The Lund Letters - Helping all achieve success and financial freedom!!!

Napoleon Hill says...

2009-06-08T05:21:00.000-07:00

"The best job goes to the person who can get it done without passing the buck or coming back with excuses." -Napoleon Hill

A child and a dollar...

2009-05-11T19:40:00.000-07:00

"What should a child do with a dollar? Here's one philosophy: It's only a child and it's only a dollar, so what difference does it make? Wow, what a philosophy! Where do you suppose everything starts for the future? Here's where it starts - it starts with a child and a dollar. You say, 'Well, he's only a child once. Let him spend it all.' Well, when would you hope that would stop? When he's fifty and broke?...".

-Jim Rohn

Probably my last 'original' post for a while...

2009-05-08T05:27:00.000-07:00

Well, this decision has been a long time coming... It has been a tough decision to make, but at least for the time being, I am going to quit writing 'The Lund Letters'. I guess to some extent I quit a while ago, and this is just finalizing the decision.

I started out with the idea that eventually, at some future point in time, my writing would blossom into something bigger than just me... That it would take on a life of its own, and grow, help a lot of people, and that God would show me what to do to make it something wonderful. The truth is, I had a great time writing, and I still plan to eventually do something with my writing, but now is not that time. The time and energy that I put into writing seemed to be more for me than anyone else, and right now I feel that my time and energy is better spent being a husband, and a Dad, and a real estate investor.

I am still an active real estate investor, and will gladly share advice if any of you need it. In fact, the real estate investing is a big part of why I am on sabbatical from my writing. I have been doing mostly buy and hold real estate for about 11 years now, and I see a window of opportunity in real estate right now that I do not believe will ever exist for me again. What do I mean?

This is just my opinion, so take it for what it is worth, but what I mean is that I think we are in a position in Central Florida to buy cash flowing residential real estate that we have never seen before, and that we are unlikely to see again in my lifetime. During the five or so years when the market was going up like crazy, any so-called investor could use the dart board pattern of buying property and make money because of appreciation. Anyone and everyone was making money in real estate. That was just dumb luck. What I am talking about now is an opportunity for skilled investors, and only a few people will make the most of it, and I intend to be one of them. Let me go into more detail.

What I see now is a brief window of opportunity, that may last as little as one year, or as long as several years, where knowledgeable buy and hold investors can buy properties for significantly below their true value, that will cash flow like crazy, without having to spend countless hours scouring hundreds of properties to find a needle in a haystack. I have been a very successful real estate investor over the years because I got good at finding the needle in a haystack - the diamond among the rocks, if you will - and let me tell you, the diamonds are popping up like crazy right now! The game stays the same, only the rules have changed. Today, success in real estate investing will not go to the person who can find the diamond in the rough, but to the person who is able to successfully raise funds, buy the right properties, and is skillful at managing them. Success in this real estate market go to the people that know how to play the game Cash Flow (LOL)! Cash Flow is back, and it is king!

Due to the high rate of foreclosures, REOs (Real Estate Owned), which means primarily bank owned properties, are flooding the market. This is the best buyers market I have ever seen, and I believe that it is once in a lifetime. I can buy dozens of properties today at prices lower than I could buy one needle in a haystack for 11 years ago. Then, taking it a step further, the property I buy today pulls in a significantly higher rent than it did 11 years ago. The last few years may have put some of you 'through the fire' as real estate investors, and you may be afraid to 'get back into the game', but, let me share my opinion that if you don't, you may miss the opportunity of a lifetime.

Let me share a couple deals I just bought and/or I am buying right now in Lakeland. First deal: 3 bedroom, 1 bath block home in fairly decent area (very good schools), about 900 square feet living area. Price - $36K. What I spent on repairs - $1,220. Cash flow - got $2K down, $650/month, rent to own, sell price $69.9K (which is a very fair price), with contract and deposit in hand before I even closed on the house. Tenant/buyer started moving in the day we closed. If they pay on time for 6 months, which I have no doubt they will (I do my homework), I will owner finance, and when they file for the 10% first time homebuyer tax credit, I will get the $6,990 (balloon second mortgage). Eleven years ago, this house would have been a needle in a haystack if I could have bought it for $40K, and rented it for $500/month. No rent to own, and no tax credit incentive. Second deal: 1,822 square feet living area duplex (2/1 both sides). Price - $42K. Estimated repairs - $2-4K. Rents - $550-600 each side. Eleven years ago, it would have been a steal at $50K with rents of $400 each side.

Further, I am seeing the possibility of deals still getting better every day right now. IT WON'T LAST!!! Mark my words here, folks. We are in the middle of a once in a lifetime opportunity!

Do you want to know how many of the mega rich people in our country created their wealth? There is a very simple pattern. They bought when everyone else was selling. HELLO?!!!!!!!! J. Paul Getty was buying oil wells and equipment late in The Great Depression. Everyone was getting out, and Getty was leveraging himself to the max buying for pennies on the dollar. Everyone in oil said he was crazy and would be bankrupt in less than a year. What those people didn't realize was, the country still needed oil. Getty went on to be the richest man in America for a time. Today in real estate - guess what - people still need a place to live!

If you buy properties that cash flow like crazy, no matter what else happens, you can hold them for the long term. In the long term, they will go up. History proves this. Plus, if I am right, the gems that are available today won't need a real long time to go up. If you buy the best cash flowing properties at the best prices, they will have equity in them when you buy them, and they will increase in value even more when this market corrects. The real estate market was completely overbought, way too high, and now, select properties (not all of them!) are being completely oversold. This spells O-P-P-O-R-T-U-N-I-T-Y! Many investors I know are still running scared, but let me tell you what I am doing. In the past month, I have made offers on about a dozen properties. They were low ball offers, on properties that were already bargains at the asking price! Only two of them stuck. Good E Nuff.

These two properties will give me combined positive cashflow after all expenses of $800-1,000/month. I paid cash, but, 100% financed, I would still be positive about $300-600, with none of my own money invested! N-O-N-E! Anybody else need a raise? I do!

Anyhow, a final note... If any of you know of someone who wants to make solid returns on their money, with no risk, please let me know. I have a credit score over 700. I have never been a day late or a dollar short with any payments. I have an 11 year track record of successful real estate investing, including the last 2 years when a lot of people got clobbered. I own over a half dozen properties free and clear, and I am willing to give first mortgages at 50% LTV (loan to value), rate and terms TBD. Will also consider equity sharing.

They can contact me by e-mail: reinvestorsfl@aol.com
Home Phone #(863)858-8911
Cell Phone #(863)398-7099

If you know of people/companies that are lending money to buy and hold investors today, please get me contact information and I will gladly follow up. Thank you!

'You can have your excuses, or you can have your dreams, but you can't have both!'

Best wishes,Chris Lund

Lee Iacooca says...

2009-04-30T07:26:00.000-07:00

"There ain't no free lunches in this country. And don't go spending your whole life commiserating that you got the raw deals. You've got to say, 'I think that if I keep working at this and want it bad enough I can have it.' It's called perseverance."
-Lee IacoccaBusinessman and Former CEO of Chrysler

Quote for the Day - Ben Franklin...

2009-03-09T07:18:00.000-07:00

"Wealth depends chiefly on two words, industry and frugality; that is, waste neither time nor money, but make the best use of both." -Benjamin Franklin

A Chris Lund original quote...

2009-02-26T21:24:00.000-08:00

Keep doing what it takes to get where you want to go until the world can no longer deny you... your destiny!!! -Chris Lund original

Quote for the Day...

2009-02-12T06:37:00.000-08:00

"Make each day useful and cheerful and prove that you know the worth of time by employing it well. Then youth will be happy, old age without regret and life a beautiful success."
-Louisa May Alcott1832-1888, Author

Winston Churchill quote...

2008-12-16T20:11:00.000-08:00

"Never, never, never give up!" -Winston Churchill

Quote for the Day...

2008-12-16T05:34:00.000-08:00

"If you think about disaster, you will get it. Brood about death and you hasten your demise. Think positively and masterfully, with confidence and faith, and life becomes more secure, more fraught with action, richer in achievement and experience."
Eddie Rickenbacker1890-1973, American Fighter Ace, Race Car Driver and pioneer in air transportation.

How to Create All of the Wealth and Success You Want In Your Life – Tip #12

2008-11-23T20:03:00.001-08:00

This is tip #12 of at least 10 in the series (yes, we passed our minimum starting goal, and we will probably be rapping up the series soon). I have published most of them as e-zine articles, but if any are missing, they are all available on my blog. Thanks, and enjoy Tip #12…

Tip #12 – Give yourself permission… Several previous tips hit on the fringes of this, but I feel like this is important enough that it deserves its own article, too. What could I possibly mean when I say you need to give yourself permission to create and have all of the wealth and success you want in your life?

Well, most self-made millionaires started out poor, and wanted something better for their lives, but they had to overcome this major obstacle. Most of us, if we are born into a poor family, are programmed from the time we are babies to stay poor. Our parent(s), without thinking about the impact it has, say things like: rich people are greedy; money doesn’t grow on trees; what do you think we are, the Rockefellers; you want me to buy you what, do you know how hard I have to work for what little money we have; if you want it, go out and get a job and earn the money yourself. If you want to be rich, WOW, what tough programming to have installed in you from birth!!!

So we have programming from birth that says it is bad and wrong to be wealthy. Our programming is unlikely to say, “It is okay to be wealthy if you don’t take advantage of others, and if you make the world a better place through the earning and use of wealth”. Furthermore, it likely teaches that the only way to earn money is by the sweat of our brow. It is unlikely that we were taught that we can get wealthy by thought, creativity, ideas, wise investments, etc.

Then, more layers complicate things even more. We spend years in school learning how to be good employees. We are taught to follow the rules. Every child must do the same work, and act in the same way. Forget about what you are good at, or where your passions would lead you; you must do the three R’s like everyone else. Forget about being unique, or finding your true calling. Every student must conform to the herd. To some extent, conforming is necessary for the public school system to work, but oh how it stifles creativity and individual ideas!

But I tell you, God did not intend for us to be the pine caterpillar. You see, if you place pine caterpillars end-to-end, in a circle, they will follow each other around that circle indefinitely. You can place food in the center of the circle, and the pine caterpillars will continue to follow each other around that circle until they die of starvation, so strong is their follow-the-herd mentality. They won’t break away on their own and go to the food. But to be wealthy and successful, you must break away from the herd. You must break away from mediocrity, and chase greatness in something. Wealth and success generally requires that you be very good at what you do – whatever that may be. Brian Tracy says you want to get in the top 10%, because all of the rewards go to the top 10%.

However, for most of us who were raised poor, no where in our programming were we taught that it is okay to be wealthy and successful. Instead, we were taught that the wealthy are greedy, or that they should be put on a pedestal that is not meant for us to attain (Rockefellers, Carnegies, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln – we were taught about them, as icons, but we were not taught that we could become like them – why?).

What I am saying is, if this is how you were programmed from birth, then there is a giant step that is necessary for you to take before you can achieve wealth and success… You have to give yourself permission to break out from the herd. You have to decide that you deserve more and better. You have to recognize that rich and successful people are often the most kind, giving, caring, and compassionate people in the world. I think I mentioned before some of what helped me with this step – the mantra, “I get rich doing what I love. I deserve to be rich because I add value to other peoples lives.”

