Give Nothing Away for Free

I heard someone once say that people rarely value anything they get for free.  In order to truly appreciate something you must have some skin in the game.  However, the rules of the game are changing.  A mentor of mine once told me that wealth can be created competitively or cooperatively.  The competitive individual believes [...]

Treat Your Business like a Hobby

Hobbies are expensive.  I used to really be into wakeboarding.  In 2005, I bought a $60,000 wakeboard boat and over $1,000 in wakeboard equipment.  A single roundtrip to the lake cost me over $100 in gas.  In just my third outing in the new boat I tore my ACL while attempting a simple trick on [...]

Invest for Appreciation, Not Cash Flow

There are plenty of ways to lose millions investing in real estate.  But, investing for appreciation and not cash flow has got to rank very high on my list of sure fire ways to lose a bundle.
I’m a big country music fan.  George Strait is one of my favorite artists.  He had a hit recently [...]

The Loan Modification Mess

Everyone seems to have an opinion about loan modification.  If you ask a politician, government official, or member of the media most of them will tell you that obtaining a loan modification from your lender is as easy as picking up the phone.  In the very next breath they will tell you that all loan [...]

Be a Novice in Your Market

I read a story over the weekend about a young man named Billy Jinks.  He’s 19 years old and owns a limo company that grossed $1.4 million in sales last year.  I’m not going to go into detail about the article (you can read about it at http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/business/articles/2009/05/09/20090509biz-mr-limo0509.html), but I would like to use his [...]

Begin with the Beginning in Mind

Let’s start with a few cliches’ shall we?  I’ve heard “begin with the end in mind” and the old standard ”no one ever plans to fail they just fail to plan.”  My favorite comes from the movie, The Hunt For Red October.  Fred Thompson, the actor-turned-senator-turned potential presidential candidate, said to Jack Ryan (Alec Baldwin), “the [...]

5 Ways to Lose a Million in Real Estate

Over the next week or so I will attempt to explain how to lose a million dollars (or more) in real estate.  I’m certain there are more than 5 ways to do it.  I’m also sure that others have lost a million more gloriously.  But, after going through the experience myself I came up with this list:

Begin with the [...]