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BE A LION, NOT A LAMB, WHEN INVESTING IN PROPERTY

Be a lion, not a lamb, when investing in property: Michael Yardney

By Michael Yardney
Friday, 01 June 2012

 

It is no secret that property markets – in fact, all economic markets – are driven by fear and greed.

During property booms greed is the dominant driver, but things have changed and now it's all about fear.

Fear of the world’s economic woes spreading to Australia. Fear of taking on more debt. Fear of investing because the property markets might collapse.

Fair enough. After all, any smart investor is going to opt for safety during a downturn. Right?

Actually, no. The opposite is true.

Most of Australia’s wealthiest property tycoons have made their fortunes by investing counter-cyclically, when everyone else saw doom and gloom and thought they were crazy to invest.

Why would anyone in their right mind follow such a principle?

Because, when you step back from the immediate, history shows us that the countercyclical approach always delivers the best results. It is, after all, the equivalent of buying at the bottom of a market cycle, isn't it?

But what is clear to me is the huge gap between two kinds of investors.

On the one hand you have the lambs; on the other, the lions.

The difference?

Lambs or sheep follow each other. They flock together. They follow trends. They are only comfortable with what is familiar. They seek safety and security in numbers.

And when it comes to property they are easily misled.
Why?  Because they are easily impressed by the promise of quick gains, glossy brochures and advertising hype. They invest emotionally and this always has pitfalls.

Lions are different and, like their namesake, they are rarer beasts.
They don’t follow trends. They are independent thinkers that make decisions based on cold, hard facts, not herd-like subjectivity. They can stay calm while others panic. They are ready to look at numbers and rational arguments and make investment decisions based on these.

So what type of investor are you – a lion or a lamb?

Depending on what type of investor you are, or decide to be, the next year or two will either be a time of amazing opportunity or a period of fear and missed chances.
Let me explain.

We've seen downturns and recessions before and we've heard the various pundits telling us all how this time it's different and the world will never be the same again.

What I’ve come to realise is that when enough people start to talk about 'paradigm shifts', such as certain events have now made basic economic patterns and cycles meaningless, you can be sure we're soon headed for an upturn, or a crash. It works both ways!

These doomsayers – who claim to have seen it all coming and to know what's coming next – just create fear. And this fear feeds on itself as the headlines sometimes seem to support their arguments.
During the past property boom – when the driver was, of course, greed and banks lent money freely and often without requiring proof of serviceability – more and more people shouted about how the traditional rules and models of property no longer applied and were “old-thinking”. Yes, greed also feeds on itself.

But right now the driver is fear. And fear is blinding the lamb investors, which creates opportunities for the lions.

If the “end of the world as we know it” merchants are wrong – and they always are – then your decision to be bold when all around you are fearful, and to invest when everyone else thinks it's crazy, will prove to be the kind of insight that truly great investors apply.
Buy at or near the bottom when others say you're mad to buy.
But, of course, you don't buy just anything. Far from it. You need to buy selectively.

You will need to see beyond fads and fashions, analyse long-term potential and have the insight to see the intrinsic value of assets and act accordingly.

I believe that window of opportunity is now open. But I’m not sure for how long, because things are panning out in a fairly predictable way.

The economy is going to recover, interest rates will increase and 
inflation will return.

More people will start buying or upgrading their homes and investors who have parked their money in the safety of bank deposits will start looking for a new safe haven for their funds. One that is a hedge against inflation. Many will turn to the security of residential property and then the markets will begin to lift.
And when that happens, the sheep will wake up and flock back to invest.
So, the opportunity is now!
The challenge is to be a lion investor when others behave like scared lambs.
I don't pretend it's easy. To do this, you require the long-term focus to buy well located properties with an element of scarcity, in areas that have outperformed the long-term averages.
I believe that for cashed up investors with a secure job, now is a great opportunity. Now is the time to step away from the flock of investors who tend to be emotion-driven speculators pulled along by the dominant mood of the market – fear or greed.
Simple, really – but not so easy to do!
Mark Twain wrote: “Whenever you find you are on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.”
Now, there is a man worth listening to!
Michael Yardney is the director of Metropole Property Investment Strategists , a best-selling author and one of Australia's leading experts in wealth creation through property. He also writes the Property Investment Update blog.

