Why did you buy vacant land in Florida?

During our September 2010 visit to Florida, we bought two blocks of vacant land.  And, the question you may ask – and I ask myself – is “Why?”

Good question.  I certainly wouldn’t recommend doing it.  It goes against one of my rules of investment; don’t buy an asset that doesn’t throw off income.  So, why the departure?

Well (here comes the rationalization …), let’s see, this may be a case where you do something because it’s low risk and could produce big results.

“Oh really?” you ask with a very skeptical tone.  And, that’s a nice way of saying, “You expect me to believe that BS?”

What Does this have to do with Basketball?

Let me run past you a basketball analogy.

I would say, never throw the ball across court.  Too dangerous.  Too easy to pick off.

By the way, I’ve got basketball on the mind because I just finished reading an excellent book, When the Game Was Ours.  I couldn’t put the book down.  I highly recommend it.  It’s for everyone who enjoys a story about excellence, dedication, focus, hard work, desire and ultimately brilliant achievement.  This is probably the same formula for achievement in any chosen field.  You gotta love what you do.  And Magic Johnson and Larry Bird loved the game of basketball.  Very inspirational.  

Back to the Cross Court Pass …

But, what if the situation is this … you have the ball, you see a player wide open across the court, there’s no one between you and this open player; the coast is clear.  A quick pass will easily get to him.

But, here’s the catch.  You must act quickly.  You can’t hesitate or the open situation will evaporate.  Your chance will be gone.  If the play is successful, your teammate will have an easy score.  What do you do?  Do you hesitate?  Do you debate the pros and cons of cross court passing?  Or, do you make a quick decision – take the calculated risk – and pass the ball?

You have a lot of advantages in this situation.  First, you hardly ever do it.  This is a big advantage.  Your opponent will never expect it.  This plays well to your advantage.  If you used this reckless type of passing all the time, your opponent would read you like a book and be ready.  But, because you use it sparingly, they’re thinking, “no need to guard the cross court pass, they never use it.”  Gottcha.

So, you take the risk and you pass the ball cross court.  Your open player gets it and scores an easy basket.  Life is good.

It worked because …

• You didn’t hesitate.
• You caught your opponent off gurard.
• You made a confident strong pass; not a weak lob so the other team could have a chance to steal it.
• You made a bold decision.
• You broke a rule.
• You took a calculated risk; a risk that was in your favor.

Off the court and back to vacant land in Florida …

The vacant land is like the cross court pass, I don’t do it often.  Rarely, do I buy an asset that doesn’t produce income straight away.

But, like the open player, the land represents a small window of opportunity.  A quick decisive move could lead to an easy basket; an easy high return investment.

Story continues … click here to read part II.