My idea would be to use the money on a deposit for a property. Find a good deal, 30% discount etc, renovate and sell. Keep doing this and after 5 years, you will have a decent pot of money.
If you do not have the time or want to get your hands dirty, then find someone who will do all the legwork and split the profits 50/50.
Regards
Jo
That works well Jo but you really do need to project manage personally else your costs eat up the equity very quickly, it is a full time job... but if done right it can be great...
I invested in Florida in 2006 and fortunately saw the market taking a "boot" just before it happened and managed to sell my single property at a gentle loss, however I then sat for a year into 2009 and as the market bottomed out took on cash purchases of REO / BANK OWNED / LIS PEN properties which can be rented out to those now unable to mortgage but able to pay. By using the equity in each property I can 'lever' a small borrowing upon the next commercially which is repaid very quickly, the growth is a numbers game and exponential as 1 = 2 = 4 = 7 = 10 and so on, as my gearing is acceptable to the lender.
At the moment you can collect a distressed property in Florida from $25,000 for a 2/1 condo to $175,000 for a typical 4/3 family home, in all seriousness start with the condo and work up over the next three years as the market recovers by 2015 to 2017 when it will probably stumble again. As a comparison these same properties were $68,000 and $325,000 two years ago - like any situation there are always parasites and yes that makes me one of them. On the face of it many in the UK / EC will be sceptical of this and indeed I've had a comment or two from individual low lifes whom wish they'd thought of it, just remember that you only
lose money if you sell for less than you paid and churning that investment over can in the long term generate profit if you have (a) the nuts and (b) the drive.
You can do the same in the UK of course, indeed I have been and my equity is healthy in the portfolio but American's panic easily and this drives the market down... similarly when CNN tell them it's all good again they'll dig out their wallets and that means a more dynamic market to sell. It's all a matter of timing. So what did I do with my £20k, there you go...
