McKnight buys 30 US homes for $1m

Hi Tom1000000,

Actually, I feel that I have built enough wealth and certainly don’t want to hoard it.

My main goal in investing now is to continue to raise money to contribute into philanthropic activities which we have begun.

This all started when my books sold well, and now has become quite a focus.

Also, there is a certain amount of enjoyment that we get from investing. As such, we do it not because we have to, but because it is something we enjoy.

For example, does someone who loves their job quit when they attain financial independence? Or does simply the nature of the relationship become different as now they do it because they can rather than because they have to?

I also like sharing information about what works in property investing, and I feel that to do this with any credibility, I should remain an active investor.

As for how much is enough… I have rather large philanthropic dreams.

Regards,

Steve McKnight

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Remember that success comes from doing things differently.
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Steve,

I personally fail to understand how people would “love” property investing (except maybe it massages their ego).

I guess Steve is at the stage where he pays people to do all the hard work so its easy for him.

However I don’t find the hard yards very enjoyable at all. You have to research the town. Research the property. Check out the tenants. Negotiate a price. Repeat that many times as vendors always want the highest price (this may change in future). Screw around with banks. Hope the building inspection finds no nasty suprises. Pay lots of stamp duty.

As for Kerry Packer et al, they ARE workaholics. Their whole life is defined by their job. They know nothing else.

Keeping up property investing (eg in the USA) so you can advise other people is fair enough.

If you enjoy helping other people improve their wealth I understand that completely.

What philanthropic things are you doing? I am interested to know.

Make up your mind, Tom1000000. Nobody said property was easy. But if you ever bothered to read Steve’s books you would find that he believes that those who don’t have a passion for property won’t make it succeed as a wealth.

Lesson 1: He has a passion for property as many of us do. Why should he give it up? Especially a he hasn’t achieved his goals yet?

Lesson 2: If you don’t have the same passion, what are you doing in the property market at all (if you are in the property market that is)?

Lesson 3: Stop whinging about others and do something for yourself.

Here is a challenge for you, or anybody else who cares to whinge. I will Guarantee to find you, for less than $100,000 Australian, a property yielding 20% gross returns AND I will sell it to you. I will have a good management agent in place and organise all your title insurance, search and survey, buidling inpection and legal expenses thrown in for no extra cost. I will also introduce you to a lender who does 30 year fixed rate loans to foreigners. You don’t even have to move out of your chair for this one.

Now put up or shut up.

Hi all!!

caution, rant alert, this post is intended to press buttons. So be it.!

ah, bbruham strikes again. haha, yes and Buffalo is the new Tokoroa!!

?????????

I have two main reasons for not investing in the States. Just personal ones. One, broadly speaking, is George Bush. I am voting politically with my disposable income, so sue me, but these days, I actually don’t buy American if I can help it.

The other reason is that I reckon can make more money faster and have more investing fun elsewhere – where? NZ.
Why? Because I know what I’m doing! I know the market and I have a network.
I have a major advantage! Big Difference!

NZ…Small market, and there I’m part of a ‘magnetic’ little community of like-minded investors who I helped meet and become attracted to eachother. You know, in the way that ‘like attracts like’. And keeps growing in the same way. and yes, that is FUN. I am part of a team, we are doing the same or similar thing, we are sharing, we are working together, we don’t see it as competing because there are enough deals for us all. Now if you’ve spent your life crawling over broken glass to find just one deal then you might not believe me, especially if you also only hang out with other broken-glass crawlers who think the same, and if you ‘re looking for reasons why not, then you’ll find them, just as I did with the US investing thing. But for me, teamwork is one way to make sure everyone can find deals all the time. And NZ is where I’ve got it. The team wasn’t put in place overnight, it took time, trust, friendships, relationships. That’s the FUN part! Playing with other people in the sandpit.! We help eachother, too. The bigger investors pass on the little deals, and the little investors pass on the bigger deals, etc etc.

So I am having fun, part of a crew, making money, and helping many others do the same. I’ve read ‘who moved my cheese’ and the cheese is still very much there in NZ ( – it’s everywhere, if you know how to sniff it out, make offers, get in first, have a plan, all that sort of thing -) – but I like NZ, I know it, it’s got so many things going for it (for me) that the US frankly so doesn’t. (for me for my personal reasons.)

Yeah, I did a seminar or two and THANKS TO THAT STEVE I do know how to make money in every market – up, down, or flat.!

