i'm more interested in your 75k - 195k what is this opportunity and how it is rock solid b/c if those were easily available everyone would jump on them.
You are right. Most of the opportunities that I invest in relate to something that I have knowledge about. Many of the opportunities are there because I have specific knowledge and access to immediate capital(Credit Cards, LOC, Savings, etc.)
Smaller ones:
IE people don't like storing a 17 foot kayak in their garage all winter. You can buy a good used one for $500-$600 in December and sell it for $800-$1,200 in May. Found out because I wanted a kayak, bought one in November, played with it over the winter, sold it for a profit. These type of opportunities are all over the place. If you have a passion for something, then you should be able to spot a bargain, when to buy, when to sell, etc. Power tools are another one that clog up garages. Small dollar, small risk.
Concert tickets to my favorite band. Buy four at pre-sale hoping friends could come. Sold out in minutes. Some times friends are not interested attending. Sell the tickets for double; pays for our tickets and dinner. I have done this a dozen times over the years not as an investment, but desire to have friends join us. We tend to go to a half a dozen or so concerts a year with friends if you are all wondering why we can't find a friend :) The knowledge that the worst case scenario is that we resell the tickets for a profit has given me the confidence to buy extra tickets. Obviously, people make a living out of scalping tickets.
Store closing out something that is valuable at 90% off. Buy and sell online. There are people that do this for a six figure living. I have not done much of this.
Larger ones:
Bought a for sale by owner rental house for $150k below market(Knew the market for a view house-Zillow did not understand the contours of the land). Since then it has doubled in price. $75k down-payment after all fees during closing would net me $450k profit six years later. When opportunity came about we had less than $1k in our checking/savings accounts. Credit card, 401k loans were used if I recall.
Bought a semi passive operating business that was consistently making $65k a year for the prior five years for $35k(Owners were passive and wanted to retire). That was five years ago. So over 10 year track record of making $65kish. Requires 5-10 hours a week of oversight. If someone spent 20+ hours it would generate $100k or more.
This latest opportunity is a tuck in acquisition for another passive business. First position money return is return of the $75k capital + $90k profit within two years. The other $105k profit, is if the entity hits the very conservative projections that we have established. We have done three other acquisitions similar to this meeting our projections. We have more conservative projections on this one, so the upside here is much greater than $195k profit as listed in the previous post. LOC used for this one.
Friend grew up in a poor part of the state: He lives on the opposite side of the state now, but he visits family/friends often. He is an engineer, but has learned about real estate and timber based on opportunities. On a very regular basis someone in his hometown is desperate for money but they have 20+ acres that has some timber on it. In most situations he can purchase the land, thin the timber and sell it for more than what he paid for the land. I think he said he is up to 1,200 acres or something. He is doing much bigger deals now that he has the knowledge and capital. People call him out of the blue throughout the year. He has conservatively made millions as a side hobby. Those selling are desperate, don't know the value of the timber, and are too lazy to hire someone to appraise the timber and land.
The point is that there are tons of opportunities out there. If you live in an area where people are bad with money, uneducated, lazy or want to retire somewhere else then these types of transactions can be had on a daily basis. They can be as small as buying an extra set of tickets to your favorite band that sells out immediately, waiting six months then selling them closer to the concert date to someone who did not plan ahead, or as large as investing in something that you know a lot about.
Is there risk? Yes. Can the risk be minimized for huge gains, Yes! Usually these windfalls are the result of curiosity and education. There are tons of people that don't want to jump through some perceived huge hoop, when it is pretty straightforward and simple if you have the knowledge. Start small and build your way up.