For those of us who grew up poor, we need to overcome programming that equates rich with negative connotations. Until we do, we might have hit and miss successes, but sooner or later we will sabotage ourselves.

In T. Harv Eker’s Millionaire Mind Intensive, we did an exercise where we wrote down all of the negative programming we received growing up, and then, for each thing we came up with, we reprogrammed with new, more beneficial statements. I suggest you do something like this yourself. As an example, ‘rich people are greedy’ can become ‘rich people are giving, intelligent, and free to live life on their own terms’ (and if you don’t believe it, go out and meet some rich people and discover the truth – most are the later, and not the former!). ‘You have to work hard to earn money’, might morph into ‘money can be made through my ideas, thoughts, creativity, businesses, and good investments’. If you were treated poorly as a child, perhaps ‘you are worthless’, might become ‘you are a child of the most high God, and you were created for great things’ (a line borrowed from Joel Osteen)!

Once you come up with new programming, take it a step further. Harv says, wisely, that physical is memorable. So, first, write down your new statements, and say them out loud every day (the louder the better – you want to convince your subconscious mind). Second, make it physical. Put a large rubber band on your wrist, and every time you think the old negative thoughts, snap the rubber band hard enough so it stings real good (physical is memorable). Now you are taking steps to remove the old programming, and replace it with more beneficial new programming. Now you have better things in your future, and you are starting to give yourself permission!!!

Again, please pass this on to anyone you know who may benefit from it… Together, let’s get inspired, let’s get motivated, let’s create some buzzzz, and let’s help some people (family, friends, and ourselves) create all of the wealth and success we want in life!!!

How to Create All of the Wealth and Success You Want In Your Life – Tip #11

2008-11-19T20:33:00.000-08:00

This is tip #11 of at least 10 in the series. I will try to publish most of them as e-zine articles, but if any are missing, they will all be available on my blog. Thanks, and enjoy Tip #11…

Tip #11 – Be thankful for what you have, instead of complaining about what you don’t have. Since I and many of you are real estate investors, the timing of this tip couldn’t be better. We need to stop complaining about what the market is doing, and start giving thanks for things we are doing that are working! We need to stop complaining about escalating property taxes and insurance, and start giving thanks that we are of able enough body and mind that investing is an option for us!

Let’s take a little timeout here, and do an exercise. For those of you who have been with me long enough, we have done this once before, but it was long enough ago that I can’t find it on my blog or in my material, so I guess we can do it again.

Take out a blank sheet of paper, and write down something you have to be thankful for. You must stop, and do this now, or you will not get the desired effect from the exercise. It won’t take long – just a few minutes… Seriously, stop reading now and get you a blank sheet of paper, and a pen or pencil, and write down something you have to be thankful for. Now write down something else you have to be thankful for. Then, get a little crazy, and write down everything you can think of that you have to be thankful for. Don’t be stingy here… Even include simple things like having arms and legs that work, and eyes and ears… Not everyone has those things. Family. Friends. Include things like having a roof over your head, and food in your belly… Not everyone has those things, either. Since most of my readers are Americans (yes, we have some international readers/subscribers now – thank you and welcome aboard!), let’s be thankful for living in the land of opportunity… Not everyone lives in a country where upward mobility in life is even possible. So really go after this list, and write down everything you can think of that you have to be thankful for, including the basics. Timing being what it is, tip #11 will be our Thanksgiving article. Now, you must complete the assignment of writing down things to be thankful for before you go to the next step, or, again, you will diminish the benefits of the exercise.

Next, after you have finished writing down things to be thankful for, go back to the top of your list, and start numbering the things you wrote down. Now what are you doing? You are counting your blessings!!! What’s more, if you were not stingy about it, and you really wrote down all of the things you have to be thankful for, you should find that the things you have to be thankful for probably far outnumber your problems in life… Interesting that people, in general, seem to have 90% blessings, and only 10% problems, yet we spend more time worrying about and focusing on our problems than we spend being thankful for our blessings.

Referring back to tip #2, we said that what we focus on expands. If we focus on our problems, we seem to have more and more problems. Do you know anyone in your life that just seems to be constantly mucked down in problems and issues? Someone that constantly complains about everything that is wrong in the world? Well, if what we focus on expands, and we always focus on the crap in our lives, guess what happens? We become a giant crap magnet!!! (I think the giant crap magnet terminology is borrowed from T. Harv Eker)

If, instead, we focus on what we have to be thankful for, we will start to notice more and more things in our lives that we have to be thankful for, and we will start attracting more and more good!!! Try this out in your life, and see if it isn’t true for you! Personally, I have fallen off of this horse lately, but from past experience, I can vouch that it works, and I am going to get back on this horse starting tonight (I like the things I have to be thankful for in my life much more than I like the crap!)! I hope you all do the same!!!

How to Create All of the Wealth and Success You Want In Your Life – Tip #10

2008-11-10T10:34:00.001-08:00

This is tip #10 of at least 10 in the series. I will try to publish most of them as e-zine articles, but if any are missing, they will all be available on my blog.

In Tip #9, we discussed the need for creating a budget. Now, in Tip #10, I am going to discuss a budget in more detail. Thanks, and enjoy Tip #10…

Tip #10 – I am going to cover the best budget I have ever seen, heard of, or used, and to give credit where credit is due, much of this comes from T. Harv Eker and his 3-day ‘Millionaire Mind Intensive’ (which, with tickets from his book “Secrets of the Millionaire Mind”, is FREE!!! FYI, I personally found ‘MMI’ to be awesome.

First, you have heard 1,000 times, you need to keep track of any and all expenses for at least 1-2 months, and the longer the better. If you don’t know where your money is going now, how can you budget it? Managing your money requires that you know where your money is going.

Now, for the budget itself… T. Harv Eker suggests a system of jars, with a percentage of your income designated for each jar. This can be tweaked to meet your needs, but here are some suggested guidelines:

Necessity Jar – 50%
Education Jar – 10%
Long Term Savings Jar – 10%
Give Jar – 10%
FFA (Financial Freedom Account) Jar – 10%
Play Jar – 10%

Now, on to the main objection most of you will have immediately… “I can’t live on 50% of my income”. Noted. So here is what you do. First, you determine what amount of money you can spare for the jars, and you use that money to do your jars. If you can only spare $10/month to do your jars, spend $5 of it on necessities, and $1 on each of the other five jars. What matters here is not the amount, but creating the habit of managing your money properly. “It’s not the amount; it’s the habit!”

Also, how serious are you about creating all of the wealth you want in your life? If you are real serious, then go a little further. First, put 10% into your FFA jar. Next, consistently throw all of your spare change into your FFA Jar every day. Also, when you come into a windfall of any kind, put that in your FFA Jar. What you will find is, when you start to effectively manage your money, and you focus on it, all kinds of wonderful things will start to happen. You will get a bonus that you don’t need for necessities, and you can put it in your FFA Jar. You will get a raise, and you won’t need the extra money for necessities, so you can increase what you are putting in your FFA Jar. You will find unnecessary expenses you can eliminate, or ways to make some extra money you weren’t making before, and you will be able to add that to your FFA Jar. No matter how small it starts, if you manage your money effectively, over time what you are able to put away for your Financial Freedom Account will grow and increase in ways and amounts that you can not currently fathom! It will turn into a giant snowball, that continues to gather size and speed as it rolls down the hill!

Now, on to some details about the jars, what they are for, and the purpose they serve.

The Necessity Jar (50%) is fairly obvious. This is living expenses that you must pay on a regular basis. Rent or mortgage, utilities, insurance, phone, food, car payment, gas, etc.

The Education Jar (10%) is money spent to make you better, like taking courses and seminars in your field. Stay on top of your game. The learners inherit the earth, while the learned are wonderfully prepared for a world that no longer exists (or something like that).

The Long Term Savings Jar (10%) is saving for occasional large expenses. This might be a down payment on a house, a child’s college tuition, or, depending on your preferences, maybe even for Christmas (if you have a hard time covering Christmas out of your Necessities Jar).

The Give Jar (10%) is for charitable giving, and it serves at least three purposes. First, giving is Biblical. God instructs that we give the first 10% of our income. Further, we are told that if we give, it will come back to us magnified many times. Second, helping out others when you don’t “have to” feels great. You are making a contribution to society. Third, without even realizing it, many people sabotage themselves when it comes to building wealth because they don’t feel worthy. Let me use a personal example here. I grew up poor, and I learned that rich people were greedy and selfish. Well, that mentality wasn’t exactly conducive to creating great wealth. When I started trying to improve my finances, family and friends would give me the standard guilt trips, both Biblical and otherwise, and, unsure how to respond, I would feel guilty and dejected. When I started consistently tithing, and the guilt trips came my way, I was happy to respond. “Well, I am doing win-win-win business, without ever taking advantage of any one. I am providing jobs and income for my help and/or contractors. ‘I get rich doing what I love. I deserve to be rich because I add value to other peoples lives.’ Also, I am tithing my church, and giving to some other causes as well, which I was never able to do when I was poor. Can you point out to me the flaws in what I am doing?” Wow, did that change things!!! No more guilt. No more feeling dejected. No more wondering why I was working so hard to get ahead in life. Now I felt great, and it reflected in my business and other areas of my life! FYI, when I started giving, jumping up to 10% all at once hurt too much, so here is what I did… I started giving a smaller amount, and I pledged that every time I had a windfall or a blessing to count, I would increase my giving. I quickly got up over 10%, and it was not painful at all. I only share that because it may be a good option for others who find 10% giving immediately to be unpalatable.

The FFA Jar (10%) is your Financial Freedom Account. This is your “save and invest the difference” money. This is where your money starts to work for you, instead of you working for your money. Your FFA money can never, ever, be spent! Ever! It is the proverbial goose that lays the golden eggs, and you must never kill the goose!

The Play Jar (10%) is money that is for just that – play. Many people, especially those of us who grew up poor, are not very good at receiving (goes back to the feelings of guilt already mentioned). The Play Jar serves to strengthen our receiving muscles. This is not for average, every day stuff… The Play Jar is for the kinds of fantastic things that we can not normally afford, but now we can because we have money set aside just for that purpose. This is the kind of stuff we would love to do ‘when we have more money’. This is not just dinner out, but a fancy dinner with dessert, candlelight and ‘the best wine on the list’! This is not just a visit to the spa, but getting the massage with the hot rocks and the cucumbers! The play jar is where you get to experience a slice of the good life, and, used properly, it will serve to motivate you because you want more!

Now, I just shared with you the best budget I have ever seen or used, and it works (if you work)!!!

Please pass this on to anyone you know who may benefit from it… Together, let’s get inspired, let’s get motivated, let’s create some buzzzz, and let’s help some people (family, friends, and ourselves) create all of the wealth and success they want in life!!!

How to Create All of the Wealth and Success You Want In Your Life – Tip #9

2008-11-05T20:41:00.000-08:00

This is tip #9 of at least 10 in the series. I will try to publish most of them as e-zine articles, but if any are missing, they will all be available on my blog…

In the first seven tips, we focused largely on things applicable to success in general; in Tip #8 I said we would take the next two or three tips to get specific and focus in on the other part of our series title – wealth! So, without further ado, Tip #9…

Tip #9 – Create a budget. “A budget is people telling their money where to go instead of wondering where it went.” -John Maxwell

Almost everyone has heard that failing to plan is akin to planning to fail… Well, so it is with your money and finances. If you don’t have a budget, and/or a method of consistently keeping track of your net worth, then, by default, you are planning to fail. Instead of you controlling your money (and wealth), your money is controlling you.

