Who can forget the dot com bust of the new millenium? Apparently, millions of real estate professionals that's who! How is it that every time a new bubble appears on the horizon everyone and their brother forgets about the last bubble that busted or even worse, tells themselves that they are not in a bubble or that their industry is safe from bubbles...
Unbelievable...but it happened so there is no use fretting about it now. In my opinion, we need to buckle down and understand how each of us contributed in some way and how we can avoid this again. How do we do that? Personal accountability for starters. We can't control the whole industry, so we might as well control our own deals and actions.
Take the time to re-evaluate your business plan, if you have one. If you don't have one, create one. There is nothing complicated about it...keep it simple and realistic. I love to see a business plan that can be articulated in the form of a spreadsheet...words are nice, but numbers tell the real story. Make sure that your plan is sustainable. Sure, you might be able to make a killing on a particular deals, but how many times can you do that and furthermore, can you do that forever? The answer is probably not...so find a business or aspect of the business that you can maintain for an indefinite period.
Modest margins over the long-haul add up to more than you think. Just take the time and stay the course. The good news is that if you are still standing in the real estate industry today, you are doing something right. Keep up the great work and hang in there!
http://www.LocalRealEstateDeals.com
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Creativity in a Free Market
There is a buzz going around about the latest bill that is threatening the way that real estate investors do business. It is sometimes scary that those who are making the laws are out of touch with the reality of the businesses that they effect through their system of government.
Fortunately, we know better. We know that they are not addressing the real problem, but rather they are putting hand cuffs on the wrong people. We have the luxury of operating from the spirit of abundance rather than the spirit of scarcity from which the laws were created.
We need to trust that we will collectively find better and newer ways to conduct business. These laws that have been and will continue to be passed are meant to help, not to hinder. So, they are created in the right spirit, but the letter of the law is not going to be effective. It will, no doubt, keep a few people from conducting real estate transactions and most of those people are the ones that should not be investing in the first place. It is also true that there are some good investors with good intentions that will also find it hard to keep investing. Unfortunately that happens as well.
By and large, the best thing we can do as a real estate investment community is to follow sound business and ethics practices in everything we do. The real estate industry has a black eye right now, and we are all going to pay a little bit of the price. Let's do the right thing and create win-win solutions in every transaction...that is the best way to counter the laws that are coming to us right now.
Good Luck and God Bless America!
Robert D. Cass
http://www.LocalRealEstateDeals.com
Fortunately, we know better. We know that they are not addressing the real problem, but rather they are putting hand cuffs on the wrong people. We have the luxury of operating from the spirit of abundance rather than the spirit of scarcity from which the laws were created.
We need to trust that we will collectively find better and newer ways to conduct business. These laws that have been and will continue to be passed are meant to help, not to hinder. So, they are created in the right spirit, but the letter of the law is not going to be effective. It will, no doubt, keep a few people from conducting real estate transactions and most of those people are the ones that should not be investing in the first place. It is also true that there are some good investors with good intentions that will also find it hard to keep investing. Unfortunately that happens as well.
By and large, the best thing we can do as a real estate investment community is to follow sound business and ethics practices in everything we do. The real estate industry has a black eye right now, and we are all going to pay a little bit of the price. Let's do the right thing and create win-win solutions in every transaction...that is the best way to counter the laws that are coming to us right now.
Good Luck and God Bless America!
Robert D. Cass
http://www.LocalRealEstateDeals.com
Monday, June 15, 2009
Ed Begley, Jr
You gotta love what you do! I can’t imagine doing anything else! I get to talk to the best and brightest minds in the business every day. I wake up in the morning and the first thing that pops into my head is…I GET to do this again! A few months ago, I had the opportunity to interview Ed Begley, Jr about his relationship with the green industry and it was so refreshing to talk to him. The guy is a regular guy and was very easy to settle down with and talk to.
It seems like that is the essence of success. Loving what you do and doing it with passion. Ed is all over the place, working here and there and supporting different companies and products and it finally occurred to me that this is a guy who loves what he does. You can’t be that active and busy and hate what you do…it just doesn’t work. In fact, it would drain you…but we have all me those people who seem like the more that they do, the more energy they have. Amazing isn’t it? Not if you step back and think about what is really happening. You can either give energy or get energy…and when you are doing something you love to do, you are attracting energy to you. When you are engaged in something you don’t love, you are contributing energy, with out getting any in return.
There are many lessons to learn from Ed, but the main one is to love what you do! Thanks Ed, we enjoyed speaking with you!
If you want to get the latest on Ed Begley, Jr…just click over to www.LocalRealEstateDealsMag.com and enjoy the magazine!
Respectfully,
Rob
http://www.LocalRealEstateDeals.com
Friday, May 29, 2009
Generating Wealth Velocity
I had a chance to interview Matt Bowles, one of the partners of Maverick Investor Group http://www.MaverickInvestorGroup.com a few days ago and he mentioned a word in that interview that has been on my mind for the last few days…that word is VELOCITY! I love the word velocity when it is used in conjunction with wealth and real estate investing because it is not the same old tired phrase that most of us are tired of hearing…you know the one. ..OPM, or Other People’s Money…We all understand what OPM is and how to use it, but VELOCITY is a whole different story.
