Real Estate blog

Archive for the ‘Residential Listing’ Category

In any market, but particularly a buyer’s market, the listing that looks the best, shows the best and feels the best will sell faster (that is given the listing is also priced properly!). The best staged home will sell faster when all other things are comparable (price, terms, location).

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I was recently interviewed by Dave Dugdale who runs Rentvine.com, an online resource for landlords and rental applicants.

I just read Seth Godin’s post entitled Email Checklist - “Before you hit send on that next email, perhaps you should run down this list….” It’s a classic and got me thinking about my love-hate relationship with email.

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Real estate books are a mixed batch. There are those that I recommend, such as Eldred and McLean’s excellent Investing in Real Estate, now in it’s fifth edition. On the other end of the spectrum is Robert Kiyosaki’s bestselling fable Rich Dad Poor Dad, a dangerous and misleading book if ever there was one.

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I’ve written that I’m not a big fan of the legislation currently making its way through congress that would require lenders to cut homeowners a break as they look into the chasm of foreclosure. While I’m not against the idea of giving consumers a helping hand – particularly when doing so shores up the economy – I am against the idea of trying to characterize such moves as free, tax-neutral bailouts funded which the banks will fund. These costs are always passed on to the consumer.

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It’s hard to argue with the success that Robert T. Kiyoski has had with his Rich Dad series. Head over to Amazon.com and you’ll see almost fifty items on offer; Rich Dad in English, Rich Dad in Spanish, Rich Dad for women and kids. Even Rich Dad in Chinese. My personal favorite is the DVD Rich Dad’s 60 Minutes to Getting Rich. Ok, it’s a bit pricy at $79.99…but that’s a small price to pay for a DVD that will make you rich in 60 minutes, right?

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I’ve often mentioned that real estate investing is all about people. Here are three ways in which this general principle manifests itself.

Information wants to be free: Real estate investing certainly has an element of secrecy, as does any business endeavor that involves negotiations. For example, when you’re on the buy leg of a 1031 exchange you don’t want the seller and you’re running short on time you don’t want the seller to know that you’re under pressure to make a deal work. And when you’re selling a property that you just bought FSBO you don’t want the buyer to know that you purchased it for a song.

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We’re so accustomed to having our intelligence insulted by politicians that we rarely complain about the dumbed down worldview that we’re spoon-fed by both sides of the political aisle. The partisan mudslinging that we’re subjected to these days makes it hard to imagine a world in which candidates might campaign by voicing nuanced, well articulated views on the complex issues facing our country. That’s too much to ask for, but at least we get to watch the primaries, which offer up the entertaining spectacle of Democrats savaging fellow Democrats and Republicans bashing Republicans as they fight for their respective nominations.

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38th President of the United States of America.

My fellow Americans, our long national nightmare is over. Our Constitution works. Our great republic is a government of laws and not of men. Here, the people rule. … As we bind up the internal wounds of Watergate, more painful and more poisonous than those of foreign wars, let us restore the Golden Rule to our political process and let brotherly love purge our hearts of suspicion and of hate.

There’s no getting around it; investing in real estate means dealing with people. Building skills as a negotiator is the most important part of being successful as an investor.

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