Testing times here in Australia. There has been flooding across most of Queensland and now also in Victoria. People have lost homes, possessions and even loved ones. It has been a very difficult couple of weeks. Our hearts go out to all the people this has touched.

These floods will affect all of us one way or another – for us the main problem is lack of supply of fruit & vegies. Many of these areas that have been inundated are our main suppliers of fresh produce. We have no idea how long it will take them to get up and running again. The farms that haven’t been flooded are very wet from all the rain so find it difficult to get their produce harvested and much of it is water damaged. Mostly with water damage, you can just cut that bit off and use the rest.

If you have been following my blogs you will know that the cost of fruit & vegies is dependent on supply and demand and we now find we have very limited supply and very high demand so prices have gone up accordingly, about 20% apparently. I believe this will be the case for quite a few months until farmers can replant and harvest.

For us it is really just an inconvenience, we are so grateful not to have been directly touched by the floods; our home, family and friends are all safe.

The silver lining has been seeing all the volunteers who dropped everything and turned up in their old clothes with the buckets, brooms, mops and hoses to help with the clean up. Thousands of complete strangers helping distraught families by giving their time and effort. Some people have lost everything so it was great to have a little bit of sunshine amongst all the rain, which is still falling. Tradesmen are being rallied to give their time and building supply companies to donate products to help with the rebuilding, the generosity has been overwhelming.

Property Investing

Feedback from The Investors Club is that very few of our properties have been affected. We have our great research procedures to thank for this, we don’t list low lying properties and now we see why!

Club Cares is also fund raising to help needy families with goods and money needed to help start again, many people did not have flood insurance or even insurance.

This may slow the capital growth for a while but I’m betting prices will still double in the Brisbane area in 8 years. Hopefully the infrastructure can be remodeled to make sure this doesn’t happen again.

‘Til next time.

Regards Arlene
www.tic.com.au

Don’t wait to invest in property – invest in property and wait!

Here in Australia, mainly in Queensland we are experiencing some of the worst flooding in nearly 100 years – you just can’t prepare for that. Not only have people lost their homes and belongings, destroyed by the water and mud but our farmers have had their crops completely wiped out. All their hard work gone and it will take months to be able to get things prepared to start again.

What does this mean to us as consumers? Lack of supply and high demand leads to high prices. Many varieties will be in very short supply if available at all which means a premium will be paid for them. Root crops like potatoes are one of the worst effected but even the fruit will be water marked and perhaps even taste watery because of all the rain.

It’s going to be a very tough few months for farmers and consumers and there isn’t anything we can do about it. We don’t want to import produce from overseas; that will be the death of our farming economy so we are just going to have to deal with it and hope the rain stops.

Does this relate to property investing?

You bet it does. It’s the same philosophy – invest in areas of high demand and low supply, you will always have tenants and you will be able to achieve higher rents because of the high demand.

What makes an area a high demand suburb? Facilities like schools, hospitals, public transport, shops, these all make a suburb more attractive to everyone and especially tenants.

The great thing about investing in Australia is that we are actually under-supplied with residential rental properties and this will be the case for quite some time as the GFC slowed building down considerably.

Now is a buyers’ market, don’t listen to all the doom and gloomers – people always need somewhere to live. Don’t wait to invest in property, invest in property and wait!

Regards Arlene
www.tic.com.au

“One day at a time – this is enough. Do not look back and grieve over the past, for it is gone: and do not be troubled about the future, for it has not yet come. Live in the present, and make it so beautiful that it will be worth remembering.”
Ida Scott Taylor 1820-1915, Author

Rain, rain and more rain.

This is having a devastating effect on crops in Australia. We had heavy rains earlier this year which knocked off the mango buds, every mango buds becomes a mango so we can expect a shortage of them soon.

The cherry crops from down south were destroyed last week so cherries will be in very short supply for Christmas.

If you have been reading my blogs you will understand that fruit and vegie pricing is all about supply and demand. Little supply and high demand means high prices. Often the cause of the shortage is also the cause of the poor quality available too.

The poor wheat farmers have just about had their crops wiped out so be glad you’re not a farmer. Mother Nature can be a hard taskmaster. On the bright side, we will have plenty of seafood available this year in Australia, which means cheaper prices too.

We live on such a planet of contrasts – fires in Israel, freezing in the UK and flooding in Australia. Is our planet trying to tell us something?

Wealth

Property investing is also about supply and demand and the great thing about that in Australia is that we are heavily under-supplied. Our vacancy rates are so low, 1.5% in real estate world, .25% in Investors Club world. The under supply does mean rents will go up which helps cover the interest rate rises which are still running at fairly low rates.

