - without this you will be undone!

:)
F
 
The different factors everyone else has brought up before this post are all very valid, but one thing I think no one has mentioned up till now though is
Determination /Focus - and probably out of this persistance

All the successful investors profiled in API or the various books and I'm sure most of you all have a single midned determination to succeed. You have all done the time to gain the knowledge, build the contacts or the team, or worked hard or made the necessary sacrifices to gain the money.

This is also something I think I need to work on. Just too many darned distractions out there :)
 
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