A good place to put money these days?

[hardflex]

We own a house which is paid for. Recently we got an offer to buy it which would result in a cash surplus. Part of me says we're better off with the appreciation in the house than anything the cash would/could generate. T bills, Bonds, don't pay anything these days.

So I ask, if I had 200k in cash, where would be a good place to put it, and what could I expect as return?

[Dantilla]

I'd buy another rental house.

[MT930]

Really interested in hearing an answer on this one as well.

R/E is getting top heavy both commercial and residential. But a great option in some areas.

[look 171]

I Would try and buy units, but that's me, I like headaches.

[Evans, Marv]

Storage units.

[VincentVega]

Whats your time horizon? How much risk are you open to?

[wildthing]

1) time horizon - when do you anticipate you need the cash
2) risk tolerance
3) appetite for "hands on"

[hardflex]

time frame, IDK I want it to grow, not shrink but figure a 2 or 3 year plan.

I could throw it against my current mortgage of 4 5/8% so it has to be solid return better than that with no risk.

[74-911]

Originally Posted by hardflex

......I could throw it against my current mortgage of 4 5/8% so it has to be solid return better than that with no risk.

As soon as you find something with that yield (or even close) with no risk please share it with the rest of us....

[Dantilla]

Originally Posted by hardflex

I could throw it against my current mortgage ...

This is absolutely the lowest risk option. No other place will give you a guaranteed 4.625% return.

[ckelly78z]

Originally Posted by Evans, Marv

Storage units.

^^^^^ This is a shame that it says so much about the American public, but it probably is one of the best investments. As long as retail therapy continues to be a big problem, people need space to store thier old stuff.

It would never occur to them to try and sell some of it.

What else screams the American public is the new businesses you see popping up everyday....."Cash for car titles".

[GH85Carrera]

Back when I was begging banks for my first mortgage the rates were 16 to 18% for 30 year home loans. At the time I got a great bargain at 12.5% for my home mortgage.

Now that I actually have some money to invest a 25K CD pays .10% why bother.

The stock market is about it for short term investment.

[Evans, Marv]

Re: storage units. My sister has owned a real estate and property management (residential & commercial) company for decades. She owns a facility with storage units. I don't know how many, but it's one of those you drive into through a security gate to enter with an office. She says if she had it all to do over again, she'd only go for storage unit facilities. No plumbing, etc., no refurbishments, no tenants, no problems compared to other types of real estate. Maintenance and ownership related responsibilities are minimal. If she ever decides to sell, she says buyers will be all over her to purchase it.

[Shadetree930]

Porsche Turbos

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by wildthing

1) time horizon - when do you anticipate you need the cash
2) risk tolerance
3) appetite for "hands on"

+1
Everyone has different needs. The answer to your question depends on many variables.

[look 171]

Originally Posted by Evans, Marv

Storage units.

That's big bucks buy in and make big bucks around here due to the lack of space in the city. They don't so well in the middle of OK or TX where there are wild open spaces.

[GH85Carrera]

Originally Posted by look 171

That's big bucks buy in and make big bucks around here due to the lack of space in the city. They don't so well in the middle of OK or TX where there are wild open spaces.

The heck they don't. I live in OKC, the center of the state. There are storage centers everywhere. I keep expecting to see them collapse in price for storage from overabundance. They just keep building them and working on bigger and fancier units. I simply don't understand the need for all of them.

At my last job our back door opened into a storage facility. We had to go through their gate to get to the back of our building. On the first of every month they went around cutting locks off of the units that were "abandoned" and had overdue rent. They would open the unit and look to see if was empty. Usually it was crap someone had paid hundreds of dollars to move there and store for a year and then abandon. People paying big bucks to store 50 bucks worth of junk. The just put one of their padlocks on it and put the entire unit contents up for auction.

When I was in Baton Rouge, LA recently I noticed the incredible amounts of storage units.

[aschen]

Ive thought about storage facilities in the past around here. I have no idea about typical financials, but we seem to be saturated with them. I wouldent think they are easy money in tx but I could be wrong.,


How about non staffed car wash things?

[jorian]

I have financed a number of storage facilities over the years. As mentioned they are "relatively" low maintenance and can be a great investment. They are also a great way to hold a property you expect may be rezoned (upzoned) or go up in value. I recently did a construction mortgage for a client who converted B class office space to storage. As an office he was getting $12/foot. As a storage facility it is getting $28/foot.

[look 171]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

The heck they don't. I live in OKC, the center of the state. There are storage centers everywhere. I keep expecting to see them collapse in price for storage from overabundance. They just keep building them and working on bigger and fancier units. I simply don't understand the need for all of them.

At my last job our back door opened into a storage facility. We had to go through their gate to get to the back of our building. On the first of every month they went around cutting locks off of the units that were "abandoned" and had overdue rent. They would open the unit and look to see if was empty. Usually it was crap someone had paid hundreds of dollars to move there and store for a year and then abandon. People paying big bucks to store 50 bucks worth of junk. The just put one of their padlocks on it and put the entire unit contents up for auction.

When I was in Baton Rouge, LA recently I noticed the incredible amounts of storage units.

Crazy. I rent two of the smaller units near my house to store tools and junk. I don't want my men driving to the shop in traffic wasting time. There are no units available. Its 150 bucks a month for a 10x12 unit. We have had them for a long time. I understand the rent is more per months now. Yeah, I agree, People need to throw away that crap in there. A mattress is worth a few hundred bucks, but to store it for three months, a new one can be had. People can't part with that.