How do you get your wife on board?

[Bestwifeever]

They brokered the new mortgage, yes. The mortgage itself, of course, is held with a bank (First National, 5.35% 5 year fixed), not HEIR. I've no doubt they picked up broker commissions for brokering the new mortgage.

This is always a red flag to me. There are some "college financial counselor" companies in our area that, without charge, advise parents of high schoolers how to pay for college. They explain to the parents that tat this point they need to tap the equity in their home and then they helpfully handle that for them and earn a commission or whatever (I am sure this is how these companies earn the bulk of their money). So I just wondered if HEIR earned a little off that. I wonder if they cold-call people based on information they obtain on balances left on existing mortgages.

Anyway, good luck. If you are the one who convinced your wife it would be a good thing to invest with this group, it will probably be easier to convince her it is time to at least stop putting money into it, imho.

 

[haha]

So I just wondered if HEIR earned a little off that. I wonder if they cold-call people based on information they obtain on balances left on existing mortgages.

I feel that good results don't grow on trees. So a cardinal principle is that you want to be in line to get the full return should your investment pan out, since you are assuming the full risk.

On the other hand, promoters like to get their return upfront. Marty Whitman refers to this principle as SOFT-Something OFf the Top. So the promoters are well once they have your money. It looks like this outfit has seen to it that they collect many fees, commissions, etc. So your load is so high that it would require lots of luck to get a return commensurate with the risk you have assumed.

Therefore this doesn't have to be a fraudulent or illegal scheme for it to still be a bad investment. In fact, it could be a bad investment if somebody walked over the property with a Geiger counter and discovered uranium. A lucky investment, possibly a lucrative one, but still a bad investment decision going in. If these opportunities were anything out of the ordinary, they would be offered to wealthy individuals in small private offerings that require very little in terms of a marketing or compliance organization.

But you are dealing with a marketing organization. If what is being sold really stands out, one doesn’t need the very considerable expense of a marketing organization.

Ha

 

[accountingsucks]

I think I know where the land is located, and I agree with Grizz that it has alot of factors going for it. Should Kombat not worry about the impeding real estate bust in Edmonton though? Sales down 54% over last year and listings have sky rocketed. It would be difficult to sell the land as a residential development I would think in this environment. Commercial would likely be another story though.

Alot of nuts on here, but interesting to read nonetheless......

Alberta Bubble

 

[WisdomRules]

Real Estate Edmonton

Dear Kombat

I would be happy to buy your S&D land for $80,000 and give you enough profit to get out of your wealth building club and pay for your tax problem. Just so long as you can give me your title to the land. Please respond I will send you me email address. Thank-you.

 

[Grizz]

I think I know where the land is located, and I agree with Grizz that it has alot of factors going for it. Should Kombat not worry about the impeding real estate bust in Edmonton though? Sales down 54% over last year and listings have sky rocketed. It would be difficult to sell the land as a residential development I would think in this environment. Commercial would likely be another story though.

Alot of nuts on here, but interesting to read nonetheless......

Alberta Bubble

I respectfully disagree. Look at the want ads, if you have a trade in Edm., $65k+ per yr jobs are everywhere and yours for the taking. Alberta is still actively recruiting for workers around the world. I see that in Ft. Mac, Finning is advertising $50/hr + benefits for mechanics. You can also often work as much OT as you can stomach.

There is a very real need for workers here, and although it is not fast enough, they are still coming. Housing was overbuilt and just got a bit ahead of itself. Commercial and industrial construction hasn't blinked at all. IMO that is proof that it's a small correction. The only thing that can destroy Edm. real estate are oil prices below production cost of about $25/bbl. This is the boom 'n bust capital of the world so it may happen, but likely not right away.

 

[Grizz]

Dear Kombat

I would be happy to buy your S&D land for $80,000 and give you enough profit to get out of your wealth building club and pay for your tax problem. Just so long as you can give me your title to the land. Please respond I will send you me email address. Thank-you.

Wow, helluva first post, welcome aboard. I guess my puny $10K offer just got trumped. Oh well.

 

[kombat]

Wow, helluva first post, welcome aboard. I guess my puny $10K offer just got trumped. Oh well.

Heh, with all due respect, I think I'm going to sit tight and hang on to the land ourselves.

