Its been over a week that I have been in the Earthquake zone in China.

I have been working in the hospitals, refugee centers, military camps and army hospitals.

There is a main highway that leads from Shang Fi to other cities. For miles it is lined wither side with makeshift steel frames (similar to scaffolding) and covers with blue and red striped tarpolins.

There are thousands upon thousands of families all living in this endless row of what appears to be the worlds largest tent. There are no beds, sleep is caught on cardboard boxes and if you are luck they will be covered with a blanket or two. Luckily, if that’s a word that can be used here, it is almost summer and so the cold is not an issue. Though it has been raining, but not a word of complaint has been spoken – it’s just not their style. In fact that is one of the most outstanding things that I have taken from this experience and my similar trips.

The locals, the victims, the refugees, sick, injured, homeless – they do not complain. They are not sitting around feeling sorry for themselves. Everyone I meet is so grateful that someone from a foreign country has thought to come to their home and help them. They are quite surprised and dumfounded that I would do so, but overwhelmingly thankful – and it is overwhelming. I have a translator who is now helping me communicate. He is a 20 year old student living in Chengdu and studying English so that he can work at a hotel in the future. One of the most common messages he translates from the locals to me is “thank you so much for coming here to help me and our country – when you need my help, I will come and I will be there for you”.

It’s just phenomenal. Many of these people have have lost absolutely everything in terms of what they own as well as children, parents and other family. Yet they make a point of taking the time and effort to show they appreciation and to be grateful. They really don’t take anything for granted. When really I should be profusely thanking them because I know I will walk out of these experience a different person with all the more power and purpose for what I have seen and done while here. Going on a trip like this, being here for the sole purpose of serving others and seeing, living and breathing real humanity is one of the most powerful experiences you could ever have. It will repay you in ways you never imagined and I would recommend it to absolutely everyone.

Cheers, Carly

I think I have met my rice quote for life. How do they all stay so skinny eating massive bowls of rice three times a day!?

Talking of food, they really do eat anything here. They epitomize “waste not, want not”. I mean I enjoy duck every now and then, but the feet? Beak? Guts? Do we have to?

I was pretty over rice when I saw a guy who was cooking a stir fry of some sort. It was so heavily mixed with sauces and spices that I could not tell what it actually was. Given the lack of English and may lack of Mandarin I used my acting and motion skills to determine that it seemed to be a pork stir fry. I even mimicked the “oink, oink” sound to be sure. The cook nodded vigorously assuring me slightly. I slowly but surely add my pork stir fry and was happy to have some protein. That’s when a little dog walked past and the cook pointed at the dog excitedly and pointed at my food that I was easting. That’s when I realized that I was eating dog and apparently pigs in China don’t go “oink, oink”. Funny, but I was suddenly full…for days.
I’m a loving and proud dog owner to Gracie, a Tibetan Spaniel which just seemed to make the whole experience all the more horrifying…Ill give you an update in a few days and I hope it will be more animal friendly.

Cheers, Carly

Well I have arrived in China and have to say that I am absolutely, completely and ridiculously exhausted. I think I need to invent a new word that describes what I feel. If you have been tracking my movements over the last 20 days, I have been to 12 cities and 5 different countries over 4 continents. And it doesn’t look like I will be getting too much sleep here. I arrived in Chengdu which is a major city in China but its not westernized in the same way the Beijing or Shanghai are. NO ONE speaks English. I mean, not a word. And it seems that I am the only white person for days, let alone the only blonde in a sea of black hair. The locals look at me with complete and utter curious and are not shy to stare. I’m constantly checking to see if I have a booger hanging out; its an interesting and sort of uncomfortable feeling that I am sure I will be used to without long.

Chengdu was effect by the earthquake but not majorly. The epicenter is about 2-4 hours from Chengdu. Most of the seriously injured are in hospitals in Chengdu, every hospital is absolutely packed to the rafters with patients on all manner of makeshift beds in hallways, reception areas, footpaths – anywhere. The idea of personal space or privacy does not exist, it is way beyond that and seems completely unnecessary in this time where survival isn’t taken for granted and health or comfort are an absolute luxury.

From Chengdu I had to organize a lift to Shi Fang which is very close to the epicenter and where there are hundreds of thousands of homeless and many injured. Not easy organize a car to an unknown destination in a city where not a word of English is uttered. I have a translation book, but it seems that the accent is just as important as the words because no matter how hard I try and pronounce it they look at me like I’m crazy.

I was busting to go to the toilet and with no obvious signs I had to ask. The book said it was something like TEI SHUI. Easy, right. No. I tried every variation “te shui, tee shoo, tay shooey, the, shway….” Sometimes motioning and acting out the action just works a lot better. And seems to get a few well needed laughs from the locals.

