The Real Truth About Fixed Index Annuities In A Bear Market

But what has the market done and what was the average return from the beginning of the stock market. Well, let us investigate the truth, believe it will be a real eye-opener.

We have had a bear market about every seven years, except for the current run of the bulls. It’s just math folks, your broker or financial advisor can manipulate the numbers, but they will never tell you the real truth because the truth will upset their rice bowl and expose their high commission and hidden fees.

Let us look at the S&P over another time frame:

In January 2000, the S&P 500 was at 1,469, January 2013, the S&P was at 1,469, that is a zero return for 13 years. Yet your broker or financial advisor tells you nothing out does the market; it always comes back. While history does confirm the rise and fall of the market, the question is the timing. Will the market be down at a time you may need your funds?

Here is another truth. Starting in January 2000, the S&P 500 was at 1,496 as of January 2019 the S&P was at 3,110. The fact is that over 19 years and the market returned 3.9%. Yet, your broker and financial genius, on all the business networks, only give you half-truths because that is what sells.

Suppose you are approaching retirement or are already retired, should your hard-earned money be exposed to that kind of market risk.

Most people do not have the luxury of waiting for a market reversal, and they cannot afford those losses and nor do you have the time for the market to come back. It could take 5-7 years to get you back to even, and that is only if the market will allow you to get back to even. Get out of the Wall Street casino, the Wall Street boys are sharks, and they will eat you alive.

Let us look at this myth of average returns and the truth of actual returns. Let’s say the market, in one year, had a 50% decline and the next year it had a 50% incline. What would you hear from your financial advisor? You would hear, “Folks we have some great news, the market is up 50%!”, yet the truth is in that one year, the returned was 0%. We should be more practical than to put a bet down with the Wall Street casino because the truth is playing in the market is legalized gambling.

Back to the bet, we put $100,000 down, and the market goes down 50%, we now have $50,000. Next year the market return goes up 50%; most folks say great we are back even. The truth is you a sitting at the casino table, and you made only $25,000 on top of your $50,000 you have $75,000 the fact is you are still down $25,000. Again, you cannot absorb these losses in retirement, and it is time to get out of the Wall Street casino.

You say, “Okay, but where can I put my money and have it safe from market risk, never losing my principal and still get a decent return?” Let us minimize the damage of the bear market and consider a Fixed Index Annuity.

You ask, “What is a Fixed Indexed Annuity?” A Fixed Indexed Annuity is how to keep your money safe, get consistent guaranteed growth and income that you will never outlive.

A Fixed Indexed Annuity is a contract between you and an insurance company. The Fixed Indexed Annuity offers you the opportunity for tax-deferred growth based in part on changes in a market index. However, you are not taking risks within the market. The insurance company offers you a return based on an index, sheltering the risk. Additionally, they offer you the option to convert your annuity into a steady, guaranteed lifetime income stream, all while protecting your hard-earned principal from the uncertainty of market volatility.

Many Fixed Index Annuities have zero fees unless you choose a specific rider that may make sense for your goals. With a Fixed Indexed Annuity, you can never lose your principal. You will see growth with the market increases, based on the Fixed Indexed Annuity you choose from the Insurance Company, and if the market goes down, you never lose a dime. You can only go up or sideways, never down.

Are Work From Home Jobs Real? Making Money Online is Possible!

Are work from home jobs real? They absolutely are. There are telemarketing jobs, internet marketing jobs and data entry jobs that people can do from home. There are some “scams” out there. However, many companies do want to provide you with the opportunity to market their product online.

Are work from home jobs really providing an income to people. I can say that I definitely have made money from the internet. In fact, the blog that I set up earned me a commission within a week and that was with very little marketing knowledge. However, I did have some great marketing tools, a coach and tutorials to help me out. The reason many people don’t make money with internet marketing is because they do not put the time and effort in to make it work. Many of them buy products that are outdated and try those techniques which no longer work. For the best results, you should consider joining a forum that teaches how to make money online. That way the information and ideas being shared are current. You get the latest techniques as well as tips and tricks from seasoned marketers.

Are work from home jobs really helping people? Yes. As an online consumer, I purchase products and read reviews online. I realize that not everyone online is honest and not all information online is accurate. However, I try to inform myself before making a purchase online by reading reviews. Internet marketers do a lot of things, but the main thing that they do is help people identify products or services that could help others.