Duing the interview, I had to stop and dwell on the point for a moment, and as usual, Matt obliged me. You see, when you are talking to an expert you have to listen closely and take notes. Everything that Matt says made so much sense, I had to slow him down to make sure I didn’t miss important facts. Keep in mind, I am in this industry and I consider myself an astute student, but sometimes I am amazed at the simplicity and focus of the people that I get to meet and rub elbows with…Matt is no exception…
Ok, so he went on to explain that most people leverage their money fairly well. This point has been made by dozens of gurus and is a well-trodden path, but when you leverage your money AND your time, well, that is when you begin to experience the benefit of VELOCITY in your wealth building endeavors. The more I think about it, the more he is right. Think about it for a second, how many people do you know who have leveraged their money properly using real estate as the platform, but then they totally and utterly over-leverage their time, by becoming something they aren’t proficient (or even good) at…namely, being a landlord. Many of us have done so many good things, only to find ourselves in the miserable position of being a landlord and not doing the things that are going to bring us the biggest bang for our buck! How crazy is that? (Ans. Pretty Crazy!)
Pay attention to your time and realize what is giving you the biggest return on your investment…chances are there is some room for improvement and the good news is that if you can find room for improvement, you can increase your Wealth Velocity!
Good Luck and Happy Investing!
Rob
http://www.LocalRealEstateDeals.com
Friday, May 15, 2009
Technology for the Sake of Technology
Who doesn't love technology? After all, many of us grew up watching cartoons like the Jetsons where every episode would show us what the future was going to be like...well, it hasn't happened exactly like that, but as a culture, we are still fascinated with technology.
While the technowizards are creating new technology, it is the marketing wizards who figure out how to apply that technology and that is where the real magic happens. You see, technology for the sake of technology is very James Bond, in that it doesn't have a real practical use in the real world. In order for technology to gain a foothold in the market it needs to have a practical application and solve a problem.
There are too many technologies out there that don't solve any problems and do not have a practical application. While the technology is very cool, what good is it if it doesn't make our lives easier or make us more effective?
Technology has to stand the test of time before I can adopt it. A year doesn't sound like a long time unless you are dealing with technology. The fact is that I don't pay much attention to anything that hasn't been out for at least a year. If it is still around after that, I will check it out which is nice because by that time the price is usually half of what it was when it came out. By that time there will have been enough upgrades to the software that the bugs would hopefully be worked out. Not only that, in a year, people and companies would have put the product throught the rigors of the real world and would have found interesting partnerships and applications. Oh yes, a year is a long time in the big scheme of things.
Beyond the product itself, you need to have a good grasp on the ten thousand foot view as well. If you are keeping an eye on the general feelings of a particular market place, you will be able to spot a really useful technology before the masses understand the applications. Don't feel inhibited to embrace new technology to see if it works and to meddle with it...If you do that, just don't jump off the deep end and make it a part of every aspect of your life until you see it in action. It is easy to be swept off your feet by new technology, but it has to make sense.
One of the things I look for when I am considering new technology is how well it fits into my current suite of technology and how well it integrates. This could be anything from an i-phone to twitter. If it doesn't mesh with what I am working with, then it doesn't make sense. Technology should not create problems, it should relieve problems. I know that isn't always the case, but my point is that it should certainly create less problems than it solves.
To that end, embrace technology by all means, just know that all technology is not necessarily worth embracing. If it can help increase your bottom line, then it is definitely worth looking into.
Happy Investing.
Rob
http://www.LocalRealEstateDeals.com
While the technowizards are creating new technology, it is the marketing wizards who figure out how to apply that technology and that is where the real magic happens. You see, technology for the sake of technology is very James Bond, in that it doesn't have a real practical use in the real world. In order for technology to gain a foothold in the market it needs to have a practical application and solve a problem.
There are too many technologies out there that don't solve any problems and do not have a practical application. While the technology is very cool, what good is it if it doesn't make our lives easier or make us more effective?
Technology has to stand the test of time before I can adopt it. A year doesn't sound like a long time unless you are dealing with technology. The fact is that I don't pay much attention to anything that hasn't been out for at least a year. If it is still around after that, I will check it out which is nice because by that time the price is usually half of what it was when it came out. By that time there will have been enough upgrades to the software that the bugs would hopefully be worked out. Not only that, in a year, people and companies would have put the product throught the rigors of the real world and would have found interesting partnerships and applications. Oh yes, a year is a long time in the big scheme of things.
Beyond the product itself, you need to have a good grasp on the ten thousand foot view as well. If you are keeping an eye on the general feelings of a particular market place, you will be able to spot a really useful technology before the masses understand the applications. Don't feel inhibited to embrace new technology to see if it works and to meddle with it...If you do that, just don't jump off the deep end and make it a part of every aspect of your life until you see it in action. It is easy to be swept off your feet by new technology, but it has to make sense.
