- Joined
- Oct 27, 2009
- Messages
- 1,210
Although I made no investments in 2013, I saw my portfolio of U.S. property (Phoenix) and U.S. stocks soar to new highs.
REAL ESTATE
I started investing in Phoenix, AZ real estate in late 2009 (first purchase made Jan 2010), buying up condos and detached homes in Phoenix, Surprise and Tolleson. My progress was outlined in a thread on this forum:
http://myreinspace.com/public_forums/Real_Estate_Discussion/62-17378-Canadians_Snap_Up_US_Properties.html
Not surprising, what I was doing was not very popular. I have always invested during unpopular times. But that doesn't really bother me as one of my investing goals is to create wealth; not to be popular.
Although it was very obvious to me to invest in U.S. real estate, many thought
it was unusual, and similar to fighting for a seat on the Titanic. My
interview in the associated press (2010):
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2010/10/04/foreign_buyers_see_big_opportunity_in_housing_bust/
Every property that I purchased had gross rents of 20% of the purchase price of the property. This means that for every $1 that I invested in Phoenix property, I was getting $0.20 in rent per month.
Today all the properties that I purchased in Phoenix have doubled.
Needless to say, the naysayers in the aforementioned REIN thread, no longer post there any more.
As Phoenix recovered, my property values exploded upwards. In 2012, MoneySense magazine decided to do a story on me:
http://www.moneysense.ca/property/be-an-american-landlord-2
In 2013, I had my last interview on the topic, again with MoneySense magazine:
http://www.moneysense.ca/property/own-a-piece-of-paradise
I had long stopped buying Phoenix, AZ property, but the media continued to run with the story. Also by this time, everybody and their brother wanted to invest in U.S. real estate. I had people approaching me and asking me about how to get in. From my perspective, the good times had passed. I had moved on.
STOCKS
As of this posting, the TSX/S&P is up +8%* YTD while my portfolio of U.S. stocks is up at +20% YTD. This is poor compared to the DOW which is up +24%*, the S&P500 which is up +27%* and the NASDAQ which is up +36%*. I always tend to lose to the index during bull markets.
The following are visual representations of my performance over the last 16 years, benchmarked against the S&P500:
Graphical representation
Tabular representation
My performance was good enough for an interview with the Financial Post on my TFSA performance. Although the TFSA represents a small portion of my portfolio, the Financial Post wanted to have articles around the TFSA and to interview those who have done "unusual" things with it.
The TFSA was introduced in Jan 2009. This was during the last stock market meltdown. Again, I felt that this was the best time to invest in stock. And again, I received a lot of doom and gloomers telling me what a mistake I was making. Undeterred, I bought hundreds of shares of retailers The Fossil, Guess? and The Buckle. By 2014, my TFSA portfolio eclipsed $70k and will likely hit $80k soon. The following was my interview in the Financial Post when the account stood at $57k:
http://business.financialpost.com/2013/06/19/this-investors-loves-retail-and-so-does-his-tax-free-savings-account/?__lsa=07c5-e23a
CONCLUSION
I do not employ leverage and I have not purchased any investments in 2013, stocks, real estate or otherwise. The markets simply took everything higher without my meddling. For some perspective regarding the aforementioned assets and returns, I am 41 years old and my assets are greater than $3m but less than $4m.
Happy holidays and all the best in 2014!
* does not include dividends
REAL ESTATE
I started investing in Phoenix, AZ real estate in late 2009 (first purchase made Jan 2010), buying up condos and detached homes in Phoenix, Surprise and Tolleson. My progress was outlined in a thread on this forum:
http://myreinspace.com/public_forums/Real_Estate_Discussion/62-17378-Canadians_Snap_Up_US_Properties.html
Not surprising, what I was doing was not very popular. I have always invested during unpopular times. But that doesn't really bother me as one of my investing goals is to create wealth; not to be popular.
Although it was very obvious to me to invest in U.S. real estate, many thought
it was unusual, and similar to fighting for a seat on the Titanic. My
interview in the associated press (2010):
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2010/10/04/foreign_buyers_see_big_opportunity_in_housing_bust/
Every property that I purchased had gross rents of 20% of the purchase price of the property. This means that for every $1 that I invested in Phoenix property, I was getting $0.20 in rent per month.
Today all the properties that I purchased in Phoenix have doubled.
Needless to say, the naysayers in the aforementioned REIN thread, no longer post there any more.
As Phoenix recovered, my property values exploded upwards. In 2012, MoneySense magazine decided to do a story on me:
http://www.moneysense.ca/property/be-an-american-landlord-2
In 2013, I had my last interview on the topic, again with MoneySense magazine:
http://www.moneysense.ca/property/own-a-piece-of-paradise
I had long stopped buying Phoenix, AZ property, but the media continued to run with the story. Also by this time, everybody and their brother wanted to invest in U.S. real estate. I had people approaching me and asking me about how to get in. From my perspective, the good times had passed. I had moved on.
STOCKS
As of this posting, the TSX/S&P is up +8%* YTD while my portfolio of U.S. stocks is up at +20% YTD. This is poor compared to the DOW which is up +24%*, the S&P500 which is up +27%* and the NASDAQ which is up +36%*. I always tend to lose to the index during bull markets.
The following are visual representations of my performance over the last 16 years, benchmarked against the S&P500:
Graphical representation
Tabular representation
My performance was good enough for an interview with the Financial Post on my TFSA performance. Although the TFSA represents a small portion of my portfolio, the Financial Post wanted to have articles around the TFSA and to interview those who have done "unusual" things with it.
The TFSA was introduced in Jan 2009. This was during the last stock market meltdown. Again, I felt that this was the best time to invest in stock. And again, I received a lot of doom and gloomers telling me what a mistake I was making. Undeterred, I bought hundreds of shares of retailers The Fossil, Guess? and The Buckle. By 2014, my TFSA portfolio eclipsed $70k and will likely hit $80k soon. The following was my interview in the Financial Post when the account stood at $57k:
http://business.financialpost.com/2013/06/19/this-investors-loves-retail-and-so-does-his-tax-free-savings-account/?__lsa=07c5-e23a
CONCLUSION
I do not employ leverage and I have not purchased any investments in 2013, stocks, real estate or otherwise. The markets simply took everything higher without my meddling. For some perspective regarding the aforementioned assets and returns, I am 41 years old and my assets are greater than $3m but less than $4m.
Happy holidays and all the best in 2014!
* does not include dividends