A three hour drive and extremely rocky drive later, and I was in Shi Fang. I was driving in a car but the road was so ridiculously rocky it seemed more primitive and uncomfortable than what I imagine a horse and cart from 1743 would feel like.

Once in Shi Fang, its like a ghost town. There are some people walking through the streets but every single shop is closed and either boarded up or covered and shut out with security roller doors. Every single street and corner seems desolate. The colorful and varied street vendors that China is famous for are no where to be seen. It is still to early for normal operation and most people, if still alive, are still in mourning.

Through previous disaster relief work that I have done, I know of a Buddhist Monk who is in Shi Fang. He is staying at a Buddhist Monastery and so I go meet him there. Master Ti Tong is extremely gracious and helpful. He has a translator and so we talk about what is happening, what the locals need and how I can help. He invites me to stay at the monastery. No one is actually living inside the monastery or dorms as there is still a lot of fear that there could be further earthquakes. So there are hundreds of open tents set up on the dirt grounds surrounding the monastery, so Ill set up there somewhere.

Ill check in when I next can and tell you the latest.

Cheers,

Carly Crutchfield

As many of you know there have been recent Earthquakes in China that have completely rocked the country and caused havoc. They are calculating as many as 200,000 dead with almost 4 million left homeless. Those of you who know me, will know that I have a soft spot for this kinds of situations.

I have been watching the news, hearing it on the radio and seeing it in the paper for days and I literally can not stand to sit and watch and listen. So I have cleared my schedule and I am off to China.

I don’t know too much at this stage, other than I am flying to a place called Chengdu and I will make my way from there into the main Earthquake zone where I will assist in delivering aid and helping in any way possible. I am unsure of internet access while there, but there is always a media center in these situations so I will try and keep you posted of what is happening, at the very least Ill have to let my mum know! So I will try post some blogs at the same time.

Cheers, Carly Crutchfield

I arrived in New Zealand today to look at some land. I was quite late because customs kept me behind. On my entry card I wrote that I was a property developer. The guy didn’t believe me! haha! They took me aside into a room with stainless steel desks with some other dodgy looking people that looked like a mix of potential smugglers and illegal immigrants. Some officials took my aside and asked what I really did and why was I in NZ. I told them I really was a property developer and really was here to look at a deal. They still did not believe me so we got onto the internet and I showed them my websites, my you tube clips etc. Then they were all suddenly very interested! They started asking me questions about THEIR properties and the NZ market (which is quite shaky right now). So I finally got out of there more than an hour later. Next time I might just say Im a check out chick or something else that they seem to think is acceptable for someone of my appearance!

Anyways…

Some of you would have already heard the story of the land that a student of mine found in New Zealand. He did my property development course at the end of last year and then started looking for deals. This guy persisted and looked at all sorts of deals. He has asked my for help and assistance on numerous deals of varying sizes, and most of these didn’t work out. But he kept looking and then he found one that did work. This is key. If you look at 15 deals that don’t stack up, don’t walk away - the 16th could be the gold mine! So this student kept going and he found one.

And boy is it a big one!

The student has already made a profit of $1.5 million dollars on this deal - and he hasn’t had to build anything, get any plans approved - nothing! With my help what he did was, he thought outside the square and he networked. He told people he was looking for deals and he went out looking for deals. Until he found some land 3 hours out of Auckland. Amazing land that has direct and private access to its own phenomenal beach and the backs onto another amazing beach and bay with 360 degree million dollar views.

So I came over here to check this property out and have a look at what more potential it could have. I gotta say, I look at property all day long and I visit many countries to inspect a lot of different property. But I have never seen anything like this. It is absolutely phenomenal. I mean I was literally speechless and I just didn’t know what to say - there was so much beauty to see that I didn’t know where to look! The drive to the property alone was an experience. It is Autumn here at the moment and the immense greenery is turning to shades of gold, yellow and red. We drove for a couple of hours through endless green hills filled with cows and the obligatory sheep. We drove onto a ferry and crossed the river at Opua and watched the diving birds fly headfirst, vertical and disappear into the water only to appear seconds later with fish dangling from the beaks. Because of the customs incident we were chasing the sun so when we finally got there we ran around madly trying to cover as much of the land as we could in what was left of the afternoon sun.

