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[ad_1] FY22e EPS up 28% due to pandemic tailwind; TP raised to Rs 4,746; ‘Buy’ maintained [ad_2] Source link

[ad_1] Raymond “RJ” Jones, head of Keller Offers and Keller Manage It can no longer be said that iBuying is merely the domain of venture capital-backed startups or buzzy listings platforms. It’s gone relatively mainstream. In just the past few weeks, nonbank mortgage lenders Rocket Companies and Better.com have revealed plans to instantly buy homes from their customers and also pair their services with in-house real estate agents. And then there’s KWx, the parent company of residential brokerage Keller Williams. The Texas-headquartered franchise behemoth says its “agent-centric” iBuyer model, known as Keller Offers, is genuinely different than its competitors: theirs is the only one that has a fiduciary duty to its agents’ clients. The company recently hired Raymond “RJ” Jones to lead its iBuying program as well as Keller Manage, a new service for home maintenance, renovations and moving. This content is exclusively for HW+ members. Start an HW+ Membership now for less than $1 a day. Your HW+ Membership includes: Unlimited access to HW+ articles and analysis Exclusive access to the HW+ Slack community and virtual events HousingWire Magazine delivered to your home or office Become a member today Already a member? log in The post Keller Williams wants to be a different kind of iBuyer appeared first on HousingWire. [ad_2] Source link

[ad_1] Each week, Cut the Crap Investing founder Dale Roberts shares financial headlines and offers context for Canadian investors. What the September federal election means for your money  As anticipated, the Liberal government has called a federal election to be held on Monday, September 20. Canadians will go to the polls to elect or re-elect their local members of Parliament and, by way of that cross-country seat count, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will step into a second term, or we’ll have a new PM and ruling party.  What are the key policy issues that will drive this election? Many have reported that the Liberals called the election feeling that their response to the pandemic and their robust procurement of vaccines could lead to a majority government for them. Currently, the Liberals hold a minority position and need the support of other parties to get bills passed through the House of Commons.  Along with the pandemic, national unity, the environment, Indigenous issues, national daycare and universal basic income, student debt, Internet regulation and housing will get lots of ink and much CO2 will be released (through breathing and talking) on the campaign trail as the party leaders utter their promises.  That said, many money issues are rising to the top. (Recall that famous expression, “it’s the economy, stupid”.)  Political parties put out policy platforms that include what they want to spend money on, how much it will cost and how they might pay for it. The word “might” should probably be in air quotes; in the world of political promises, things don’t always add up. A political platform might pack the grocery cart with $150-billion worth of goods, but with only a few hundred mil in the wallet. On that front, one might pick on the NDP first. The National Post (a fiscally conservative paper) has opined that the NDP’s platform wish list is expensive—and even if you do tax the rich, those revenues fall short. You can have a read of that post and do the math.  The pandemic has been expensive for governments around the world, including Canada. In fact, in terms of the level of fiscal support they’ve offered, Canada and the U.S. top the list. Canada now has record deficits and a trillion-dollar debt. But that won’t stop any of the political parties from creating those big wish-list platforms—and, eventually, Canadians will have to pick up the tab.  