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This article was first published in May 2006 to warn potential investors to be cautious about real estate investments. Hundreds of investors have actually signed up with us and are involved in a joint legal battle, but many more, including many of the leading banks that are now partially state-owned, have engaged in hundreds more bad deals and are running into the millions !

For those of you who saw the Sunday Times front-page article “Buy To Let Property Fraud Hits Thousands” in the week leading up to Christmas 2008, it will be the latest findings of this misdemeanor and the losses and suffering that this widespread real estate fraud entails caused the investors and the investors have seen f their families.

For many people, it is a huge leap of faith to take the plunge and invest in real estate for their future. Imagine how to feel if your investment turns out to be an investment scam?

Is there a way out of the investment property fraud?

The first thing to realize is that when you feel cheated on you probably won’t be the only one. It can feel like this, and you can feel alone, stupid, betrayed, and angry, or embarrassed – some of the most common emotions you experience during this time.

But these are the emotions that will get crooked minded developers thinking. They hope you feel “drained” and just don’t want to tell anyone. In fact, with a clever scam, it doesn’t seem to tell anything anyway, except your gut instinct, until you start digging.

But indolence is exactly what these criminals (and they are usually criminals) want you to think. In these circumstances, you must not keep everything to yourself. You have to try to find out if other people have gotten into a similar situation. You never know you could be one in ten, twenty, or hundreds of similar souls, and if you can find and relate to groups like this, you have a much better chance of retaliation, believe me.

I got involved in such an investment property scam about 18 months ago (I know – gasp – shock – horrify – and I’m selling investment property!). For several months I thought I was going crazy, I couldn’t understand why I couldn’t get tenants anywhere near the prices I was expecting or renting at all. This was the first reveal as I was promised the properties would be fully let when completed. At least that’s what the brochures and the sales manager said at the presentation I attended. And I had bought a number of these “beauties”, each of which was reportedly fully rented and was making me about £ 500 rental surplus every month.

Then I began to investigate the situation more thoroughly and I soon realized the problem. It is a highly complex investment property scam!

As a seasoned real estate investor and investment property reseller, how am I involved in an investment property fraud?

I’ll tell you how – maybe Criminal Intent?

What I’ve done is record the events that actually happened to my investments, which I’ve now learned to have well over 100 similar incidents.

Before making this investment, or even recommending it to others, which consisted of a series of renovated homes converted into Houses of Multiple Occupation (HMOs), I researched the company thoroughly. (Note that the company and location of these houses are not mentioned in this report for legal reasons). I’ve looked at at least 6 of their property conversions, spoken to their landlords, and spoken to several existing investors. I took my former business partner with me to check my findings. I was also comforted by the fact that these people spent (and are still spending) a lot of money on the major national newspapers (Sunday Times, Telegraph, etc.) and produced a slew of glossy brochures that matched their claims.

Some of their larger off-plan construction projects have also been featured in a two-page spread in one of the UK’s leading real estate magazines. In addition, they had (and still have) very large exhibition stands at a number of the UK’s leading real estate shows.

Everything seemed to stack up, so I bought a number of them and encouraged my friends, close family, and business colleagues to buy a few too. I paid my reservation fees and just settled down to wait for them to complete and generate some excess cash every month.

The first event in the chain of things was that the houses were finished very late, so we ran the risk of losing student numbers in the fall of 2005, but the investment still seemed pretty good and we had up anyway then all contracts exchanged. And of course we all thought we had at least an 11% stake in each property, plus the usual 4-6% year-over-year growth. When asked if we could inspect it before completion we were also told “sorry, as you have tenants you need to give at least 48 hours notice”. Then when we tried to make an appointment, no one could find the keys … Where were my alarm bells, I hear you ask – Obviously in silent mode!

But then the dirt really started to rise to the surface …

These houses were all sold under the premise ‘all contact for services from a single source for the investor – use our services for sales, recommended lawyers, in-house brokers, mortgages, rental management from your own company’ – you know, a really good one Package for the armchair investor. ‘

Problem 1 was that the houses were not fully rented when they were completed and in many cases the tenants “melted away” after the contract was signed. So much for the promises in the builders’ glosses that the tenants are nearing completion, with mutual guarantees, so there are practically no notice periods, no problems with the rent, like one tenant failing to pay, which means cross guarantees that the other tenants would stick.

Also, in some cases (luckily not mine) there was no renovation at all and the developers then had the audacity of charging £ 3,000 per property to fix those that had not been carried out. Then there were big problems with the construction work. Basements would flood, not because of rain (although this has happened on a number of occasions where the basements have not been properly “refueled”), but because of faulty piping. But if of course we had a 12-month guarantee contract – right? Not correct?

