Land banking investment,8-20% return per year, good?

(16-01-2015, 01:46 AM)specuvestor Wrote: There is no shame in admitting we are OPMI, bigger shame is when we delude ourself as being more sophisticated than we are (ie beyond our circle of competence) or can leap higher than a vulture fund.

I like the last paragraph.

“知彼知己，百戰不殆；不知彼而知己，一勝一負；不知彼，不知己，每戰必殆“
Translation:
"if you know your enemies and know yourself, you can win a hundred battles without a single loss.
If you only know yourself, but not your opponent, you may win or may lose.
If you know neither yourself nor your enemy, you will always endanger yourself."

(sharing a similar thought)

(16-01-2015, 09:31 AM)CityFarmer Wrote:

(16-01-2015, 01:46 AM)specuvestor Wrote: There is no shame in admitting we are OPMI, bigger shame is when we delude ourself as being more sophisticated than we are (ie beyond our circle of competence) or can leap higher than a vulture fund.

I like the last paragraph.

“知彼知己，百戰不殆；不知彼而知己，一勝一負；不知彼，不知己，每戰必殆“
Translation:
"if you know your enemies and know yourself, you can win a hundred battles without a single loss.
If you only know yourself, but not your opponent, you may win or may lose.
If you know neither yourself nor your enemy, you will always endanger yourself."

(sharing a similar thought)

I use a more derogatory term 'retail meat' to always remind myself of this fact. I have another description term for those who delude themselves, '井底之蛙' (translation: the frog in bottom of the well, who looks up and believe that the sky above him is all there is, and only exist for it)

(16-01-2015, 11:17 AM)weijian Wrote:

(16-01-2015, 09:31 AM)CityFarmer Wrote:

(16-01-2015, 01:46 AM)specuvestor Wrote: There is no shame in admitting we are OPMI, bigger shame is when we delude ourself as being more sophisticated than we are (ie beyond our circle of competence) or can leap higher than a vulture fund.

I like the last paragraph.

“知彼知己，百戰不殆；不知彼而知己，一勝一負；不知彼，不知己，每戰必殆“
Translation:
"if you know your enemies and know yourself, you can win a hundred battles without a single loss.
If you only know yourself, but not your opponent, you may win or may lose.
If you know neither yourself nor your enemy, you will always endanger yourself."

(sharing a similar thought)

I use a more derogatory term 'retail meat' to always remind myself of this fact. I have another description term for those who delude themselves, '井底之蛙' (translation: the frog in bottom of the well, who looks up and believe that the sky above him is all there is, and only exist for it)

Instead of whole day say 'stay within circle of competence', EXPAND the circle of competence by different means. Just be prepared to pay tuition fees when you wonder out.

A lot of opportunities in life are found by going into the unknown and 'trial & error'
"Learning from others mistakes' is usually for the obvious, amateur mistakes. You cannot grow if you just 'learn from others mistake'.

"Discovery require experimentation" - Daniel Whitehall ...hahaha...

An acquaintance introduced me to Walton and as I was curious, I attended one of their presentations, about a year ago. They were heavily promoting land in the US and they had several existing investors talk about their large returns. The saleslady was very persistent and continued to send me e-mails for a year but I didn't pursue for the following reasons :

(1) All of Walton's prior experience was in Canada and I was not comfortable about their ability to be successful in the US (rezoning etc requires very good local knowledge and also understanding of local politics)

(2) It seemed to me that their success in Canada (at least success based on the numbers that they showed) was partly due to riding a multi year property boom

(3) I didn't like the fact that Walton buys the land first and then sells to retail investors. I didn't feel that their and my interest were aligned. Especially as they would not share their own cost basis. I just could not get over the nagging feeling that they were flipping the land to me to make the easy money and then I would have to wait for 7 - 10 years to try to make my returns.....

Obviously, some people have made money but to me it was just too "black box" / trust us....

