Step On It: Taking Action

A few weeks ago, while discussing training packages, I had someone tell me that although money was no issues he would not make any decisions at this time since he didn't not want to make an emotional decision and he would think about it.

It is probably a good thing he didn't commit to purchasing. Since he is unable or unwilling to take action on the spot, he would probably be a terrible real estate investor.

Let me explain. The advantage I have over other potential buyers is that I can provide an offer on a property
I'm looking into within a half hour. It increases my chance to be the first offer received and accepted. If other offers comes in afterwards, it's already under contract. Also, realtors took notice of my quick trigger offers, and would start sending me pocket listing to me. It's to their advantage to try and get an offer in place before they go through all the problem of listing on MLS. I can also take action on the raw information, I don't need to wait for the pretty package.

The reason I can do this with little risk is because of the exit clauses I have in place. Those are my safety nets, my protections.

In the case of the training package; he also had is exit clause in place. The contract included a ten days right to cancel and a satisfaction guarantees.

What A Life: Halloween

Well, my boys scored this Halloween! My husband sent me the pictures of the candy piles. Yes, unfortunately I missed Halloween this year. However I did get to attend pumpkin carving with my youngest in his class room and we also carved our own pumpkins at home.

During my time away while feeling a little sorry about myself for missing out on this Halloween, I came across a quote that perked me up a little.

An entrepreneur lives how most people won't so that later they can live like most people can't.

By always keeping in mind our goals, it makes it easier to dedicate the time and  effort to the task at hand to reach said goals.

Rich Dad Radio: Inside Job

Why is our cities and government going bankrupt? Well that is Robert's topic for this weeks Rich Dad Radio. He takes the time to mention that he will not be neutral on his opinion of this topic. I didn't noticed he was been neutral before.

He has for guests Sal Diccicio and Tom Forese.

They discuss that it is our civil workers (Public Sector) that is robbing us into bankruptcy. The government is no longer a public service, they are in the self service system. I remember growing up, listening to the adults talk about jobs. Getting a government job was the ultimate goal. The reason was because you were then guaranteed an easy job, with guaranteed retirement ease. But if you work in the private sector, you made less with less benefits.

There was a time when an ex boyfriend of mine had started a new job working with a government work crew fixing roads. I would ask him how his new job was going. He was shocked, he had just gotten paid for eight hours of work when about four or more of those where spent laying on the side of the road waiting for this or that.

A co-worker of mine once told me about his wife having been reprimanded at her government job for being too efficient. She was getting through too many cases in a day, and was told she had to tone it down.

Robert and his guests are talking about the situation in the states. However the examples I have been expose to have all being in Canada.

One thing that Robert as said in this episode as stood out to me. Politicians are only concern about making it back in office so they will do and say anything to please the public. A leader however will make everyone mad and create great things.

Even if the government decided to fix the problems within itself, we would not let them. We are still too concern about what they can provide for us regardless of whether it can be afforded or not. We have become spoiled kids with a false sense of entitlement.

Inspirational Corner: Pain or Passion

Last fall I met a fellow student that had bought real estate investing courses. He was very excited and nervous about the new endeavour. His current position at work was about to be dissolved and the future was unsure.

Lately, I found out he quit investing in real estate all together. I was surprised. He had seemed so motivated. Turns out he was no longer at risk of losing his job. With that he lost his motivation. His partner however kept going. In less then a year he as wholesaled fourteen deals. He's doing amazing!! Even seeing first hand such success wasn't enough to have my friend re-invest his time into real estate.

There is only two things that motivate us. Pain or Passion. That's it.

Sometimes, life happens and we end up in a corner. We either push ourselves out of it or succumb to the circumstances. People have accomplished incredible things when there was no other way.

Or if you desire something enough, that it's always on your mind, you'll do what it takes to obtain it.

When pain is your motivation, to keep the momentum going the source of motivation would need to eventually change to passion, Because pain doesn't last. That's the reason we should concentrate on the WHY, what you wish to accomplish. Passion will not burn forever, it needs to be cultivated. Purposely kept in focus.

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Good To Know: Selling As A Rent To Own

Why would we consider selling a house as a Rent-To-Own instead of a regular straight sell? As with everything, there are pros and cons. Of course to most people selling their home, a straight forward sell with the use of a realtor is the ideal solutions. They get the lump sum of their money up front ready to use towards their next home. But sometimes that scenario is not so picture perfect. Sometimes their are no buyers interested. The only way realtors know to sell your house is to lower the price, cutting into your potential profit and hard earn equity.

Or sometime you get in the situation where due to a drop in the housing market there is no equity in your house. In fact you owe more then the house is worth. This as happened to a lot of people, not only in the US but right here in Alberta and across Canada. Your options are now drastically lowered. You can no longer rely on the help of a realtor as there will not be enough room for their commission. As long as you do not have to move and sell your house you'll be okay. But if the situation change, then there is trouble.

Or there are also the new builders. Building the house of their dreams while living in their current home. When the new house is ready, the plan is to sell the old one. The problem arise when the old house is not selling making you support two mortgages. Ouch.

In all of these situation a Rent To Own can help. First lets discuss what a Rent To Own really is. It is renting a house then to sell it at the end of an agreed term.

The pros:

• You are dealing with tenant-buyers instead of renters; they have an owners mentality and since they intend to purchase the house, they treat it as their own. Also they are responsible for maintenance and minor repairs.
• Get top value: Tenant-Buyers are people who don't quite qualify for their own mortgage may it be a credit issue or lack of full down payment. However they have been qualified by a mortgage broker to ensure they are able to handle the payments. Rent To Own gives them a few years to fix their situation. You can then require fair market value for your house.
• End up getting more for your property: By having you mortgage payments taken care of for the terms of a few years, it is lowering you mortgage balance forcing appreciation for your property.

The cons:

• There is a delay in getting paid. Although you will get monthly payment covering the expenses of the house you will not cash in the full payment of the sale.

In this real example the owner had a mortgage exceeding the value of the house. Unfortunately do to new employment they also had to move and sell the property. Since there was no equity into the property a realtor was unable to sell their property. As you can see it would not have been in their benefit to do so anyways. In this case it did not put the sell into a positive solution but it did dramatically lower their loss.

Rent To Own may not be the best solutions for everyone but in many cases, it can increase you return on the sell of your property and facilitate a sell.

What Are You Reading? Why "A" Students Works For "C" Students - Part 1, Chapter 5

The "Action Step For Parents" in this chapter is to discuss your child's dreams and the different ways success is defined outside of the school system.

When I'm working an event, we always ask out student what are their "Why" or their "Dream". Most of the time, they do not have an answer ready. If we were to go into a kindergarten classroom instead and ask the same question, we would be bombarded with answers. When did we loose our capability to have dreams and goal for ourselves? 

It's important to nurture those dreams and goal in our children. Not only that, but we should also develop them by activity planning on them. Discuss how to make it a reality the different and best way to learn.

Rich Dad Radio: Are You A Born Loser?

This week, on Rich Dad Radio, Kim and Robert have Dr. Alexander Elder author of "Trading For A Living" and "Come To My Trading Room". Do you want to find out if you have what it takes to win?

This radio show holds a special place in my heart, because it talks about technical trading in the stock market. Especially in technical trading, you need to develop the right psychology. When we started learning on trading stocks, our mind set was the biggest hurdle we had to overcome. It's something we needed to overcome again and again as we grew bigger and as we became complacent. Some of us may never get to control our emotions enough to develop the right psychology to become successful. Dr Elder discuss risk control and money management for successful stock trading. Great stuff!!