In March of 2021, I wondered in this space if tax hikes were the next big investor worry. Keep in mind, though, before that, Arthur Salzer of Northland Wealth Management said that’s not a great plan, because governments won’t generate significant (or any) revenues by going after the wealthiest Canadians.  Tax considerations, spending plans, debts and deficits might grab the attention of voters in this election. An Investment Executive post suggests…  “The Liberals, meanwhile, launched legislative consultations on budget proposals sure to play well with target voters: a luxury goods tax on expensive vehicles, and a 1% tax on vacant homes owned by non-residents.”  The NDP is suggesting a 20% tax on vacant homes.  Meanwhile…  “The Conservatives are likely to focus on tax initiatives to spur businesses’ capital spending, a report last week from CIBC Economics said. The bank will also be watching for Conservative policies to encourage more foreign competition in Canada’s telecommunications sector, for which leader Erin O’Toole advocated in his run for the party leadership.” I’ve often wondered why politicians rail against the telco industry for cell phone rates that are above global averages, but no one seems to care that Canadians pay some of the highest mutual fund fees on the planet. Those fees are wealth destroyers, and it is a societal issue.  Imagine the positive effect if most Canadains were first financially aware and then were investing in sensible, low-fee investment options? That might save Canadians about $20 billion annually in fees (my estimate). Well, it’s nice to see that the $20 billion annual investment-fee issue is on the table, finally.  That Advisor’s Edge post makes note of investment fees …  “The Conservative platform released Monday said the party would require ‘more transparency for investment management fees so that seniors and savers don’t get ripped off. This will include requiring the banks to show investment returns net of fees’.” On my site, I am chronicling the experience of a reader named Craig as he makes the move away from high fee mutual funds to low-fee ETF options, in the wake of the staggeringly poor performance of his high-fee mutual funds.  This link on BNN Bloomberg offers an outline of some key policy planks. There are some very good videos in there as well.  In this election, more Canadians might vote with their wallets. Inflation might even get some attention, as it often does in this column.  I’ll bet none of the policy platforms add up. Yes, that’s an easy bet to make when the cupboards are bare. While there are many issues that are important, readers might have a look at the platforms and do some of the math on those promises. We might consider the costs and who is going to pay; how are we going to pay?  The NDP released their policy document before the election was called. The Conservatives offered their platform on Monday, August 16. As of August 19, we’re still waiting to hear from the Liberals.  We’ll attempt to make sense of the election and your money in this space as the campaigns move forward.  Are consumers stumbling in the U.S.?  Recent retail spending reports in the U.S. show overall spending levels slipped from July 2021 compared to June. Sales were down 1.1% month over month. And U.S. consumer confidence fell 11% from July into August, one of the largest drops on record.  But perhaps some of that retail softening might be expected as consumers switch from buying stuff, to buying experiences such as dining out. Some of the bigger-ticket items have disappeared from the numbers.  Continued growth