Most people have heard that one of the secrets to wealth is to pay yourself first… However, most people don’t do it. I said in a previous article, getting rich is simple, but it isn’t easy. T. Harv Eker says something akin to, “If you pay yourself first, you will never miss it. If you pay yourself last, you will never do it”, and he is, to my experience, 100% right.

You work all year to pay Uncle Sam, the grocery store, restaurants, the utility company, gas stations, Wal-Mart… But ask yourself, what part of the year do you work to pay yourself? If you are like most people, the answer is little to none. Does it make sense to work hard to pay everyone else, and not pay yourself?

Here is a little reality check. It is not, “When I have more money, I will start to manage it.” It is, “When I manage my money, I will have more… money to manage.”

I am not sure, but this sounds like Robert Kiyosaki… “With every dollar we get in our hands, we hold the power to choose our future to be rich, poor, or middle class… Poor people simply have poor spending habits.” “It is the lack of self-discipline that is the #1 delineating factor between the rich, the poor, and the middle class.”

On the lighter side, Stuart Wilde said, “The trick to money is having some!”

Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Shallow men believe in luck. Strong men believe in cause and effect.” So it is with wealth and budgeting. If you pay yourself last, and wait for luck to make you wealthy, it is likely to be a very long wait. However, if you believe in cause and effect; if you manage your money (spelled B-U-D-G-E-T), and follow my three rules from Tip #8, you will quickly find yourself amassing a pretty good nest egg of wealth.

If you enjoy my tips, please pass this on to anyone you know who may benefit from it... Together, let’s get inspired, let’s get motivated, let’s create some buzzzz, and let’s help some people (family, friends, and ourselves) create all of the wealth and success they want in life!!!

How to Create All of the Wealth and Success You Want In Your Life – Tip #8

2008-10-30T19:45:00.000-07:00

This is tip #8 of at least 10 in the series. I will try to publish most of them as e-zine articles, but if any are missing, they will all be available on my blog…

In the first seven tips, we focused largely on things applicable to success in general; now let’s take the next two or three tips to get specific and focus in on the other part of our series title – wealth!

Tip #8 – Follow my three rules for creating wealth in your life.
Rule #1 – Live below your means.
Rule #2 – Save and invest the difference.
Rule #3 – Continuously improve on rules #1 and #2.

Again I will return to the slogan, it is simple, but it isn’t easy. Common sense dictates that if you follow these rules, eventually, at some point in the future, you will become wealthy. However, the killer is in the doing.

Wealth building is not rocket science. Contrary to what many want to believe, it is actually very basic, simple math. Make ten dollars. Subtract nine dollars to live on. Save and invest the one dollar difference. Repeat over and over again. Then, as the one dollar differences add up over time, learn to invest them better and better. Eventually they become a massive pile of money that begins growing itself quickly and easily, and instead of you working for your money, your money works for you. The formula for wealth is so simple, it is actually boring.

Where does everyone go wrong? If I shared the long version – well, that would be a book in itself. So, the short version… We live in a consumer society. We are bombarded by hundreds or even thousands of messages a day saying spend, spend, spend. Don’t think so – when you wake up in the morning, start counting the television and radio commercials, billboards you drive past, banners in store windows, ads in magazines, phone calls from telemarketers, flyers in the mailbox, e-mails pitching you everything under the sun, etc. I would be surprised if you didn’t give up counting before lunch time! If you buy this product you will be beautiful. If you buy this product you will have a beautiful spouse. If you buy this product you will feel great. If you buy this product you will… blah, blah, blah, blah.

From children to adulthood, through home and school, we are taught how to be responsible, conform to society’s rules, get a good job, buy nice things that are beyond our means, etc. However, very few of us are taught how to manage our money (aka follow my three rules)!

Instead of having a solid, long term plan, we chase instant gratification, which, to use Robert Kiyosaki’s terminology, keeps us stuck in the rat race. We work to make money, which we spend to make ourselves feel good, then the money runs out, and we feel lousy. So we work harder and longer to make more money, which only allows us to spend more money, which predictably runs out again, so we feel even lousier. Then the trap starts all over again.

Brian Tracy says this is Parkinson’s Law – that expenses rise to meet income. Make a little more money – spend a little more money. Get a raise – and we immediately go out and upgrade our car, or our cable television, or our health club membership, or our home, etc.

The first step to living by my three rules – recognize the pattern you are currently in, and, assuming it is the pattern of the average American (Parkinson’s Law), make a decision to change it. More on how to do that coming soon in tip #9.

There are a lot of things you can do to improve your situation once you have made a decision to do so; there is very little you can do to improve if you haven’t yet decided to!

If you enjoy my tips, please pass this on to anyone you know who may benefit from it... Together, let’s get inspired, let’s get motivated, let’s create some buzzzz, and let’s help some people (family, friends, and ourselves) create all of the wealth and success they want in life!!!

Reminder: E-mail subscriber list...

2008-10-30T00:17:00.000-07:00

Since my on-going tips on "How to Create All of the Wealth and Success You Want In Your Life" are drawing a lot of new people to my blog, I thought I should remind readers quickly of my e-mail option. For those who are interested, e-mail me at reinvestorsfl@aol.com, and, on your request, I will e-mail you whenever I write new material (errr, most of the time). I also occassionally share information with my readers that I do not put on my blog, and I will never intentionally sell or share your e-mail address. Period. Thank you, and remember, "You can have your excuses, or you can have your dreams, but you can't have both!"

Some Quotes On Habits, borrowed from Dennis Waitley...

2008-10-29T23:29:00.000-07:00

"First we make our habits, then our habits make us." Denis Waitley

"The truth is, you don't break a bad habit; you replace it with a good one." Denis Waitley

"Being miserable is a habit; being happy is a habit; and the choice is yours." Tom Hopkins

"Good habits are as addictive as bad habits, and a lot more rewarding." Harvey Mackay

"To change a habit, make a conscious decision, then 'act out' the new behavior." Dr. Maxwell Maltz

"Winning, and losing, are habit forming." Denis Waitley

How to Create All of the Wealth and Success You Want In Your Life – Tip #7

2008-10-23T09:29:00.000-07:00

This is tip #7 of at least 10 in the series. I will try to publish most of them as e-zine articles, but if any are missing, they will all be available on my blog…

Tip #7 – Choose who you spend your time with carefully… Learn from people who have already successfully done what you want to do.

Studies have shown that your income is the average of your peer group. Think about the five people or groups of people that you spend the most time with, and odds are your income is about the average of that group. If your peer group is pulling you down, or keeping you down, then you need to fix that, or decide that you are content to stay put.

Personally, I had a big issue with this, because my group of family and friends were poor, but I couldn’t or wouldn’t change my family or close friends of many years. Still, a couple of points that can help you… First, find a mentor who is already at where you want to be, and find a way to get them to help you. Keep in mind, it wouldn’t be fair to just expect someone who is very successful to help you out of the kindness of their heart (though sometimes they may); offer them as much or more value in return for their mentoring you, and don’t give up until you find the mentor you need.

Also, I increased the average income of my peer group in part through books, CDs, web sites, etc. Robert Allen, Robert Kiyosaki, Mark Victor Hansen, Jack Canfield, Ron LeGrand, Brian Tracy, Robyn Thompson, CREonline… I spent/spend time with these big thinkers every day!

Let me share a little story with you… Fishermen of old sometimes used crabs for bait. What they found was, if they had one crab in a container that was several inches high, the crab would climb out and get away every time. However, if they put a bunch of crabs in a container together, they could use a container that was only one inch high, and the crabs would never get out of the container. What happened was, every time a crab tried to climb out of the container, the other crabs grabbed him and pulled him back into the ‘safety’ of the group. They didn’t want to let one crab get out, because who knows what dangers may lurk beyond the walls of the container!

Are you seeing this safety net in your life, and among your peer group? Every time you talk about new ideas, or getting rich, or trying something you have never done before, are there people in your life shooting it full of holes and trying to talk you out of it? If so, is it time to find some ways to increase your exposure to peers who will pull you up instead of down? We all need more positive associations in our lives!

Before I close this tip, more on making sure that you learn from people who have already successfully done what you want to do. If I am having problems in my marriage, should I talk to a parent that has been divorced four times and is struggling in their current marriage? If I want more money and success in my life, should I talk to a family member or friend who hates their job and lives paycheck to paycheck with no idea of how to ever change that? A great rule for getting anything you want in your life – find someone who already has what you want, and steal if from them… (hopefully you know I am kidding). Study them. Read their books. Ask them to mentor you. Learn how they did it, and then you do it too. If you think what wealthy people think, and you do what wealthy people do, eventually you will have… what wealthy people have!!! It is simple, but it isn’t easy!

If you enjoy my tips, please pass this on to anyone you know who may benefit from it… Together, let’s get inspired, let’s get motivated, let’s create some buzzzz, and let’s help some people (family, friends, and ourselves) create all of the wealth and success they want in life!!!

A few more quotes for the day...

2008-10-20T20:18:00.000-07:00

"The reason most people face the future with apprehension instead of anticipation is because they don't have it well designed". -Jim Rohn

"Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be." -Abraham Lincoln

"When you see yourself as good, the world you live in has a different design." -Richard Flint

How to Create All of the Wealth and Success You Want In Your Life – Tip #6

2008-10-20T05:36:00.000-07:00

Tip #6 – Excellence…

To create all of the wealth and success you want in your life, it would behoove you to aim at being the best in your field. Brian Tracy says all of the rewards go to the top ten percent. Further, he says if you took all of your time, energy, and money, and put it into becoming the best in your field, it would pay you back over one thousand fold over your lifetime.

Mediocre people are easily replaced, so their value is extremely limited; when you get paid by the hour, there is an automatic ceiling placed on your income. However, if you are the best in your field, you can switch from getting paid by the hour to getting paid for the value you add, and now the only limits are the ones you place on yourself. Jim Rohn says “Learn to work harder on yourself than you do on your job (personal achievement). This is where you can go from making a living to making a fortune.”

“The quality of a person’s life is directly proportionate to their commitment to excellence.” -Vince Lombardi

Let’s look briefly at pricing… If you are selling a commodity item, something where ten other people are selling the same thing right along side you, the price you can charge is extremely limited. Nobody can make large margins, because you are competing based largely on one thing – price. That is mediocrity. However, if you have something exclusive, that nobody else has, you can demand whatever price you want as long as the perceived value is higher than the cost. That is being the best. You have the best product, or the best service, or whatever it is that makes you far superior to any competitor, and now when somebody wants what you have, the price of a competitor is no longer a factor.

As a final way to evaluate excellence, let’s look at its opposite – failure. Jim Rohn says, “Failure is not a single, cataclysmic event. You don’t fail overnight. Instead, failure is a few errors in judgment repeated every day.”

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” -Aristotle

So, there you have tip #6 – decide on Excellence for you or your company!!!

This is tip #6 of at least 10 in the series. I will try to publish most of them as e-zine articles, but if any are missing, they will all be available on my blog. Also on my blog are some motivational quotes that have become quite popular, as well as other articles, so earmark my blog as one of your favorites, make a habit of going there, share the link with others, and let’s see if we can create some magic in your life!

How to Create All of the Wealth and Success You Want In Your Life – Tip #5

2008-10-17T08:40:00.001-07:00

Tip #5 – “Develop a Millionaire Mind”.