Even after constant phone calls and emails, the management company failed to send us proper records, and did not inform us of maintenance issues, tenant departures, tenants who did not pay rent on time – all the usual things one was used to from a “real” management company who charged 10% of the rent as fees.

And the hassle I had about moving the management contracts to another company is a different story for another day to be told.

Okay, this just seemed like a rogue and a total lack of proper administration by the department that manages the leases. Not the kind of service you would expect from a company that does so much national marketing, but of course, being such a high profile company would have thought they would have solved the problems. Law? Not correct!

Because of all of these issues, I had since started doing very extensive research on this company and the methods used to package the sale of these homes.

It then found that most of these houses had been bought by the developer about three to four months before the sale, some in the morning for about £ 90,000 – in the words of the developer – run-down houses that had been completely gutted; 3 bed properties where basements have been opened up and or loft conversions have been made so that up to 2, 3 or even 4 more bedrooms have been added and supposedly remodeled to the highest standards for HMO purposes, and these have been sent to us for about £. sells 249,950 up to £ 325,000 and above.

Ding Ding Ding – alarm bells …

Why were we so happy to buy them – because they all came with RICS (Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors) ratings on property value and expected rental income.

All of this corresponded to the requirements of the developer.

But when we noticed several investors from other groups were repossessing some of these similar houses – because they couldn’t get the rent and consequently couldn’t afford the mortgage, and the valuations were all around £ 80,000 to £ 100,000 below THE VALUE THE MORTGAGE!

Our own research then revealed that many of these properties were valued by the same company and properties from the same developer were used on the valuation form to compare.

We have come across cases where the mortgages they were granted: –

· Does not apply to apartment buildings – why was a loan granted?

· Would not have been granted if the banks had known that the properties had already been rented out and had not been sold as vacant. So why was a mortgage granted?

· Would not have been granted if the valuation of the rent had not been realistic. Loans were granted on the basis of false information. If the investor had entered the rental numbers, they would likely have been charged with mortgage fraud.

· Would not have given a loan (especially interest only) if the real value had been known.

· Wouldn’t have granted 85% of the accepted value if they had known a gift deposit was being paid (along with legal and other developer fees). The lawyer and the broker knew why wasn’t the lender informed?

Now that I like to call myself an “accomplished investor”, knowing that free deposits, cashbacks etc. do happen and often set the real estate market in motion, I had told my lawyers what the side business was, the broker told me what the deal was so no problem huh?

Wrong … I then learn that neither the attorney (s) nor the broker informed the lender.

At some point something was wrong here.

The question is – Was it the fault of: –

· The developer?

· The lawyer?

· The agent?

· The investor?

In a society where the regulations for lawyers, brokers, mortgage loans and appraisers seem pretty strict, I have to say that something is wrong here, where the unfortunate individual investor can fall into such an unregulated trap!

If you feel like you’ve been involved in such an investment property scam and want to see if others are in the same boat, please visit my blog for your opinion and even add your name to one structured list if you want so that we can build a database of similar events that can be easily analyzed to identify trends or passed to ‘watchdog’ for example.

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Source by Geoff Morris

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By the time you reach retirement age, you will likely have Social Security income and maybe a pension, but you need to ask yourself is that enough? Do you need to top up your retirement income? Will you continue to live in your current home or will you move? Do you want to travel These and many other questions need to be answered in preparation for retirement.

Retirement planning should start as soon as you start your first job, but most of us are too busy raising families to think about something so distant. We also have a lot of time.

It’s hard to think about retirement when you’re wondering where to find the best day care for your baby. However, this is the best time to look at your retirement plan or 401 (K) at work and deposit as much as you are entitled or able to afford for each pay period.

What is retirement planning? It is the effort that you make to ensure that you have enough money to live comfortably after you stop working and want to take it easy. It’s not complicated, but it can be extremely difficult to create and launch a decent retirement plan.

As soon as you can, consider investing a percentage of your salary towards your retirement. These investments can be dollars before taxes or dollars after taxes. Use a mix of IRAs, mutual funds, stocks, bonds, money market, or any other investment vehicle your financial advisor might suggest. The secret and goal is to make a habit of investing regularly and avoid any temptation to use the money on anything other than retirement.

If you are older and just starting to think about your retirement, there may be a few ways you can make up for lost time. You have more time to amass money at a young age, but with good investment strategies you can sometimes make enough for a comfortable retirement.

Most people can make a good retirement plan, but some may need to find a reputable financial advisor to discuss retirement needs, make a plan, and stick to your plan.