[ad_1] New York is about to be home to one of the world’s largest cruise ships  The Points Guy Royal mess for some Galveston Royal Caribbean customers: No cruise, no luggage, no callback  KPRC Click2Houston 8 cruise ship tips from a former employee  Royal Caribbean Blog Let cruise ship crew get vaccine, Forum News & Top Stories  The Straits Times The Bahamas Is Requiring All Visiting Cruise Passengers Be Vaccinated — and Cruise Lines Are Changing Their Policies to Comply  Travel + Leisure View Full Coverage on Google News [ad_2]

[ad_1] I haven’t had a lot of success investing in real estate, at least not directly. That’s why I don’t talk about real estate investing more than I do. But about three years ago I started investing in real estate crowdfunding through Fundrise, and I’m happy to say I’ve been making money at it. I’d heard about Fundrise before, and it seemed like an opportunity to invest in real estate without losing my shirt. But as has become my way over the years, I decided to jump in and give it a try. For me, that’s the best way to learn. That was three years ago, and I recently got a congratulatory notice from Fundrise on my “anniversary”. That made now seem like a good time to look back and see exactly how the investment has performed. It’s not just a matter of looking at that performance either. I also want to know how that performance compares with the results from real estate in general, from competing real estate investments, and also with non-real estate investments. I hope you don’t mind that we’ll be crunching a bunch of numbers here. But that’s the only way to know what’s really happening when it comes to investing. Who is Fundrise? Fundrise got started in 2012, and they’ve since become one of the top platforms in the real estate crowdfunding space They may even be the top platform. Through 2019, they’ve originated $1.1 billion in commercial real estate transactions. That includes both equity and debt investments in properties with a total value of $4.9 billion. As of February, 2021, the total value of real estate investments is at $5.1 billion, and the company has paid an incredible $100 million in dividends to investors. Private REITs Back when I was a financial planner I got involved in private real estate investment trusts (REITs). These are similar to Fundrise, so I am familiar with the concept. As a financial planner, you love selling these investments. That’s because they paid commissions of between 7% and 10% of the investment made. If a client made an investment of $100,000, you could earn $7,000 or more in commission income. What financial planners like just as much is that when the investor sells their position, they usually weren’t aware of the commission they paid. Some of the private REITs did quite well – that is, until the real estate crash in 2008. It was worse than just the declines in the value of the trusts. In the middle of the Great Recession, tenants were breaking their leases, cash flow dried up, and investors wanted their money back. At that point, the problem was that the principals who were running these private REITs didn’t have any cash to pay back the investors. It was a liquidity crisis, which meant it was almost impossible to recover even part of your investment. That’s not an impossible outcome with private REITs. Buried in the fine print is language advising investors there may be circumstances where they can lose some or all their investment. But as you can imagine, few investors go into any type of investment with the idea that they’re going to lose money on their investment, let alone lose the whole amount. It even happened to a friend of mine, or really a friend’s mother. She put $100,000 or $200,000 into a private REIT, then got the letter informing her it was all gone. That’s not quite how Fundrise works, which a big part of the reason I like them. The Fundrise Solution What you have with private REITs is a combination of high risk and a lack of transparency on the fees connected with the investment. That’s exactly what Fundrise set out to remedy.  Fundrise investments have lower fees and full transparency in disclosing those fees. What’s even more important is that you don’t need $100,000 or more to invest. You can invest with as little as $500, which means almost anyone can participate. Even if you do take a loss on an investment that small, it’s probably not the kind that will wipe you out financially the way private REITs did to some investors in the last recession. Fundrise does disclose the risks of commercial real estate investing. That , includes the possibility you may not be able to liquidate your position. Just before the COVID pandemic, I got a couple of notices from Fundrise making that point clear. The letters emphasized that if the market were to take a big dive, Fundrise might be forced to halt investment redemptions. That’s just an inherent risk with commercial real estate investments, simply because real estate – and especially commercial real estate – is not a liquid investment. Unlike a mutual fund, a private REIT can’t sell stock to raise cash to pay investors. It’s also close to impossible to sell an office building or an apartment complex in a bad market where there’s probably no buyers. It’s unavoidable, but I give Fundrise credit for updating their investors about this possibility on a regular basis. With Fundrise, there are no upfront fees, and you’ll know exactly what you’ll be getting into – including the fees you pay along the way. Other Real Estate Crowdfunding Platforms Fundrise isn’t the only real estate crowdfunding platform out there. There are others that provide similar opportunities, also offering low investments and transparent fee structures. YieldStreet works similar to Fundrise in that they offer investments in commercial real estate. But they also include alternative investments, like marine loans, artwork, and private business credit. It’s probably better suited to more sophisticated investors with a big appetite for risk. Groundfloor also invests in commercial real estate, but not in the same way as Fundrise. Instead of offering equity investments, and an opportunity for long-term growth, they focus on investing in financing for commercial projects. You can invest with as little as $10, and the investments are short-term – generally less than one year. DiversyFund is another real

