Driven By Curiosity

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Curious about Investments?

Given the sad state of the Social Security system in the USA every person needs to make a significant effort to study and learn about investments that will augment or replace their Social Security benefits. Besides that, investments are really fascinating in and of themselves.

I have no special expertise in conventional investments such as stocks, bonds, mutual funds etc. They are well covered by the mainstream media and there is nothing I could add. My interests have always been in the more exotic and unusual investments. These are places where you put your "Roll the dice" funds. High risk, but possibly high reward too. These fall into the concept of Long Tail opportunities and are a natural for the developing global internet.

Below are listed websites I have developed to explore some of these unusual forms of investment. Look through them and see what you think.

Arizona Land is hot right now and you may end up with some as a result of investing in Arizona Tax Liens. For those of you that want to get serious about tax liens, this is a site with links to all the county treasurers offices where they are sold.	Have you ever considered Buying a Website? They currently sell for 10-12 times monthly NET income which is more than a 100% APR. Good ones aren't easy to find and you need to be something of a geek to make them work for you.
Handyman Homes require the investor to buy cheap to fix up and resell. Large profits are possible, but unplanned costs can easily cause losses.	Pawn shops can be sources of inventory or borrowers able to pay good returns for working capital loans.
Buying from China is clearly a requirement if you want to be the low cost seller of manufactured goods.	Invest in Debt was popularized by Jimmy Napier many years ago and refers to buying contracts at a discount. Car paper is one form of investing in debt. Tax Liens another.
Making and selling your own items via the internet is new strategy which opens up the income potential of your hobbies, crafts, and art. I think there is also potential to take advantage of affordable new technology such as color laser printers to create products from home.	Mobile Home Notes are another form of investing in debt and offer high returns lending on assets which most commercial lenders won't touch. These days bank loans for used mobile homes are almost impossible to find so sellers will have to create (and sell) contracts to get their house sold.
New Mexico has lots of scenic lots in old dead subdivisions and Ebay has an active market place where small plots of scenic land are sold.	Owner Financing will become more popular when interest rates rise again. When bank interest rates make home payments unaffordable sellers are likely to consider financing the sale themselves.
Rental Property has long been a path to riches or ruin; depending one how well you are able to manage the property and time the real estate cycles.	Used car financing is a multi billion dollar industry. Many small used car sales lots are looking for floor plans and working capital funding. Terribly risky, but 5% per month is the norm for floor plan loans.
Domain names have been hugely profitable recently. It's getting so the only way to get good ones is to grab them from a drop. It will not be long before domainers own all the good ones.