It doesn’t matter what is happening in the economy, people always need a roof over their heads.

www.tic.com.au

Happiness

Health and wealth will lead you to this and the best way to be happy is to be grateful. The more grateful you are for what you already have, the more good stuff will come to. ‘Count your blessings’ as the saying goes.

There are some mangoes about from Darwin at the moment but the main months for the best supply are from November to February. We find right at the beginning and right at the end of each season the fruit is not at its best but right in the middle it is just right!

There are quite a few different varieties, the main ones being Kensington Pride (named after the property it was grown on), Calypso, R2E2 and Honey Gold plus a few others available later in the season.

Mangoes have relatively short shelf life so it is best to ripen them up and eat them straight away. You can slow down the ripening process by keeping them refrigerated.

Mangoes can be eaten simply sliced or diced. They can be served on fruit & cheese platters as well as used in salads. You can even make mango sorbets, ice-cream parfait or mousse. They also compliment seafood, chicken, veal and curries. Not to mention sauces, chutneys, cakes, pies, cheesecakes, puddings and preserves.

What a wonderful fruit – enjoy yours this season.

Mangoes and Property Investing – is there a connection.
The only one I can come up with is the force of supply and demand. When mangoes aren’t in season, they are expensive and not usually very tasty. When you invest in property in areas of low supply and high demand, you have a fantastic investment.

It doesn’t matter what is happening in the economy – people always need somewhere to live. When you invest wisely through The Investors Club you will always have a great investment. Our Researchers are constantly on the lookout for the next areas to boom and stay that way. We’re not interested in the short term we are looking for long term capital growth that keeps returning year after year.

We use the benefit of compounding to our advantage: (remember property doubles in value every ten years in Australia)

Purchase property $300,000.00 wait 10 years, the tenant and the tax department help with the repayments value $600,000.00 your equity is $300,000.00 – yours to do what you like with. Wait another ten years and that same property is worth $1,200,000.00 and you have $600,000.00 in equity to do what you like with! What if you had 3 or 4 properties?! It is that simple. It is not get rich quick but it is get rich slow and steady.

That’s all for now.

Regards Arlene
www.tic.com.au
www.fruitvegies.com.au

Up to 40% of the Bowen (QLD) area’s September tomato, eggplant, cucurbit (pumpkin, cucumber and zucchinis), capsicum and melon crop was destroyed after someone placed herbicide in the nursery’s irrigation system.

A nearby hydroponic nursery’s tomato crop was also wiped out, losing 16,000 truss tomato plants, their only crop for the year.

Bowen is the largest winter-vegetable growing region in Australia

What does it mean to us?

All the crops mentioned above will be in short supply soon and prices will be high as fruit & vegies (like property investing) is all about supply and demand.

The cost to the community is about $50 million, the cost to the farmers is $23.5 million.

The State Government has posted a $200,000.00 reward for information.

The Forces of Supply and Demand

Here in Australia we have weathered the GFC pretty well and things seem to be on the move again.  The truly great thing about property is that it doesn’t matter what is happening in the economy – people always need somewhere to live.  It is all about supply and demand.

That’s the great thing about the support you receive from The Investors Club, our researchers are constantly looking for areas of low supply and high demand.  This gives us low vacancy rates and high rent returns – a property investors dream.

If your superannuation won’t be returning you $1 million when you retire, you need to talk to us.

www.tic.com.au

Capsicums otherwise known as Peppers.

 Did you know that these are actually botanically a fruit?  They are related to the tomato.  Did you also know a red capsicum or pepper is a green one left on the plant 7 to 10 days longer?  This is why red ones are more expensive, they take longer to ripen!

 Capsicums can be eaten raw, stir fried, barbequed or even stuffed with meat or rice.  They are also a great source of vitamin C.

Wealthy Thought

 How to Retire in Just Eight Years in 4 simple steps (in Australia)

•  Buy one property every year – well researched and well located, near schools, transport etc
• After 8 years harvest the accumulated equity – property doubles in value about every 8 years
• Reduce your tax by purchasing new or near new properties – depreciate an appreciating asset
• NEVER, never sell!  That would be chopping down your money orchard

That’s it!

I have worked for a bank and a real estate agent and didn’t understand how property investing worked until I found The Investors Club. 

For more info go to www.tic.com.au and mention my name Arlene Dowdell.

Do you know the difference between good debt and bad debt?  This is very important.

Bad debt is what we buy  ‘toys’ with, cars, boats, jet skis, expensive jewellery etc – non appreciating liabilities.

Good debt is what we use to purchase appreciating assets, like property.  Things that go up in value, not down.