Some highlight on the Aussie House Prices

The Slow Death of Aussie House PricesSaturday, 12 May 2012 – Melbourne, Australia
By Shae Smith

• The Slow Death of Aussie House Prices
• The Best of the Week
• Europe's Voters Say "No" to Economic Reality

 The rate cuts in November and then December were supposed to save Australian house prices.

Yet less than six months later, recent economic data suggest things are getting worse.

According to RP Data, capital city house prices lost a combined 4.5% last year.

But ever the optimist, RP Data called this decline in April a 'renewed softness'

Even Tim Lawless, RP Data's research director, admitted interest rate cuts won't help the housing market. He said:

'Our estimate of transaction volumes to February suggest that the two interest rate cuts in November and December last year are yet to provide a sustained stimulus to the market, with transaction volumes remaining reasonably steady around 31,000 each month. Comparing this with the sales rate through mid 2009 when around 45,000 homes were selling each month, the slowdown in buyer activity becomes quite clear.'

Housing sales by volume are down 31% since mid-2009. Adding to the housing woes is the amount of 'housing stock' available. It's double that of five years ago.

Source: Macrobusiness/RPData.com

And not only are more houses available, but they're cheaper as well.

Increased housing stock is dragging down house prices. Yet, what will happen to house prices when high debt levels catch up with us?
Take a look the two charts below. In the first chart, the blue line shows you Australia's private debt to disposable income. It stands at 150%. In comparison, at the peak, Americans had a private debt level of 300%.

The peak in American private debt levels occurred just as house prices began to fall.

The next chart gives you an idea of just how big the housing crash was in the US (blue line)...and a warning of what Aussie home owners can expect:

Source: debtdeflation.com/blogs

Those charts come from Professor Steve Keen. He's an economist who predicts a US style housing crash in Australia. He's convinced that high personal debt levels will bring on a crash in Aussie home values, much like what happened in the US.

Professor Keen's thinking used to be at the fringe of economic thought. Today, it's mainstream.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has confirmed the correlation of debt levels and house prices. In their World Economic and Financial Surveys publication, the IMF said:

'Based on an analysis of advanced economies over the past three decades, we find that housing busts and recessions preceded by larger run-ups in household debt tend to be more severe and protracted.'

The thing is, even if we don't see a US style housing crash, monthly housing data suggests home values are falling at a steady rate.

So rather than a quick housing bust, Aussie homeowners face a long-term housing bust.

And it's already underway. Even so, some spruikers still won't admit it. They won't say prices have fallen, they'll tell you prices are soft...weakening...easing.... Or any other word they can think of to avoid saying, 'Aussie house prices are falling'.

The good news is the spruikers can't hide behind industry-speak for much longer. Each month, fresh numbers show a dismal housing market.

One in permanent decline.

How long will it last? We don't know that for sure. But this sort of decline could drag on for years. The US is into its sixth year of falling house prices.

The housing bubble took two decades to build up...it might take another two decades before house prices go up again.
Shae Smith
Editor, Money Weekend

HOW TO IDENTIFY HOUSING BUBBLES (VIDEO)

THE ABOVE VIDEO IS ESPECIALLY FOR THOSE WHO INTENDS TO INVEST IN REAL ESTATE IN MALAYSIA

TAX INCENTIVES FOR BUILDINGS OF GBI

Happy reading to all of you.

Today, I write to draw your immediate attention and action to this particular above mentioned tax incentives.