Are work from home jobs real? They are really helping some people make money online today. Many people are doing internet marketing full time. They realize the potential of creating a website and continually marketing products with the latest online techniques. A website can live online for a long time and continue to make you money for a long time. After you have created multiple webpages and articles, you will start seeing multiple streams of income. Are work from home jobs real? Without a doubt. Will a work from home job be right for you? Only if you have the motivation to produce content everyday without a boss.

Business Failure Rate – What is the Real Business Failure Rate and Why Businesses Fail

Ever wondered what the business failure rate is? Between 75% and 90% of all new businesses fail within the first 10 years. If we also take most dotcom startups into consideration, 9 out of 10 new businesses won’t make it to their third year. The actual figures vary according to the source, but it looks like the overwhelming majority of startups end up failing.

In my opinion, in most cases startups don’t fail, they just run out of money. Let me explain.

When they start a business, the first thing that most people do is write a business plan explaining how you are going to promote your business, how you are going to find your customers, and what you are going to offer them. You come up with sales projections and make a lot of assumptions.

If your startup capital is $20,000, maybe you will spend $10,000 to launch the business and promote it. But here is the problem. When you start a new business, no matter how much you think you know about it; you have no clue. Most businesses have to change their business models at least five times during their first year.

Maybe you thought that your target market was stay-at-home moms but they are not buying your products; high school girls are! What are you going to do about it? Are you going to start thinking what is it that you are doing wrong and how to get stay-at-home moms to start buying your stuff? Or you are going to understand that the market defines your business, not the other way around, and change your business model to start selling to high school girls?

Flexibility and observation are two of the most important qualities an entrepreneur should have.

What happened with your target market will happen with almost every aspect of your business. The promotion methods that you thought were going to work actually don’t, you need more employees, and your expenses are higher than you anticipated.

Socrates lived a long time ago, but something he said still applies: “all I know is that I know nothing”. Planning is very important. Making assumptions and forecasts are vital. But don’t think for a second that you are going to get it 100% right, especially if this is your first business.

I said earlier that the main reason why businesses fail is because they run out of money. And they run out of money because they expect everything to work as planned and when it doesn’t they have very few resources left to keep the company alive.

I believe that 90% of the companies would become successful if they could make it through the stage when they are trying to figure out their business model. It is just a matter of surviving until you can learn what works for your business and what doesn’t.

Be humble, you don’t have all the answers. The market is going to teach you what works and you have to keep your eyes open and learn. Instead of investing all your marketing money at once in huge newspaper ads targeted to stay -at-home moms, use that money to test 10 different promotion methods and two or three different target markets. Learn from the experiment. Now you have a much better idea of what you need to do more of and what you need to stop doing.

They say that entrepreneurs have to love risk. That’s not true. You have to minimize risk as much as you possibly can. Isn’t testing, learning, and putting your money where it is proven to work a lot smarter than guessing what’s going to work for you and betting all your funds on it?

Remember, one of two things will happen to your business: you can run out of money before succeeding or you can succeed before running out of money. Take care of every dollar as if it was your own life. Test a lot before putting all your eggs in your basket. You will eventually figure out the perfect business model. Just make sure your money lasts long enough.

Options for Entrepreneurial Retirement – Gaining A Real Peace of Mind

At some point in every entrepreneur’s life, they have dreamed of starting their own business. When that newly minted entrepreneur steps away from corporate employment and into the wild west of self-employment, they take on the full responsibility of their financial destiny. Gone are the days of contributing to a matching company 401k plan.

These small business owners are now responsible for setting up and contributing to their retirement plan. According to a recent TD Ameritrade survey 7 in 10 self-employed people are not regularly saving (if at all) for retirement. I recently spoke with Heather Banks, a Certified Financial Advisor with First Bank Wealth Management in Asheville, NC. Heather shared with me her impressions of how retirement savings has shifted over the years. “For too many years, U.S. citizens have been reliant on social security benefits to fund their retirement. Social security is simply not capable of fully funding a retirement with any realistic expectation of maintaining the lifestyle they grew accustomed to during their working years. It is vital that small business owners take advantage of the retirement benefit options available to them, and work with financial professionals (financial advisors, accountants, etc.) to determine which option is the most beneficial for them.”

There are several programs a self-employed person can utilize to help them achieve their retirement goals.