You want to be collecting assets so that later you can buy toys.  If you do it the other way around, you are destined to be broke.     (unless you have a      h u g e income)

If you haven’t read Rich Dad, Poor Dad now is a good time.

Yours in wisdom, Arlene

Anyway as it is school holidays, it is a time some parents love and other parents dislike.  Some parents love the lack of routine for a couple of weeks others don’t, especially if they are working.

It is a great time to get the kids into the kitchen and helping, though.  Even the youngest can put things away or in the bin.  The older ones can mix or mash or even peel, they love to be involved.  You may even find they will eat more of things they have helped to prepare.  It’s a great time to try different fruit & vegies with them, maybe with yoghurt or hommus.  Set the right example now and they will thank you for it when they are old enough to appreciate it.

The big picture is – if you don’t have your health, you really don’t have anything.  No point being the richest person in the intensive care ward!  It only takes a few simple steps to be healthy – eat well, drink plenty of water and exercise (and of course quit smoking and limit alcohol consumption).  Not too hard at all!

These are my thoughts.  Happy holidays!

It is winter and school holidays here on the Gold Coast, Australia.  Our winter may get as cool as 8c degrees!  I love living here, walking on the beach in the middle of winter – its fantastic.

Anyway as it is school holidays, it is a time some parents love and other parents dislike.  Some parents love the lack of routine for a couple of weeks others don’t, especially if they are working.

It is a great time to get the kids into the kitchen and helping, though.  Even the youngest can put things away or in the bin.  The older ones can mix or mash or even peel, they love to be involved.  You may even find they will eat more of things they have helped to prepare.  It’s a great time to try different fruit & vegies with them, maybe with yoghurt or hommus.  Set the right example now and they will thank you for it when they are old enough to appreciate it.

The big picture is – if you don’t have your health, you really don’t have anything.  No point being the richest person in the intensive care ward!  It only takes a few simple steps to be healthy – eat well, drink plenty of water and exercise (and of course quit smoking and limit alcohol consumption).  Not too hard at all!

These are my thoughts.  Happy holidays!

I know we are all trying to get fit and be active so here are some tips on fitness nutrition to help you:

Eat Regularly – graze
Eat every three hours or so to boost your metabolism and control your appetite

Focus on proteins
Women should have one serving of protein every few hours, men should get two. A serving equals the size of the palm of your hand or 90 to 115 gms, this will help control your appetite and blood sugar levels which help you maintain lean muscle

Only have starchy carbs after you exercise
Up to 2 to 3 hours after then back to fruit, vegies & nuts to help with weight loss and gaining lean muscle

Include Fruit & Vegies with each meal
Aim for 8 to 10 servings a day, 2 servings with each meal – easy!

Have healthy fats
A balanced intake includes healthy fats like flaxseeds & flax oil, fish & fish oil, hemp & hemp oil, olive oil, canola oil and walnuts. One tablespoon of oil or two tablespoons of seeds is enough; this will help balance your health and hormones.

Keep drinks simple
Tea (especially green tea) and water are ideal for promoting hydration. No sugar, calories or chemicals that diet drinks have

Eat Unprocessed Foods
You will usually find, the closer a food is to its natural state, the better it is for you. Avoid canned or packaged foods, unless it’s in its own package called peel or skin

Be Organised – Plan Ahead
It’s easy to eat healthily of you do some preparation and have healthy food ready to eat

Variety is the Spice of Life
Don’t limit your food intake by choosing bland, plain foods. Keep your eyes open for new and interesting ideas with healthy food – be brave, experiment

You don’t have to be Perfect
Aim for 9 out of 10 healthy meals; don’t worry if you go astray occasionally. If you are eating healthily most of the time, it won’t hurt

You only get one body so it is worth looking after, these hints should help you look better, feel better and perform at your best, even if it is just a walk around the block. Half an hour a day, you can do it.

  That’s the healthy part and the wealthy part is short and sweet:

If you fail to plan, you plan to fail

You can take control of your financial future with our help. Ten years is all it takes to be Financially Free.

Regards Arlene
Healthy, Wealthy & Wise

The upshot of this is that the price of fresh produce has skyrocketed because it is all about supply and demand. Broccoli for instance is over $5.00 per kilo for us to buy! And the quality is average because of the weather. As we don’t keep stock we can only supply fresh fruit & vegies from the markets and are limited by what is available.

Hopefully it will be over soon and things can get back to normal.

It’s time to say goodbye to summer stone fruit now too. No more nectarines, peaches, plums or mangoes till the end of the year. Time for vegies to take over for the autumn/winter months.

There is your healthy and wise and from the wealthy department -property doubles in value every ten years and this can set you free. See www.tic.com.au

If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.