The deal of a lifetime

The deal of a lifetime comes up pretty regularly.

Some SSers often quote the the deal of a lifetime comes up frequently.

If this is the case, then perhaps people could post in this thread the once in a lifetime deals they come across.
 
Some SSers often quote the the deal of a lifetime comes up frequently.

If this is the case, then perhaps people could post in this thread the once in a lifetime deals they come across.

I also said that you needed an understanding of broader markets. In it's simplest sense, if you are always hocked up to to your eyeballs in res property, how can you "take a position" when you meet someone who is in dire straits and offering you his car CASH TODAY?

At a macro level, your post seems to say I was wrong, but if they don't come up regularly, doesn't it make sense to keep some dry powder? One good deal every five years will outdo five years fully invested in whatever is on offer that week. (Just a gut feeling :))
 
Some SSers often quote the the deal of a lifetime comes up frequently.

If this is the case, then perhaps people could post in this thread the once in a lifetime deals they come across.

Novices that attend seminars and read books by "gurus" who make out that investing is easy. They use acronyms like J.O.B as well, implying that jobs are something to be looked down upon.
 
They use acronyms like J.O.B as well, implying that jobs are something to be looked down upon.
The seminars I went to decades ago (haven't been to any since :)) stressed how important your income was because in the early years, that is all you have to leverage. I have been guilty myself of saying "Making a living interferes with making money!" but I will concede that in the early stages "Making a living" and living within your means is paramount.
 
Novices that attend seminars and read books by "gurus" who make out that investing is easy. They use acronyms like J.O.B as well, implying that jobs are something to be looked down upon.

I've heard people use 'job' as an acronym for 'just over broke', and frankly I think that's pretty silly. Would the same person who had no job suddenly be a good financial manager?

There's nothing wrong with having a regular job if that's what you want. One of my goals in life was to get the job I have now, and I love it. I've spent about 20 years getting to this job. Further, this job has allowed me to have a nice home, a great lifestyle, and supports my investing habit nicely.

Now, I'm pretty sure we've been over this before on this forum - successful investing takes time, discipline and skills. By the time you can find, negotiate and close the 'deal of a lifetime', you've probably already had a pretty substantial amount of investing experience.

Frankly, I don't try to look for the deal of a lifetime. I have a set of criteria that I think makes for an acceptable investment, and I can find deals that meet these criteria every year or so, which is how often I tend to buy IPs.
 
Hi Keith,

If the deal of a lifetime is 10 - 20% under market value then we have purchased a number of properties at auction which can be considered deals of a lifetime.

We purchased at one auction where the only other bidder did not have approved funds so had to pull out of the bidding. We were at an auction a few weeks ago where we were in the same predicament so another couple got the deal of a lifetime.

We have even walked away from the deal of a lifetime not realising until later that we should have proceeded.

So Sunfish is right. The deal of a lifetime does come around pretty regularly. He is also right when he says that we may not always be in a position to take advantage of the situation.

Regards

Andrew
 
..., then perhaps people could post in this thread the once in a lifetime deals they come across.

I've had many once in a lifetime deals come my way, unfortunately, i did not take advantage of them all. The ones i did include;

- completing a free university education in engineering at the tax payers expense (I have since paid back in tax as a high income earner many times over)

- accepting my first expat assignment 7 years ago

- accepting my 2nd expat assignment 2 years ago

- marrying my now wife 15 years ago

- stumbling over Jan Somers books about 12 years ago and copy pasting the methodology that has me sitting pretty today

- increasing my equities using leverage in early 2009

- I could go on but you get the picture...
 
I think a person who relies on a "deal in a lifetime" lacks self confidence to an extent. There are always plenty of opportunities- most of which will go un noticed.

Julius Caeser refers to "the fortunes of war" in his memoirs on the conquest of Gaul. He is philosophical- you will win some and you will lose some- but to him the end is always clear.

(mind you his memoirs are quite self serving).
 
Some SSers often quote the the deal of a lifetime comes up frequently.

If this is the case, then perhaps people could post in this thread the once in a lifetime deals they come across.

How would you define a deal of a lifetime? What is the minimum criteria it should fulfill?

Cheers,
Oracle.
 
I purchased one for a client last week that is probably the best resi yield I have come across.

It is a massive 2 storey house that can be divided into 3 separate resi tenancies: a 4brm self contained house upstairs and a 2brm self contained house downstairs plus it has a 2brm granny flat in the back yard. Cost $375K and needs about $25K spending on it (should be worth $440K after reno). Rents would be combined $760pw = 9.9% rental yield :D (much on a par with CIP).

...and before you ask - no it is not in a dodgy area. It is 200m to the local shops and about 300m from the lake edge with nice picnic areas and walking tracks.
 
How would you define a deal of a lifetime? What is the minimum criteria it should fulfill?
Not sure.... I don't think 10% under value would fit, maybe 20%+ would.

I was hoping that posters could tell us what deals they have done that are deals of a lifetime to help others recognise them.

Also that deals they come across, but have to walk away from for some reason, could be posted here for the benefit of others.
 
IP purchased Jan 2001. Large regional city. Purchased $85K, then rent $300 pw. Valued Jan 2003 $200K.

What made this a good deal was i was very familiar with the market there and the city. This was an unloved street, most locals would not buy anything in that street due to its reputation. I had actually noted some positive comments about that area a few months earlier.
 
Deal 1

Tried to purchase 50% of Wesfarmer house on the Esplanade here in the Perth CBD when it came up for sale about 9 years ago.

50% of the building was selling via expressions of interest.....eventually sold to an overseas buyer for about 10.5m

Bank wouldn't support me in the finance....said it was far too risky, Wesfarmers HQ was a dodgy Tenant and overall far too big for me.