If I were to consider branching into another market, I like the sound of China – or Asia in general, and some of the emerging countries in Eastern Europe – or, Europe in general.

“If he has to keep on buying property then really investment is just another job since apparently you never stop.”

The operative word being ‘has to’. He doesn’t ‘have to’ do anything.
Once you never ‘have to’ work again, you can do whatever you like. Now Steve stopped doing the things he didn’t like (running an accounting practice) and I don’t think he will ever go back to doing that somehow.

But me, now all my professional life (prior to not needing to work any more) I’ve done something I love to do which is creative. it’s how I made my investing startup capital, and I still do it, I always will, and professionally, for free, whatever. I love it. It pays a fraction of what the same amount of time applied to a property deal would pay, but I do it anyway. For fun. Not cause I have to.

I do it for love, for fun, to keep busy, motivated, for belonging, for expression, for accountability, for a sense of achievement, for the sake of creating beauty or harmony. (what I do professionally is basically an art form.) So is what I do to feel my ego? Ditto Steve?

Dunno, but yeah, maybe, probably, why not? But not only. We also do what we do for the superego! The oversoul! The id! The whole person! and the family, the community, the world. Don’t we?

Talking ego for a sec – isn’t the ego – and the emotions – the thing that gives you passion? The thing that drives people? (apart from when they’re being driven by greed and fear, hehe…)

“I personally fail to understand how people would “love” property investing (except maybe it massages their ego).”

Oh! well, you obviously never played Monopoly as a kid ( or cashflow, as an adult) for fun – with paper money, just because! Property investing is damn fine fun! You should try it! It’s addictive…because of all the things that go with it, not just the bricks and sticks and dollars bit. That bit’s actually quite boring!

“I guess Steve is at the stage where he pays people to do all the hard work”
Damn straight!

I don’t personally build computers, I buy them off someone who does.
Get it? Duh, we all do. Pay people to do all the hard work. Grow our strawberries. Manufacture our DVDs. We leverage our own time and skill for others. That possiblity is just TRADE and anyone can do it – not just Steve!

For example if you buy into a property fund, you hand over your money and everyone else does everything for you. There are all sorts of ways to get people to do the hard work for you if you find it too hard or unpleasant.

If you think it’s hard work, farm it out. If you want to do it yourself, do so because it’s fun, not because it’s hard work and you feel that you must to all this onerous hard work.

“so its easy for him.”

Ah, another bloody victim.

Poor me, it was easy for you, but it’s so hard for me, because I am so feeble and pathetic.

Yeah, well, so be it. Keep singing that song, and it’s see ya later, get over it, change, or bye bye, i’m off.
It’s easier to never go to a seminar and sit there and diss them as rip-offs than to actually go to one, because then you might not have any excuse.
As long as you sit there and blame and justify, you sit there and blame and justify. get it?

Carry on! Knock yourself out!
The forum’s full of it, cause misery loves company.!

“However I don’t find the hard yards very enjoyable at all.”

Aha! You do get it…

“You have to research the town. Research the property. Check out the tenants. Negotiate a price. Repeat that many times as vendors always want the highest price (this may change in future). Screw around with banks. Hope the building inspection finds no nasty suprises. Pay lots of stamp duty.”

You don’t HAVE to. Obviously if it’s hard and not very enjoyable or lucrative and seemingly hard, onerous and pointless, like you’ve described, your ego isn’t going to get that much of a buzz from it (touche!) and you’ll probably quit and do something more comfortable or easier.

BTW NZ has no stamp duty. And you could use a bird dog. Banks – I wouldn’t screw around with them, I would just fill out one form and let the broker do the rest.

You do sound like you are having a very terrible time and not having much fun at all, so perhaps property is not for you, perhaps you are a failure?

But you can’t be! Your ego wouldn’t allow it! it’s not your fault! it’s the blasted banks, the blasted vendors, the blasted market, Steve’s fault, it’s the rest of the world’s fault! not yours!

You see? It’s just all psychology! people tend to do over and over things that make them feel good, empowered. If it ain’t making you feel good then maybe you could CHANGE the way you do it, systematise it, leverage it, whatever it, but just TWEAK and improve it until you start to whittle away at the sculpture in your hands called YOUR LIFE and make it better. Got it!?

“As for Kerry Packer et al, they ARE workaholics. Their whole life is defined by their job. They know nothing else.”

