How To Get Rich Buying Foreclosures Dirt Cheap

“Sub-Prime Mortgage Fiasco
Fuels the Foreclosure Feeding Frenzy”

Once Every 30-Years Type of Opportunity
Now Open for Sharp Entrepreneurs

Buy Your First Home for 40-Cents on-the-Dollar

Or Flip It for $10,000-$100,000 Profit

Rent It for Steady Monthly Cashflow

Build a Retirement Portfolio in 24 Months or Less

It’s a bargain hunters paradise. A glut of sub-prime mortgages, loans of questionable standards, have defaulted over the past six months with many more to come.

Unknowing first-time home buyers qualified for these easy-to-get mortgages only to find they bit off more than they could afford.

Pressures from rising interest rates and adjustable rate mortgages put serious financial stress on them.

Now they’re falling behind on their payments.

Foreclosure is sure to follow – loss of the house and equity, credit problems and humiliation are the endgame in this ugly scenario.

But it doesn’t have to be.

This spells opportunity for you.

Grab the insider secrets of how to get rich buying foreclosures dirt cheap. Click Here

One of the Fastest Ways to Make Money on the Internet

By Marc Charles

“What is the fastest way to make money on the Internet?” I’ve been asked that question more than once by aspiring entrepreneurs.

There are thousands of ways to make money on the Internet. You can do it in a few minutes by selling stuff on eBay, Amazon, or thousands of other sites. But a lot of entrepreneurs want to know how to do it with a Web-based business. One that generates monthly income. So I’m going to show you one of the fastest ways to make money with a Web-based business – and it may surprise you.

In 1996, I built my first Web-based business. I sold it three months later for a small wad of cash. Granted, my puny business was not a billion-dollar venture like Facebook, YouTube, or HotMail. But it was profitable the first month it went live. And 12 years later, I’m still building, buying, and selling Web-based businesses – and having a blast doing it.

The problem with building a profitable Web-based business from the ground up is that it’s not always fast. Granted, it’s fairly simple to set one up – especially for information products, memberships, or continuity-type programs – but it usually takes a while to make it profitable.

An example of a “membership” site would be one that charges a monthly or annual fee to access information, a publication subscription, or a buying club (like SamsClub.com).

A “continuity” website would be one that offers products or services on a continuing basis (like a flowers-of-the-month service).

It takes some time to build a site around a proven product, let alone an unproven one. On top of that, the site needs to be tested so it “flows” (walks prospects through the sale process) as easily for you as it does for your customers. And you have to develop a landing page or sales letter that actually closes a sale – without any human interaction.

But… you can buy a Web-based business that is already making money! I’ve done it myself.

Three years ago, I acquired a small, unknown website from a struggling company for one of my clients. It featured software reviews and recommendations. It also included an opt-in subscriber list that the owners used to send monthly updates. Today, the site receives more than 100,000 page views each month, and the opt-in subscriber list has grown by more than 900 percent. In other words, the value of that Web-based business has increased significantly.

It’s never been easier to acquire a profitable Web-based business. Over the last 12 months or so, a lot of people have become strapped for cash. Real estate foreclosures, bankruptcies, and defaults are at 30-year highs (by some estimates). This situation has affected some Internet savvy Web-based business owners and entrepreneurs too. And they’re interested in selling their businesses for cold, hard cash.

But money troubles aren’t the only reason Internet business owners are selling. Some simply want to reduce the number of sites they have and downsize. Others build Web-based businesses purely with the intent to sell them. Kevin Ham, for example, an entrepreneur in Vancouver, owns more than 300,000 domain names. In a recent interview, he said he’s building businesses around some of the domains and plans to sell them this year and next.

When the economy turns south, the end result is thousands – in some cases, tens of thousands – of profitable Web-based businesses on the market. Sometimes you can pick up these gems at a deep discount.

You can find Web-based businesses for sale through conventional means, like business brokers, in the business-opportunity listings of large newspapers like The New York Times, or through a network of friends and collogues.