[ad_1] The post Is a Car an Asset? appeared first on Millennial Money. When taking stock of your assets and liabilities, you might wonder in which column to put your car. After all, your car fits the definition of an asset because you own it and it has value. But it also costs money to maintain, not to mention the money you might owe on a car loan. That makes your car more like a liability. So when figuring out your net worth, where does your car fit onto your balance sheet? Keep reading to learn the answer to the question: Is a car an asset? Is a Car an Asset or a Liability? First off, car loans are a form of debt. If you owe any money on your motor, you must count it as a liability when calculating your net worth. As for your vehicle itself, technically, cars are assets. But they’re almost always depreciating assets, meaning they lose value over time. The second you take ownership of a new car and drive it off the lot, it goes down in value. That can be a real shocker for anyone who’s just spent tens of thousands of dollars on a high-end vehicle. It’s not easy to accept that their flashy new ride is a depreciating asset.   Why Do Cars Depreciate? Here are a few reasons why cars depreciate over time.  Wear and tear Cars are complex machines with a lot of moving — and expensive — parts. They require extensive care and maintenance and the dedicated support of the car owner to keep running.  Over time, normal wear and tear reduce the value of a car. This is especially true for vehicles that operate in challenging climates or terrains. Even salted roads can lead to corrosion and rust damage, making the car less valuable. Mileage only goes up  Another reason why cars depreciate is that mileage doesn’t decrease. Most cars are only good for roughly 200,000 miles before they become so expensive to repair that it makes more sense to get a new one. So every mile you drive reduces the overall value of your car.  Cars become obsolete Car manufacturers are constantly rolling out new models and makes. By the time you get used to driving a car, it’s most likely already out of date, with a brand-new model on the dealer’s lot. This has a significant impact on overall value. What’s more, cars are also a dime a dozen. Most makes and models are easy to come by, which further reduces their value. Can a Car Appreciate?                               In some rare cases, classic or exotic cars do appreciate. However, if you want your vehicle to be worth more than what you originally paid for it, be prepared to spend a lot of money on maintenance. For example, suppose you paid $10,000 for a 1998 BMW M3 eight years ago. Today, the car’s value might be $15,000 if it’s in top condition. To get the full value of your sports car, you’ll most likely have to spend more on parts and repairs than you might profit from the sale. Some people make a lot of money by investing in rare and classic cars. But this isn’t an investment class you can easily break into. Ideally, you need extensive knowledge of cars, along with all the tools to fix them yourself. Claiming Depreciation Taxes If you use a car for business purposes, you may be able to collect vehicle depreciation credits when you file your taxes. The process typically entails looking at your car’s purchase price and determining the business-use portion (for example, if you use the car 50% of the time for work). The next step involves multiplying the business portion by the depreciation rate, as outlined by the IRS in the MACRS depreciation chart. To be sure you’re maximizing your tax credits, it’s best to talk to a certified tax professional. Why Cars Are Bad Investments  Thanks to depreciation, cars make bad investments. So unless you’ve got a vintage Ferrari in mint condition, it doesn’t make sense to pump a lot of money into your car. (And even then, remember what happened in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off!) And never make the mistake of buying a car you can’t afford. You’ll spend years paying it down only to have something worth far less in the end. In case you’re still thinking about shelling out for a fancy new whip, here are more reasons why cars are terrible investments. Cars are expensive Owning a car is a significant financial undertaking, and costs extend far beyond the sticker price. Gasoline, car insurance, maintenance, repairs, taxes, and even parking costs can all add up.   Consider this: according to AAA, the average annual cost of maintaining a typical sedan is over $8,000 per year. Pickups and large SUVs run over $10,000 annually. No matter how you look at it, this is a considerable amount of cash. So if you want to retire early, make sure your car isn’t a potential money pit.  Cars are risky Cars are also a considerable risk to own and drive. Even a minor fender bender can be expensive to repair. And if you’re at fault in an accident, you can expect to pay more for insurance.  What’s more, you could also injure yourself or others, potentially leading to messy and lengthy legal battles — not to mention the pain of dealing with physical injuries. Cars take up space Cars also need to be stored. If you have a house, cars take up a solid chunk of real estate in your garage or driveway. That’s space you could use for storage or even an addition — which could increase the value of your house. Cars are stressful Cars can add a significant amount of stress to your life. Getting stuck in traffic, dealing with parking, and keeping your car in top condition can cost you a lot of time, as well as money. Tips for Managing Car

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[ad_1] Canada retail sales jump in June, but seen falling in July [ad_2] Source link

[ad_1] Covid-19 vaccine Latest Update, Coronavirus Third Wave Live News, Coronavirus Cases and Fatality Rate India, India Coronavirus R Factor Latest News Live: India reports 36,571 new Covid-19 cases, 540 deaths; J&J seeks nod for Covid vaccine trial in Indian adolescents; Govt fully prepared to tackle third wave, says Anurag Thakur; Delhi logs 57 new cases, zero deaths; positivity rate at 0.08%; INSACOG attributes ongoing Covid outbreaks to Delta variant [ad_2] Source link

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