(16-01-2015, 11:36 AM)opmi Wrote:

(16-01-2015, 11:17 AM)weijian Wrote:

(16-01-2015, 09:31 AM)CityFarmer Wrote:

(16-01-2015, 01:46 AM)specuvestor Wrote: There is no shame in admitting we are OPMI, bigger shame is when we delude ourself as being more sophisticated than we are (ie beyond our circle of competence) or can leap higher than a vulture fund.

I like the last paragraph.

“知彼知己，百戰不殆；不知彼而知己，一勝一負；不知彼，不知己，每戰必殆“
Translation:
"if you know your enemies and know yourself, you can win a hundred battles without a single loss.
If you only know yourself, but not your opponent, you may win or may lose.
If you know neither yourself nor your enemy, you will always endanger yourself."

(sharing a similar thought)

I use a more derogatory term 'retail meat' to always remind myself of this fact. I have another description term for those who delude themselves, '井底之蛙' (translation: the frog in bottom of the well, who looks up and believe that the sky above him is all there is, and only exist for it)

Instead of whole day say 'stay within circle of competence', EXPAND the circle of competence by different means. Just be prepared to pay tuition fees when you wonder out.

A lot of opportunities in life are found by going into the unknown and 'trial & error'
"Learning from others mistakes' is usually for the obvious, amateur mistakes. You cannot grow if you just 'learn from others mistake'.

"Discovery require experimentation" - Daniel Whitehall ...hahaha...

Agree... Know thyself and thy temperament, so you know your risk limits and amount of tuition fee to pay to expand your multi-disciplinary approach but keeping in mind one of the best Hokkien adage i always remember is : Kiang Jou Hou, Mai Geh Kiang

As usual 中庸之道

I think the term "Black Box" is the right word to use. A lot of hanky panky stuffs can go behind the scene on my expense which i could not manage nor control.

(16-01-2015, 02:26 PM)corydorus Wrote: I think the term "Black Box" is the right word to use. A lot of hanky panky stuffs can go behind the scene on my expense which i could not manage nor control.

Sounds like ponzi leh...

anything black-box, stay away lah..

Save ourselves!

(12-01-2015, 11:29 PM)NTL Wrote: I have a $10,000 investment with Walton. Stuck with it for close to 9yrs. It supposed to be sold on the 7th year. My wife keep asking me to sell it off, but I still want to hold on to it, so that I can see if there is an ending to this story.

can just sell anytime meh? got liquid market?

(16-01-2015, 09:53 PM)wahkao Wrote:

(12-01-2015, 11:29 PM)NTL Wrote: I have a $10,000 investment with Walton. Stuck with it for close to 9yrs. It supposed to be sold on the 7th year. My wife keep asking me to sell it off, but I still want to hold on to it, so that I can see if there is an ending to this story.

can just sell anytime meh? got liquid market?

Can sell. If say I indicated I want to sell, Walton will broadcast to the investors and see if they want to buy. There could be some who are already standing on the side ready to buy any resale plots. There is a way that the price is derived. There is commission charge involved, and taxes too.

i was pulled in depth into buying into walton at least 3 times to-date

1st was armymate's 1st job after graduating from engineering course
u see, old time army mate sweat it with blood and tears in the lim chu kang, slept in the same bunks talk ccok every nite,have to oblige and listen, however i did not buy

2nd time was a few years ago met a chio young hardworking babe at those investment fair, u see as a gentleman, i was obliged to listen to her presentations and also a chance for me to learn. no purchase also

3rd time was recently more intense, a good ex-classmate (accounting and legal by training) fell in love with one of the walton girls. so obliged by his invitation to support him by attending some special talks and presentations. through them, i know some of the consultants, and among the free makans, even at one occasions, i was lucky to win a $50 capitavoucher. i am truly impressed by the credentials of some of the consultants.. a young one claimed she was a ex-govt scholar studied in the states, another young one completed medicine study in US also and did not practice doctor. I was like awed...but still no purchase from me.

as long as walton makes monies, it is here to make an impact as some of our country's better brains are also sucked into it to sell u some land. back in my bird's head, i was wondering...why did the govt gave her scholarship monies to come out join a landbanking company? why did the parents of that the other one fund her medicine studies to come out not practising medicine? is a personal choice i guess