Wanted: real estate investing experts to present on cruise

[BobHudson]

I am looking to get some cross Canada real estate investing experts to share their expertise on a cruise from Miami to Bahamas November 21-24, 2008. Topics of interest will include: investment strategies, local real estate market knowledge, financing, legal, property management, tenant management, investment clubs.

Focus will be on Canadian content. Presentations will be about 30 minutes in length and will occur while "at sea".

I am also looking to raise money for Habitat for Humanity through this event.

If you are interested in doing a presentation on this cruise or just want to know more about it, please send an e-mail to [email protected] and include:

• your name and contact information;
• specific area of expertise;summary of your proposed presentation.

Thanks,
Bob

 

[thejules]

QUOTE (BobHudson @ Dec 20 2007, 01:20 AM) I am looking to get some cross Canada real estate investing experts to share their expertise on a cruise from Miami to Bahamas November 21-24, 2008. Topics of interest will include: investment strategies, local real estate market knowledge, financing, legal, property management, tenant management, investment clubs.

Focus will be on Canadian content. Presentations will be about 30 minutes in length and will occur while "at sea".

I am also looking to raise money for Habitat for Humanity through this event.

If you are interested in doing a presentation on this cruise or just want to know more about it, please send an e-mail to [email protected] and include:

• your name and contact information;
• specific area of expertise;summary of your proposed presentation.

Thanks,
Bob


Hey Bob,
Doing a presentation on a cruise to the Bahamas!?! Are you kidding me! I would be in. But what`s this all about? And how is it that you have a bunch of Real Estate People on a cruise. I gotta tell you, I may not be very effective in the warm sunshine.

 

[BobHudson]

QUOTE (thejules @ Dec 20 2007, 06:13 AM) Hey Bob, Doing a presentation on a cruise to the Bahamas!?! Are you kidding me! I would be in. But what`s this all about? And how is it that you have a bunch of Real Estate People on a cruise. I gotta tell you, I may not be very effective in the warm sunshine.

Jules,
I am quite sure that you would be an amazing presenter. Besides we could use a `bouncer` on the ship!

I am calling it the INCREdible cruise - INvesting in Canadian Real Estate. (No idea what "dible" stands for

). Think of it as the "first annual" of its kind. My idea is to give an opportunity to some real estate experts to share their expertise with people interested in investing in Canadian real estate.

It is a combination of learning event and a tax write off vacation to Bahamas. I kept it to 4 days so people could easily get away from their jobs for a few days. Give me a call at 905.399.0601 or e-mail me at [email protected] if you want to discuss further. I have cabin openings and plan to offer a discount for REIN members wihle using the event to raise some money for Don`s favourite charity, Habitat for Humanity.

Talk to you soon...

Thanks for the post!

 

[navaz]

Thinking of warm sunshine as I had to cancel my trip to warm Cozumel- but here is a tax angle to itUnder the income tax act, all expenses that are reasonable and necessary to earn income are tax deductible. Seminars and conferences at Vacation spots are on CCRA`s radar screen and they do disallow them as often as they can. How would they determine the deductibility of a cruise? Reasonable and necessary are judged by some of the following issues as discussed in the Bulletins issued by CCRA: 1. Are you employed or self employed?Employees have a more difficult time deducting expenses unless you are a commissioned employee or it is a requirement of your job with your employer signing Form 2200 that you must attend and pay for these seminars. Generally speaking, if you have a corporation conducting active business, you will be able to deduct the expenses a lot easier.


7. What about meals and entertainment?
Only half of your meals and entertainment are tax deductible. Of the total cost of the cruise, you must reduce your deductible portion by the estimated meals component by ½.

So is your seminar on a cruise tax deductible? It is an area hotly contested by CCRA. Be prepared to have the documentation ready to defend your position.

 

[BobHudson]

QUOTE (navaz @ Dec 21 2007, 09:30 AM) Thinking of warm sunshine as I had to cancel my trip to warm Cozumel- but here is a tax angle to itUnder the income tax act, all expenses that are reasonable and necessary to earn income are tax deductible. Seminars and conferences at Vacation spots are on CCRA`s radar screen and they do disallow them as often as they can. How would they determine the deductibility of a cruise? Reasonable and necessary are judged by some of the following issues as discussed in the Bulletins issued by CCRA: 1. Are you employed or self employed?Employees have a more difficult time deducting expenses unless you are a commissioned employee or it is a requirement of your job with your employer signing Form 2200 that you must attend and pay for these seminars. Generally speaking, if you have a corporation conducting active business, you will be able to deduct the expenses a lot easier.


2. How does it relate to your business?
Generally speaking, marketing, tax and issues specific to your industry should be deductible. Also, seminars where you are networking and generate business for you should be tax deductible.


3. What is the geographic location that you conduct your business?
Any seminar relating to your business in your own geographic location should be deductible. The next issue is where is the corporation that is sponsoring the conference or seminar located? If you happen to be a medical specialist attending a seminar in Toronto and there are 25 specialists in Canada, there would be few issues. If you happen to be in the real estate business in BC and attend a seminar in LA, it would be doubtful if you could deduct the expenses of attending this conference or seminar.