One of the things I look for when I am considering new technology is how well it fits into my current suite of technology and how well it integrates. This could be anything from an i-phone to twitter. If it doesn't mesh with what I am working with, then it doesn't make sense. Technology should not create problems, it should relieve problems. I know that isn't always the case, but my point is that it should certainly create less problems than it solves.
To that end, embrace technology by all means, just know that all technology is not necessarily worth embracing. If it can help increase your bottom line, then it is definitely worth looking into.
Happy Investing.
Rob
http://www.LocalRealEstateDeals.com
Thursday, May 14, 2009
New Models
The real estate industry is one of the oldest industries around. As long as people have been around, there has been a need for them to have shelter. In an industry as "old" as this, it is tough to come up with anything new. Sometimes we have to look outside of our industry for inspiration.
Over the years I have become fascinated with business models. Each industry has its own model that follows a line of thinking and most people and companies line up behind that mode of thinking and go out and do business the same way. There is nothing wrong with that, in fact, it is a very smart and safe way to grow your business. Like I said, each industry has its own model, so it is always interesting to me to look at how different industries make money.
Every once in a while, I find a business-model nugget that I can apply to a situation in our own business that let's me address a problem that my old model couldn't or wouldn't address. As you explore different models and challenge the models of other industries you begin to learn a new language of problem solving and business modeling.
There is a company that I am quite fond of that has a unique approach to their own highly-competitive market, that company is Morgan-James Publishing. If you think real estate is brutal, you should take a look at the publishing industry...NO THANKS! Anyway, the founder of the company, David Hancock, does things differently. His company is known as The Entrepreneurial Publisher and they have created their own model that will no doubt serve as the new model for many companies. You see, they have dared to try something new...something that hasn't been done before. It is worth checking out their websiteto see what they are doing.
www.MorganJamesPublishing.com
My point is that we cannot expect to get better results by doing what we have done for years. We have to aggressively search for new ways to conduct business. We have to dare to try some things and understand that not everything is going to work. There are no guarantees, so we have to keep reinventing ourselves and look for inspiration outside of our industry if that is what it takes.
My suggestion would be to do some research on what IT, web and computer companies were successful after the dot com bust, to find out how the industry as a whole responded to the down turn in the economy and the market. We can learn from other industries and other mistakes as if they were our own if we pull our heads out of the daily grind and look around. There are golden lessons to be learned and they are your for the taking. By reviewing other models, we gain deeper insight into how we might move forward in a given situation where we otherwise might have be prone to make snap judgments that tend to make things worse.
We have our challenges, but the answers are out there! It is time to reinvent our businesses and in the mean time, reinvent the real estate industry.
We would love to know what you are doing different in the new economy.
Regards,
Rob
http://www.LocalRealEstateDeals.com
Over the years I have become fascinated with business models. Each industry has its own model that follows a line of thinking and most people and companies line up behind that mode of thinking and go out and do business the same way. There is nothing wrong with that, in fact, it is a very smart and safe way to grow your business. Like I said, each industry has its own model, so it is always interesting to me to look at how different industries make money.
Every once in a while, I find a business-model nugget that I can apply to a situation in our own business that let's me address a problem that my old model couldn't or wouldn't address. As you explore different models and challenge the models of other industries you begin to learn a new language of problem solving and business modeling.
There is a company that I am quite fond of that has a unique approach to their own highly-competitive market, that company is Morgan-James Publishing. If you think real estate is brutal, you should take a look at the publishing industry...NO THANKS! Anyway, the founder of the company, David Hancock, does things differently. His company is known as The Entrepreneurial Publisher and they have created their own model that will no doubt serve as the new model for many companies. You see, they have dared to try something new...something that hasn't been done before. It is worth checking out their websiteto see what they are doing.
www.MorganJamesPublishing.com
My point is that we cannot expect to get better results by doing what we have done for years. We have to aggressively search for new ways to conduct business. We have to dare to try some things and understand that not everything is going to work. There are no guarantees, so we have to keep reinventing ourselves and look for inspiration outside of our industry if that is what it takes.
My suggestion would be to do some research on what IT, web and computer companies were successful after the dot com bust, to find out how the industry as a whole responded to the down turn in the economy and the market. We can learn from other industries and other mistakes as if they were our own if we pull our heads out of the daily grind and look around. There are golden lessons to be learned and they are your for the taking. By reviewing other models, we gain deeper insight into how we might move forward in a given situation where we otherwise might have be prone to make snap judgments that tend to make things worse.
We have our challenges, but the answers are out there! It is time to reinvent our businesses and in the mean time, reinvent the real estate industry.
We would love to know what you are doing different in the new economy.
Regards,
Rob
http://www.LocalRealEstateDeals.com
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Local Real Estate Deals Twitter Tweets!
Local Real Estate Deals just keeps on embracing technology…You can now view our Twitter Tweets on our blog as well…Sign up and follow our daily tweets!
Rob
Follow Local Real Estate Deals on Twitter
http://twitter.com/LocalREDeals
http://www.LocalRealEstateDeals.com
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