LONDON (Jan 12, 2010): Many Malaysians have "invested" between RM100,000 and RM500,000 each in land in various parts of the United Kingdom, only to find out that they will not be able to make any returns on their investments.
Sad to see another such incident happened. My thought on this incident:
1. Education is the highest leverage.
I didn't go for such investment because when approached few years back, I had read the book The Undercover Economist, and aware that:
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Another reason why property in London is expensive is because of the Green Belt. One effect is to keep London from sprawling out across the surrounding region - which many people think is a good idea. The other effect is to transfer a massive amount of money from London tenants to London landlords: the Green Belt keeps rents and house prices in London much higher than they would be, in exactly the same way as a ban on grassland farming keeps rents on meadow and scrub much higher than they would otherwise be. ~ The Undercover Economist, Tim Harford.
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And as I always said, when people asked "What? You spend $80 to buy a book??" kind of question, I would simply reply, "I am buying a man's many years of experience (or wisdom)."
2. Again - Education.
Join like minded people and you get valuable information or advice, may be just a few words uttered. I went to one property investment sales talk, and buy the idea of "never invest in real estates that is out of (say, 50km) radius from where you stay".
This is because it incurred time, effort and lots of hidden costs just to check out or maintain the investment property.
As what UK land registry's Westcott-Rudd advised investors : to seek professional or legal advice before parting with your money.
http://www.sun2surf.com/article.cfm?id=56280
Related:
How can we tell the difference between things that are expensive because they are naturally scarce, and things that are expensive because of artificial means - legislation, regulation or foul play?
The Value of Nothing
粮食危机：人为的价格操纵