Here, we are pleased to inform you that the Government of Malaysia has launched the Green Building Index (GBI) on May 21, 2009 to encourage usage of green technology. GBI is a green rating index on environmental friendly buildings. This index is based on certain criteria listed as follows:-

a. energy and water efficiency;

b. indoor environment quality;

c. sustainable management and planning of building sites in respect of pollution control and facilities for workers;

d. usage of recyclable and environmental friendly materials and resources; and

e. adoption of new green technologies

As such, owners of buildings awarded the GBI certificate shall be given tax exemption equivalent to 100% of the additional capital expenditure incurred to obtain the GBI certificate which can be set-off against 100% of the statutory income for each year of assessment. The incentive is applicable for new buildings and upgrading of existing buildings. The incentive is given only for the first GBI certificate issued in respect of the building. Effective for buildings awarded with GBI certificates from 24 October 2009 until 31 December 2014.

In addition to the above, incentives such as stamp duty exemption on instruments of transfer of ownership of such buildings in respect of additional cost incurred to obtain the GBI certificate for purchasers of the buildings and residential properties from real property developers which are awarded with GBI certificate. Effective for sales and purchase agreement executed from the same period mentioned above.

Trust the above is helpful to you. Please direct your circle of friends to this blog should you find it useful. Thank you so much.

Look forward to seeing you again,

James Oh

SUCCESS STORY OF SHANGHAI

SUCCESS STORY OF SHANGHAI

Dear my friends, Shanghai Literally means “above sea” – no wonder it has so much to offer as  it is the city that never sleeps – exhilarating for those who seek an  active lifestyle. To facilitate its crucial function as a gateway to  China , it's integrated logistic and transportation systems manifestly  reflect this main heart of activities. Easy and excellent accessibility  by all modes of transportation, namely road, air, sea and rails is  crucial.    Not withstanding the fact that it has a super duper public  transportation system, it also has clean streets and surprisingly little  air pollution which is clearly in contrast to other major cities. The  city is also linked with thousands of bus lines apart from the  Shanghai Metro (subway) which has four lines at present. All these  facilities are made available for them to fuel demand of a highly  educated and modernized workforce. Such infrastructures are  crucially required to facilitate the movement of the labour forces  domestically as well as internationally.    Not surprisingly to note the world first of its kind, maglev railway  was erected there, from Shanghai’s Long Yang Road subway  station to Pudong International Airport. It takes only 7 minutes  to travel a 30 km journey with its maximum speed of 431 km/h.  Such an advanced and sophisticated transportation mode is  necessary in view of its huge population coupled with its  attraction as a favorite tourist destination. This city also has two airports; namely Pudong International  airport, caters for both domestic and international flights, served  as one of the most important hubs in China. Whereas Hongqiao  Airport is mainly used for domestic flight purposes.     To supplement its function as the gateway to China, numerous  elevated roads are also added, apart from the three railways  intersections in this grand city. You may find these elevated  roads appear in expressway-like road conditions (direction  separated lanes).  These bridges/multi level highways in the centre of this great  city, featuring the Chinese character “well”, link up the flow of  traffic from every direction. This zig-zag crossing afloat and  under the elevated highways truly reflected the glory of their  local architectural designs. If you were traveling at high speed,  you may feel like traveling on a roller coaster. Tunnels and  bridges cleverly creep in to link up certain areas such as Puxi  to Pudong. Everywhere you find big crowds of people, truly reflects its  real success as a tourists destination. Normally you may also  find parades of buses bring in and out thousands of visitors,  local and foreign, to and fro this grand city. As such, parking  problem becomes a norm here. To overcome this problem, the  drivers (locally called “Shi fu” or master) of all these tourist  coaches usually stopped their vehicles at the road side of the  main destination to drop their valued passengers. Thereafter,  they have to drive to a destined parking area, which is a walking  distance away from these tourist spots. What will happen if more  and more people, whom majority at present are still using  bicycles and scooters as their main mean of transportation,  upgrade to motor cars. Although it has well equipped with all these sophisticated  transportation infrastructure, ironically we find some of their traffic  rules are not in harmony with the international traffic laws.  Pedestrians who are used to normal traffic rules, usually have to  ensure that both sides of the traffic where two lanes of flowing  directly opposite to each other, are clear before crossing, they  have to be extra cautious especially when crossing the road.  Pedestrians are legally obliged to give way to the motorists  as the latter are legally obliged to slow down their vehicle,  but not obliged to stop even when approaching a zebra-crossing  – contradictory to the normal traffic rules. I was told that the  local authority is looking into the matter seriously. I guess it  is due to their own uniqueness where pedestrians and cyclists  at one time form the majority far beyond when compared to  motorists. That may be the reason why they think it is more  appropriate to shift the legal burden to pedestrians, rather than  the motorists. With the present situation, the Zig-zag traffic flow  has complicated the above problem especially to the pedestrians. Being one of its tourists’ main attraction spots, Shanghai Bund, is the  classic image of Shanghai. Here, you will find huge crowds of  tourists flooding the area day and night. It is worthwhile to note the  elegant colonial architectural buildings and the new futuristic buildings  actually blend in easy harmony, separated by the famous Huangpu river, being the main attraction. Naturally it never failed to attract visitors,  being individual or groups to snap their photos with such wonderful and  rare background of its kind. Taking a cruise along this famous river, which divide the majestic  buildings dating back to Shanghai’s grandest days and the latest  landmark area such as Oriental Pearl Towers and trade centre, you  may find some fun and excitement.    Alternatively, taking such a cruise at night may prove romantic  especially for young loving couples. The effect of the neon lights  from those elegant buildings along the river, may be viewed as if it  is candle lights from mighty candle stands. Just imagine you are at  that scene, staring at the beauty of the lighting while you let other  parts of body do the talking with your sweet and lovely partner –  a real romantic and joyful sensation. The breeze blowing towards  both of you, may add more sensation to their already intimate  feeling. By snapping a photo with such a memorial and sweet  moment is worth far beyond the effort.    For those who have already known of its port, being the largest in  the world as of December 2004, will not find any surprise to see  huge cargo ships frequently moving along this river. As such, taking  a photo with such unplanned cargo ship as a background would  become a norm here.    This never sleeping city brings in and out hundreds of thousands of  visitors either domestic or foreign daily. Coaches forming beelines  along the bund is a normal sight to the local people. Beggars; young  and old, able and disable, are also seen trying to take advantages of  the crowds. Your Chief Servant, James Oh Founder and Group CEO Skype me at james.oh18 http://liftyouup.blogspot.com