In tip #4 we discussed being willing to pay the price of success, and how you have to really want it badly. We ended talking about wanting to be better (improve yourself), and now we are going to transition further into the mental side of the equation. Zig Ziglar is well known for his quote, “You can get anything you want in life if you will just help enough other people get what they want.”

Personally, I include in my daily declarations (a list of things that I declare over my life, out loud, on a daily basis) these statements that I got from T. Harv Eker’s 3-day “Millionaire Mind Intensive” (a boot camp, if you will)… “I get rich doing what I love. I deserve to be rich because I add value to other people’s lives.” What a change in thought pattern when, instead of thinking “I want to be rich, I want to be rich, How can I be rich?”, you start thinking, “How can I add so much value to other people or to the company I work for or to the world that money will flow back to me for my efforts?” Do you see the paradigm shift starting to occur here?

What does this mean? To me, it means you earn according to the value that you add. If you create a huge amount of value for a few people, you will collect a few huge paydays. If you add a very small amount of value, but add it to huge numbers of people, then you will collect a large stream of small paydays. Hopefully at some point you find/do work you can do once, but you keep getting paid over and over again (called residual income), like with successful books, or maybe selling a patent and getting an ongoing percentage of sales, or investments that earn you money even while you sleep. If you don’t add much value, you won’t get paid much. Let’s break this down a little. If you have a JOB, it pays you according to the value that someone believes that you, in your position, create. A secretary is generally not considered to create a ton of value, so the pay is not great. A CEO that successfully runs a billion dollar company is generally considered to create a lot of value, so he gets paid a lot more. Bill Gates created a lot of value with his vision for computers and how they can make lives easier. Sam Walton created a lot of value when he came up with a store, Wal-Mart, which gave people great prices and a ton of selection all together in one location – which was unheard of before he thought of it and decided to pay the price to make it happen.

So day in and day out, task by task, how much value do you add to the world? That is one of the great determining factors of success. Someone who doesn’t know and understand this is going to have a hard time ever being extremely wealthy or successful. I am getting a little side-tracked here, but once you have made a decision that you want more out of life, there are a lot of things you can learn and do that will help you. Until you have made the decision, though, there is very little that can help you! Until there is a paradigm shift in the way you think about money, it is nearly impossible for someone who is poor or middle class to become wealthy. They have to be willing to pay the price, but they also have to develop their own millionaire mind.

Here is an example of a millionaire mind in action… A poor person or middle class person decides they want to buy a boat. They go to the bank, beg for a loan, and get approved. They buy their boat, and incur monthly payments. Next they spend money on a bunch of toys and gadgets that every boat owner wants, plus don’t forget fuel, maintenance, insurance, etc. Owning a boat keeps them poor or middle class, or maybe even broke. Next, we put on our millionaire mind, and see how a wealthy person buys a boat. First, they set an accomplishment goal, and decide that, once they make a successful investment, they will reward themselves with a boat. They go out and buy a bargain priced duplex, that has positive cash flow after paying the mortgage and all other expenses. The excess positive cash flow from the duplex pays for their boat and boating expenses. Now they have their boat, but no money is coming out of their pocket. In fact, the duplex they own, in the long run, appreciates in value. The underlying mortgage they got to buy the duplex gets paid down a little every month, growing their wealth without them working for it, plus they get tax benefits for investing in real estate. Without going into too much detail, you can see how, by developing a millionaire mind, we can have our cake and eat it too?!!!

This is tip #5 of at least 10 in the series. I will try to publish most of them as e-zine articles, but if any are missing, they will all be available on my blog. Hopefully you are getting a lot out of my tips, and can’t wait for the next one. If so, please refer a friend to my blog so they can benefit from it as well… Together, let’s get inspired, let’s get motivated, let’s create some buzzzz, and let’s help some people (family, friends, and ourselves) create all of the wealth and success they want in life!!!

How to Create All of the Wealth and Success You Want In Your Life – Tip #4

2008-10-17T08:25:00.001-07:00

This is tip #4 of at least 10 in the series. I will try to publish most of them as e-zine articles, but if any are missing, they will all be available on my blog. Enjoy Tip #4…

Tip #4 – Dreams don’t fail for lack of desire; dreams come apart from not being willing to pay the price to achieve them… That says a lot.

Here is a recipe for success in any area of your life: figure out what is required to achieve your goal or dream, and then determine in advance that you are willing to pay the price. My friend, Tim Harris, is fond of the time-honored quote (as am I), “it is simple, but it isn’t easy”. The formula for success is not complex – it is simple. The doing, however, is often the furthest thing from easy.

I talk with a lot of people about real estate investing, wealth, and success, and I have noticed a recurring pattern… People want to be successful and wealthy and happy, but they don’t want to pay the price. This generation is full of people who think the world owes them a living, but they have that formula backwards. So many people want to win the lottery… Rather than working hard and doing what it takes to earn a fortune.

When I started on the road to wealth, I wanted to know “The Secret”, but I didn’t want to work my tail off. For a while, nothing happened. Eventually, when I wanted it bad enough to give 110% at my full time job, and then added in a second full time job investing in real estate and the study of wealth, things improved. When I started getting up earlier, and working harder, and going to bed later, and sacrificing some weekends, working on making me the best me I could be, things improved. You see, The Secret was good, but to really get the ball rolling, I also had to be willing to pay the price!

In my former life, as an employee, I knew a lot of people that had a job, worked every day, and hated it. They hated Mondays and lived for Fridays at quittin’ time. They bickered and complained constantly, and worked just hard enough to keep from being fired. Then, they had the gall to complain that they didn’t get paid enough, never got big raises or the promotion they deserved, and weren’t treated fairly by the boss or the company. Here is what they were missing. They thought they should get paid more just because, and they never figured out that the best way to get paid more is to become more valuable. If they improved their attitude, worked harder, offered to take on more workload, and thought of ideas to help the company be more successful, sooner or later they would have got paid more, or got promoted, or probably both.

How do you fix this ‘the world owes me a living mentality’? First, “Don’t wish it were easier; wish you were better.” That may or may not be from Jim Rohn. Jim Rohn does expound that you will become wealthy when you spend more time working on yourself than you spend working on your job.

I will leave off here on tip #4, and we will transition into tip #5 – Develop your millionaire mind.

Please pass this on to anyone you know who may benefit from it… and I will see you soon in tip #5. Together, let’s get inspired, let’s get motivated, let’s create some buzzzz, and let’s help some people (family, friends, and ourselves) create all of the wealth and success they want in life!!!

How to Create All of the Wealth and Success You Want In Your Life – Tip #3

2008-10-12T21:28:00.000-07:00

This is tip #3 of at least 10 in the series. I will try to publish most of them as e-zine articles, but if any are missing, they will all be available on my blog at http://thelundletters.blogspot.com/
Also on my blog are some motivational quotes that have become quite popular, as well as other articles, so earmark my blog as one of your favorites, make a habit of going there, share the link with others, and let’s see if we can create some magic in your life!

Thanks, and enjoy Tip #3…

Tip #3 – Figure out your dreams, and set goals to get there… Most of you have probably heard something along the lines of, ‘you can’t hit a target that you can not see’. Hopefully you recognize the wisdom in that.

Let’s, for a minute, liken the importance of dreams and goals to flying on a commercial airplane. Suppose the airplane has no particular course, but just takes off and flies around. Do you want to book a flight? How do you know you won’t fly into objects or other airplanes, since air traffic controllers are not guiding the plane? What are the odds you are going to end up at your desired destination, much less within an appropriate timeframe? Will you even find an airport or other place for safe landing? Or will you run out of gas before you land? A commercial airplane flying in this manner sounds ridiculous, but is it really any less ridiculous for people to go through life, hoping for all kinds of wonderful dreams to come true, but never stopping to figure out what it will take to make their dreams come true, and never making plans and setting goals to make it happen?

“If you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time.” -Zig Ziglar

I once talked to a close relative about whether or not they had dreams and goals. They responded to me that not everything was about money. Well, I responded that dreams and goals don’t have to be about money. I said that dreams and goals can be spiritual, mental, physical, emotional, or other. Dreams and goals are about figuring out what you really want out of life, and charting a course to make sure it happens.

Let me get serious and say, for a moment, imagine yourself on your deathbed… Now consider this question… “Was your life a complete success?” Then, if not, ask yourself, “What things do you wish had happened that would have made your life a complete success?” If you don’t have planned, written dreams and goals for your life, when would now be the right time?

Not sure where I heard this, but it is also pretty deep: “Talent is God’s gift to you; what you do with it is your gift to God”.

I could probably go on for pages and pages about dreams and goals, but if what I have said already doesn’t convince someone of the need, then I doubt anything else I say would. Plus, I could use the extra time to get some sleep!

Now we are 3 tips into a journey of at least 10, so you are probably starting to have a feel for what to expect from my articles… I try to give you great information, and I hope that you find it useful. I hope something I have shared with you, or share with you in the next few weeks, changes the rest of your life for the better!!! If you like my 10 tips, please pass this on to anyone you know who may benefit from it… Together, let’s get inspired, let’s get motivated, let’s create some buzzzz, and let’s help some people (family, friends, and ourselves) create all of the wealth and success they want in life!!!

Also, a sneak preview of some coming attractions… Possible tips to look forward to include: the role mentors play in your success, how important the people you associate with are to your future, and why dreams fail.

How to Create All of the Wealth and Success You Want In Your Life – Tip #2

2008-10-10T21:58:00.000-07:00

This is tip #2 of at least 10 in the series. I will try to publish most of them as e-zine articles, but if any are missing, they will all be available on my blog at http://thelundletters.blogspot.com/
Also on my blog are some motivational quotes that have become quite popular, as well as other articles, so earmark my blog as one of your favorites, make a habit of going there, share the link with others, and let’s see if we can create some magic in your life!

Thanks, and enjoy Tip #2…

Tip #2 – ‘Think and Grow Rich’ is the title of a book by Napoleon Hill. The book is a classic that has been the starting point for many, many wealthy, successful people. As the title implies, the book uses the premise that wealth starts with your thinking. If you think that the only way to have money is to work hard and earn it, that will, by the very thinking of it, become your reality. You will work hard to earn money because you don’t know there is any other way. If, on the other hand, you think that you can become rich by coming up with great ideas that make people’s lives better, that may very well become your reality. Your reality is created first in your mind, and then the world around you conforms to your mental picture (I wrote a really intense article, titled “Visualizing Can Make All Of Your Dreams Come True”, on my blog back in May – check it out when you get a chance – it should be one of my 10 Tips, but since I already wrote that article, it might not make this series).

Have you trained yourself to see opportunities? If opportunity knocked today would you open the door and let it in? Would you even know it was knocking? In order to Think and Grow Rich, you have to learn to look for and seek out opportunities. Most people, the 99%-ers, walk past opportunities every day, because they aren’t wired to notice them. They don’t understand how to Think and Grow Rich.

Albert Einstein said, “Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life’s coming attractions.”
Mark Victor Hansen said, “What you think about comes about.”
I am not sure who said, “What you focus on expands.”
Napoleon Hill said, “What your mind can conceive and believe, you can achieve.”
I think I first heard T. Harv Eker say, “Where attention goes energy flows and results show.”

In order to create all of the wealth and success you want in your life, you need to recognize that you create your reality inside your mind first, and then you follow up with the steps and actions that make it real. Most people are sure that seeing is believing; the successful minority know that believing leads to seeing.