4. Is the cost reasonable?
If you have one rental property with gross revenues of $10,000 per year, it would be unreasonable to spend $2,000 on one seminar. If you have gross rental revenues of $100,000, it would not be unreasonable to attend a seminar.


5. Is a seminar on a cruise tax deductible?
The main reason for the geographic location rule is that the cost incurred to attend a seminar away from your hometown is more costly. But if a seminar is held on a cruise boat and cost say $1,000 per person. If you and your spouse work together, it is reasonable that both of you attend the seminar. Say if a seminar is held in Hotel Vancouver for 7 nights and required your attention for the full duration and it costs $300 per day including all meals for two, the cost for two people would be $2,100. Now the cost is lower for the seminar on a cruise as opposed to one in your own geographic area and therefore it could be argued that the geographic rule is irrelevant in this case.


<A name=que6>6. What about your personal portion?
Say if you went on a 7-day cruise. You were in seminars for 8-10 hours per day for 5 days. You must not deduct the personal portion, which would be 2/7 x your total cost. On the other hand if it was for 2 hours per day-that would change things


7. What about meals and entertainment?
Only half of your meals and entertainment are tax deductible. Of the total cost of the cruise, you must reduce your deductible portion by the estimated meals component by ½.

So is your seminar on a cruise tax deductible? It is an area hotly contested by CCRA. Be prepared to have the documentation ready to defend your position.


Excellent post, Navaz! Thank you.

The cruise will be a long weekend Friday to Monday and I will do my best to minimize the cost for any REIN members.
I am looking at a series of 30-45 minute presentations on one or two days of the cruise. Using your information as a guideline there will be some amount of tax write off but the attendees will need to take some care to not go `overboard` with the expense claims.

For anyone interested in attending, I plan to have all of the details worked out over the Christmas break and will post them at my real estate investment blog.

 

[BobHudson]

Thanks to all of the volunteer real estate investment speakers. I will be in touch with you as I finalize the details of our November 2008 real estate investing cruise event.

For anyone interested, keep an eye on my blog at http://lease2ownbob.blogspot.com/ and search for Label - "cruise" if you wish to read all postings about the upcoming cruise. Travel itinerary is set. Further details and pricing are not yet finalized but I am accepting e-mails of interest to [email protected] and I will send you details on what will prove to be an educational and very fun event!

 

[BobHudson]

Thanks to those who offered to participate as cruise speakers. The following people have sent me their topics and presentation abstracts. It is a very strong and interesting line-up but I still have room for a couple more if anyone else is interested:

§ “Why Real Estate?” Patricia Scanlon, Real Estate Investor and Motivational Speaker

§ “Property Management Secrets” Brent Davies, Real Estate Investor and Property Manager

§ “Why Buy in Alberta?” Mike McCrae, Real Estate Investor and Mortgage Broker

§ “2008/2009 Tax Planning Tips?” George Dube, Real Estate Investor and Chartered Accountant

§ “Remarkable Real Estate Photography” Carla Johnson Roorda, Real Estate Investor and Expert Photographer

More details on this exciting event may be found at: http://lease2ownbob.blogspot.com/search/label/cruise

 

[ToddStokowski]

Bob, great idea and the line up looks great. In relation to the number of speakers, how many guests are attending?

How about some courses on "Belly laughs until you cry", "My golf swing has to get better than this" and "What day is today?".

Todd

 

[BobHudson]

QUOTE (ToddStokowski @ Jan 11 2008, 10:40 AM) Bob, great idea and the line up looks great. In relation to the number of speakers, how many guests are attending?

How about some courses on "Belly laughs until you cry", "My golf swing has to get better than this" and "What day is today?".

Todd


I welcome as many real estate investors as I can get on the ship. I am using Carnival Cruise Line`s corporate fund raising program and plan to generate $60 per cabin to Habitat for Humanity! In addition, Carnival will toss in a few `free` berths and I plan to raffle them off to gain additional funds for Habitat.

I need to confirm numbers with Carnival by the end of January so will be looking for at least an e-mail as pre-registration and to hold the $266 (inside) and $296 (outside) rates. Full details and sign up details are at my lease to own blog.

Now as for that golf swing or yours, and the problems with your memory and disposition, all I can say is get parting on the cruise and you won`t care about your golf swing nor what day it is!

 

[CarlaJohnson]

Hey Bob!

I just checked out your blog and the information looks great. You`ll be getting my registration this week.

Save us an oceanview cabin!

Carla

 

[BobHudson]

It will be a most enjoyable event with the following speaker list:

§ "Why Real Estate?" Patricia Scanlon, Real Estate Investor and Motivational Speaker

§ "Alternative Ways to Make Money in Real Estate" Paola Breda, Real Estate Investor and Tax Sales Expert

§ "Property Management Secrets" Brent Davies, Real Estate Investor and Property Manager

§ "Why Buy in Alberta?" Mike McCrae, Real Estate Investor and Mortgage Broker

§ "2008/2009 Tax Planning Tips?" George Dube, Real Estate Investor and Chartered Accountant

§ "The Fire Code – What Real Estate Investors Need to Know" Paul "The Fire Guy" Schuster, retired Fire Prevention Inspector

§ "Magnetic Real Estate Photography" Carla Johnson, Real Estate Investor and Expert Photographer


For more details, please follow the link in my signature below.