WEALTH ACCUMULATION; HOW TO

Dear Folks,

When we talk about wealth, it is always appropriate to begin with inner wealth as a strong footing to build and accumulate wealth. However, it is very sad to say this critical and fundamental principle is always ignored even by those who claimed to be so called wealth grandmasters.

Then the million dollars' question is what is meant by "inner wealth" in this context. My definition is more incline to attain inner peace, joy and harmony where you can stay focus on the bigger picture than just solely focus on deals with money issues. Here, this approach is more inclined to a holistic and systematic manner of attaining wealth so that the individual can live his life to its fullest, while achieving his/her pre-set goals. This approach is also not the normal method of comparing and competing with others to achieve his/her goals, as commonly seen in the city environment, or so called rat race competition. He / she choses to leverage on other's resources to achieve their mutual goals. In other words, they chose to share and pool their own resources for their mutual objectives so as to bring enhancement and betterment to the people - in a bigger picture. Here, they cooperate to maximise use of the resources for the masses of the population, rather than individual goals.

Hence, healthy living, in term of physical, mental and spiritual health is always its underlying principle to address this wealth. They allocated some funds for nurturing and building up a strong foundation in these areas regularly or on daily basis by reading healthy stuff which enter into every major components of their minds and souls. As such, they are always full of energy to undertake such noble venture with confidence and passion without any doubt.  

