Jose --
Kudos to you for keeping your eyes open - and your ear to the ground!
#1 - Let me address your "bond" question.... because that is a good Investing 102 subject.
None of you should be in any type of "bonds" at your ages... and even more important -- not inside of any retirement account.
If you can buy high grade CORPORATE BONDS -- just for the ultra high dividend some of them pay - that would be okay.... but (big butt in the room) what you're going to give up with BONDS is CAPITAL APPRECIATION! Very important part of investing is to get a dividend AND the capital appreciation over time.
I have bonds -- but I'm OLD (will be 59 this summer) and I'm retired... so bonds are okay for me - and I STILL DON'T LIKE THEM. They are a "vehicle" to keep my taxable income "down" (that's a laugh by the way)... but I will hold these bonds for 1 to 5 years and have absolutely ZERO capital growth.. so like most things, there's a trade off in here.
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Okay -- Now on to the other question. I have no idea what is available to invest in regarding these properties. I know that Alameda County got the Alameda Naval Air Base back -- and there's been lots of discussions with what to do with it. There's waterfront - there's acreage galore... and as you all should know -- the county / city / state -- want these to become tax revenue not overhead.
Here's the caveat I'd use for all Investing 102 readers..... Generally when people get into investing trouble -- it's when they step into something they're not knowledgable about. Overreaching in any style/type of investment is a big mistake. So I'd just look to see if there is developments (not necessarily property development - but "developments" as in what's coming down the road). Let's say you operate a local gas station -- then you might want to see if there's going to be a location for one in the newly developed "area".
My "sage" advice however is to always remember -- when you invest with "others" ---- they're just people ---- and your investment is then with other people. They'll paint a rosy picture... and everyone will be all jacked up about the "can't lose" proposition... This is when you have to stick to your guns and only invest what you can lose... because more often than not -- it will be a loser. I've done enough of them that I can say that with certainty.
If you want to play "housing" development ---- the best way to do that is investing in an LLC = so just buying a share or two when the developer / owners make it available. Typically you need to be what's called an Accredited Investor -- with a sizable net worth -- in order to be legally allowed to invest in stuff like this... because they're highly illiquid... so they want to make sure you have "other money". But they spin off nice % of income and can have huge upside appreciation when the group decides to sell.
I would check with the building department to see what plans have been in the hopper --- and then just see what/who is doing them then make contact -- then REALLY REALLY check them out.
I've done lots of these kinds of investments as an investor (apartment LLC's) and they've been very lucrative. I invested in a 344 unit Class A apartment complex in Tucson, AZ and it returned 117% capital appreciation in 4 years! I'll take that kind of money any day!
But there's many ways to play real-estate --- and sometimes it's a lot less nerve wracking to just invest in one of the big publicly traded REITS (Real Estate Investment Trusts) that pay nice dividends and have upside potential as well. You can find lots of 'em searching Schwab etc. I have one now - called National Retail Properties (NNN).. that pays a great dividend (6+%).
Or if you think housing is ever going to come back -- now might be a good time to bottom feed on the big builders -- Lennar - Pulte - etc.... But do some good research and pay particular attention to WHERE they are building.
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