Making money from land

With the housing market now stagnant in the UK by far the best opportunity for capital growth is in land. The government's new housing strategy has promised that hundreds of thousands of new homes WILL be built - and that land earmarked as agricultural or green belt could attract the type of permissions that will turn thousands into millions!
In the East of England there are already scores of people that have banked seven figures by getting the thumbs up for planning permission and then a sale to one of the big housebuilders. Grab some farmalnd at a few thousand pounds per acre and you could soon turn that into 100,000-plus per acre (and sometimes much more).
The issue is finding the right plot. The best starting point is to spend some time in the car looking at possible development areas, where cities, towns or villages could be expanded without too many logistical problems.
The next thing to do is get friendly with your local planning office and find out if there are already expansion plans or if they have been highlighted as a location for some of those new homes. If they have you could be on to a winner. Find out who owns that land you think is a banker and make them an offer; you never know they may just bite for a good price per acre in agricultural terms. Just don't let on you have loftier plans for it!
Has anyone else had experience of buying land for this purpose?

adversity to risk and your age

Having chatted to a lot of financial advisors I now know I have very little fear for risk. Investment is all about balancing the relationship between fear and greed. How greedy can you get, how much money dare you risk before fear takes a hold. The longer you can hold out the more you stand to win but also lose. Simple logic, but finding out just how much or little you fear losing isn't a simple as it first seems.

It all depends on what you can afford to lose and just as importnatly in my opinion, your age. Risk is much easier to take on if you are at the beginning of your investment 'career' as such because it means you have longer to recoup the potential losses and most probably have less riding on the fallout.

I invested in a trio of funds three years ago and went for s S&%^ or bust approach by throwing myself into asian markets and the highest risk of those funds. What happened? I could have lost it all but because I was prepared to 'gamble' it all I more than doubled my money.

I'm about to reinvest that money now and because I'm still at an early stage in this career I want to do the same again before thinking about diversifying into some safer investment vehicles.

The plan is to keep everyone up to date with what happens but any thoughts and opinions would be most welcome...

North Africa

I have been advised of a high yielding investment opportunity in Morrocco. The country has been all over the papers in recent weeks because of the King's promise to boost tourism in the country by investing heavily in building new reorts such as those along the Med side of the country.
The issue is the entry point. £180000 is being touted as a starting point for decent penthouse apartments and that seems too high for me. There are lots of other opportunities out there for that level of geared investment. Does anyone have experience of investing in this area? Stability isn't an issue it seems but return on investment is - and getting much above that 180K mark seems like it could be a long way off yet...?

Global investments - property

You hear so many 'insider tips' and next big things in property that it can become incredibly hard to sort the wheat from the chaff. I know because I've just spent the last six months going backwards and forwards to various investment experts all of whom believe they know where the next property price boom will happen.

But where is the best place to stick your money in bricks and mortar, and more importantly, is property the best place to put it? I've looked at business investment, stocks, investment funds, tax free saving accounts, bonds...you name it I've researched it and the fact is I'm still not sure I'm any the wiser! One thing I do know though is that you need to think VERY carefully before jumping in, especially if, like me, you don't mind taking on more than your fair share of risk to do it.

My philosophy is that the only point in making small amounts (under six figures) is to invest in something else. Money only starts to become life changing, after all, if you get into seven figure territory and you have to take on a lot of risk to get there inside your working life.

It's for this very reason that I have decide to start this blog: to explore other people's experiences and hopefully share some valuable info on making the right choice for you...