Now, what you can expect as we continue this journey… I will continue to give you great information, and it will continue to be up to you what you get out of it. If you read my tips, enjoy them, but do nothing with them, nothing much will happen. However, if you find some advice that is pertinent to you in your life, and you capture it, and you act on it, maybe, just maybe, something I share with you now or in the next few weeks could change the rest of your life for the better!!! Now, that would be what I would hope and pray for! Also, please pass this on to anyone you know who may benefit from it… Together, let’s get inspired, let’s get motivated, let’s create some buzzzz, and let’s help some people (family, friends, and ourselves) create all of the wealth and success they want in life!!!

How to Create All of the Wealth and Success You Want In Your Life – Tip #1

2008-10-10T08:12:00.000-07:00

Over the next few weeks, I am going to share at least ten tips on things you can do right now, even in a bad economy, to start creating all of the wealth and success you want in your life. I will try to publish most of them as e-zine articles, but if any are missing, they will all be available on my blog at http://thelundletters.blogspot.com/
Also on my blog are some motivational quotes that have become quite popular, and I will try to add some more of them in the coming weeks, so earmark my blog as one of your favorites, make a habit of going there, and let’s see if we can create some magic in your life!

If you like what you see, refer friends and family. Check out my blog, and feel free to e-mail me comments as well, at reinvestorsfl@aol.com

Thanks, and enjoy Tip #1…

Tip #1 – Especially at a time like this, when our American economy, and to some degree world economies, are in turmoil, you must take 100% responsibility for your life, your wealth, and your success. You can not sit back and idly wait for success to come to you – you need to figure out what you want, take the bull by the horns, and go out and make your life what you want it to be.

Abraham Lincoln said, “Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left behind by those who hustle.” Are you living your life based on what is left behind, or are you out there hustling and going after the gold?

I have been using the quote, “You can have your excuses, or you can have your dreams, but you can’t have both,” for some time now, and I honestly don’t know where I got it from. I might have created it myself, or I might have got it from someone, somewhere along the line, but if so I don’t know who. Anyhow, do you go after and get what you want in life? Or do you make excuses? The easy way out is to blame the economy, blame the real estate market, blame the politicians, blame the competition, point out how bad things are, and say that just getting by is doing better than most today. Blame is a game that nobody wins. As long as it is someone or something else’s fault, you can not improve. That is the easy way out, but is it what you want for your life? “You can have your excuses, or you can have your dreams, but you can’t have both.”

“What you ardently desire, sincerely believe in, vividly imagine, and enthusiastically act on must inevitably come to pass.” -Paul J. Myer

What Paul Myer is saying in that quote is something that great and successful people have known for hundreds of years, but somehow the other 99% of us rarely get looped in. Our circumstances don’t make us – we make our circumstances. If we want something, anything, badly enough, we really can go out and make it happen in our lives. Jim Rohn has a neat saying – “you aren’t a tree”. You aren’t stuck in one place. If you aren’t happy where you are at, move. If your life isn’t what you want it to be, stop blaming, stop making excuses, figure out what you want your life to be, and start making it so! We have all heard the old adage, if you continue doing what you have always done, you will continue to get what you have always got. If you aren’t happy with your current results, own up to them, take 100% responsibility, and start figuring out and doing what is required to get where you want to go. I have had a number of young real estate investors over the years ask me for advice, and I told most something like this… start where you are right now, with what you have right now, and figure out what you need to do to get where you want to go, and then “just do it”. Nido Qubein said, “Your present circumstances don’t determine where you go; they merely determine where you start.” Isn’t that great?!!!

I am not sure if many of you have studied Abraham Lincoln much, but he had a ton of great sayings, including, “Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other one thing.” Ella Wheeler Wilcox said, “There is no chance, no destiny, no fate that can circumvent or hinder or control the firm resolve of a determined soul.” Now, personally, I think things may hinder us some, but if we are bound and determined, and we take 100% responsibility, I don’t think there is much that can keep us from accomplishing just about anything we make up our minds to accomplish.

Now, what you can expect going forward… I used a lot of quotes in this tip, and I will try no to be quite so loose with them in other tips, but I will still use some. I will continue to give you great information, and it will continue to be up to you what, if anything, you get out of it. If you read my tips, say that was nice, and go about your day, nothing much will happen. However, if you find some advice that is pertinent to you in your life, and you capture it, and you act on, maybe, just maybe, something I share with you now or in the next few weeks could change the rest of your life for the better!!! Now, that would be what I would hope and pray for! Also, please pass this on to anyone you know who may benefit from it… Together, let’s get inspired, let’s get motivated, let’s create some buzzzz, and let’s help some people (family, friends, and ourselves) create all of the wealth and success they want in life!!!

Some inspirational quotes...

2008-10-01T21:57:00.000-07:00

"It is the best of times. It is the worst of times." -Charles Dickens

"The quality of a person's life is directly proportionate to their committment to excellence." -Vince Lombardi

"Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be". -Abraham Lincoln

"Talent is God's gift to you. What you do with it is your gift to God."

"If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with success unexpected in common people." -Henry D. Thoreau

"If you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time." -Zig Ziglar

"Don't let the learning from your own experiences take too long. If you have been doing it wrong for the last ten years, I would suggest that's long enough." -Jim Rohn

"Your present experiences don't determine where you go; they only determine where you start." -Nido Qubein

"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are." -Theodore Roosevelt

"Things don't go wrong and break your heart so you can become bitter and give up. They happen to break you down and build you up so you can be all that you were intended to be." -Charlie "Tremendous" Jones

"If you keep doing what you have always done, you will keep getting what you have always got."

"I get rich doing what I love. I deserve to be rich because I add value to other people's lives." -T. Harv Eker

"When you see yourself as good, the world you live in has a different design." -Richard Flint

"You have to make it happen." -Mean Joe Greene

"The only limits we have, are the ones we put on ourselves."

"Success starts with taking 100% responsibility for your life."

"You can have your dreams, or you can have your excuses, but you can't have both."

If I have not stated who made the quote, there are two possibilities. If you like, it is a Chris Lund original. If you don't, I heard it from someone, somewhere, but have long since forgot who!

Times Are Tough; Get Free Help Here!!!

2008-09-06T21:42:00.000-07:00

We all know the saying, tough times don’t last, but tough people do. Well, I keep hearing (and occasionally saying) that times are tough, and I figured it was time to ‘cinch the belt in a little’. Due to a current confluence of events, I find myself looking for ways to save a little more and spend a little less (just like the good old days), so I am writing this article as much for me as I am for you!

First, in offering full disclosure, the confluence of events… My wife and I were blessed with our second son on May 10th, 2007; while definitely a blessing, he also adds to our cost of living. I quit my JOB in December 2007. Just prior to that, times were good, so I bought a big new house and a big new truck. Despite a large down payment, the house still carries a large monthly mortgage. The real estate market is doing worse than the economy overall, and the combined value of my real estate holdings has dropped quite a ways (meaning smaller paydays if/when I sell any of my existing properties in this real estate market). Last, but not least, I recently purchased two fixer upper single family houses, and we are trying to finish up one while we do the early stage repairs on the other… So the ‘cash cushion’ I kept on hand is getting tied up in the purchase and repairs of those two houses.

Second, with that out of the way, some pain free ways to save more and spend less… If you have not shopped around your automobile insurance in the past 1-2 years, now is a good time. I am not saying settle for a low quality insurer, or for less than adequate insurance, but I am saying keep your insurer honest by making sure you are getting your money’s worth. Many people are surprised by the fact that the same two insurance companies, offering the same insurance coverage, two years apart, may flip flop completely in their rates… I have experienced it personally. Also, if applicable, you may shop around other insurance, such as life, health, disability, etc. You may save money without any sacrifice! Are you on a cell phone plan that makes the most sense for your usage (I know someone personally who should be on an unlimited plan, who continually spends a fortune on overage minutes – WHY?)? If your electric bill is high, Lakeland Electric does FREE energy audits. Maybe you know about some things you aren’t willing to do right now, like upgrade to more energy efficient appliances, but maybe there are also some cheap, easy ways to reduce your electric bill significantly that you haven’t thought of. If you have a sprinkler system, is it off during heavy rain periods? Do you heat and cool your home sensibly (for instance, I heat to about 73 degrees in the winter, and cool to about 77 degrees in the summer; a 4-5 degree swing should not result in any real discomfort, and if a bigger spread doesn’t bother your family, even better)? How about giving yourself a financial check-up? Are all of your investments, evaluated individually, doing well, and do they make sense? Do you know what you are invested in, and how and why it should make you profits? Likewise, if you borrow, do your loans make sense? Could they be structured better, have better rates, etc.? Especially if you carry a balance on a high interest rate credit card, can you get it reduced somehow? I know I am constantly bombarded with zero interest rate for X amount of months credit cards that might help. As an example, when I have a loan I plan on paying off in full in the next year or two, I get a zero interest for eighteen months credit card, pay off the loan with it, and now my entire payment pays down principal instead of part going to interest. Are you one of those people that pays bills late for whatever reason, thereby incurring late fees, penalties, higher interest rates, etc.? Figure out what it takes to get and stay current, and the savings alone will help keep you there. If you tend to spend more when you use a credit card instead of cash (which most people do), chuck the credit cards. If, on the other hand, you have a high level of self discipline, then use no fee, high rewards credit cards, charge all of your normal expenditures, pay the bill in full every month, and rack up rewards (I do this and my business earns my wife and I nice meals out). In fact, since I am rehabbing two houses, I redeemed over $200 in Discover cash back bonus awards this past month. If applicable, improve your credit scores so any future borrowing will get cheaper and cheaper (better rates, lower fees). When it comes to tax time, are you getting all of the deductions you are entitled to? Many people intentionally don’t take income tax deductions they are entitled to because they think it might cause an audit; little side bar here – as long as you aren’t doing anything ‘wrong’, the audit will probably hurt less than the money you are throwing away (in the rare event you do get audited)! Here is one I have found saving me a lot of money recently… When I see something in a store I ‘have to have’, I wait and research it on-line later. Two benefits – first the urge to spend often goes away, thereby cutting out the expenditure altogether, and second, I find almost everything I research I can buy cheaper on-line than what I would have paid in the store (yes, even including shipping and handling). If you eat meals out a lot from the JOB, can you save money by packing a lunch more often? Something I find my family guilty of quite often – we throw away perfectly good leftovers while we eat out or prepare something more appetizing. Three solutions quickly come to mind – one, eat the leftovers; two, freeze the leftovers for later; three, prepare smaller meals. If you have the time and inclination (I don’t), plant a garden. Do you make sure to bargain shop, and take advantage of sales on things you know you will use anyhow? And, on the opposite side of the coin, avoid buying junk you don’t need at all just because it was on sale! Do you clip coupons, actively look for sale prices, etc.? While I think exercise is great, and I actively exercise myself, if you are one of those people who has an expensive gym membership, and only goes to the gym twice a year, get rid of it. Here is a fun, easy way to save a little dough – my wife takes my kids to the library almost weekly, and they not only get all the books they can read for free, they even get a bunch of kid’s movies on DVD! With the popularity of cell phones these days, I know many people that have done away with their land line because it was wasted money. Last and definitely not least, the old adage, Pay Yourself First! ‘If you pay yourself last, you will never do it. If you pay yourself first, you will never miss it.’ These are all things that, with just a little front end work, can help you save more and spend less without any sacrifice to your lifestyle. Next, on to the things that might hurt a little…