We walked through the land, and its is several hectares and a whole beach so we were there for a while. We bushwalked through and for some genious reason I was wearing knee-high boots, so they had to come off pretty quick and it turned into a barefoot bushwalk. Lucky they dont have snakes in NZ! We stood on the potential platforms and worked out how to get extra properties built so that they are all exclusive and private. We walked right across the beach and stood in the middle and looked out at the bay - and you could not see any sign of human life, not another house, building, car or person. This land has not been inhabited or touched by industry in over 100 years. It was owned by one of the early settlers who gave it to his son who is now selling before he dies so he can cruise around the world for the rest of his life.

In just a couple of hours, by walking the land and talking it through, by being creative and thinking big we have taken this from a site that the student was going to make $1.5m on to a site that will turn him into a multi millioniare and we will still maintain the heritage, peace, serenity and beauty of the land. We will give away some land to allow the maories access to certain parts that are important to them. We will grant access through the back to tourists so that they can continue to bushwalk and appreciate it.

Just goes to show that they are many, many diamonds out there in the world waiting for you to find them. And when you do you can make sure that everyone wins, including nature. And if you work hard and stick to the rules of developing you could land a big one like this.

Im looking forward to this project, its going to be an experience and I will keep you posted!

Carly

“If you build it, they will come” we all know that famous line from “FIELD OF DREAMS” not a bad movie and a fantastic line deliver by Kevin Costner.

And following on from yesterday it really is a motto that describes what they have done in Dubai.

People often look to produce a product that the market place already need. Something that people currently need and demand. And when you do this, you can make some good money. However, by building something that does not exist, making it known and making people feel they they do need it, you are creating a new demand and the product to immediately fullfill that demand. And by doing so will make a lot more money because you are the inventor and provider all in one.

Dubai, a City located in the troubled middle east. The land is arid desert. The whether is ridiculously hot with winter temperatures even sitting at mid 20 degrees celsius and summer going beyond 50!

Yet here are thousands upon thousands of offices, units, houses, villas, penthouses - you name it - being built and sold to the people of the world. And the prices are not cheap. Millions of dollars. In some cases apartments are reaching into the tens of million of dollars. And construction just keeps on going. The buildings are now being branded, you can but a unit in “THE BECKHAMS BUILDING” or pick up an office by “MICHAEL SCHUMACCER” or “BORRIS BECKER”.

Donald Trump has lent his name to the cause, Versace is building its second Palazzo there (GC, Australia being the first), and developers from Germany, Australia, America, UK, Ireland - the world - are involved in mammoth multi, multi-million dollar projects. It is an absolute phenomenon.

And yet there never was a demand before. But they have created the demand, the city also boasts some of the largest and most extravagant malls in the world. You really can buy anything in this place. Going to a mall here can takes days and you are still likely to miss a lot of shops. Feeling a bit hot? Thats okay, the in-door snow center will provide some snowboarding to cool you down. I mean, you think of it and this place already has and they have built it.

They are said to be endeavoring to create a city where you can find and do anything so it becomes the ultimate destination.

It is a lesson in dreams and create and shows that if you do produce a product, all you need to do is introduce it to a potential market and show that market that they need it.

This concept gives great hope to a nation like Australia which is virtually hollow as far as developed land is concerned. We have built up communities and cities around the edge of our country, on the coast. But there is still massive amounts of coastal property that is untouched and ridiculous amounts of property inland with huge potential. Obviously we do not want to develop it all. But even developing green, maintaining integrity as far as reservations are concern and keep a lot of tracks for wildlife and nature there is still limitless possibilities for development in our country which is exciting for you as potential developers and exciting for our country as far as the economy is concerned.

So don’t just look for booming areas,create the booming area yourself.

CHEERS, CARLY

You may have heard that saying…”their not building any more land” well I am in Dubai today and I can tell you - they absolutely are. You may have heard of a development calls “THE PALM” or “THE WORLD ISLANDS” in Dubai. These are man made (predominately sand) Islands. As you could of guessed, “THE PALM” is shaped like a palm with one long oblong island extending off the main land and several semi circle-lines coming off the oblong island. And “the world” is a series of islands in the shape of all the continents/countries of the world. Absolutely out there - they obviously don’t believe in global warming or rising sea levels here!

What an absolutely insane place this is. Just being here disproves many conceptions that we just seem to assume, such as the above.

This City is living and breathing “THINK BIG”.

I have just popped in for close to a week to assess some potential deals and the market climate here. But more than anything I think it is a lesson in what is possible, what we can achieve, and also what we maybe shouldn’t try and achieve too.

Driving through Dubai is a mixture of old charm mixed in with space age architecture. 7 star hotels and mirrored monstrosities of skyscrapers neighbor hand constructed, mud-packed dwellings.