SEP IRA(Simplified Employee Pension plan) is a retirement plan that allows a self-employed or solo-entrepreneur person to make pre-tax donations. It is a plan that is similar to a traditional IRA. It does, however, allow you to have a much higher contribution level. This type of program is one of the easiest of open and maintain. Most banks and investment firms can help your open and maintain this kind of account. With this plan, you can contribute as much as 25% of your net earnings from self-employment. The contribution limit for 2015 is $53,000. The deadline to open an account is April 15th following the tax year.

ROTH IRA is a retirement plan where the contributions you make are not deductible in the year that the contributions are made however they grow tax-free and are not taxed when they are withdrawn. The maximum contribution in 2015 is $5,500 if you are under the age of 50 and $6,500 if you are over 50 years old. These amounts begin to phase out for high-income earners who make $116,000 (single/head of household) and $183,000 (married). The deadline to open an account is April 15th following the tax year.

SIMPLE IRA Plan (Savings Incentive Match Plan for Employees) is a deferral of the compensation plan. It is easy to open and maintain with banks and investment firms but keep in mind it has a lower contribution limit. This plan is good for businesses where the owners have other income sources as it allows them to set aside a larger percentage of profit. You can put all of your net earnings from self-employment in the plan up to $12,500 in 2015 through salary reductions. If you are over the age of 50, you can increase your donations by $3,000. The employer can also contribute up to 3% of employee’s contribution. This plan is best for self-employed people with fewer than 100 employees. The deadline to open an account is October 1.

The SOLO 401(k) Plan is easy to open and requires little maintenance. It is designed for companies without employees and, therefore, the program is only available to the owner and his/her spouse. This plan follows the same rules and requirements as any other 401(k) plan. You can make salary deferrals up to $18,000 in 2015 plus an additional $6,000 if you are over the age of 50. If you hire employees and they meet the plan eligibility requirements, you must include them in the plan, and their elective deferrals will be subject to nondiscrimination testing. The deadline to open the account is December 31. The program will be required to file an annual report with the IRS if it has $250,000 or more in assets at the end of the year.

For more information on each of these plans, I recommend you contact your local Certified Public Accountant and Certified Financial Planner. They will be able to help you choose which plan is best for you. I agree with Dave Ramsey, who said “I believe that through knowledge and discipline, financial peace is possible for all of us.”

Dubai Can Be Real Hot And Cool Both

There is more about Dubai you should know apart from its breathtaking skyline and the trade and commerce. Specially, if you were about to finalise a travel plan to one of its famous sea beaches. Things like the law, political system, weather and traffic congestion are some of the key areas that require attention. This article gives you an account of the same important issues before you embark on with your much awaited sojourns.

Historical Background

Dubai was one of the first emirates to join the UAE, a unified group of seven Muslim majority states, when the British forces finally left the Middle East in 1971. The area is surrounded by Saudi Arabia and Oman and the shorelines unite with the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. A Supreme Council of Rulers is the governing body of the United Arab Emirates. This council consists the seven ruling Emirs as its members, who in turn appoint the Prime Minister and the various Cabinet berths for the federal government. Note that while the Supreme Council of Rulers has overall control of the complete UAE, Dubai is famous for the high level of autonomy that it maintains as far as its local development issues are concerned.

Normal Weather

Since the Emirate of Dubai is in the Middle East, the climate is naturally sub-tropical and what you might expect from a desert in the neighborhood. This is good news in terms of clear skies all the year. There is very little rainfall and most of it takes place during the winter season. Temperatures follow an extreme trend with the daytime temperatures of summer touching the 48 degrees Celsius, and the winters the 10 degrees Celsius marks. January is the coldest with an average temperature of around 24 degrees Celsius, while the hottest month of July may report back an average of 41 degrees Celsius mark.

Population Estimates

The United Arab Emirates constitutes a population comprising that of the ethnic Arab community and a huge number of expatriates from India, Pakistan, East Asian countries, United States and the members of European Union. The region has been witnessing an insessent inflow of the expatriates due to the ongoing trade and commerce activities, and this can be visualized through its sharp rise in population since 1995. It shot up to 3.1 million in the year 2000 from the 2.4 million mark in 1995.

The population registered in the case of Dubai was 689,000 and 862,000 in the years 1995 and 2000 respectively. Most of these counted people reside within the urban areas of Dubai, while a tiny fraction prefers living on in the neighbouring countryside farms.

Language, Holidays, Local Time and Religion

Arabic is the official language of UAE, but also spoken are some other languages. English enjoys being the medium of communication in the majority of trade and commerce activities, while Hindi, Urdu, Malayalam and some other dialects are spoken by the expatriates from India and Pakistan.

