ENGLISH LAND SCHEME "DUMB" SAYS EXPERT
ENGLISH LAND SCHEME "DUMB" SAYS EXPERT
Take the boring road to security instead.
"Dumb" is rarely the right word to describe anyone caught in a bad investment. For centuries, very intelligent people have lost enormous sums due to some very intelligent salespeople with some very slick sales pitches.
Salespeople such as Stephen Cleeve and his "consultants" at ELS (European Land Sales) who have been urging Australians to buy agricultural land in England. The idea is that, one day-maybe-perhaps, it will be suitable for housing. If the investors live long enough.
Meanwhile, Cleeve and his salespeople make profits today from flogging the thought of profits tomorrow for investors.
But are these investors "dumb"?
No, just investors who break one of the fundamental rules of investing - if you accept high risk you must insist on low price.
The December issue of the respected Personal Investor magazine quotes property investment consultant, Mal James, "You should only ever buy risk at a discount. In this case [with ELS], you are buying risk at an inflated price - dumb."
Yes, okay, it's a silly thing to do, but it seems some otherwise intelligent people are doing it. As one of the ELS consultants boasted, "Quite a few Australians are coming on board."
On board?
With ELS, investors are boarding a ship with a captain who has a record of abandoning investors.
One of the best ways to test the worth of any investment ship is to look at the past history of the ship's captain.
In the case of Stephen Cleeve of ELS, he has been banned by British authorities from being a director of a company. Perhaps his previous investment schemes would also fit the classification of "dumb". Not for Cleeve, but for his investors.
Several property experts (in both England and Australia) think that Cleeve’s land schemes are something to avoid. We agree - and we like the advice of Mal James who says that the way to property wealth is "to buy a boring house in a boring suburb for a boring price and hold it for a boring length of time."
Granted, it's not as exciting as getting involved in the maybe-big-returns of an English land scheme, but it's a much safer investment.
And safety should always be the primary aim of any investment.
***************
This news article was written by Neil Jenman, Author & Consumer advocate.
<< Back to Latest News
Articles
INSTANT REACTIONTo put a property on the market takes effort. There is the effort in selecting the agent and marketing
strategy, the effort to prepare and present the property and then the effort to keep the presentation A1 throughout the campaign.
CONDITIONINGThe tricks used to drive your price down.
THE TWO RESERVE PRICESAt an auction, the property cannot be sold until the bidding reaches the sellers reserve price. Many sellers that sign up for an auction are comforted by the fact that the reserve price will protect them against underselling.