Rent for the entire building was about 2.5m pa at that stage....so by my calcs I wouldn't have had to chip in anything at all.

Five years later, the same mob sold the 50% for 28m.....I was spewing.

They made 3.5m pa every year for five years, and all they had to do was sit there and collect the excess rent and spend it.


Deal 2

Tried to purchase a big 20 acre parcel of land on 3 titles out in Canning Vale WA about 4 years ago.

One title was 10 acres bare block of land.
One title was 6 acres with a nice factory on it renting for 1.14m pa nett.
One title was 4 acres bare block of land.

Asking price was 18m.

Tried to get finance, but the Bank said it was a dreadful deal.

All I saw was a bewt 6.3% nett yield over the entire lot, and a bunch of vacant industrial land ready to chop up and sell off.

Finance at the time was 7.5%, so only 1.35m in interest a year. To hold, it would have cost only 210K p.a.

Obviously so did someone else, a Victorian consortium of 20 investors, who paid the full asking price of 18m.

They applied to council, did the division, put in a small street and chopped up the 10 acre block into 8 smaller blocks selling each one for 2m. Did the same for the smaller 4 acre block, selling 4 smaller blocks for 1.2m each.

Total block sales was 20.8m. Total time was just over 2 years.

I reckon when stamp duty, devvy costs and differential holding costs were taken into account, they would have completely got their money back, and their prize or dividend for the project was a fully owned factory on 6 acres producing by now 1.2m pa nett in rent.

The 20 investors each would have now 60K p.a. nett pouring into their pockets forevermore.

Showed this to the Bank later and they said "Oh well, at the time, given the information to hand, we considered this a very risky proposition." Bah humbug !!!

Needed a few partners but they were nowhere to be found.....


....and in my opinion, no, they do not come up all that often.
 
unless of course your sweetheart doubles in value every 7 years.

My ex doubled every three years......................so I got rid of her!
Not only that, she was way negatively geared (much more money going out than coming in) and as far as capital growth, well, she always had a headache.
 
I was hoping that posters could tell us what deals they have done that are deals of a lifetime to help others recognise them.

I'm not sure that you can be sure of the deal of a lifetime until you stop dealing.

However in 2004 we bought a 3000sqm place an hour out of Melbourne with a 4 bedroom house on it for $76k. We gave it a recondition and then built two more three bedroom places ourselves.

The total cost here was $200k and they rent for $225, $195 and $195 pw, grossing 15.9%.

We still have plenty of room to put a couple more on that block in the future.
 
Deal 1

Tried to purchase 50% of Wesfarmer house on the Esplanade here in the Perth CBD when it came up for sale about 9 years ago.

50% of the building was selling via expressions of interest.....eventually sold to an overseas buyer for about 10.5m

Bank wouldn't support me in the finance....said it was far too risky, Wesfarmers HQ was a dodgy Tenant and overall far too big for me.

Rent for the entire building was about 2.5m pa at that stage....so by my calcs I wouldn't have had to chip in anything at all.

Five years later, the same mob sold the 50% for 28m.....I was spewing.

They made 3.5m pa every year for five years, and all they had to do was sit there and collect the excess rent and spend it.


Deal 2

Tried to purchase a big 20 acre parcel of land on 3 titles out in Canning Vale WA about 4 years ago.

One title was 10 acres bare block of land.
One title was 6 acres with a nice factory on it renting for 1.14m pa nett.
One title was 4 acres bare block of land.

Asking price was 18m.

Tried to get finance, but the Bank said it was a dreadful deal.

All I saw was a bewt 6.3% nett yield over the entire lot, and a bunch of vacant industrial land ready to chop up and sell off.

Finance at the time was 7.5%, so only 1.35m in interest a year. To hold, it would have cost only 210K p.a.

Obviously so did someone else, a Victorian consortium of 20 investors, who paid the full asking price of 18m.

They applied to council, did the division, put in a small street and chopped up the 10 acre block into 8 smaller blocks selling each one for 2m. Did the same for the smaller 4 acre block, selling 4 smaller blocks for 1.2m each.

Total block sales was 20.8m. Total time was just over 2 years.

I reckon when stamp duty, devvy costs and differential holding costs were taken into account, they would have completely got their money back, and their prize or dividend for the project was a fully owned factory on 6 acres producing by now 1.2m pa nett in rent.

The 20 investors each would have now 60K p.a. nett pouring into their pockets forevermore.

Showed this to the Bank later and they said "Oh well, at the time, given the information to hand, we considered this a very risky proposition." Bah humbug !!!

Needed a few partners but they were nowhere to be found.....


....and in my opinion, no, they do not come up all that often.

this sort of stuff boils my blood.

i have decided to embark on my own cash generation strategies, because i can't rely on banks anymore.

i'm not paying to take on their risk and i'm sick to death of having to beg for a loan despite my equity & serviceability.
 
Read any of Karina's posts on the ex housing commission houses she was buying in Geraldton for around $70K renting for $120pw which are now all worth around the $300-400K mark. She bought a dozen odd...

L'il old me doesn't have much to show for himself yet. My best purchase is still my Mona Vale house for $690K in 2006. The median there is around $800K and this house was zoned multi-unit and 200m from the council chambers and the Mona Vale CBD so was good buying. It was on the market for 6 months with demands around $800K and I offered $700K before settling at $690K 6 months on.

I just signed the contract with the builder to develop that site with latest margin estimate on completion around $600K in 12 months time. Nothing as flash as Daz' achievments but a nice find in a depressed market.

Cheers,
Michael
 
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