The Mighty U.S Dollar

The U.S. Dollar, (USD) is dropping faster than most of us can remember, and the Canadian Dollar, (CAD) is higher than I have seen since I first started tracking exchange rates seven years ago. With Canada, one of our closest neighbors it pays to take notice to what’s going on. Three years ago I joined an investment club called the Freedom Investment Club out of Vancouver, Canada. The head of the club is Mike Lathigee. Mike was telling us three years ago the the USD was going to be par with the CAD around 2007, and he was right. He also told us that we had better prepare for it by buying investments that would do well in this situation like gold, silver, oil, and other commodities. He also spoke of buying real estate in Canada when the CAD was worth around 85 cents to the mighty USD. As of today the USD at 93 cents to the CAD which means it takes $1.07 USD to buy one CAD. I was shocked how quickly the CAD caught up to the USD and then passed us by. Where it will stop I don’t know, but I’m glad I bought into Freedom Investment Clubs’ real estate fund in Canada. What I want investors to know is that you have got to put some of your wealth in investments that will shield the falling USD. It’s up to you to find out what that might be as I am not a financial advisor. What I have been doing is buying gold and silver, and real estate in New Zealand and Canada. I have also bought exchange traded funds holding gold, silver and oil. These are stock funds that buy large amounts of any given commodity or foreign currency and sell shares of it. This way you don’t have to hold a large amount of metals, oil or currency in your safe deposit box or home. Do yourself a favor and start investigating these investments to keep your net worth growing while the USD is shrinking.

Denver Real Estate is Ripe for the Pickin'

There is a lot of activity in the Denver, Colorado area indicating it is getting close to the best time to buy. We haven’t seen an opportunity like this since the savings and loan crisis of the mid 1980’s. Houses are being bought for 60 cents on the dollar in many areas of Denver. As foreclosed properties flood the MLS it’s clear that banks are starting to discount houses enough to get seasoned investors interested. There are so many bank owned properties available it’s the kid in the candy store situation where you can get overwhelmed. I saw an older three bedroom, two bath home in Lakewood built in 1892 on a large lot for $184,900. A house with character like this fixed up could easily sell for $350,000 due to the neighborhood and large yard. This market is great for a buy and hold strategy or for bird dogs to find and flip to rehabbers. Take a look and see how you might make money in the Denver real estate market, and don’t be surprised if a realtor or investor tells you this is a terrible market. That’s what they were saying in 1988 when several smart investors were buying all the houses they could. Those savy investors made huge profits and you can too!

New Zealand Real Estate

It’s not too late to invest in New Zealand even though the New Zealand Dollar has gained more than 10% on the U.S. Dollar over the last 30 days. The U.S. Dollar(USD) is predicted to continue losing ground to the New Zealand Dollar(NZD) for the next few years. You can protect your hard earned USD’s by investing in one of several foreign markets, gold, silver or maybe even oil. My favorite of these is foreign real estate, and my favorite place is in New Zealand. If you would have bought real estate there five years ago the property would have doubled or more in Queenstown, Auckland, Gisborne and several other areas. In that same time the NZD gained on the USD from 47 cents U.S. to 76 cents to buy a NZD. I believe there are still many deals to be had to where five years from now you will be happy to have bought property in New Zealand. Just last week I read in the NZ Property Magazine that two markets had doubled or tripled in the last three years. One of them on the North Island and the other on the South Island. Catching an emerging market is one of the best ways to profit in real estate and there are still emerging markets to catch in New Zealand.