Dubai’s standard time runs four hours ahead of GMT and keeps unchanged through out the twelve month period. It runs one and one and half hours behind the Pakistan and Indian standard times respectively.

Islam is the official religion of all Arabian countries including the UAE. Dubai is no exception either in this context. As a result, the Muslim holidays and festivities assume a very significant role in its normal life. These holidays may keep varying from one year to another as per the Islamic calender.

Visa Issues and Transportation

Visa rules can vary for the travellers from different nations. Citizens of the western block of nations may walk out of the airport with a visa on their arrival. Visitors from the rest of world are not allowed the same kind of luxury though. Those who may be looking forward to carrying on with their business activities will have to get somebody local sponsorship first.

Buses and taxis are available for the transportation within Dubai, but it may not prove sufficient to those who may have plans of going outside of the city area. Hiring private vehicles is a much preferred option for this reason these days. Roads in and outside of Dubai are advanced in nature, but the general traffic sense may not prove out to be that much appealing. Be wary of driving on Dubai’s roads, if you were not fully aware if its existing traffic hazards, like the disorderly driving on the roads within and the wandering camels off the city limits.

Dubai’s government has initiated some steps recently to improve upon its general traffic scenario. There are several projects planned to carry out this task, including a floating bridge over Dubai Creek, upgrading of the First Interchange with a three-tier interchange, the Dubai Outer Bypass Road and the Sufouh Roads Network etc.

How I Stumbled and Then Learned to Make Real Money on the Internet

I own a small business and when the Recession came on, we got hit pretty hard. And I thought I was prepared. I had a year’s worth of money saved in the bank, just like everyone told me to do. Well, nobody expected this recession to be so deep and to last so long. Around six months ago, I realized that my savings were at risk and I might not make it through to the other side of the downturn. I had to find a way to bring in more money, but I couldn’t get out of my business.

I started looking online, running Google searches on how to make money online. I read words like Affiliate Marketing, SEO, ClickBank, MicroSite, Niche Markets, etc. I was overwhelmed and I wanted to make money quickly. I did not know where to begin.

I also considered writing an eBook. I got about 15 pages into a topic that I thought I might be able to sell, but I was disappointed with the content. In addition, I did not know how to build a site and even if I did, I did not know how to drive traffic to the site to sell the eBook. I never published it.

My next step was going to every site I could find that claimed to have the path to overnight riches online. I put my name into pages to gain access without realizing I was building people’s mailing list. Soon, my Gmail account was getting flooded with so many enticing messages that I didn’t know where to turn. I must have joined 3 or 4 different sites and bought half a dozen eBooks. You know what? The get rich quick sites were usually the worst. Now I was in for a few hundred dollars and I was suffering from information overload. I almost quit again.

At this point, I was behind on time and I was actually in worse financial shape than when i started. I had to wipe the slate clean and start over.

Step one: I realized that I did not have to have my own product or eBook to sell. I now understood that I could make money selling other people’s products. I opened a ClickBank account for free, giving me access to other peoples’ products. These people are willing to pay a commission of up to 75% of their product’s cost if you can get someone to buy it.

Step two: I learned how to register my own domain names and forward them to my new partners. There are a lot of low cost sites, but I chose GoDaddy because of its user friendly interface. I also learned that if I registered a domain name that I did not want to buy all of the add ons. GoDaddy is very good at trying to upsell additional products. You usually don’t need any of them.

OK, now I was stuck again. For days. Then I learned step three: I needed to find a program, just one program that taught internet marketing, and stick to it. I recommend that you run some queries about online marketing, make a list of half a dozen sites that look and feel legit, and write down their names without joining. Then research the sites using their names and words like “feedback” in Google, Bing, whatever search engine you like.

Then, join only one group or program. It will cost you a little money, but it’s worth it. The time you will save by following someone else’s blueprint will make you money much faster than you can on your own.

You should be able to get some sample training materials before you join. Don’t join anyone who gives you no information before you join. Stick with the group you join for at least one month, maybe two. Most quality programs have a 60 day, money back guarantee. You will know in less than two months if you joined a quality site or not.

Lastly, realize that you won’t get rich quickly. However, if you invest a little bit of time each day with a quality program (you can find mine at the end of this article), you CAN and WILL make money online. And the earnings will compound themselves and grow over time. Be patient and have fun. The money will come fastest if you learn from others and don’t try to reinvent the wheel on your own.