The new pension strategy in the 21st century means working as long as possible. Seventy could be the new sixty-five. Almost every survey done since the big crash of 2008 shows that more people are considering working longer or after retirement. Chances are, you want or need to work well into your retirement years.

Retirement income will likely determine where you live, whether you can achieve your retirement dream, and whether you need to keep working. More and more men and women are starting a second career after leaving a job. This takes old-age provision to a whole new level.

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Source by Marshall Crum

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Litecoins are a form of cryptocurrency that has grown in popularity in response to the demand for alternative currency options from consumers around the world. This currency works in a similar way to standard world currencies. Traders and investors have recognized the great potential of this currency and it is traded heavily by both novice and experienced investors. The best way to get the most out of Litecoin trades is to use the services of a Litecoin broker. There are numerous Litecoin brokers who have an excellent reputation for providing great service to their customers. These brokers can help traders make informed decisions about their investments.

When you hire a good Litecoin broker, there are plenty of tools and resources available to them to ensure that your trades go smoothly. Perhaps the most common tool used by these brokers is the Litecoin news widget. This widget can be fully customized to suit your specific needs. It provides continuous updates on cryptocurrency news and other relevant information so that you are kept informed of the latest news developments as soon as they are posted on the tightrope. Below is an insight into what exactly this cryptocurrency is and how it can be used and maintained in addition to trading.

What are litecoins?

Litecoins are a form of virtual currency that can be purchased and used to buy and sell various services and products such as jewelry, clothing, groceries, and electronics. Since this currency is only used online, its value is determined by the demand on forex trading websites. This cryptocurrency can be traded or mined. When mining for currency, the process can be a daunting task. Computers solve math equations and are rewarded for doing so. Almost any good computer can mine for currency, but statistically the odds of success are slim and it can take days to earn just a few coins.

The difference between litecoins and bitcoins

The main difference is that Litecoins can be bought much faster than Bitcoins and their limit is set at 84 million, while Bitcoin’s limit is only 21 million in comparison. Bitcoins are accepted in more and more online stores, but litecoins are becoming more popular every day. The currency is decentralized so this is a huge benefit for traders. The cost is expected to be lower than that of Bitcoin as the cryptocurrency becomes more popular.

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Source by Charls Colgate

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When day trading futures, you take all positions in and out on the same day – you never have a position overnight. Because market movements are difficult to predict overnight, many traders avoid the risk of day trading. Ironically, the public believes that day trading is the riskiest way to trade.

THAT’S A MYTH!

Some traders do day trading futures, make 1 to 3 trades a day, trying to catch the most important intraday movements. Others trade in and out very frequently, trying to “win” a small profit on every trade. (My style uses a unique blend of the two strategies.)

For these day trading futures, the Emini stock index futures have become the most popular day trading vehicle due to their liquidity, leverage and the ease of online trading. You can take short or long positions with equal ease – unlike stocks, which are easier to go long than short due to the “up-tick” rule.

It is important to understand the timing of the eminis (and the “big contracts”) to the cash indices. Let’s start from square one.

The S&P 500 stock index (the cash index, symbol SPX) is central to day trading futures. It has an exchange traded fund (the “Spyders”, symbol SPY) that trades like a stock, but without the “up-tick” rule. The price of the S&P 500 Cash Index moves up and down with the 500 stocks that make up the index. The SPYder follow the S&P 500 Cash Index very closely. You can trade exchange traded funds like the SPY (and QQQQ for the Nasdaq 100) online from your home. For day traders, however, they are not as cheap as day trading futures.

The concept of “futures” is a little confusing, but it boils down to this: The financial industry has made the S&P 500 cash index a “contract” that trades like a stock. The contract (or futures contract) has a price that goes up and down from moment to moment. It has a chart that looks just like a stock chart, and you can make money on it by buying low and selling high, or vice versa. This is complicated as it has to be now.

The “big contracts” or SP Maxis were first invented and they still exist. With the big contracts, a lot of money changes hands. If the price of the SP Maxis moves one point, then $ 250 per contract moves with it. The SP maxi contracts trade in a literal “pit” where traders, called “locals”, yell at each other and buy and sell for anyone who wants to get involved.

The locals are of course not civil servants, they earn money on their own account. They have the advantage of being able to read each other’s body language and the tone of the other trader’s voices. You see what the strongest traders in the pit are doing. They have several other advantages, their cost per trade is tiny compared to the public commissions.

However, the “locals” are not born professional traders, they learn to trade like everyone else, except that they also have a great advantage in learning because they learn to scalp first! Their instant access and low commissions make this possible compared to others, but these days trading futures online can also benefit from scalping trades.

