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.

Continue reading Investors should care about immigration reform

One economic indicator that I consult from time to time is the Global Insight quarterly study on housing prices in America. Here’s an interesting conclusion from the report: of the 330 regional markets surveyed, Houston is the most undervalued.

The Global Insight uses a number of factors in determining the theoretical price equilibrium level for each market, to include tax rates, population density, income levels, plus a somewhat nebulous “desirability factor”. So, as with all economic studies there is some art mixed in with the science, but nonetheless I find this study to be an useful data point when thinking about the relative valuation of markets.

Continue reading Now vs. Then :: oil price and property markets

HomeGain recently announced the addition of a helpful new tool…the Home Sale Maximizer. This user-friendly resource guides sellers in identifying repairs needed to maximize their overall home sale. Agents can also make great use of this tool for setting listing prices, and showing sellers how they can increase the salability of their home. Louis Cammarosano, General Manager of HomeGain adds, “With the addition of Home Sale Maximizer to its product suite, HomeGain now offers consumers the ability to get a instant free home valuation without registration as well as information on how to make their homes worth more.”

Continue reading HomeGain Offers New Tool For Sellers

The big question these days seems to “What’s happening with housing prices in my area”? Well at least in the Black Forest, that doesn’t seem to be a very easy question to answer. The year to date numbers are fairly erratic and don’t seem to show any real trend, as the accompanying graph shows.
I thought this looked kind of strange given what we are seeing in the market today…So, I took a look at the number of new listing that hit the market as well as the number that sold. Additionally, I kept a running tally of what was left over, let’s call this inventory. This as I found out is where the real pain is in the market, at least in Black Forest. The most disturbing graphic is the steep red line the show the accumulating inventory.See Graph

Continue reading Black Forest Housing Prices

In A Brief History of Time, Stephen Hawking mentions a publisher’s rule of thumb that every equation that a writer uses will cut his readership in half. Real estate investing is based on relatively simple principles - especially compared to the stuff that Hawking tackles - but there are some real estate investing concepts that can be delivered a bit more effectively aided by a few equations and numerical examples. So bear with me…

I wrote in a recent column that when an investment starts “getting good” – when it starts kicking off some cashflow and putting some dollars in your pocket on a month-to-month basis – then that’s the time to sell. This might sound counter-intuitive, but I’ll give a couple of examples that show why it is true.

Continue reading Are you rebalancing your real estate portfolio?

So, what can you learn from The Secret Classroom?

Well, again, I haven’t purchased it myself therefor I can’t give you guys a full review about The Secret Classroom myself…, but here’s an email that I received from Joel earlier today explaining some more about what you can learn from The Secret Classroom:

Subject: What can you learn from the Secret Classroom?

Imagine that you got a phone call from Mike Filsaime and he wants to know if he can come over and tell you what he knows about viral marketing.

Would you make room on your calendar?

What if Marlon Sanders wanted to come over to share what he knows about product creation?

Continue reading Secret Classroom Home Study Course - What Can You Learn From The Secret Classroom?

Just a quick note for you today about The Secret Classroom and another sweet bonus deal and then I have to go…get some sleep :p

But, before I start, I have to admit that I haven’t purchased it myself and so I can’t give you guys a review or anything (sorry) about Joel’s Secret Classroom…

But, if you haven’t picked up a copy of The Secret Classroom yet, you aren’t too late. In fact, I’ve just received an email from Joel and he has provided me with a $100 coupon that you can use on the purchase of your copy if you will hurry and use it before it expires, which is perhaps even better than me giving you a review

Continue reading The Secret Classroom Plus Bonus or Save $100 on The Secret Classroom

Me again…and I have LOTS of goodies for you today!

Two days ago I wrote a post about Project Quick Cash, which I really think is a great product, explaining what it is all about. If you’ve missed it, just click here…

Well today, I’ve got some great goodies for those who are planning to get Project Quick Cash and want a very sweet ‘Project Quick Cash’ bonus too!

Let me tell you all about it…

I am so confident that PQC will work for you, that I am going to an insane extent to ensure that you own this product. But remember, this crazy offer holds good ONLY for this week.

Continue reading Project Quick Cash Plus Bonus?, A Very Sweet ?Project Quick Cash? Bonus!

Ok, usually I don’t just copy&paste an email and use it as a blog post, I just did it twice and I’m sorry for that, but I guess there are always exceptions…

So the reason I’m using an email this time is simply because it provides you with everything you need to know and I just wanted to get the message out there…here asap!

And you’ve probably already noticed the title, therefor I’ll just provide you with the email I received from the guys at PLRPro…

Subject: PLRPro $1 Trial Permanently Live…

Hey Robert,

Continue reading Join PLRPro For One Dollar - PLRPro $1 Trial Permanently Live

I had an fun and informative phone conversation the other day with Jeff Brown of Brown & Brown  in San Diego that made me think about cashflow – and the way that different investors think about what it means.

I talk a lot about cashflow in this column, but cashflow isn’t really my game when it comes to investing in real estate.  The cashflow question, to me, really isn’t about “how much cash is this property going to put into my pocket on a month to month basis.”  The cashflow question, to me, is really about “are the fundamentals of this property strong enough that it will support itself?”

Continue reading Why is cashflow important?