So You Want to Start Your Own Real Estate Business, Huh?

First, allow me to say congratulations on deciding to be your own boss. It is one of the toughest and scariest, yet rewarding decisions an individual can make. You are about to venture on an incredible, life-long journey filled with limitless possibilities. However, make sure you are properly prepared, or else the outcome may be devastating.

The main purpose of this article is to serve as a detailed checklist for preparing, creating and structuring your own real estate business. I will also explain the advantages of detailed planning and management, and the pitfalls for failure to do so. First things first: what’s the name of your new company? What type of business entity will you form? A sole proprietorship is the quickest and easiest; however, it may lack the necessary asset and liability protection warranted by your business model. My personal favorite has always been the Limited Liability Company (LLC). It’s quick, inexpensive, and provides individual shelter.

In addition, in which state will you register to do business? Are there any state and/or local licensing requirements? All of these questions should already be answered in your business plan. Some of you may be thinking, “I am going to buy foreclosed properties, rehab them, and sell them for a profit. What further explanation or planning do I need?” Well, if this is your mindset, stick to your full-time job. I recommend going online (Google it) and downloading a business plan template to assist you with development.

In addition to your business plan, you better have projected financial statements, including a cash flow forecast, projected income statement, and anticipated balance sheet. There are numerous advantages of generating these statements. Clearly depicting your yearly operating expenses allows you to recognize the number of real estate transactions you need to successfully complete in order to break even and/or realize a profit. Taking the time and effort to implement these tasks will help you overcome some of the major impediments when starting your real estate business.

The biggest recurring mistake I’ve seen amateur entrepreneurs make is quitting their full-time job even before completing their very first real estate deal! Undercapitalization is one of the biggest oversights when starting a new business. If you do decide to quit your full-time job, make sure you have enough of a monetary cushion to cover your living expenses for twelve months. Ideally, you want to have a surplus in your bank account in order to fund your business (i.e. – entity formation fees, licensing, marketing expenses).

Finally, will you be self-employed or a business owner? No, they are not the same thing! Being self-employed means when you stop working, your business stops working. If you are not marketing for leads or answering phones, then no one is. Being a business owner (hiring and maintaining employees) allows the freedom and independence that entice people to start their own businesses in the first place. Most amateurs quit their full-time job expecting to start and sustain their own business profitably, while playing golf or going to the beach four days a week. WRONG! The transition from self-employment to business ownership is the hardest obstacle to overcome. It took me almost a year of interviewing hundreds of job applicants, working fourteen hour days, pulling all-nighters, and sacrificing my personal and social life to successfully build and develop each of my businesses to the point where they could all run on “Auto-Pilot.”Remember, a business is only as strong as its weakest link.

I hope that what I have shared with you has been of great value. These observations and opinions are my own and stem from what I have learned and experienced over the last five years by way of educational literature, private entrepreneurship meet-up groups, numerous real networking events, and, by far the most crucial and valuable means, trial and error. Still there is so much to discuss and write considering that this topic, in itself, serves as the basis for three hundred page bibles! At the very least, herein lies the grounds and basic framework for preparing to start your own real estate business including obstacles to anticipate.

Website SWOT Analysis – A Real Life Example

Do you wonder what is happening to your Internet Business? Why is that you cannot get traffic to your website; the conversion rate is too low; or opt-in visitor is too few?

I was faced with a similar situation lately and I attempted to use what I knew about SWOT Analysis into my Internet Business. I use the same technique to perform a SWOT on a website and had surprisingly discovered some valuable facts for my Website

In this article, I share with you my real-life example of my Website SWOT Analysis. You are invited to use it as a reference to your won Internet Business.

Below is a sample website SWOT Analysis performed on my own Total Quality Management website I published in year 2001. It was written based on a knowledge-based approach. The ranking for this website is on Google page # 9 and has a PR=2. After 8 years published, it has never moved up to within Google page#3. Some of you may know that my newly published 3 months old SWOT analysis Blog has ranked Google page#1 for the last 3 months. This success story has prompted me to wonder why my Total Quality Management website page ranking is so far behind.

