Everything Else

General Colin Powell and Norman Schwarzkopf exemplified world-class leadership during the first gulf war. However, as I later discovered the brilliant plan executed by those tremendous leaders was, in fact, crafted by a little known retired Air Force Colonel John Boyd.

Col. Boyd was in fact also responsible for the Top Gun schools operated by the Navy and Air force. He was in fact a true maverick.

What does that have to do with real estate? As much as you want it too.

The core tenet of this brilliant maverick is that to win any conflict you must collapse the opponent on themselves. The four steps to Col. Boyd's dynamic strategy system are 1) Observe 2) Orient 3) Decide 4) Act. (OODA). This process contemplates continuously cycling through the steps based on changing information.

BPOs (Broker's Price Opinions) have been a mainstay of the real estate industry for many years. Essentially, the BPO is a fair market value (FMV) estimate by a real estate licensed agent for a specific property. This value estimate is based on comparable sales in a designated area around the property.

These estimates are designed to help an owner determine what price to ask for his property when he is ready to sell. The individual generating the BPO looks at the sales prices and the similarity of the properties and how long ago the comparable properties sold.

On Monday thru Friday, I receive a Daily Wisdom in my email from The Universe. They are SO profound and if you do not subscribe to it, I highly recommend that you do. They are even personalized, so that they are addressing YOU specifically. And whether you believe it or not The Universe has a great sense of humor.

I actually keep them in a folder and NEVER delete them. I have several years of them on file and when I need a kick start, I can go back and read for a while.

Here is one that came this week that I really loved and thought I would share.

Everyone needs a love and a passion in life and I am sure there are plenty of real estate lovers out there. You know who you are! You really know what love is because you see the inner beauty of a house. You do not look at the appearance and see what a house is, you can see deeper and see what a house can be.

You hear a little bird dogs that whispers about a deal. This deal could be sweeter than a box of chocolates. Like Forrest Gump might say that "life is like a box of chocolates", you never know what you are going to get. Almost like making an offer on a house sight unseen!

Even though we are busy with real estate, take the time to SMELL THE ROSES and have a very Happy Valentine's Day!! Make it a great day by making every day count! Believe and Achieve! - Joe

What does everyone here think about Alan Cowgill. I was really dissappointed when he came to speak at our local REI club last night. His little over one hour presentation had still not stopped two hours later and people were buying the few systems he brought without knowing his whole spiel, because he created the Illusion that if you don't get it now you'll have to wait for it to arrive in the mail. I looked online and it seems that everything is broken down into pieces to buy rather than buying the whole system. Why not provide the same system online. No one could answer the questions we had about online products and he was still up there doing the hard sell. I was dissppointed in my rei group for their participation.

Many people want to become real estate agents because of the freedom and possible income you can make. If you do a quick search on Google for the average income of a Realtor it can be quite shocking, because the figure is so low; $39,000. Do not be scared off by that number! There are many reasons the average income for real estate agents is so low. I make well more than the average income for a Realtor, in fact I am in the top 1.5% of income earners in the US. Not only does being a real estate agent provide great income, it saved me over $70,000 on investment properties I personally bought and sold in 2013.

So, what skill sets does someone need in order to be successful at managing notes?

Unless you’re an REO agent, who understands the various exit strategies for non-performing notes (especially short sales), I’m not so sure the skill sets of an asset manager of non-performing notes is quite the same as that of a typical real estate investor. Although it doesn’t hurt, I’m not convinced that you need a lending or real estate background either.

But, this could depend on the type of notes. Residential first mortgages are more similar, but with non-performing second mortgages, you see more of the collections’ side, especially when the note is backed by little or no equity.

I find a lot of Dean's student end up finding commercial deals What will rising interest rates do to commercial real estate values? I asked a similar question about home prices a few months back. Now with the run-up in interest rates on commercial mortgages, and my forecast that long-term interest rates will continue to rise, it’s time to wonder whether non-residential real estate will suffer from higher interest rates.

Owning real estate is fun and lucrative. It has allowed for great freedom and the creation of wealth. Taking care of your assests that you aquire does take some effort.

If you buy real estate that is out of state, budget your money so that you can go see your house the first year you own it. Visiting your property does not have to be a major expense. You may need to catch a flight in the morning and out that evening or simply stay over one night. Get to know your property and your manager. As well as knowing your manager, get the phone number of the tenant.

Stay aware of what is happening with your property. Keep in touch with your property manager and set expectations.

Best of Luck.

Many times I am asked about what contract to use when writing up an offer. There are so many out there and there is even a good one on this site under the Forms and Docs in Student Resources.

I use the state approved contract for offers whenever I can. These contracts were developed by the National Association of Realtors. In most cases the contracts were written with or at least approved by the various Attorney General offices in the various state.

These contracts meet the requirements of the states where they are used. The Realtors continue to keep the contracts updated in conjuction with the various Attorney General offices.

These contracts can be found by calling your state's Division of Real Estate. You can download them usually for free.