No doubt they are constantly exercising their efforts to attain their goals. However, they remain content with whatever they achieved. They know from their hearts that by doing so, they are able to live to their fullest by stretching themselves to the maximum, but without feeling much pain. Contradictory to common misconception, they enjoy every moment of their walk as they have their missions and passions to press on toward their individual pre-set destination. Now, you can see the great difference between these two approaches.  

In this connection, they stay much healthier than the former. Indirectly, they keep their medical bills at bay despite working for long hours. On the other hand, their productivity is very much higher as a result of the good and healthy stuff they feed on in a  regular basis. They are less disrupted and distracted by those negative incidents. Hence they are very more focused on the big picture rather than indulge in those petty issues.

1.0 Real Estate

Having such mindset and approach, they are also able to see much clearer on how to allocate their funds to generate much higher yields from their investment in real estate besides having to curb the inflation rate which makes their wealth deteriorate. This provides passive income without requiring much labour. With rental and appreciation of their real estate, the gain they made through the investment will put them in a much better position than the return from fixed deposit in the bank. However, you may argue that it is very much depend on the location of their real estate investment. At the same time, they usually will do their homework well prior to such a heavy investment. In short, such a wise move will reduce their risks of getting their investment burned. The beauty of this type of investment is that it is always has some residue value compared to shares. 

2.0 Investing

To double your wealth, another avenue which you can look into is to invest in the potentially high-performing sectors shares which you believe can give a much higher yield in term of probability such as commodities, bonds or quoted shares other than real estate. You must be aware that the latter is less liquid and not easy to turn into hard cash, compare to the former, whenever you need it. As such, you need to formulate certain percentage of your wealth which is more suitable to your circumstances and needs. Hence, this will not only reduce your risk exposure, but also enhance your gain potential. 

3.0 Starting a Business

The old saying is that it takes more money to generate more money. To accelerate extra cash you may chose to venture into business, it makes more sensible opportunity for you to make unlimited wealth when compared to salary earner. However, you need certain skills to make your business venture profitable and able to grow by tapping into its own niche market depending on your product or service you are involved in.

Thanks to the internet world, which offers more viable business opportunity, which was not available in the past. For instance eBay or Web site or Blog. Now it is much easier to monetize your brilliant thoughts via a Web site or blog. Advertisers do embrace blogs as another way to advertise to target their own niche markets. Programs like Google Adsense also place relevant advertisements on your site in return for a cut of the proceeds. Here, you can write about your hobbies just like our http://teaartblog.blogspot.com, scribble reviews occasionally like what we have done on our blog at http://liftyouup.blogspot.com or any other works if you write with authority.  Certain topics pay much better than others. To get a rough sense of the relative value of your topic, you may use the "View Bids" tool at Searchmarketing.Yahoo.com.

Of course, you don't need your own website to generate extra money. But you can also offer your service offline such as offering tuition services or any other service which you are good at.

4.0 To trim down your spending especially those which does not offer you any added value

To accelerate your wealth, you have to use your money wisely. Reviewing your major expenditures regularly is another wise move. In this connection, you will be surprised to see how you can reduce them substantially without any compromise to your lifestyle. Such a good example not only cuts down unnecessary expenditures, but also cultivates good habit of proper budgeting and planning. You may also make use of to do list to assist your work in a more organised and efficient manner. Thus saving you money and time. More over you may use the time saved for other healthy activities which will boost your income further. Killing two birds with one stone.

For more ways to cut costs on daily spending decisions, click here.