But there’s an even better way…

I’ll tell you about it in a minute. But first, keep in mind that though Web-based businesses have many advantages over brick-and-mortar businesses, you’ll still need to perform some due diligence if you’re planning to buy one. That would include looking at the business’s cash flow and expenses, the viability of its products, and the goodwill it’s generated (i.e., what people are saying about the company/products on blogs and forums).

Keep in mind, too, that the Web-based business under consideration may be specializing in a product that is outdated or no longer competitive. For example, the site may be selling an e-book of search engine optimization tricks and tactics. And though it enjoyed spectacular sales over the past several years, the competition is now squeezing it out of the market by offering better products at lower prices.

If it turns out that the business is selling a dying product, it is possible to improve it and revive the business – but only if the “essence” of the product is still viable. Let’s say the product is an e-book about making money with Google AdSense. Though the sales and market share for the product may have deteriorated, the concept still works. With a little tweaking and a better marketing strategy, you should be able to bring it back to life.

Now, let me tell you about the best place to find a Web-based business for sale: the Internet. There are hundreds of websites that feature potentially profitable Web-based businesses (and domains) where you can start your research.

Here is a list of the top 11:

Afternic
BuyDomains
BuySellWebsite
CraigsList (Any City > For Sale > Businesses)
DNForum
GoDaddy
GreatDomains
NamePros
Sedo
SitePoint Marketplace
ViperBusiness
How much does a Web-based business cost?

You can purchase a Web-based business that offers a single information product for as little as $1,000. You can also purchase multi-faceted Web-based businesses that offer numerous products, services, and opt-in subscriber and customer lists for $500,000. In my experience, there is an abundance of Web businesses for sale in the $10,000-$20,000 range.

The greatest advantage to acquiring an active Web-based business is the immediate cash flow. Most profitable Web-based businesses will not require a lot of setup or training either. What’s more, a profitable Web-based business will typically have all of the “bugs” and technical problems worked out.

Once you have a successful Web-based business, you can apply the same “formula” that made it successful to test new products, services, and markets. But don’t mess with success. In other words, don’t try to add a product or service to the successful website. Launch another site instead. I have seen many entrepreneurs mess with a profitable formula and drive their Web-based businesses into the ground.

You can also “broker” Web-based business sales for extra income. For example, you can buy and sell Web-based businesses (and/or domain names) quite easily on most of the sites I listed above. When you become a Web-based business (or domain) broker, you don’t even have to run or manage an online business.

Purchasing a profitable Web-based business is one of the fastest ways to make money on the Internet. Start researching the market today – and get ready to launch your Web-based business empire in 2008!

Reinvent Your Life With a Proven Plan for Success

By Michael Masterson

Here’s your challenge: a car race from New York City to Las Vegas. If you get there within a certain amount of time, you win millions of dollars and a completely new and better lifestyle.

Sounds like fun? Good.

Here’s the problem: You don’t know how to get there.

The countdown has already begun. In a few minutes, hundreds of other cars will be screeching away from the starting line. What should you do? Go out and buy a map? Have a navigation system installed in your car? Or start out at the gun with the rest of the pack and find your way by following them and asking questions?

Cautious people would install a navigation system and start the race late – drastically reducing their chances of winning. Successful people would use a combination of common sense and shrewdness: staying with the pack initially and then, by asking questions at gas stations along the way, making sure they were taking the fastest possible route.

Improving your life is a little like taking part in an auto race. If you wait too long to begin, you diminish your chances of finishing. Yet if you start off without any plan at all, there is a chance you’ll get lost along the way.

When I decided to become an A student in college (after barely doing enough work to get C’s in high school), I started working on it right away. But I had a plan. And it was a plan that had been proven by countless A students ahead of me: Study the curriculum. Figure out which courses you have an aptitude for. Show up with an A-student attitude – and work your ass off.

That’s what you should do if you are ready for success. Get started immediately. But use a proven strategy – something that has worked well for others.