 

[Midpack]

I feel awful about what you got yourself into, but it does happen all the time, most people just don't admit it (to your credit). You might as well ride out what you're into and hope for the best, but don't throw ANY good money after bad. If nothing else, I would think you could convince your wife to wait until the investments you've made pay off before you enter into another one with that group. Until then, every dime should go into "your" approach. We all hope for the best for you...

 

[WisdomRules]

Listen to your wife!!!!

I have reread this thread. It is really about listening to your wife not about losing money.You haven't lost any.I hear you trying to convince us that you are right and your wife is wrong.Why not spend 90% of your time listening to her rather than trying to change her? You don't have to do anything just listen.You may become a MILLIONAIRE!!!!

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Someone is winding up to have you send something to Nigeria.

I've been practically compelled to post a picture of a woman taped to a board in response to this thread.

I hope everyone appreciates the restraint.

 

[haha]

Someone is winding up to have you send something to Nigeria.

No Way; Kombat is just holding on for a better offer from the Russians.

Heh, with all due respect, I think I'm going to sit tight and hang on to the land ourselves.

Go Kombat! Some day you will be rich and be able to afford a more compliant wife! Maybe from Russia!

Ha

 

[accountingsucks]

I respectfully disagree. Look at the want ads, if you have a trade in Edm., $65k+ per yr jobs are everywhere and yours for the taking. Alberta is still actively recruiting for workers around the world. I see that in Ft. Mac, Finning is advertising $50/hr + benefits for mechanics. You can also often work as much OT as you can stomach.

There is a very real need for workers here, and although it is not fast enough, they are still coming. Housing was overbuilt and just got a bit ahead of itself. Commercial and industrial construction hasn't blinked at all. IMO that is proof that it's a small correction. The only thing that can destroy Edm. real estate are oil prices below production cost of about $25/bbl. This is the boom 'n bust capital of the world so it may happen, but likely not right away.

$50/hr is $100K a year....what will $100K a year qualify you for here in Edmonton? If you have kids and need the space, you are looking at 400K minimum for a decent 2 storey. Also if the wife decides to work it is virtually impossible to find a spot in daycare and if you do, you are looking at 1K per month for day care. If this continues to be the land of golden opportunity, then why is the province suffering net emigration in the last year? People are wising up that 400K for an average home in a tundra (it's dumping about 25cm of snow as I type this) that has a very high crime rate is a farce. I bought in 2002 and my home is paid off so I don't really care....I'm just saying that the bubble is starting to burst.....

 

[2B]

My concern with this whole approach is taking out a loan to invest in an illiquid speculation that is probably a massive percentage of kombat's and his DW's total investments.

Any "reasonable" asset allocation model would put real estate speculations at something between 5 and 10% of someone's net worth. Many would say 0%. So I'm back to my original point that the $80K is probably too much money for kombat, et al. to invest in this sort of thing. That is also why kombat is puckering.

On this forum there are a number of people that have interests in non-publically traded REITs. There isn't much difference between these and kombat's venture except that the REITs generally have some cash flow. They are hoping for an increase in value at some point.

This thing may very well work out. Some of the other "Wealth Club" ventures may also work out for big profits. I am sure that there isn't a guarantee that any one will. I'd be suspicious of why the "Weath Club" is getting a chance to invest. There are other places with much deeper pockets. I can only presume these deeper pockets were not happy with the risk or the amount the developer is taking off the top. If I was a developer the last place I'd personally want to go for investors is to a group that refinances their personal residences to put money into my venture.

Large trusts and endowments have a portion of their assets invested in real estate development. A big difference is that they do extensive due diligence which kombat certainly didn't do before writing the check. It appears he has been started into this awareness but his DW is still happily slurping down her Kool Aid.

I personally would never invest this way but I can't say I haven't done "stupid with as many zeros."