Yeah, so judge, judge, damn, damn. So if they’re all lacking and empty with their dollars (your opinion) you can feel all good about yourself in your EGO (touche again) if you have no dollars but lots of cut glass to crawl over (backwards, and repeatedly.)

“Keeping up property investing (eg in the USA) so you can advise other people is fair enough.
If you enjoy helping other people improve their wealth I understand that completely.”

Oh, a small concession for Steve, how kind of you to deem him worthy.

“What philanthropic things are you doing? I am interested to know.”
He gave away the entire profits of his book to charity, which would surprise a lot of people who think he’s doing it for the money. he also has a charitable foundation which gives back to the community

cheers-
Mini

contact WESTAN you say…….. i’ve tried three ways!!!

I AM moving to the states and..
I HAVE tried asking questions…

I was starting to think i was asking the right questions so wasn’t getting replies..

Steve,
you said ask questions and when you have time you’ll reply, ok, (or anyone investing there)
* what would be the three greatest extra due dilligence point to consider while investing in the US?

*Do you know of a decent online US property investing forum i could learn from??

thanks – i look forward to a reply

If you do what everyone else does, you’ll get what everyone else has..

It’s great that you’re able to help people find properties their but are you against offering anything for free.. like knowledge for beginners??

If you do what everyone else does, you’ll get what everyone else has..

Hey Mabbott this should help you get started.

http://www.nyccashflow.com

I started looking at Buffalo June 04 and got on to these guys they are a very good cash flow investor group I used them to get set up and start buying in Buffalo first purchase was in early January 05.

eg duplex in decent area paid 26.5K spent 9k on rehab now in excellent condition and fully tenanted to section 8 at 1000 month 34% yield.. I thought it was in good knick when I bought it but manager recommended 7k rehab then section 8 wanted 2.5 k further work done so its palatial now.eg had beuatifulvarnished natural wood windows doors and skirting board architrays etc but section 8 wanted in painted..

section 8 are the govt dept that subsidise low income tennats rent some say dont do it I think its great to be on George Bushs’ payroll he is never late with the rent and cahnces are the tennants will saty teher for a long time. There is a waiting list to get on section 8 so it is sought after by tennants.

The main strategy promoted by NYC cash flow is to get in to the market at 80% of value; you have to be very selective in doing this would be hard to do from here without a trusted team to help and trust usuallt is earned not given. This system is called cash out investing it is a very low risk method and also good for your net worth….

My preference is buying foreclosed homes and rehabbing. You need to have a trusted local team on the ground NYC cash flow is a good place to network. There are plenty of rent ready deals as well.

Try these sites also:

http://www.realtor.com

http://www.ebay.com

http://www.real-info.com gives you actual sales price and comparable sales you can get a two week freebie and keep getting it if you want

go on the buffalo news web site then homefinder and you will also see a website that gives you actual sales prices

very very much buyer beware but there are real sound deals to be picked up there if you can check them out on the ground

There is also a local investor group called WNY investor association I went to one of there meetings it was pretty boring but went down the bar after pizza and beer the quality of info improved 716 773 2980 PO Box 653 Grand Island, NY 14072

Also check out this table with an indication of US house price value.

http://money.cnn.com/pf/features/lists/home_valuations/

G’Day Mini,

Quite awhile ago I asked you “what did you learn from S.McK.’s Seminar? You replied “heaps”.
You didn’t elaborate. So now I’m asking, how has S.McK.’s Seminar change you from “before” to “after”?
I’ve notice a difference in you. You don’t debate as you use to.Don’t jump in any more.Don’t post as much.
I once asked you, had you found GOD or had BOY troubles etc. No you said.
So what caused the big difference in you?
It couldn’t be one seminar, surely!!!

bruham.

Hi Piggy

Our contacts from Buffalo were out in Oz recently, if this friend of yours has had problems and they are one of our clients please get them to contact Me ASAP so we can sort it out. There are many things that can cause frustration, but all can be solved with a bit of support. So please encourage your friend to be in touch.
As far as high returns 30%+ are always achievable but usually the higher the return the higher the risk (important to keep this in mind).

regards westan

We find cash positive deals showing 15-25% Returns in the USA email me at [email protected] to join our database

Piggy,

Have you also seen this thread on Somersoft? It was crossposted here a while ago and I assumed that anyone planning to go to the US would have read it. Not updated since my latest trip, but I haven’t sorted everything out yet.