Introducing the Master Plan

Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary defines “master plan” as something that gives overall guidance for a project, such as the building of a church or school or city. Master plans are what real estate developers use to transform raw land into suburban subdivisions, urban centers, and waterfront business districts.

Washington , D.C. , one of the most beautifully designed cities in North America , was once a swamp. Its transformation was the result of a master plan by Pierre Charles l’Enfant. And Columbia , MD , developed from rough farmland in the later part of the 20th century, now accommodates a population of nearly 96,000.

I used a master plan to redesign a 3,000-acre residential resort on the Pacific Ocean in Nicaragua. Over 30 years of investing in real estate developments, I learned how helpful it can be to have a master plan in hand before you begin any major project.

Master plans are also used to redesign companies. Jack Welch used one to articulate and execute his vision for General Electric. He said it was the key to transforming the corporate giant from a troubled, declining billion-dollar company to a state-of-the-industry business leader.

And a master plan is what Warren Buffett and his partner used to turn Berkshire Hathaway into history’s greatest financial success story… and themselves into billionaires.

On a personal level, my partners and I have used a master plan to help more than a dozen companies grow into multimillion-dollar enterprises, including one that went from $100,000 to $135 million in 11 years, and another that went from $8 million to $320 million in 14 years.

Master plans don’t always work. The former Soviet Union and communist China were famous for their master plans, which continued to project growth as their economies gradually crumbled into dust.

For a master plan to be effective, it has to be realistic and flexible. It has to be realistic about resources and capabilities, and it has to be adjusted and/or radically changed when circumstances dictate.

But used properly, a master plan can achieve miracles. It can transform deserts into sparkling cities, debt-ridden companies into thriving businesses, and perennially under-achieving people into healthy, wealthy, happy, and wise individuals.

How Is a Master Plan Different From a Plan?

A master-planned project differs from a normally planned project in its scope. Most large endeavors, whether they are real estate projects or business developments, are designed in pieces – one significant section at a time. That is not a bad way to create change, but it does entail wasted time, resources, and capital. Because conglomerating individual designs is always going to result in gaps, overlaps, and omissions.

When you master plan a project, you account for every aspect of it: the landscaping and water systems as well as the architecture, electrical, and plumbing. By getting it all together at once, you can ensure an integrated finished product. You also reduce the time and money you spend fixing things that don’t jibe.

The Dynamics of Your Personal Master Plan

A personal master plan can help you achieve all your life’s goals quickly and with the least amount of trouble, time, and hassle. Using a master plan says you are serious about improving yourself and that you want that improvement to be radical: from C to A. You will not be satisfied with B.

A personal master plan is a formal contract between the person you are today (fed up with the problems and lack of success you’ve been having) and the person you have decided to be (the successful you who is healthy, wealthy, happy, and wise). The personal master plan will help you reinvent your life because it will force you to transform nebulous ambitions into specific objectives. It will spell out exactly what you have to learn, what you have to do, and whom you have to work with.

A personal master plan will change your dreams into tasks. In doing so, it may lose a bit of the romance. But it will compensate for that loss by giving you the exciting, uplifting feeling of progress. As each week goes by, you will be able to see, in very concrete ways, how you are improving. This will give your spirit a great lift and make it easier for you to continue making progress.

Most people never realize their dreams. Not because they aren’t smart or shrewd or motivated enough, but because when they do make an effort it is too little and misdirected. You won’t have that problem. You have already begun your journey. And you will be using a map that has been proven.

Following a personal master plan is actually much simpler than randomly responding to a dozen separate impulses throughout your life. A master plan works because it reduces hundreds of minor and sometimes conflicting dreams and ambitions into four fundamental life goals. By simplifying your goals into four major ones, you will make it four hundred times easier to pursue and achieve them.

I’ve changed my life three times. First, in 1968, when I went from being a C student in high school to an A student in college. Second, in 1982, when I decided to get rich. And third, in 2000, when I developed and began using a personal master plan for Early to Rise.