Waterside properties are obviously the pick of the litter and thus they have created more water side properties by building more land in the middle of the ocean.

I am sure that it was a logistical nightmare to execute and will continue to be difficult to maintain; I am told that engineers will need to consistently replace the sand weekly in order to keep it above water levels. However, despite the logistics, building and planning involved you can not help but marvel at the fact that it was thought of in the first place and carried out.

Somebody was brave enough to say, “lets try this and lets do it on a grand scale”. What courage, determination, forward thinking, creativeness and innovation that takes.

To be honest with you, Dubai is not really my kind of town and at this stage I will not be doing any development here, but you can not help but marvel at the minds at work and the speed at which their visions are becoming reality.

It really is nothing short of phenomenal and a testament of what is possible. I know I will be going back to Australia and my development with a new view on what I can and will achieve and to that degree, what a worthwhile trip it has been.

Cheers, Carly

May 5 2008

Why not rural??

Well my best friend got married and it was a fantastic day. It has actually been absolutely freezing while I have been here but yesterday – the actually wedding day – was absolutely amazing.

It was about 24 degrees which is pretty good for England. The wedding was held in am amazing property and that’s what I want to talk to you about today.

The property is located about an hour from London by train. It is classified as being “the country” out near Sussex.

The property is located on about 50 acres and was bought by a man in the 60s. He called an agent in England and said he wanted some country land. He was told that an Indian Maharajah was selling some land that had on it a large Manor. The price was 10,000 pound. He bought it site unseen.

The value of the land turned out to be 50,000 pound back then. So he bought it at 1/5 of the price. Why? Probably because it was in the middle of nowhere and the demand was not as high.

I often here people say “don’t buy rural” and I just think “why not???”. In fact I think that there is a market for just about any type of property – you just have to go into the deal knowing what you are doing and understanding that particular property and the potential purpose.

This property is still in the same hands and is now worth almost 10 million pounds!

An interesting part of the story is this; the owner wanted to build a large building on the property but he could not get council approval. However he found a loophole. In England there is an Old Law that can not be overturned. Any man can build on his land a castle. So this man built his large building the style of a castle!

And now on the land is a 15,000 sqm castle and of course the original manor. Not bad thinking!

I think that there are two important points to remember here.

1. Be persistent with your intentions and find the way it CAN BE DONE. Find the loophole that will make it happen and don’t take no for an answer.
2. Rural doesn’t always mean a bad property. In fact there are diamonds sitting the rural area of our countries and many others. Rural can be good for landbanking and it can also be good for buying undervalued property that you can then sell to someone else.

I have attached a couple of pics of us on the wedding day on the property.

Cheers,

Carly

May 1 2008

I’m In London-Town….

Do you know that song? Great little tune by an Aussie Band calls the waifs.

Well you might have guessed that I am in Londontown. I have popped over to go to a friends wedding and as you might have guessed I have schedule in some business and property searching while here.

Went and did a little searching around today. What an interesting town it is. Especially as far as property is concerned. I have been here before but I did not have as much time to concentrate on looking into the property market but this time I did.

I am sure that you have all heard of the economic crunch that the world is currently facing, or apparently facing. Its talked about SOOOOO much, that even if it wasn’t true it sure will be soon.

Well the UK is not escaping it and it seems to be looming over the property market here as well. I travel quite a lot and get to assess very many varying property markets. And its interesting to see the congruencies and differences. I find it very eye-opening to be able to view all these countries, markets and properties and it somehow makes me a better developer at home. It gears me up to be able to deal with all sorts of deals that come across my desk and view them with a larger mind, more agility and definitely more confidence.

So I thought that you too may be interested to know my movement and hear some of what I am learning abroad.

One thing for sure about London is that it is one packed country and property is constantly in demand. The prices in certain parts of England, and London especially are absolutely astronomical.

They have a very interesting and diverse market within London itself given that they have a lot of government housing and rental control. This means you have low priced properties and rent with lower socio economic families living within a very close proximity to ridiculously priced properties and wealth. This means you have a very mixed playing field where there really are no rules. And where there are no rules, a developer can always get very creative and create opportunities.

One of the best opportunities in London is not so much development, but renovations. But if you tackle this with the mindset of a developer you will be able to make very good margins.

Development is more feasible on the outskirts of the city where land subdivision can provide fantastic opportunities. Land banking would produce very good returns, but that of course requires an outlay of capital and then…WAIT. Which you know I don’t like to do. However if you do have some spare profits throwing them and a good landbank opportunity usually is a good option.

Well I will have more adventures tomorrow and I will tell you of those then, Ive course I had to do a little site seeing so here are some pics…

Carly