Third, ways to save more and spend less where the terminology ‘no pain, no gain’ applies… These you will feel a little more. Depending on how bad you want to reach your goals, how bad your financial situation is, your time constraints, etc., let’s start with the extreme – can you work more hours, get a second job, start a part-time business (even if temporarily to get over the hump)? Perhaps a stay at home spouse can pick up some work from home? In this economy many stay at home parents watch extra kids for friends or family, allowing one family to make extra money (babysitting) and allowing the other to save extra money (cheaper than daycare). Maybe private school or home schooling needs to be replaced by public school, even if only temporarily while times are tough? It isn’t for everyone, but I know one couple that happily rented out an extra room in their home for a long time. Consider a smaller, cheaper, more fuel efficient car, now or the next time you car shop (yes, as mentioned previously, I failed miserably in this category). While on the subject of vehicles, most of you are probably already combining many errands into fewer trips and avoiding unnecessary driving these days. Are you making the most of free entertainment at home? Have a brainstorm session with your family of all of the fun, free or cheap things you can think of to do at home, and then implement the favorites and save the cost of travel and entertainment out. Most Americans can save some money by eating out less, and personally I know when I cut back on soda and drink more water my body and my wallet both appreciate it. If you routinely drink coffee at Starbucks, or drink alcohol at bars/restaurants, besides the moral issues, let me kill you now for what you spend per drink! Ouch! And I won’t even get started on cigarettes/tobacco. Last, here is the thing everybody hates to do – create a budget! First and foremost, spend as you normally do, and track every penny for at least a couple of months… and find out where your money is really going. If you can make yourself do it, continue to keep track of expenses for a full year, so you are sure to include once or twice a year expenses like holidays, birthdays, insurance, taxes, etc. Nine times out of ten, there will be some expenses that are shockingly high, and you will know where to look to stop the bleeding.

This article is just to whet your appetite, but if you got some helpful hints out of it, and or you want more of the same, search the internet for some sights on saving money… I know I stumbled across some when I was looking for personal finance information not too long ago, and I saw some good tips, as well as some that I would never recommend… I will share a few since they may be good for a chuckle… Reduce showers to once a week (they said you would save on hot water, shampoo, soap; I suggest you would probably save on dating, too!). Train your cats to use the toilet (somebody claimed it can be done). Go around early on garbage day and gather what you need from what others throw away (they do say one man’s trash is another man’s treasure – LOL). Become a vegetarian - it is a cheaper lifestyle (I know meat can be expensive, but that seems extreme to a meat and potatoes guy like me!). Anyhow, enough of the extreme!!! Best wishes everyone, and hopefully I will see you… on the other side of the rainbow (you know, where the pot of gold is)!

A couple of quotes for the day...

2008-08-20T20:16:00.000-07:00

"I remember saying to my mentor, 'If I had more money, I would have a better plan.' He quickly responded, 'I would suggest that if you had a better plan, you would have more money.'
-Jim Rohn

And then one a little on the lighter side:
"Sometimes I lie awake at night, and ask, "Where have I gone wrong?" Then a voice says to me, "This is going to take more than one night." -- Charles M. Schulz

Best wishes to my readers!!! If you are reading my blog, and you aren't already on my e-mail list, be sure to drop me a line and ask to be added... REInvestorsFL@aol.com
I e-mail the list when I blog a new article, and let them know it is available. Also, once in a great while I write some extras for them that I don't put on my blog. I do not share e-mail addresses with anyone for any reason, and you can be removed from my list upon request at any time. Thanks!

How an Olympic Effort Can Make All Your Dreams Come True

2008-08-14T21:46:00.001-07:00

Since many of us are enjoying the Olympic Games in August 2008, I thought it would be interesting to look at a few similarities between Olympic athletes, and people who aspire to make their dreams come true!

First, note that to compete at the highest levels, you almost have to have God-given talent and ability for your sport. I am a five feet, ten inch, slow white guy who makes up for it by not being able to jump. If my dream is to be the center on the Olympic basketball team, my odds aren’t very good. If you wish to pursuit your dreams, start by figuring out some of your natural abilities, then determine ways to achieve great success in some of those areas. Abraham Lincoln said it this way… it is much easier to ride a horse in the direction it is going! Amen.

Second, note that Olympic athletes have to have a passion for their sport. If you don’t love what you do, being the best in your field will be too difficult! Amen.

That leads me into our third similarity. Olympic athletes are devoted. They have heart, and courage, and dedication beyond comparison. Most Olympic athletes are up training and pursuing their dreams while the Average Joe is still in bed dreaming. Just the other day I was working alongside my handyman and a helper, putting down tile and grouting. It was Saturday night, about 8pm, and both of them said they were too tired to work any more. I said if we work just a few more hours we can finish the job, so we can all rest on Sunday, and get back to another job on Monday. I even offered to throw in a bonus if we completed the job Saturday night. They decided to go home to watch TV in lieu of the bonus. I worked a couple more hours, then got up early Sunday morning and worked another half day by myself to finish the job. I picked up supplies early Monday morning, and still beat them to the other job site. The handyman works steady, but slowly, and has a habit of wanting extra time off on a regular basis. The helper at times looks like he is a professional, at taking breaks. I just switched him back from pay by the hour to pay by the job, so his breaks will be on his time, instead of on my dime. While I don’t have my handyman’s skills, I work harder, and longer, and move faster than either of them. They work for seven to twelve dollars an hour. I work to make the world I live in better, and to build a fortune for my family, that I can eventually pass on to my children. They work to pay next week’s bills (and occasionally last week’s bills). I work because I choose to, and not because I have to. Don’t misinterpret me - I would not for a second claim that I am better than them; but I would say I have a better plan. The difference I offer up between my financial success and their struggle (besides a better plan) – heart!!! They just don’t want it as bad as I do! Amen.

Fourth, Olympic athletes are persistent. They keep plugging away at their sport, at their skills, at their routines, day after day, week after week, year after year, giving it their all as they reach for glory. Back to that tile job… It was 3:55pm Saturday, and we realize we are going to need one more bag of grout to finish the job. The place I ordered the tile and grout from closes at 4pm, and it takes them several days to get grout, because they don’t stock it. My handyman says, “You might as well give up.” Thirty minutes and 5-6 phone calls later, I am on my way to pick up the grout we need at a different local store. My handyman says, “You sure are lucky.” Well, if I did it his way we wouldn’t have got more grout – we would have gave up. I wasn’t lucky – I was persistent. I frequently have people tell me I am lucky, and sometimes I explain to them and sometimes I don’t, that I have no more or less luck than anyone else. What I do have is more heart, and more persistence. When I determine to do something, I go after it like a pit bull, and God help someone who tries to prevent me from reaching my goals. Persistence makes all the difference for Olympic athletes, and it makes all the difference for me! Amen.

Fifth, Olympic athletes visualize. They prepare mentally as well as physically. They rehearse their events in their minds, over and over again, seeing perfect performances in their mind first, and then when they actually perform, they just make reality match the way they already did in their minds so many times. Most of those who have experienced success at the highest levels in other areas also used visualization techniques. Try this. Figure out exactly what would be your dreams come true, and then visualize them happening. See in your mind what your successes were, and what obstacles you had to overcome, and see in great detail how you suceeded. Then break down and analyze exactly what you did on the path to making your dreams come true, and then start doing those things now! Determine the price that needs to be paid, and decide in advance that you are willing to pay it! What you think about comes about, and your future starts today! Amen.

Sixth, Olympic athletes don’t make or accept excuses for their own poor performance. They use failure like rocket fuel for improvement. In one of the Star Wars movies, the wise Yoda explains to a young Luke Skywalker, “there is no try; there is only do, or do not”. When you fail, learn the lesson and move on. If you have read any of my past material, you probably already know my next line – “you can have your excuses, or you can have your dreams, but you can’t have both”! Amen.

So, putting it all together, here are six things taken from Olympic athletes that you can use if you really do aspire to make your dreams come true:
1 – Find your God-given talents and abilities
2 – Love what you do
3 – You gotta have heart
4 – Persist, persist, persist…
5 – Visualize things working out the way you want them to
6 – No Excuses, no exceptions; use failure as fuel for improvement

Thank you for checking out my article, and if you liked it, make sure you check out my blog for other articles!!!

Clear Debt From Your Life In 2-5 Years

2008-07-27T11:02:00.000-07:00

I recently read “The Total Money Makeover” by Dave Ramsey… Dave proposes a very common debt reduction plan – and one that has gained a lot of popularity in recent years. He calls it a “debt snowball”, and says to start with your smallest debt, work on paying it off using “gazelle intensity”, and then adding the payment from it (and any other money you can come up with) to your next smallest debt until it is paid off, and then applying all of those payments to the next smallest debt until it is paid off, and so on. Dave says that if you use this plan, and you truly give it everything you got, most people will be debt free in approximately 2-5 years (all debts paid off except their primary mortgage, which apparently will sometimes be paid off in that amount of time and sometimes will take a little extra work after that). The snowball effect being that, each time a debt is paid off, the payment from it and all previous debts grows like a snowball, and gains momentum, making it easier and easier to pay off bigger debts.

In the stone age of financial planning, financial planners said you should make the minimum payment on all debts except for your debt with the highest interest rate, and apply all extra payment to that debt. The problem with that was it didn’t consider the psychological make up of people. If your highest debt was a large one, it took a very long time to make a significant dent in it, and most people would give up because they didn’t see enough progress. Same idea as in weight loss – you do crazy dieting or exercise in the beginning, which you can’t maintain forever, because you must see progress; if you diet and exercise for weeks without any noticeable progress, your enthusiasm fades and you give up. If you start with a very small debt, you can make noticeable progress, get fired up, and have even more intensity to continue the plan. The concept is not unique to Dave Ramsey – though the book at times makes it sound like “his plan”. What is unique is Dave taking the “debt snowball” up as his personal crusade, and backing it with a fire and intensity rarely seen in financial planning. Let’s face it – most people find budgeting to be slightly less exciting than… watching grass grow.

Dave’s passion for his plan is catchy, and it is probably a great plan for a lot of people, but I am not sure that Dave will admit it is not for everyone. Dave apparently crashed and burned in real estate investing using debt/leverage, and he takes on the idea that any and all debt is bad and will ruin anyone and everyone. He fails to acknowledge anywhere in the book that I could find even the remote possibility that debt can be a tool for good (a la Robert Kiyosaki). Many a man has made his fortune by the wise use of debt (as a tool). Most large and successful businesses, at some point or another, expanded through the use of debt. Countless real estate millionaires made their fortunes by borrowing wisely, leveraging their real estate investments, and benefiting from positive cash flow, mortgage pay down, appreciation, tax benefits, etc. (and, yes, admittedly many have failed in these same endeavors through the unwise use of debt).