Scalping basically limits your losses to just a tick or two while taking any profit when you get them. It is easier than aiming for multiple points per trade, I have used this strategy day trading futures with great success.

Locals also use the spread (the difference between the bid and ask prices) to make quick profits on orders that come in on both sides of the market. This makes scalping easier for them.

All of these advantages made it impossible for a retail daytrader to be a successful scalper in the past. It was crazy to try. And to this day, many traders have the idea that scalping is too difficult for the general public because you have to compete against traders with an unfair advantage.

But that has all changed now. If you follow some simple but important guidelines, you too can be successful online scalping and day trading futures.

They took the concept of Maxi Futures contracts and developed smaller contracts (the Eminis) that hover around $ 50.00 per SP point instead of $ 250.00. This enables all traders large and small to trade the stock index futures.

But even more radically they align it so that the smaller contracts (the Eminis) are only traded via computers. That was revolutionary, they bypassed the pit, took advantage of the “locals” and leveled the playing field in an unprecedented way. And to level the field even further, retail commission costs fell like a rock. Nowadays, any trader day trading futures with a small account can pay $ 4.80 per round (entering and exiting a trade).

This means that for the first time in history, scalping will be accessible to the day trading audience. But most people who trade futures don’t even know where the new advantage really lies.

Scalping is one of the keys to making a living trading futures like me because I follow a simple rule: “Every trade starts as a scalp until proven otherwise”.

The SP Emini Futures became more and more popular and liquid, breaking many records.

The SP Maxis Futures and the SP Emini Futures are both derived from the S&P 500 index (symbol SPX) which, as I said, has an ETF that trades like a stock (symbol SPY).

So the question is – which of them is the leader and which are followers?

Today the Emini futures follow the maxi contracts almost tick by tick, with the Eminis temporarily leading the maxis and also “overshooting” the maxis in emotional extremes, such as the climax of an intraday rally.

Both the SP eminis and the SP Maxis (the futures) lead the S&P 500 cash index with variable time, often in the range of fractions of a second. Some people call this “the tail wagging the dog” because the futures are derivatives of the stock indices, but call it what you will, the futures are leaders.

The fact that the futures lead the markets makes their chart patterns “cleaner” and more reliable for support and resistance trading. That makes a big difference to me.

I use the stock index futures (the Eminis and Maxis) to calculate the daily support and resistance areas that are the foundation of my own trading style – a trading style that has paid my bills and built my financial security for about 27 years.

I publish my support and resistance levels in the RBI Trader’s Updates, along with my daily trading plan. Since 1996, many professional traders as well as some beginners have subscribed to my work for its accuracy.

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Source by Mike Reed

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When you are new to investing, it all may seem overwhelming. There are so many different types of investments in every market imaginable. Some people prefer to invest in mutual funds while others prefer to buy individual stocks. It is important that you research all of your options carefully and then start with a small initial investment. Your broker or advisor should be able to provide you with investment tips based on your risk factor, your current financial situation, and the amount of money you can deposit into an account each month. Never invest with money that you cannot afford to lose, even if market conditions and statistics seem in your favor.

Here are a few tips to get you started:

• “Simulators for bogus investments” are available and free of charge. It is really recommended that you practice using any of these devices before investing any real money. Using this type of tool will really help you understand your risk factor level and how to diversify your portfolio in the way that works best for you. You can also learn from your mistakes when using fake money in a fake account so that you don’t make the same mistakes when investing real money.

More investment tips to grow your wealth

• Don’t overlook the IRA option. Depositing money into an IRA account can be very rewarding – especially if you choose the right account. There are essentially two options: Red and Traditional. In the classic variant, the contributions are tax-deductible. Roth contributions, on the other hand, are not deductible, but the withdrawals you make in retirement WILL be tax-free.

• Think about how much of your portfolio should actually be in stocks. Given the potential long-term volatility, it makes sense that younger investors could ultimately benefit, as they will literally have to wait decades for the terms of these stocks to be very beneficial to them. Likewise, as people get older, they tend to reduce their exposure to stocks in order to preserve their capital. However, these are not rules set in stone. Every individual is different.

• Find out about the red flags to watch out for. For example, if there’s one particular stock that has been falling and falling steadily over the past 3 to 5 years, you should probably stay away from it. Just look at the diagrams. Plus, it’s pretty obvious that you don’t want to buy shares in a company that is currently under investigation.

For the best tips and advice on investing, visit The Motley Fool. There are a wide range of services, resources, and tools (including free ones) to help you every step of the way.

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Source by George Botwin