How did Keller Williams Realty come to be?

How did the founders set themselves apart from other real estate companies?

Find out how in the video below!

Many of the readers have requested permission to post from this blog site and commented complimentary comments here on the postings and left tips as well.

First of  THANK-YOU ALL who read and share the information here and especially those of you who take time to make comments (good and/or bad, I belive its ok to agree to disagree sometimes and I dont know everything nor have all the answers).

YES is the answer! Please feel free to share information from this site, link to and from this site as much as you like.

Thank-you again and remember to make it a great day!
Michael Simpson

Buzz Phrases and Tip Offs to identify a seller:

• Apartment building with a waiting list (under market rents, lots of equity, undervalued property)
• Expensive deferred maintenance (long term owner, possibly lots of equity)
• Paying high taxes on real estate income (lots of equity/no debt, depreciation gone, very low property tax basis)
• Absentee Landlord (owner too busy to deal with property/too far to travel to maintain property)
• Owner tired of managing, ready to delegate (property management or sale opportunity)
• Are they cash poor and real estate rich? (lots of equity, not enough cash flow or income does not support owners lifestyle)

Questions to ask to identify a buyer or leasing clients:

• Is their company new, expanding, relocating, or downsizing? Are they hiring? Laying off?
• Are they interested in buying a business?
• Do they own or want investment property or land?
• Are they landlords?  Do they want to be?

In this week’s Fire Side Chat…

Michael Simpson shares is “Why” and talks about raising the bar.

Check it out!

Here are a few more updates from my last trip to Sacramento in June for C.A.R. (California Association of Realtors), I will have a more detailed update later after our Broker Brown Bag/C.A.R. update in July.

There is “Pending” legislation that the First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit will be extended from June 30 2010 to September 30 2010. Please keep in mind that this is “NOT official yet” and that this extension (if approved) will only apply to “closings”, allowing more time for delayed pending escrows.

HVCC – As you can imagine this is a very hot topic for everyone!! I will talk on this extensively however for this email there is pending legislation that would if passed effectively “sunset” the HVCC! At minimum we are lobbying to essentially get legislation approved to give more authority to OREA (Office of Real Estate Appraisers) to oversee the AMC’s (Appraisal Management Companies) and get portability on appraisals.

FHA – The requirement for borrowers to pay a larger down payment (increase) did NOT pass.
The “decrease” in maximum loan amounts did NOT pass.

REO Inventory – Discussion

Legal Update – Discussion

Short Sales - Huge Discussion, great panel including B of A processor (poor gal took a beating), Attorney, Top Agent, Short Sale Trainer will include link to her package we approve) and Asset Manager. However teaser topics are 3rd party negotiators are on the hot seat!  We are responsible for their actions, there are possible agency ramifications being discussed (remember they must be licensed under a Broker) as technically the negotiations are part of our role.

There are huge discussion points regarding fees (with 3rd party negotiators), the immediate urgency you need to be aware of is to be careful about fees in the MLS as it could be considered offer of compensation and will now apparently be enforced through MLS (Citations, Arbitration’s etc).

I will also have a few handouts at the Broker Brown Bag, NAR Myth Buster’s (clarification on emails presently circulating wrong information) as well as handout QNA New Medicare Tax on earned income.

HUD 1 – Remember off the HUD 1 = Doing a deal in a dark alley!! (Don’t do it).

Lastly, I am attaching a clip from Utube, the first 3 minutes say it all! I don’t know if any of you have been contacted by any of these folks out there but I know I have and this stuff is scary!

Understand that there are people out there teaching and attending seminars on essentially how to De Fraud!

You have heard this from me numerous times, beware, be knowledgeable and informed  (plug in to our meetings and trainings).

In this week’s Fire Side Chat, Michael Simpson interviews special guest Adriana Lanting of Progressive Loan Funding. You won’t want to miss the important information discussed in this short but informative clip.

www.Facebook.com/socalcommercial

Many investment property owners who have owned their investments for a number of years have experienced equity growth. When the property was acquired, the investor LEVERAGED into the acquisition.  But as property value grows over time, its equity growth tends not to keep up with producing a proportionate cash flow or income – which causes the property to loose its leverage. The property has earned a good ROI (Return on Investment), but unfortunately is getting a reduced benefit from ROE (Return on Equity).  The greater the property’s equity, the smaller percentage of return you earn from rents.

There are 2 possible solutions:

1-     Re-Leverage by refinancing the property and acquire other investment real estate which can grow in both ROI and ROE, or

2-     Sell and Acquire more or larger properties within an

IRC §1031 Tax Deferred Exchange.

Whether an investor owns a property all cash or with leverage, the benefits of tax deferral are significant. The tax dollar savings can be utilized to purchase additional investment property.  The example below shows the significant advantage of exchanging for an investor who sells a property for $1,000,000 which has been fully depreciated and that is debt-free. This assumes the owner is subject to federal capital gains and state taxes – including the recapture of depreciation.