 

[bajd5799]

Hi Kombat
I live in the Ottawa and just heard of HEIR. I'm thinking of investing with them but scouring the internet and seeing this blog has left me sitting on the fence. I started by looking at Canyon Acquisitions, the condo company they recommend. Canyon actually lists some of their affliate companies so I started checking out them. What makes it confusing is that I looked into a construction company they use Barone out of Cleveland. From Ohio newspaper articles, it seem like this is a rather large company--a good thing I'd think. What big company would want to associate with fraudsters but then I came across another news article about the president of the construction company getting charged for making a bribe. So who knows. I was lucky enough to find out that some of my family members know Archie indirectly. One said as best he knew, Archie was legit, the other said in all the years he'd known Archie, he never saw any dishonesty from him, although he said Archie's "word" would not be strong enough in his opinion to invest his own money--he's be doing his homework. The only other thing I could add is that high returns don't necessarily have to be high risk or scams. I invested in rental properties here in Ottawa about 8yrs ago and they went up about 18% on average over the first 5-6 years (they've since slowed down) and produced a cash flow of about 8-10% a year--although of course there are taxes, maintenance and utilities that eat probably half that. The point is, an excellent investment so far. Good luck. Maybe I'll see you at a meeting but I think I'll be doing some more checking.

 

[just wondering]

Bajd5799 and Kombat, what's happened since June? I'm just starting to look into HEIR and I'm hoping you can share what you've learned about the company.

 

[Sarah in SC]

Just an FYI, just wondering the bajd5799 poster was a one-time spam post designed to encourage people to think the investment was legit. You can see that by the number of posts and registration date under the name next to the post.

Kombat is a regular poster who may have something to add to your knowledge base.

Often spammers do searches for keywords like HEIR and then spam the discussions with positive information about whatever scam is being discussed. This way, it sounds like there are real people investing in it. Due diligence is your own responsibility, every time.

 

[just wondering]

Sarah, thanks for the info. A person has to start somewhere though. I just joined yesterday, so I guess that's why it looked like my post was "spam"?

At any rate, I hope Kombat will see these posts and let me know how it's going with him and his wife. I'm quite fearful now for my brother who has mortgaged his house and invested it all in HEIR and is now considering moving all of his RRSPs!!!!

 

[haha]

Sarah, thanks for the info. A person has to start somewhere though. I just joined yesterday, so I guess that's why it looked like my post was "spam"?

At any rate, I hope Kombat will see these posts and let me know how it's going with him and his wife. I'm quite fearful now for my brother who has mortgaged his house and invested it all in HEIR and is now considering moving all of his RRSPs!!!!

Please, tell us you are kidding and this is some kind of weird joke.

Sarah is trying to tell you that people who sell junk will rarely if ever point out that it is junk. You just have to make up your own mind.

You remind me of some 14 year old who is in love with a punk. He is so cute and promises so much excitement that she just can't believe he is a punk, no matter how many people tell her. Soon or later after much pain and suffering she figures out that yes, he is a punk.

Ha

 

[just wondering]

Ouch. If only we all had your wisdom, haha.

 

[stanhope]

Junk? Really?

I have a hard time believing this RRSP stuff is junk. The providers involved all have serious and significant track records some at close to 30 years with many high powered Alberta political types on their boards. i.e. R. Klein, P. Manning. They are not the types to affix their names and reputations to scam stuff.

 

[Sarah in SC]

And of course, just wondering, please note that stanhope has two posts on our board, both about HEIR. Always establish the credibility of your sources.

 

[Zoocat]

Thanks, Grizz, I'd really appreciate that.

This whole thread is bizarre to me! Kombat, who is Grizz? How do you know what he is saying is true at all? Why are you trying to figure out what to do by asking strangers on the Internet? If you aren't doing your own due diligence at this point then you are falling into the same pattern that led you into the $80K land "deal."

 

[FinanceDude]

I have a hard time believing this RRSP stuff is junk. The providers involved all have serious and significant track records some at close to 30 years with many high powered Alberta political types on their boards. i.e. R. Klein, P. Manning. They are not the types to affix their names and reputations to scam stuff.

You are a scammer and a spammer, please scam and spam somewhere else...........

 

[stanhope]

That's all a rather easy and convenient way to spread your own version of spam thought. Me spamming? Hardly. I found this page today and entered some thoughts. Take them for what they are worth after looking at the reality of what is written. Do you know anything about Alberta politics Finance Dude? Do you know the names Klein and Manning? Maybe you need to stop spreading your spam and scam of putting someone down simply because they don't abide by your outlook and ideas.

 

[MasterBlaster]

I haven't read this whole thread so forgive me if I am out of centext here...

But have you proponents of this scheme ever considered that if this is such a great investment they why does the principal (or master partner) need you ?