Overseas deals topic has gone dead anyone got anything provocative to talk about save how to set up a checking account :)

….name top 5 cities/states/suburbs in the states for positive geared property?? and why (if u can be bothered)?

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Huh? LOL

Negative gearing is a foreign concept here

i would say pretty much everything is already covered here if you trawl through the Overseas forum posts from previous months. That's the only reason why i think it may have dried up.

Why not talk about  buying up trailer parks we don't have these in Australia, seems like there are a couple of gurus that have made a zillion buying these, upgrading and creating huge cashflow.

How much of a risk for the foreign investor, what type of clients does this attract. I am not seeing a pretty picture, but then again I am perhaps watching too much TV, Jerry Springer comes to mind. 

Anyone had any experience in this area?

I understand  an investor who joined Steve MC mentoring program moved over to US (Florida) a couple of years ago now and started purchasing these and has done very well, but I just can't see myself doing this.

WI

what you call "the problem" and what Japan sees as "the problem" are two wholly different things, in much similar fashion to how you interpret data. Being "king of asia" or "the worlds biggest economy" hasnt factored in their calculations since post WW2. While I agree that Japan has problems to fix, nothing is crashing, imploding, turning third world, or all of the other doom and gloom that you speculate in my opinion. I'm not a big expert on the rest of Asia, and a pretty small expert on Japan, but what I do know is that, from their perspective, the last twenty years following the early nineties economic bust, can and have shaped up very differently in many parts of the word, the majority of which did try to follow "standard" methodologies to deal with their financial woes.

As much as the IMF, G20 members and even the almighty freckle don't like Japan's reliance on its citizens, it's zero inflation policy, non existent borrowing rates or lack of sale tax, for example, it's worked pretty well for Japan as a country so far – or at least alot better than if they would have adopted any different measures before they deemed the time is right. They do things their own way and at their own speed in Japan, and while it often seems alien and uncompetitive to the rest of the worlds economies, I for one have faith in their approach.

Certainly, if the numbers were anything to go by, Japan should have gone through a major recession far before the year 2000, with suicides, droves of jobless and homeless flocking the streets, parks etc, nothing to offer on a manufacturing, technological and economical global scale- yet somehow, almost miraculously, they managed to avoid all that, and didn't (here's a piece that explains how far better than I and no, it doesn't all have to do with borrowing from pension funds- http://www.mindfulmoney.co.uk/?lid=13281).

There are far more ways to skin a cat and many more ways events could pan out regarding the move to other energy sources (querying the people was one thing, doing it is quite another, the government already backtracked from the zero nukes by 2040 policy, two days after the poll results), disputes with china (which in your mind already seem to have escalated to a full scale war or resource pissing contest, something which Japan just doesn't do anymore) have quite a few ways to pan out as well, as does the reliance on private funds and the handling of negative bond yields (see link in previous reply to your first post)- all of these challenges exist, but none of them spells the death of the economy, separately or unified.

Not all trade deficits turn out to be GFC v.2.9 etc, some of them merely kick off a mild cycle of currency fluctuations or national tightening periods (which Japan is the undisputed master of- you won't see anyone raping and pillaging after a hurricane or foreclosed streets turning into junkie squalors, for instance, more like a group effort to equally support the sufferers)- all of the above are facts and scenarios and data that can be played out in a myriad of ways beyond the total mayhem you paint in your posts. Every country goes through recessions, ups and downs and booms and busts (as anyone who invests beyond their back yard knows, appreciates, and is quick to capitalize on)- Japan is one of the safest places to be invested in, even during those cycles. Their level headed, straightforward and resilient mentality to economic and other disasters (which are sure to happen, almost like clockwork, every decade or two at the very least), makes them extremely likely to persevere. I, for one, have no interest in chasing the "best", "biggest", "newest" etc- I prefer slow and steady, and Japan's approach in the last few decades, as well as the results, in both high and lower times, actually makes perfect sense to me.

Diversity and hedging, as always, are key. If your money is parked in several currencies and holding types, you can let the relevant parts of it lie, exchange, liquidate, reinvest – all according to current climates. What you call "investors who shun DD", I call "investors who made a decision and remain flexible, and don't get paralyzed every time the wind changes". That old post I wrote about when and how DD ends was referring to cases such as the ones you like to always portray – – there's always something to be afraid of, no matter where you choose to invest, and in what. We all strike our balances between information, risk (or fear of), and speculation. In much similar fashion to my aversion to speculation regarding gain or growth, I try to steer clear of speculation forecasting crashes and recessions. Yes, it may happen, but it may happen anywhere and to anything I invest in. If I change my mind or never act based on the endless streams of information for or against something, what's the point of investing? I prefer to choose a strategy, at least for a few years, and pursue it as long as its viable (which is never forever)- then adapt to the new conditions. Sometimes those conditions mean I lose some, most of the time they mean I gain in other places and if I implement new strategies. It's not about avoiding all risk at all cost, at least for me, but all about diversifying to minimize losses, maximize profits, and be able to capitalize quickly on new scenarios- something which just can't happen if I sit on my money until the time and place is perfect, because it never is.

In Japan, at least, as you mentioned, the environment will remain regulated, reliable and supportive no matter how low the numbers sink (and sink they will at some stage, no matter where or what I'm invested in)- Ill take the highs with the lows for that kind of environment, it's a hell of a lot better than anything and anywhere else I've been dealing with so far, at least in the few countries I've sampled and the great many I've been reading about. 

Most would consider commercial RE as land and buildings that enable someone else to run a business activity from. Once you get involved in a running a business from a property you blur the lines between property investor vs business owner. 

nobody, really? Thought I heard some of you mentioning an office or shop or two in some of your posts…come on, share the love, don't be shy lurkers now