By the same token, let’s talk about credit cards. They are a double-edged sword – a weapon that can badly injure the user, and that, used correctly, can be a great tool. Dave Ramsey suggests no one ever keep any credit cards for any purpose. I disagree. I use my credit cards wisely, and I love them. I learned it from T. Harv Eker. I charge almost all of my standard business expenses on one of two credit cards, and I pay the balance in full every month. Also, I charge enough in routine business expenses (my business is rental properties and rehabbing houses) that the cash back and other bonus awards from my credit card use provides my family with nice meals out regularly, gives my wife funds that pay for most of our family pictures and photo books, and other occasional bonuses. Harv says his credit card use pays for his family’s all-inclusive vacations. Terrific. I have good credit. I get credit card offers in the mail all of the time offering me zero interest on balance transfers for up to eighteen months. I recently took advantage of two such offers. I had 2-4 years left to pay on my wife’s car and my truck. I decided that, by transferring to zero interest for eighteen months, I could pay the same amount I was already paying every month in vehicle payments, and, because 100% of every payment would go to principal (no interest), I could have both loans down to nothing or a fraction of what I owed on them in eighteen months. At that point, if my interest jumped up to 20% for the remaining balance, and I had no other options to reduce that rate or pay off the balance (which is unrealistic), I STILL WOULD HAVE BEEN MILES AHEAD! Dave, show me the flaw in my logic!!! What Dave should say, somewhere in his book, at some time, is that his plan is great for many, but is not for everyone. He should mention that, if you have self discipline, and if you manage your money well, that maybe, just possibly, debt can be a tool that works for you. I ASSURE YOU IT CAN BE!!!

Anyhow, the book is a quick, easy read, with many interesting stories, and, as I have said, it can benefit many (including most average Americans). Dave exposes many common misconceptions about money and finance, and proposes a plan that has definite value for those who are serious about eliminating debt from their lives (and are willing to really throw themselves into it). Now, don’t kid yourselves into thinking that Dave is sharing a big huge secret, and that, once you know it, you can become debt free fast without applying any effort. Dave preaches that you have to really throw yourself into the plan, and do whatever it takes to get out of debt. He talks about extreme budgeting, garage sales, overtime or second jobs, part time businesses, etc., in addition to managing your money wisely, but he says it will be one of the most worthwhile things you could ever do for yourself, and it will change your life. Dave says, “if you will live like no one else, later you can live like no one else”; in fact, it is printed across every single page! I like it better the way I have heard it before – if you are willing to do the things others won’t for a short time now, you will be able to do things others won’t for the rest of your life! Either way, there is value in Dave’s plan, and if the idea suits you, I absolutely would recommend “The Total Money Makeover” for you, my friend!

P.S. – Dave provides a bunch of budgeting forms in the back of the book that might be helpful – I even wrote up a copy of “The Debt Snowball” chart myself, as I may apply some form of it myself some time if and when it suits me.

Great related quotes:

“A budget is people telling their money where to go instead of wondering where it went.” –John Maxwell

“If you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time.” -Zig Ziglar

No Crystal Ball About the Future of Real Estate

2008-07-13T20:15:00.000-07:00

I recently shared Frank McKinney’s opinion that the real estate market is likely to turn around in late 2008 or in 2009… Now I read an article by David Butler, who is published regularly on www.creonline.com, and figured it is only fair to give airtime to a contrary opinion (see “Dead-cat Bounce” below). The truth – none of us has a crystal ball about what will happen to real estate in the short term, and we all have to act prudently, and do the best we can with the circumstances that surround us. Ten to twenty years out, real estate prices will almost certainly be much higher than they are today, but not everyone that owns real estate can wait that long for a comeback… Personally, I think there is a lot of opportunity in the current real estate market, and I am rehabbing two houses right now that I hope to flip, but, until I have completed those flips and have profits in hand, I wouldn't be fair for me to tell you “yes, it still works today.” Also, I bought both properties at prices where I can keep them as rentals if necessary. I will let you know how my flips work out. Also, my single family rentals still cash flow, and I am keeping them, and I expect them to get better in the next few years because the rental market is getting stronger right now, plus I expect to see Florida property taxes dropping significantly in the next couple of years (as recent lower property values get factored in by the property appraiser’s office). On to the part of David’s article that predicts a gloomy future for real estate values (go to www.creonline.com to see the article in its entirety).

CRE Online > How-To Articles > A "Dead-Cat Bounce" in the Rocky Real Estate Market

A "Dead-Cat Bounce" in the Rocky Real Estate Market
by David P. Butler
[June 2008]
The phrase "Dead-Cat Bounce" is finance industry term derived from the notion that "even a dead cat will bounce at least once if it falls from a great enough height," and describes a pattern wherein a spectacular decline in the price of a stock is immediately followed by a moderate and temporary rise--before resuming its downward movement. The connotation is that the rise is not an indication of improving fundamentals of the stock. A "bounce" is often the result of speculation. Traders buy into what they hope is the bottom of the market, expecting a "bounce" and making a quick profit. Thus, the very act of anticipating a bounce can create and magnify it. There is evidence of a "Dead-Cat Bounce" happening in the current real estate markets in several parts of the country. Investors are rushing headlong into some of the worst markets (Stockton, CA is one such example) and actually bidding up prices against retail buyers for REO listings--on homes listed at prices still higher than the affordability levels for the areas where they are located! Many investors have been brainwashed by Wall Street and the media to think that "buying low" is always a winning approach. But "buying low" all by itself, is a very speculative strategy--and more so in times like these. The biggest challenge is that turnarounds are often difficult to spot because deflation in the housing markets typically runs about 18 quarters (4.5 years), and false bottoms in housing sales and starts are common. It is imperative to stay focused on ways to navigate the foreclosure and pre-foreclosure markets right now because the real opportunity will only come in 2009-2011, depending on the region. So--buying for value is the optimal strategy.
Housing market declines are steep and accelerating
The current recession will most likely turn out to be the worst in decades. There are many more problems ahead. My forecast for the next 5 to 7 years includes the following economic scenarios.
Deleveraging (the process of taking leverage out of the financial system) is the dominant theme in the markets in 2008 and going forward for at least a year, as the capital markets recoil from the massive losses in structured finance and the housing bubble. This process will transform the banking industry, putting an increasing drag on economic growth and corporate profits.
Due to the weakness in the economy, the next trend in the housing correction will be a crisis in prime mortgages, and...
A likelihood of a meltdown in the $40 trillion global credit CDO market for the same reasons that crashed real estate securitizations, as a massive credit card crunch is looming right around the corner;
Many more hedge fund blowups, corporate bankruptcies, bank failures;
The inherent rise or interest rates that has to come with bank deleveraging--only now in its early stages. After 2010, you should expect inflation and interest rates to really begin soaring, which will put an increasing drag on economic growth and corporate profits.
From their peak in 2006, home prices will ultimately decline to pre-1999 levels between now and 2012. Commercial real estate market will also suffer.
The rental market is set to heat up, and will provide good investment opportunities for patient and prudent investors.

Financial Freedom For a Fist Full of Nuts! Can It Be True???

2008-07-10T22:23:00.000-07:00

A friend recently loaned me “The Total Money Makeover”, by Dave Ramsey (I will save some of the details of the book for another day), and in the book Dave shares a story I have heard several times before… I will use a version I heard that is only slightly different than Dave’s version.

The way I heard it, people used this method to catch monkeys in jungle areas. The captors would cut a small hole in one end of a coconut shell, just big enough for the monkeys to fit their open hands into, and then put nuts, a favorite treat of the moneys, into the coconut shell. The captors would tie a rope to the other end of the coconut and hold it or anchor it, and wait for the monkeys to come along. The monkeys would put their hands into the hole and grab the nuts, but the hole was so small that, while their open hand would fit into the coconut, their closed fist would not fit back out through the hole. The monkeys, in their desire for the nuts, refused to open their fists, and the captors could easily walk up and capture them.

Now, first, you and I think, “Gee, it sure is silly of those monkeys to be so greedy for the nuts that they allow themselves to be captured, when all they have to do is drop the nuts and they can escape.” Simple enough, right?

Next question… Do you have a ‘fist full of nuts’ in your financial life? Something that you are holding onto so strongly, and you will not let go no matter what, that might be costing you your financial freedom? How about something like keeping up with the Joneses? How about wanting to drive a little too much vehicle for your finances? How about a little too much fun, or not quite enough hard work? How about too much house, or too much credit card spending? How about too much television time that could be used more productively in your part time business, or working some overtime, or getting a second job for a short period of time to push your finances to a new level? How about expensive habits like gambling or smoking? How about ideas regarding how to handle your finances, that, despite the fact that they have not worked for you in the past ten years, you continue to cling to, instead of learning new, better ways (you have heard the saying, ‘if you always do what you have always done, you will always get what you have always got’)?

Truthfully, don’t almost all of us have one or more examples of ‘a fist full of nuts’ in our lives? I know of some I have been able to get rid of to a large degree (like television), some that have burned me badly (like thinking I could outsmart the market place using stock options), and I know of some I still have (like the big fancy truck I decided I deserved, and the nice house and pool I decided my family deserved). Now, some of my things, like the house and truck, I decided were earned because of the hard work and real estate investing success I enjoyed over the ten years prior to those purchases, and maybe that is completely true, and maybe it is only partly true – I can’t say for sure until the end of the story, but this I know for sure… if the monkeys would have been willing to let go of the nuts, they could have escaped. And this I know for sure… there are a lot of things that the average American holds onto tightly, that, if they were willing to let go of them for a short period of time early on, it would allow them freedom from the rat race and financial bondage for the rest of their lives.

How much sense does it make for millions and millions of Americans to drive fancy, new vehicles, live beyond their means using credit cards, and spend their whole lives struggling financially, living paycheck to paycheck, if the alternative is to drive cheaply for five or ten years early on, keep the spending under control, put all of the extra money into wise investments (or, if they adhere to Dave Ramsey, debt reduction), and then after five or ten years they could have comfortable finances and be able to drive what they want and spend what they want for the rest of their lives?

One way or another, every day with every dollar, we all vote for what happens in our lives. We decide on a fist full of nuts, followed by a lifetime of financial captivity, or we decide to make some sacrifices, so we can enjoy a future of financial freedom. Best wishes at the ballot box!!!

Successfully Start a Business, & Successfully Invest in Real Estate

2008-07-10T21:43:00.000-07:00

In his book, ‘Ready, Fire, Aim: Zero to $100 Million in No Time Flat’, Michael Masterson says that "Nothing matters more than selling." "Many first-time entrepreneurs have the impression that they are doing things in a logical order when they look for the perfect office space, have logos designed, and order a lot of inventory. The reality is they are wasting valuable resources on secondary and tertiary endeavors. If no one is going to buy what you want to sell, you've just wasted a bunch of money on a business that will never be."
Author Susanna Hutcheson, commenting on Masterson’s book, says “I see this when a client comes to me and has spent most of his small budget on Web site design and left the important thing, the sales message, for last --- just to fill in the beautiful design. They've spent their money on the least important and have no money left for the most important… I've seen this first hand in my own consulting business. Entrepreneurs tend to put their values and their money on all the wrong things --- and this leads to certain failure.”Here are Masterson’s three steps to starting a business:Step one: Get the product ready enough to sell, but don't worry about perfecting it. Step two: Sell it. Step three: If it sells, make it better.

While this all sounds fairly easy, it's not. "Selling can be terrifying," Masterson says. "It can be tough, gritty, unglamorous work. But when you make that first big sale, you realize it's also exhilarating. And like it or not, you probably won't become a successful entrepreneur until you can sell your product or service in your sleep."

Masterson also shares that you have to give far more than you expect in return to succeed. Similarly, I have read numerous times that you should give customers more value than they expect to get for the price, and I believe it.

What does all of this have to do with real estate? Two points.