My objective is to move my Total Quality Management website to Google page# 1 – 3 and I performed a Website SWOT Analysis using the SWOT Analysis template and example as my guides. Below are sample my Website SWOT analysis:

The SWOT Factor – Strengths

S1 – 8 years old website – matured

S2 – website contained focused practical examples and case studies of Total Quality Management

S3 – website ranked Google page#1 on Google.com.my with single keyword – “tqm”

The SWOT Factor – Weaknesses

W1 – design of the website is not professional

W2 – website content remain static for several years

W3 – navigation of the website is not comprehensive

The SWOT Factor – Opportunities

O1 – online research on Total Quality Management has high demand

O2 – availability of TQM case studies and report are limited on website

O3 – online website builder software are commonly available

The SWOT Factor – Threats

T1 – website with fresh contents and blogs have moved up to top Google page

T2 – visitor to this TQM website is very low (from awstat)

From the four SWOT factors, I continue to evaluate the seriousness and impact of each factors as a way to prioritize as I continue to use the SWOT template to formulate strategies. Once the strategies are formulated, then only I can take action. I encourage you to take this sample as a case study for your own Internet business or website and Application SWOT Analysis

8 Benefits of Having a Real Estate Website

Whether your old school or on the cutting edge of technology in your dynamic real estate business, everyone needs a website in this day and age. The benefits of having a real estate website are many in number, and the risks of getting left behind without one are very real. So, what exactly are these benefits? Read on for a brief sample.

1- Build a Strong Web Presence

Get found easier and instantly, via Google searches or links on other sites. Have your office’s address, phone numbers, e-mail address, logo, current listings, and specialization displayed at the click of a mouse. Show up in more places, under more categories, and associated with specific strategic keywords. If you combine your real estate website with the rest of a comprehensive marketing campaign, people can find you in so many different ways, your business will be hard to miss!

Make sure to create a listing on Google My Business for local listings, which are area-specific. Yes, you can select who sees you first, depending on where they live.

2- Generate More Leads

This is a no-brainer. Gone are the days of paying thousands of dollars for Yellow Pages ads and highway billboards, hoping enough people will see it and maybe call your office. Do you also want to pay someone just to answer the phone for you full-time, and rely on methods that the average client no longer uses? Your real estate website is like your modern-day “head office”. This should be the first and most important place your potential clients find you, and if you use an online form to collect client info, then the real estate leads are immediate, free, and warm. A website can also serve as the place that you direct clients to your social media, or vice versa, and have the public sign up for your impactful newsletter for regular announcements.

You’ll also now have a thorough database of potential client info for ongoing listings distribution or announcements.

3- Provide More Exposure to Your Properties

The bulk of a real estate website should be dedicated to property descriptions. This is the opportunity to display full-detail descriptions, brilliant digital photography, and 360-degree virtual tours. You can use as much or as little space as you like, provide clickable links, and make it a more interactive experience for the visitor. The listing created on your real estate website can also be shared (for free) via external links to your own social media pages, other real estate websites, community websites, or anywhere else your marketing efforts lead you.

Again, gone are the days of paying for paper advertising in a weekly or monthly magazine with black and white photos, lost among thousands of other listings in the same book. This just isn’t effective anymore, and can even be a waste of money.

4- Tell Them More About You

A real estate website is the perfect place for potential clients can learn more about you as a professional. This is more important in real estate than almost any other service business. Talk about and splash photos displaying awards you have won, events you participate in, community involvement, as well as your personal background and qualifications. When people get to know you this way (as an individual) they get to like you and trust you. This complements your social media and other real estate marketing strategies perfectly.

5- Tell Them About Your Business

Why wait for a local journalist to write an article about you in the paper or local magazine? Want to be known and respected in the local community? Modern technology puts the power back into your hands. Put the information out there yourself, and draw readers in to see it through strategic web techniques.

For no extra cost, you can regularly publish and update details such as the regions you work in, your years of experience, and areas of real estate expertise. Do you have a knowledgeable team? Are you influential in a hot part of town? Do you specialize in condos, revenue properties, or commercial buildings? Put that out there, forever and visible to the entire world. Include high definition photography and videos to reinforce the message, and make a strong first impression they won’t forget.

6- Create a Brand for Your Practice

If you’ve never succeeded in transforming yourself (and your practice) into a brand, or maybe never thought about it, then this is the way. Think about the biggest, most successful, “celebrity” real estate brokers in your area. They are household names, aren’t they? The public is familiar with their names and faces, the same way they know the name of the local grocery store, florist, or school. Top of mind awareness is ultra important in any business.