Thank for your time and hope that the above article gives you a better yield than before.

http://liftyouup.blogspot.com

Your Chief Servant,

James Oh

Founder and Group CEO

Skype me at james.oh18

http://liftyouup.blogspot.com

HOW TO PROTECT YOUR HOUSE AND YOUR LOVED ONES

Hi! Everyone, In today's world with high inflation rate regime, everything is expensive so is property. To acquire a property in the city is far beyond many people's means. To maintain the property in good condition is not an easy task especially those with two or three school going children. For my case, my eldest son is going to college next year.   Fortunately, my property has also gone up in value appropriately to the inflation rate. However, my unit acted as the electricity distribution channel for the whole row of the houses, from the left ones next to me despite my unit is not a corner unit. No wonder, the external cables along my house compound were burned three times since the day we moved in. Fortunately, no one was injured. First incident happened not long after we moved in . The cable was sparkling with fire and my car was just parked underneath. My belated father noted the incident but we couldn't get out from the main entrance, where the fire was sparkling. At that time, we were prepared to get out from the backyard instead. I contacted the fire squad teams and also the national electricity board. The latter came and replaced the over burned cables and things were put to rest. The former came in to stand by, just in case. However, a couple years later, the cable burned again, but this time, it was not as that bad as compared to the earlier one. They repeated the similar work and went back. WE thought things have been fully settled. However, the third incident happened again sometime thereafter.  I just came back one night and was very surprised to see all my family members are in my house's compound after my wife contacted the electricity board. Their technical staff confirmed that the cable was burned again, after some investigations they replaced a small portion of the cable, after they have since shut down the sub-station, at the pole not far from my house.  After deep thought, I called up our national electricity board the following day and requested them to send their engineer to inspect and verify what's wrong with the frequent burn down cable. However, they took the matter lightly and kept sending a technician over and over to do walk around inspection instead of proper checking with the instrument. As I did not obtain a satisfactory answer from them, I demanded from them an indemnity form and also lodged an online official complaint. Again, they treated it lightly and I had no other choice, but to present an official complaint letter to the Section Head at Jalan Yong Shook Lin, Petaling Jaya personally and gave them an ultimate request either to remove their cable outside or change it to a bigger capacity cable.  I found the cable to be life threatening and it warrants me to withdraw  the covenant, which I  had entered into my sale and purchase agreement.  The Head after reading my letter, instructed his engineer to attend my case instantly while   I stayed at his office waiting for her investigation report. She reported a severe over burning of the cable and recommended that the cable be replaced with a much bigger capacity cable.  Before I left his office, I requested a written report from them. As a result, they became more conscious this time and sent in a heavy vehicle to take a look at the pole, 2 or 3 times  that night. They subsequently discovered that they need to redistribute the electricity load to another house, a few units away from mine so as to reduce the electricity load to my home. Hence, there appears to be double protection. Even then they have not given me a written report explaining the load and the redistribution matter. However, the engineer has dropped me an email explaining the disruption of electricity without mentioning the word burned cable, so as to avoid their liability and I replied her by describing the true incident. Sad to say that they have not replied thereafter. I followed up the matter, but all in vain.  Here, I write to thank some residents here for offering me the relevant person to contact.   This is important so that I can address the matter promptly. Thanks also to my nearby neighbours who allowed us to use their electricity, by extending several extension cords from their house to my house, so as to enable them to carry out the repair work when they shut down the sub-station. We are also grateful  to the Chairman of BU 7 & 10, Mr Lim who also offered me some assistance.  In this connection, I write to urge that our BU 7 and 10 Security Scheme be extended to cover the safety issues as we cannot afford any fire incidents which are life threatening and property damaging. At the same time, we, at Lift You Up, also urge the electricity board to be more transparent and educate the residents on how to take appropriate action should a fire happens due to over loading. These type of incidents are happening rampantly at the substation pole at BU 10 and the electricity station at BU 1, next to the school at BU 2. May I take this opportunity to check with oversea readers whether it is a norm in their countries as well. Thanks and hope the above discussion is helpful to you. As usual, your feedback, both good and bad, is always welcome.