In every case, the changes were major and the rewards were gratifying. But when I began master planning my success, the improvements came faster and easier. Were it not for the personal master plan that I developed during this time, I never would have been able to write and publish seven books. Or write, direct, and produce a feature-length film. Or write 365 poems in 365 days – all while keeping my “day job.”

Using a personal master plan will put you on a new trajectory. It will take a few weeks to get everything in order, but soon after that you will start to notice the progress you are making. And before long (certainly within two months), you’ll be amazed at how much you are accomplishing. Finally, you will be doing (and actually finishing!) projects that you have been dreaming about for years. As you knock off one objective after the next, you will feel your confidence growing, your skills strengthening, your wealth building, and your enjoyment of life increasing.

It is going to be a very good year for you: the year of your miraculous transformation!

More Hot Buys In 2008 – Readers Choice

When API published its inaugural Hot 100 list in November and December 2007, they asked their readers to nominate locations that didn’t make the list but which they feel will deliver strong capital growth over the coming 12 months.

Following are the responses from API’s readers. All analysis and commentary was provided by the various readers who suggested these areas.

Atwell, WA
Atwell is south of the Perth CBD. Thanks to the expansion of the Gateway shopping centre, the new Cockburn Central medium-density development, the pending railway line and a local high school under way, Atwell and the surrounding suburbs which make up Atwell are poised to see continued steady growth for many years to come.

Also not far away is the Coogee Marina which is under construction.

The quality of homes being built in these areas, particularly Harvest Lakes and Aubin Grove, show that owner-occupiers intend to make it a top-quality area to live in.

Prices are relatively high and rentals are in desperate demand in the area. With increasing interest rates in the new year there may be some good buys in these areas, with the knowledge that the investment has all the right fundamentals for future growth and infrastructure surrounding it. (I own property in Atwell).

Bribie Island, Qld
Where else can you buy a three-bedroom house for between $375,000 and $450,000 one hour from a capital city on an island? Land is at a premium as there is not much else left to buy because of the restrictions on development.

Broome, WA
I visited Broome a couple of months ago and was astonished at the amount of infrastructure that is currently under way and to come. Major roads from the town centre to Cable Beach are being widened and diverted to cater to larger traffic flows; more shopping centres and smaller boutique shops have been added; and subdivisions are being built out behind Cable Beach.

After speaking to a local hotel manager in Cable Beach I soon realised what a great medium to long-term investment this area currently is. Prices are in the $800,000 to $1.1 million mark in the Cable Beach area with rents being achieved of $900 per week. And these are with corporate tenants.

I also know that Woodside is leasing properties in the area to accommodate its workforce for the upcoming Browse Basin project. This will see Broome’s population increase in the coming years. There are also rumours of a casino being developed on the site of the caravan park behind Cable Beach Club. (I don’t own property in Broome.)

Cooper Triangle, SA
The Cooper Triangle is within one and a half hours of Adelaide, making it a popular spot for tourism. Many people have holiday homes in the coastal towns. The area includes:

Moonta/Moonta Bay – quiet country towns, beautiful beaches.

Port Hughes – beautiful beaches, quiet getaway, Greg Norman golf course and resort occurring.

Wallaroo – now has a ferry operating to Lucky Bay making access to Port Lincoln more convenient, new marina and development at North Beach.
Wallaroo, Kadina – growing as the commercial and shopping hub of the area.

Cooloola Cove, Qld
We have recently moved to Cooloola Cove in Queensland. We came on holiday in February 2007 and had a good feeling about the area. We bought a half acre of land for $110,000 and it’s now worth $175,000.

Cooloola Cove is fifteen minutes from Rainbow Beach and five minutes from Tin Can Bay.

There is a shopping centre due to commence building early this year, with supermarket and speciality shops and a tavern. Also, a new road is planned through the national park that will take quite a lot of time off commuting to the Sunshine Coast. Not to mention a great climate.

