Update - Team Tesoro De Christo / Victorio Peak
I am writing to report the results of our meeting on Saturday. The bottom line is that we were very happy with the response, and the event.
First the response - we had approximately a dozen people in attendance, although there were another dozen who wanted to be there but couldn't make it for one reason or another. We were happy with the turnout, especially given the fact that we had never met any of them before. We were particularly happy that members of the Ova Noss family were in attendance and offered to share their extensive research. Included in the group is an author who is working on what can be expected to be the authoritative account of the treasure, including the government players involved. He is willing to name names when the time comes, so keep your eyes open for his book - it promises to be quite revealing. We also had some current and former WSMR insiders in attendance - very valuable members of the team because of their connections.
Second, the event. We kicked off our meeting promptly at 1:00. May father in law, Art, welcomed everyone and spoke for about twenty minutes about the origin of the map, his experiences at White Sands Missile Range, and his research on the treasure and the map. After this introduction, I presented a slide show that included the history of the legend surrounding the gold and possible theories as to its origin.
After a break, we resumed with my alternate real estate investment strategy. Part of the problem with a Treasure Hunting venture is that you normally incur losses in years 1-3. This gives rise to so-called "passive activity loss" rules, and the probable result for most investors is that they would lose the ability to take a deduction for these losses. My plan includes some passive activity (rental real estate) income that would be offset by the losses and would thereby result in no income tax.
In addition to that passive activity income, there would also be capital gains tax on the increase in value of the real estate investment. Using a two-pronged strategy involving §1031 tax deferred exchanges with §121 tax exempt gain, I detailed a plan which would balance the speculative risk of the treasure hunt and provide tax free income.
The bottom line is that we had a good discussion and a good time. We had two friends that contributed funds to help offset the cost of the event (thanks Jack and Gregory), and each of them walked away with a piece of original Southwestern artwork that is, in my opinion, worth quite a bit more that the donations we received. We did not solicit investments at this meeting for two reasons. First, we are not con artists. Ironically, there was a Multi-Level-Marketing (MLM) group meeting going on right down the hall from us that day (MLM's are frequently referred to as "pyramid schemes" and are generally considered to be scams by persons in the know). Second, we do not need treasure hunting funds right now, although we do still need donations to cover the costs that we have incurred (the cost of the boardroom, advertisements, etc.).
We are planning another meeting for May or June, and the first treasure hunting expedition has been tentatively planned for October. Feel free to contact me if you are interested in participating in our group. As always, first come first served.