Think about it. Your picture everywhere, a logo people will remember, a slogan that rolls off the tongue. A properly executed real estate website can begin this process for you, and position you and your agency as the brand of choice in your local market.

7- Use It as Part of Your Listing Presentation

A listing presentation is what an agent shows to the home seller to convince them that he/she is qualified to sell their home. It usually includes stats, a marketing strategy, pricing, relevant experience, and the added value the agent brings to get the job done. If much of this information is already on your website, you save time and effort. Maybe your potential seller already saw a lot of these details and is already impressed by you before even placing the first call.

8- Exchange Information More Easily

No need for potential new clients to call and wait to speak to your receptionist. This small gesture alone can turn off the ultra busy and impatient 25 to 50-year-old shopper, who is used to having questions answered instantaneously these days. No more need to set up an appointment, drive to meet each other, and invest time just for some initial “this is how we work” info. All this can be accomplished with a few brief lines on your real estate website, which people can read within seconds and move onto the next step.

No need for clients to wait for a form to arrive by fax, or stay on the phone during business hours, to fill in their personal info.

This also allows existing and potential clients to provide feedback in an open forum, so you know what they’re looking for. All this can be done 7 days a week, 24 hours a day, and not just during your office hours (when potential clients themselves are most busy).

Insider Secrets to Investing in Real Estate in Nicaragua

The word is out: “Nicaragua is the new Costa Rica” but with prices 45-55% lower than its southern neighbor. Nicaragua is well and truly bouncing back from its troubled and often misunderstood past and beginning to transform into a sought-after investment and tourism destination. Misconceptions still persist, but in many ways that only increases the opportunity that Nicaragua offers.

Nicaragua’s democratically elected government is showing a great capacity to reform in line with its commitment to a free-market economy. The country is booming and tourism is now the number-one industry, increasing by over 19% in 2005 even considering a record-breaking year in 2004. There is a real buzz in the air for this land of opportunity. Whether you are looking for a retirement or vacation destination, a place to start a business or a place to invest for the future, Nicaragua is definitely worth considering.

How much is good real estate information worth?

Market knowledge based on fact and base trends, rather than exaggeration and hype (in both directions) can make the difference between a good investment and a great one. The aim of this article is to capture the essence of the successful real estate investor in Nicaragua. We have consolidated the experience of hundreds of investors and identified seven success strategies for successful real estate investing in Nicaragua.

We hope that this encourages more investors into taking the first step in exploring real estate opportunities outside their home countries with confidence. Although imbued with a Nicaraguan flavor for the purposes of this article, many of the principles and steps highlighted in this article will also hold true in other investment destinations and contexts.

Seven success strategies for real estate investing in Nicaragua

1. Understand the link between tourism and real estate

Tourism brought in almost $200 million in 2005, according to the Nicaraguan government, more than any other single industry in its $5 billion economy. Current projections indicate that by 2007 there will be more than one million visitors to the country. The profile of visitors has shown a marked shift from budget tourists to more affluent and sophisticated travellers and higher-end hotels in tourist areas show consistently high occupancy.

There is strong relationship between leisure and vocational markets and the market for second homes and retirement homes. The areas attracting the most tourism are also generating the greatest levels of real estate activity. For certain real estate products, the link between tourism and real estate is particularly direct and immediate. Pelican Eyes…Piedras y Olas the highest quality hotel in San Juan del Sur, boasting occupancy levels well above industry standards since it opened, offers the possibility for investors to purchase a villa or duplex unit and participate in the revenues generated by the hotel.

2. Know where you are in a property cycle

Nicaragua has seen considerable price rises in the past few years. We have calculated percentage price changes for serviced lots between 2002 and 2005 for seven well known real estate developments on the Pacific that have been active over this period (most developments are more recent) and are still selling property. Over this period prices have risen by an average of 87%. Unimproved colonial homes in Granada have been rising by around 25% per year for the past three years. These price rises indicate that Nicaragua is now on the map as an investment destination, the positive price trend has started, but we are only just seeing the beginnings of a “second wave” of investors: the pre-retirement and retirement market.

Speculators still make up a considerable proportion of investors but an increasing number of pre-retirement / retirement and second home buyers are emerging. Much has been made of the ‘baby boomer’ generation when analyzing future buying trends in many markets worldwide. Baby boomers began turning 50 in 1996 and 78 million of them began to enter their period of highest earnings and greatest discretionary dollars. It is said that over the next 20 years the baby boomer generation will likely constitute the largest potential market ever for real estate products, especially second homes and timeshare/fractional ownership offerings.