Thanks for your support and seeing you again and again.      Your Chief Servant, James Oh Founder and Group CEO Skype me at james.oh18 http://liftyouup.blogspot.com

BANDAR UTAMA - GREENING MY PLACE OF RESIDENCE

Hi! Folk,

Further to our recent plumbing works, we write to share with you  another project of recycling rain water. You are rest assured to  reap back your investment cost within a short span of time especially those who consumed much water in the household because our  water rate is structured that once you reach the threshold, you are going to pay extremely high rate.  For those who missed my preceding article, you may click at the title of the article to make access to it. I would say that the credit for this project should be given to my new neighbour, Mr. Poh , who has  just moved in less than a month. I noted that he is from Penang, my  hometown. I have migrated to Selangor state for more than twenty years and I never regretted it. That state is moving too slow and not suitable for those who opt for hectic lifestyle. Coming back to our water recycle project, it started with our  conversation during the day when my plumbing works took place and at that time I just raised the issue of how to green the environment without knowing that Mr.Poh is the water treatment expert. He shared with me his overseas water treatment project. I was amazed with his  expertise and experience I then tap his expertise of storing the rain  water for my plants around my backyard. My plumber also join in,  finally we came to this second project of oval shape 50 litres poly water tank. To make it even more fruitful, my plumber suggested  a design that direct the rain water from the gutter straight to this storage tank. Mr. Poh further strongly recommended the poly oval shape tank due to several reasons such as practicability, durability and also endurance of the high  pressure especially during the heavy rain fall from roof top to the tank.  According to him, the oval shape with no edge at the corner make more  sense to sustain the high pressure of heavy rain water, which is the case in my area, and less leakages as compared to other shapes such as square or rectangular shape. From there, I know that I am dealing with an expert,  who is humble and willing to share his  knowledge with others. Then, he  further proposed a cover top to address my concerns on the mosquito  breeding inside there. After thinking of it, I just wondered whether I  should rear a few fishes inside the tank in case the water flow is not strong enough and it allows mosquito breeding. But my concern is whether the  fish can survive? My plumber suggested that I place a filter inside the tank to prevent the leaves from sinking into the tank, which I agreed with joy. He further  suggested that he will put an elbow to join my existing pipe which serves to drain the rain, collected from the gutter at the edge of my roof top, to  the storage tank instead of direct to the drain. Hence, this adds another  avenue of rain water being diverted to this tank. Thanks Kelvin.  An outlet will be added to the tank for easy tank cleaning purposes. Mr.  Poh also assured me that the water which I drain off to the backyard is  of no harm to the walkway of the road leading to Centrepoint, a  commercial centre.  The storage water will then be used to clean the floor and watering my  plants at the backyard. Hence, I manage to recycle the rain water and save money through reducing my household water consumption. Instantly, I  offered Mr. Poh to use this water if he wishes once the tank is ready.  Further more, we hope that others will follow suit to make use of rain water so as to green the environment further and put more money in their pockets.  Who knows they may come up with much better plan where I also can learn  from them so as to make our residential place more pleasant and environment friendly.   Other ideas were also throw in such as planting cross breed durian tree (our local king of fruits) at the outside of my backyard. To raise the height of my existing retaining wall so as that I can pump up the storage water to circulate  down the retaining wall to make my backyard even cooler and more attractive to enrich my life. Mr Poh further enhanced the idea further by installing a small electric fan at the edge, not far away from the retaining wall to direct the flow  toward the water from the top of the retaining wall so as to produce a chilling effect which may make this place even more cosy and beautiful. The more we talk, my mind seems to go wild and more ideas keep on flowing out. Thanks to Mr  Poh and Kelvin for their great contribution. Here, my greatest concerns is whether the foundation of my existing wall could support the weight and height of the new wall. Before you leave this blog, appreciate if you could enlightened me with more ideas so that I can enhance the beauty of this area, at the same time green this environment  further beginning from my house. To enhance your imagination, append below some of photo taken around the area.   Thank you and look forward to hearing from you,   Your Chief Servant, James Oh Founder and Group CEO Skype me at james.oh18 http://liftyouup.blogspot.com