Self Storage as an Investment

by Schmitt Co

Are you considering self storage as an investment? Self storage is a rapidly growing market worldwide but even more so in the United States. The United States has over fifty thousand self storage locations, with more being opened at a high rate. This can be attributed to various social factors, including increasing divorce rates (which call for storing personal belongings), an increasing home improvement market (which requires more storage for materials and tools), and an increasing rate of home loss.

As experts in the self storage management market we look at hundreds of factors when we consider marketing or managing a storage facility. As a potential investor, you should look at a few key points when considering self storage as an investment. Security, cleanliness, climate control, and complimentary services should be your main focus. Most self storage facilities provide rolling metal doors, with entry-controls ranging from basic lock and key to thumbprint scanners. Security guards are often employed at upscale self storage units, and cameras are a common sight as well. Wire mesh or chain link ceilings provide significantly more security than do dropped ceilings.

Climate control is often overlooked but a huge selling point to some potential renters. Organic materials kept in self storage can accumulate mildew, mold, or be damaged by water if humidity is not well-regulated. Similarly, metallic materials can rust. Keep this in mind when looking at a potential self storage investment are they prepared to regulate humidity (temperature is not quite so important), as it is a prerequisite for any proper storage unit. This can be accomplished by central conditioning systems, which are generally low maintenance and low cost.

Complimentary services are not to be forgotten for those wanting to get into the self storage investment arena. Many self storage facilities offer free dollies or rolling carts. Elevators and freight lifts are used in multi-story units.  These are potential selling points for certain potential renters and may contribute to a higher occupancy rate. Providing trucks or moving vans to customers, whether for free or for a rental fee are services to consider as well. There are numerous other aspects to take into consideration. Self storage is quickly becoming a ripe market, and should be taken advantage of as soon as possible.

About the Author

Schmitt and Co has been in the Self Storage Management industry for over 30 years. From day to day management to long term goal setting, we are the self storage experts.

Where to invest today? Consider Oil & gas

by Mike Traweek

With everyone's attention focused on the crisis in the financial markets, many are overlooking the fact that there are still good investment avenues open if you know where to find them and how to evaluate them. One such avenue is oil and gas and this article will show you why it is still a good investment, and how you can evaluate the ones you find.

Let me clarify that I am specifically talking about investing in oil & gas drilling programs. There are other vehicles to invest in the energy industry but they are currently not doing well so I am focusing only on drilling ventures. So what is a drilling venture?

The entire oil & gas industry depends upon the ability of companies to locate and produce oil and gas from pockets hidden under the earth's surface. Drilling programs do this both for public and private companies. The limitation with public companies is that the only way you can invest with them is via their stock. While this can be a good long term investment, it does not provide the many benefits of investing directly in an oil & gas drilling program with a private company. Here is why.

Investing in a sound drilling program offers the investor the opportunity for substantial returns, plus it offers tax benefits that are only found by investing in these programs. By substantial returns I mean that returns from 50 to 100% per year are attainable, plus these returns can last for 10 to 20 years. I must point out that these returns decrease over time at an average rate of 10% per year, so the returns do decrease as the reserves are depleted. Still these types of returns are hard to find elsewhere, if you can find them at all.

The tax benefits include three distinct mechanisms which when combined make this the most lucrative investment vehicle available. The tax code was revised in 1986 to allow for the following:

* 100% write-off of intangible drilling costs (IDC's) * 100% depreciation write-off of capital equipment over 7 years * 15% of income from the production is tax free (not a deduction)

IDC's are those costs which are essentially services consumed to drill the well. They include hauling, drilling fluids, core samples, electric logs, the actual drilling of the well, and many other services. Since they are not capital goods like tanks and pump jacks, they can be written off immediately regardless of the outcome of the well. What this means is that the risk capital invested in a program is reduced by the amount of the tax bracket for each investor. Essentially the investor is using $0.60 dollars (varying with the tax bracket) to invest in the program. I know of no other investment vehicle that offers this and this alone is one reason it is popular with those who have done it.

Depreciation is well understood though it is worthy to note that equipment is 100% depreciated in 7 years.

Finally for every dollar the investor earns, 15% is tax free meaning only 85% of the income can be taxed.

It should be clear that this is a great vehicle. The real question is how does one evaluate a program with confidence. To do this, we have prepared a Guide To Oil & Gas Investment which shows how you can accomplish this with confidence once you know what to look for and what you must avoid. For your free guide visit:

http://www.successful-oil-and-gas-investment.com/

By: Mike Traweek NOV8TNS, Inc.

About the Author

Mike Traweek has 30 years of experience in sales and marketing, 20 of which is in the oil & gas industry. His experience includes managing drilling programs in Texas and Kansas as a General Partner.

How To Invest When Market Is Down

by Tony Clifton

Some people have the luck to live most of their active life in calm and prosperous times. What about you? Oh well, you don't even need to tell me. We live in these crazy times together. We don't have the luck of those people.

Does that mean that we should give up investing just because the markets are crazy, stocks are going down and we smell the ghost of deflation? No, not at all.

In fact though times for the markets are best for the smart investor. I'll give you some simple beginner investing tips that can help you invest like the pros - and even much better than them.

When markets are in mass panic, then is the best time to buy When a recession or financial crisis is coming, people start being afraid that the things can go much worse. Why were not they afraid of that when the prices of their investments were high? You have much less to lose when buying low as compared to when the markets are growing. Besides that, markets go in cycles - low times follow high times and the other way around. You should worry most when everything seems bright on the financial markets.

You can only win if you buy when everyone sells in panic. Even if you don't buy exactly at the bottom, you'll still need much less time to reach big profits compared to everyone else (yes, including those mutual fund managers).

Recession is great time for real estate investing The panic of recession does not cause just stock sales. Financial crisis often causes apocalypse at the real estate markets because the banks increase the interest rates and start giving loans harder. The higher rates lead to many people's inability to pay their mortgage and as a result they lose their homes. At the same times the demand of houses goes down because of the harder access to loans and it becomes even harder for these homes to be sold.

This leads to very low house prices which of course is excellent news for the smart investor. If you have the money, buy real estate when everyone is selling.

At low markets you can easier find out what assets have real value When the markets are growing and the prises of everything only go up, it's hard to distinguish which assets have real value and which are in bubble. It's not like that when the market is down. At a down times the bubbled assets lose value like crazy while other lose just a little of their price or stay at the same levels.

It's wrong to think that you should buy only the assets that have lost a lot of their value in the crisis. The ones that have not lost are still good because they are really valuable and not bubbled. With the bubbled assets you can target aggressive gains with some risk (if you don't catch the bottom). The really valuable assets will not bring you such big profits but they are secure and will never crash as bad.

Finally, when the market is down, the buyer is the king. You can negotiate your deals. You can negotiate prices of real estate, construction projects, investments, hiring people and so on. There is no better time for the one who has cash than recession.

About the Author

You don't need to be a guru to win from a down market. All you need is patience and basic beginner investing knowledge - you can gain it on our site http://hywd.info. It will help you learn not only passive investing, but also how to make wealth without taking big risks.