Example:

Sales Price: $1,000,000

Sale Only vs.                Exchanging

$75,000 Closing Cost $75,000

$340,000 Taxes - 0- (Deferred)

$585,000 Funds Left to Reinvest $925,000

If the investor leverages this new property to 70% by putting 30% down, this investor could purchase properties totaling:

Acquisition Value

$1,950,000            vs. $3,083,300

Selling and reinvesting via a Exchange gave this investor increased portfolio growth of 64%. Now ROE is respectable and opens up the potential to earn a greater monthly return – greater income and greater ROI.

Good morning everyone,

One of our agents was sharing with me yesterday that they were feeling a bit discouraged (sound familiar?).

I suggested that they pick up this book by Andy Andrews The Travelers Gift and read it.

It is an amazing book and has helped me personally in several ways, as well as several others that I know. I cannot recommend this book enough.

I happen to grab the book this morning and opened to (coincidently?)…………Decision # 7 which I am sharing with you below.

I want to encourage all of you to keep going, keep feeding your mind positive thoughts, do NOT focus and feed your mind negative thoughts, remember the story of the two wolves? The wolf you feed is the wolf that wins!

Keep going, Keep feeding positive messages to your brain, force feed!

I want you to know I am here to help you in any way that I can and that I too am not quitting what I have set out to accomplish in fact……… this is only the beginning!

Make it a great weekend!

Michael Simpson

I Will Persist Without Exception.

I possess the greatest power ever bestowed upon mankind, the power of choice.

Today, I choose to persist without exception. No longer will I live in a dimension of distraction, my focus blown hither and yon like a leaf on a blustery day. I know the outcome I desire. I hold fast to my dreams. I stay the course. I do not quit.

I will persist without exception. I will continue despite exhaustion. I acknowledge the fact that most people quit when exhaustion sets in. I am not “most people.” I am stronger than most people.

Average people accept exhaustion as a matter of course. I do not. Average people compare themselves with other people. That is why they are average. I compare myself to my potential. I am not average. I see exhaustion as a precursor to victory.

How long must a child try to walk before he actually does so? Do I not have more strength than a child?

More understanding? More desire? How long must I work to succeed before I actually do so?

A child would never ask the question, for the answer does not matter.

By persisting without exception, my outcome—my success—is assured. I will persist without exception. I focus on results.

To achieve the results I desire, it is not even necessary that I enjoy the process. It is only important that I continue the process with my eyes on the outcome. An athlete does not enjoy the pain of training; an athlete enjoys the results of having trained. A young falcon is pushed from the nest, afraid and tumbling from the cliff.

The pain of learning to fly cannot be an enjoyable experience, but the anguish of learning to fly is quickly forgotten as the falcon soars to the heavens.

A sailor who fearfully watches stormy seas lash his vessel will always steer an unproductive course. But a wise and experienced captain keeps his eye firmly fixed upon the lighthouse. He knows that by guiding his ship directly to a specific point, the time spent in discomfort is lessened. And by keeping his eye on the light, there never exists one second of discouragement. My light, my harbor, my future is within sight!

I will persist without exception. I am a person of great faith. In Jeremiah, my Creator declares, “For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” From this day forward, I will claim a faith in the certainty of my future. Too much of my life has been spent doubting my beliefs and believing my doubts.

No more!

I have faith in my future. I do not look left or right. I look forward. I can only persist. For me, faith will always be a sounder guide than reason because reason can only go so far—faith has no limits. I will expect miracles in my life because faith produces them every day. I will believe in the future that I do not see. That is faith. And the reward of this faith is to see the future that I believed. I will continue despite exhaustion. I focus on results. I am a person of great faith.

I will persist without exception.

“Andy Andrews”

The Traveler’s Gift© 2006 Andy Andrews 7 AndyAndrews.com

This is a repost of a a great article in the OC Register by Jonathon Lanser and Jeff Collins, thanks for the info.

Michael Simpson

4 big local landlords cut rent 5.3%

AIMCO complex in Costa Mesa

Equity Residential in Foothill Ranch

Essex Property in Fullerton

AvalonBay in Anaheim

The local apartment market isn’t the easiest thing to track, so we figured we’d try something new! We know of four large, publically traded apartment owners (acting as real estate investment trusts) with significant SoCal complexes who dole out juicy tidbits about their rental performance.

Thus, by digging into their most-recent quarterly financials we thought we’d get a different vista on the strength of the local market by reading what these big landlords are telling investors. What did we learn?

• The four REITs — Equity Residential, Essex Property, AIMCO and AvalonBay — own a combined 39,577 units in Southern California. (That’s a visual taste of their Orange County offerings above. Click for larger images!)
• Thanks to my trusty spreadsheet, this foursome’s collective SoCal rents — factoring in their relative number of local units owned — dropped 5.3% vs. a year ago. (RealFacts, which surveys numerous owners of large complexes, had Orange County rents down 4.8% in the year ended in the first quarter.)
• Their 39,577 apartments, again weighted by the size of their holdings, were 95.7% full.
• And those rent cuts did some good for the landlords: occupancy rate was collectively up 0.97 percentage points in the year.
• Chart at right details what we could find out — or noodle with a little math — about our four apartment-owning REITs by SoCal units owned; typical SoCal rent in the past quarter; year’s percentage change in that rent; occupancy rate; and year’s change in rents in percentage points.

How long will rent cuts be the norm in SoCal?