Grovedale, Vic
With the Ring Road under construction, I would have thought that Grovedale in Geelong, being only seven minutes from most beaches and having a large shopping centre, rail station at Marshalltown Road, large swimming pool plus gym and sporting grounds, and schools (eg. Christian college and Deakin University) would have made some sort of impact in the Hot 100.

Osborne and Taperoo, SA
These suburbs are located between the Gulf St Vincent and Port River – and are close to the Newport Quays Development.

Properties situated closer to Newport Quays (i.e. those included in your Hot 100 – Exeter, Ethelton, Glanville and Largs Bay which is closer still to Osborne and Taperoo) are steadily increasing in prices while house prices in Osborne and Taperoo are still affordable.

Another consideration is the expansion of the Submarine Corp – with the generation of more employment, people will be looking to live closer to work and with “trendy” Semaphore not too far away and North Haven with its marinas, shops and great pub only the next suburb over, Osborne and Taperoo will definitely boom!

We live in Osborne and bought our first investment property at Taperoo – both houses are within walking distance to the beach, public transport, shops etc.

Just as a sideline, we bought our house (circa 1950) nine years ago for $86,500. We’ve done a bit of work to it and have just had it valued at more than $350,000. We bought the Taperoo property (complete with tenant) for $305,500.

River Heads, Qld
River Heads is a little-known area 15 minutes from Hervey Bay. It’s a gateway to Fraser Island; barges leave for Kingfisher Bay Resort from there about four times a day. I must confess that we live here and from our house we look at Kingfisher across the Great Sandy Straits.

We are just private investors and have no connection with the address but just love to tell people about this great place and compared to Burrum and Dundrowan it’s cheap.

Rockhampton, Qld
A great hotspot you missed is Rockhampton in central Queensland. A pretty, but vibrant “river town” previously fuelled by a university campus, agriculture and cattle (one of the largest beef providers in Queensland) is solid, safe and established, yet undervalued compared to its regional brothers and primed for massive growth.

It is only just starting to receive the ripple effect from Queensland’s resource boom, which has seen the likes of Mackay, Gladstone, Bowen and Townsville explode.

There are actually suburbs with a median price of only $185,000 (up from $130,000 in 2006) but not for long as this suburb (Depot Hill) has had 12-month growth of 37.5 per cent and an amazing four-year growth of 224.6 per cent!

Rockhampton as a whole has a median of $298,000; in 2002 the median was only $107,000.

There is plenty of growth left if the medians of Mackay, Townsville, Bowen, Gladstone and even Emerald (a smaller inland town) are anything to go by.

It seems to be two to three years behind the rest of Queensland in regards to real estate movement. Rocky is a massive hotspot for the next two years.

Sandgate, Qld
I would like to nominate Sandgate in Brisbane as my hotspot tip. It is on the northern bayside and is similar to Wynnum.

It has a central shopping strip along Brighton Road, which I believe could develop into another Oxford Street as is at Bulimba. The shopping strip includes a Woolworths (a new one will be built by October) and gyms, liquor outlet, hairdressers, chemists, doctors, banks (just about all of them are represented), dentist, pet shop, bakery and cafés.

In the last few months a new unit complex which overlooks the lagoon was built.

From Brighton Road, you can look down the avenues to the foreshore, which has been recently redeveloped.

The median house price is currently $420,000.

Sandgate is serviced by rail and bus. It has everything – shopping, waterfront and easy access to the city by train – but it doesn’t have the Manly or Bulimba prices.

Sandgate is slightly further out from the city than Wynnum (17 km compared with 14 km) but it has easy access to Redcliffe beaches and the barge to Moreton Island.

South Townsville, Qld
We must confess our daughter has just purchased a house there. We were there a month ago and it reminds us of East Brisbane 25 to 30 years ago. It offers wide streets, a mixture of housing, not much unit development; it’s within walking distance of the CBD, has new bars and eateries opening everywhere and a lot of mining money pouring in. Lots of renos occurring and it’s relatively cheap.

Thanks to the readers of Australian Property Magazine.