The real estate product on offer has also evolved from simple lot sales (sold mainly to speculative buyers) to turnkey products with sophisticated facilities and services for longer term investors and the retirement market. A consistent growth in condominium constructions and sales has been evident for 18 months and is accelerating.

3. Follow trends not events

The bulk of foreign investment into the real estate and tourism sectors in Nicaragua is focused on the south-western part of the country. To take the Pacific coast as an example, in conjunction with Calvet & Associates, we have catalogued over 70 developments on the Pacific marketing to foreign buyers between El Transito and the Costa Rican border. The south-west of the country also includes the colonial town of Granada, Lake Nicaragua and the beautiful Laguna de Apoyo crater lake.

A number of investors are seeking out areas where there is less activity, for example beachfront areas further north. The prices may be lower in the northern part of the coastline – but for a reason – and it is important for investors to take this into account before they make an property purchase. The south western coastline has more dramatic geography, whiter sand beaches, richer biodiversity, better surfing, safer swimming areas and cooling lake and ocean breezes and, yes, also more recently investor momentum. This is not to say that there will be no price appreciation and development on beach areas further to the north but that a significant price differential will likely remain into the future.

4. Build a good network

Investors commonly complain of an overload of market information and building a good network will allow you to triangulate and contextualize information that you receive. Not surprisingly, given the excitement about the real estate market, there is a great deal of story telling and exaggeration that goes on. Do your due diligence, work with realtors who know the market, learn from professionals and be skeptical about claims that you can flip your property for 100% more “when the International Living investors come into town in a few weeks.”

A solid piece of advice is to buy only what you see. Make up your mind on what you think the inherent value is of the property that you are looking at is. Don’t factor in the “new coastal road” the “new airport” the “new Marriott” into the price. Certainly not if you are investing for the short term. Coldwell Banker Nicaragua has a network of lawyers, project managers, master planners and investment analysts who have a long track record of advising investors on real estate acquisition and development in Central America – these are independent third parties who can provide un-emotive grounded advice.

5. Due diligence everything

More specifically, retain competent legal representation and take out title insurance. Nicaragua has a particularly complex title history and some buyers who have not looked deeply enough into the title history of purchased property are now mired in difficult legal problems. A number of real estate developers try and persuade buyers to use their own legal team for property purchasing. Our advice is to employ independent legal advise at least to review (if not draw up) the purchase contract you are signing and check the title history on the property.

Coldwell Banker Nicaragua recommends investors to take out a title insurance policy. Other realtors do not recommend title insurance as the due diligence that ensues can slow down the purchase process and raise difficult questions. Seeking title insurance will force your lawyer to delve many years back into the property history of the property you are purchasing and follow a set of criteria in their reporting. If you are buying raw land parcels outside of a development your due diligence list needs to be longer and will cover infrastructure issues, environmental issues and development permits.

6. Invest with a confidence, develop with a conscience

This is the strap-line of the Nica Dev campaign run by Donn Wilson a developer, entrepreneur and surfer who has made San Juan del Sur his home. Nica Dev recognizes that real estate investors are entering into another country and have an obligation to respect the land, the people and the environment. When you arrive in Nicaragua the impression that you get is of a warmhearted nation that is welcoming to international visitors. In order for this warm feeling to endure into the future, local Nicaraguan also need to benefit from the real estate and tourism activity that is going on in the country.

Las Fincas, a development aligned with the Nica Dev campaign, is designed with sustainable development principles built in. For example a basic solar power setup is provided for everyone who buys and the project runs a series of active community outreach projects introducing highly effective, yet low-cost and low-tech, solutions for cooking and purifying drinking water. Skills and suppliers for low impact construction with elements such as rain water capture, composting and recycling, hard to find 18 months ago, are now readily available in-country. Coldwell Banker Nicaragua is launching its own campaign to generate funds for the Nica Dev fund as well as other projects that our clients are involved in here in Nicaragua. We will be giving our clients the opportunity to contribute to selected projects at the time of closing.

7. Become and expert in investing in real estate in Nicaragua…before you invest

Coldwell Banker Nicaragua Real Estate has launched a series of concise buyer briefings to help investors interested in the real estate market in Nicaragua in their decision making. The briefings highlight real estate hotspots, analyze market trends and set out good value investment opportunities.

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