First point. Several years back I talked to an investor who I saw at my Real Estate Investment Association every week for a few years. It was the first time we really spoke at length, and I asked him if he rehabbed houses. No, not yet anyhow. So rental properties is your game? No, but I wouldn’t mind doing those some time. Okay, then you wholesale houses? No, but I almost did wholesale one, and I would have made big money, too, if it worked. So now I am at a loss, and I ask him what he does do in real estate. He is still learning, and trying to figure out what will work for him. This after a few years of going to meetings every week religiously!!! [some of you are in my real estate investor association, and meetings are every other week; well, back in the day we were hard core, and met every week]

I see people all the time that buy real estate courses like they are candy. I go to free seminars and watch the same people rush to the back of the room to buy three and four different courses – any one of which would probably provide more information than they would need to get started. I see people study, read, spend time and energy learning the business, networking, and several years later they have still never made one red cent in the business. I see people with LLCs, corporations, accountants, attorneys, fancy business cards, using real estate investor terminology that I have never heard before, and they still haven’t done one deal.

I have seen people that have gone through every secondary and tertiary endeavor possible, but they never stopped to ask the most important question of all… Can I go out, locate bargain properties, and figure out a way to make money on them? At what point do you stop studying, learning, buying courses, buying sophisticated software, networking, etc., and just ask “can I make money in this business (or investment)?” [I think many who call themselves real estate investors are not investors, but are running their own small business, but we will save that for another article…]

Masterson says people starting a business need to sell, but it is hard, so they do everything else first and don’t find out until afterwards if their product or service is wanted. People interested in real estate investing find it somewhat fun and easy to learn, study, read, network, set up companies, set up offices, etc., etc., so they do those things, but they wait way too long to go out in the marketplace and find out if they are able to locate properties, negotiate bargains, and find a way to make money on them.

That leads into my second point. Personally, I believe that almost all businesses should be started on a shoestring, while you accomplish that one task… Find out if there is a market for the product or service you want to sell, and can you make money meeting the needs of that market place. If the answers are yes, then start meeting those needs, and base your expansion on your success and the level of demand for your product or service.

Real estate investing should be done in a similar manner. Personally, I did most of my studying in the early years in the library, and by picking the brains of a couple of co-workers that were successful real estate investors. I may not have spent one red cent until I bought my first property, and if I did spend some before that, it wasn’t much. The fact is, by many standards, I still run my real estate investing on a shoestring budget. I minimize all expenses, except for when it comes to giving the customer the best product I can at a reasonable price (part of my formula is to rehab houses nice, giving potential tenants and buyers more than they expect in a home in a given price range).

You might say, “Ready, Fire, Aim” (from Masterson’s title) is crazy, and you have seen some investors that rushed into crazy deals and got in over their heads. I agree with you. But don’t they still have the same issue as in my first point – they tried to buy, buy, buy, but they didn’t stop first to ask “can I go out, locate bargain properties, and figure out how to make money on them?” “Can I make money in this business?”

Anyhow, not my best article, but those were just a couple of points I noticed and wanted to drive home about how to successfully start a business, and successfully invest in real estate.

Jim Rohn's Three Minute Movie

2008-07-09T09:02:00.000-07:00

Jim Rohn's philosophy for successful living demonstrates a deep understanding of the world. His simple, yet insightful messages have touched millions of people, and continue to offer inspiration to generations. [their marketing message, not mine]

Click the link below (or paste it into your browser) to see his new 3-minute movie.

www.SUCCESS.com/lessons

My vacation, and a business quote for the day...

2008-07-03T06:52:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!

I haven't had time to write much lately... My family and I just got back from two weeks of vacation in Michigan, much of which was spent with my wife's relatives... I guess every family has a few 'quirky' members, but most of them are terrific, and we had a great time (really, we did)!

We did some boating, with tubing and water skiing, some swimming and hot tubbing, played ping pong, got to see many houses and talk to Tammy's relatives about what they have done with their houses and what they plan to do (which a house guy like me always enjoys). We spent three days in Mackinac (tourist town), where we had a jacuzzi in our suite, and an indoor water park at our hotel, where we had hours and hours of family fun. We discovered "ladderball", which is a fun game that was new to us, went to a wedding and reception, a family reunion, and much more. My six year old got to have six birthday parties, as most everyone wanted to do a small party for his July 1st birthday, plus he got a real 4-wheeler from Mom and Dad at his first party before we ever left for vacation (it will be tough for us to ever top this birthday)! We stayed busy, showed off our two amazing boys to everyone, reconnected with many, and most of the rent checks came in while we were away. One of the benefits of buy and hold real estate - earning money even while you are gone on vacation!

I am not sure how much writing I will do in the near future, either, as we are finishing upgrades on one of my rental properties now, with a rehab house waiting to follow that, and I close on another fixer-upper Tuesday of this coming week. Time to get back to basics, get out to some job sites, and start making sure things are getting done, done right, and done in a timely manner! I have been reading Frank McKinney lately, which I thoroughly enjoyed, and I am fired up to get back in the field and start leading by example (aka - hard work). I don't usually do a lot of the fix up myself, but I can do some, plus the planning, some shopping, etc. (it has been a while since I got very 'hands on'). Eventually I will let you know if buy, fix up, and sell works for me in this real estate market (hopefully it will be good news - I am confident that it will be)!

Anyhow, I thought I would share a business quote for the day...
"When everyone is looking for gold, it is a good time to be in the pick and shovel business." -Mark Twain

Where to Find Wealth, Happiness, and Success

2008-06-12T20:50:00.000-07:00

A beggar had been sitting by the side of a road for over thirty years. One day a stranger walked by. “Spare some change?” mumbled the beggar, mechanically holding out his old baseball cap. “I have nothing to give you”, said the stranger. Then he asked, “What’s that you are sitting on?” “Nothing”, replied the beggar. “Just an old box. I have been sitting on it for as long as I can remember.” “Ever looked inside?” asked the stranger. “No” said the beggar. “What’s the point? There’s nothing in there.” “Have a look inside,” insisted the stranger. The beggar managed to pry open the lid. With astonishment, disbelief, and elation, he saw that the box was filled with gold.

I am that stranger who has nothing to offer you and who is telling you to look inside. Not inside any box, as in the parable, but somewhere even closer: inside yourself.

“But I am not a beggar,” I can hear you say.

I read that on Amazon.com, and they credited it to Eckhart Tolle.

I though it was a terrific parable. Now, I won’t be as good, or as fluent, but let me speak from my personal experience for a moment. I have been chasing wealth and success, looking for the recipe and the “right ingredients”, for quite a few years. I have read over a hundred books, and own over fifty in my personal library, on wealth, success, or related topics. I have spoke with countless people on the topic, from all different levels of success: some were just getting started, and some already measured their net worth in the millions. Here is some of what I have noticed in others, and in myself as well.

At the start of the road, most of us are looking for a recipe… a secret formula… that magical investment that the rich use that easily and automatically creates wealth. We just want the wealthy to share the formula with us, give us that one hot stock tip, so we can do it too.

At the beginning of the road, most of us think that if someone wealthy was just generous enough to tell us how to do it, then we could do it too. Well, that is right, and it isn’t…

See, there is great wisdom in the saying: think what wealthy people think, do what wealthy people do, and you will have… what wealthy people have. To tell you the catch, let me repeat a quote I have said before… “It is simple, but it isn’t easy”. When you study enough wealthy and/or successful people, and when you read enough autobiographies of great men and women, you start to notice commonalities. However, what you notice in common is not really a secret. Let me use as an example a ‘typical self-made millionaire’.

First, he (and it could be a he or a she, but for simplicity’s sake I will just say ‘he’) starts out growing up relatively poor. Generally, he has obstacles and hurdles to overcome that are larger than what most people can imagine facing themselves – larger than life atrocities... Maybe bankruptcy, maybe parents disowned him at a young age and he grew up on the streets, maybe deaths in the family at an early age, maybe a broken home for whatever reason, maybe embarrassment at growing up dirt poor, maybe his family being thrown out of their home to live on the streets, perhaps little formal education because he had to quit school and work to help support the family, maybe he barely escaped persecution in a savage country and escaped to America where he couldn’t even speak the language, maybe labeled with mental or other disabilities, etc. These obstacles become a rallying cry – they harden his resolve that he is going have the good life – that he is never going to let that happen to him as an adult, or he is going to make sure that his children never have it as tough as he did. Maybe his parents were complete failures, and it hardens his determination to be a huge success.

Personally, one day before school my Mom and Dad told my sister, brother, and I that they would have a surprise for us after we got home. I was in about second grade, my sister one grade behind me, and not sure if my brother was in kindergarten, or not in school yet. Anyhow, being kids, we got all excited. “No, don’t make us wait, give us the surprise now. Tell us before we leave for school. Please, please, please, please, please!!!” “Well, okay. Mommy and Daddy aren’t getting along, and we don’t love each other any more, so Daddy is moving out and we are going to get a divorce. But don’t worry, everything will be just fine.” Well, I talk to my sister and brother about it now, and they don’t remember that day, but I do. I remember crying all day long at school, trying to hold back and/or hide the tears, and I remember trying to figure out what I had done wrong that caused it. You see, kids don’t think logically about that kind of stuff – they don’t understand. Kids are simple, and they think the world revolves around them, so they must have had some role in anything that happens. Especially if the reasons behind something like a divorce aren’t broken down and explained to them in a way they can understand. Anyhow, moving right along to growing up in a single parent household…

I remember wearing sneakers that were held together by tape until my mother’s next payday (I learned later that my father was an alcoholic, and he never did help much with alimony or financial support). I remember being made fun of because I wore the same clothes too often – because I was lucky if I owned five sets of school clothes. I remember being laughed at because back when I was in school the kids on the school lunch program were easily identified as the poor kids by their punch cards and/or the line they had to wait in to get them.

When you have it worse than many people can imagine, one of two things tends to happen. Either you end up the exact same way yourself, or something inside you snaps, and you decide that you are going in the exact opposite direction. You decide that you will find a way, no matter how hard it is, to succeed, or be wealthy, or to not abuse your children, or whatever that opposite might be.

Enough of my personal story, and now back to our typical self-made millionaire. Once the decision is made to have it better financially than he had it growing up, he doesn’t know how he will become wealthy, but he knows he will find a way to do it somehow. Next, he starts working extra hard, ten to twelve to fourteen hours a day, five and six and seven days a week. He works harder than the next guy, and longer hours, and more days, with fewer vacations, sometimes holding two jobs, or running a business of his own on the side, and insists on doing everything he does to the best of his ability. At some point, he starts following a formula - he lives below his means, and he saves and invests the difference. Sooner or later, he typically finds his way into a field or business that he is passionate about, and he enjoys his work or business (which helps make the long hours and sacrifices come easier). He is generally a fair person, of the highest integrity, who tries to make sure that he always takes good care of his customers and honors any commitments that he makes, even if it occasionally hurts his pocket book to do so. He gives back out of his blessings, either to his church, or to those less fortunate, or to whatever causes are near and dear to him. His dedication shows, and eventually he starts to get promoted, or his business starts to grow and improve. The more he earns, the more he is able to save and invest, and his net worth starts to grow more noticeably now. He continues putting in the long hours, and hard work, and building wealth, for ten to twenty to thirty years. Eventually he starts to treat himself and/or his family a little better, and he starts to show some of the signs of success. One day Joe Average American finds out a little about what our typical self-made millionaire has achieved, and says, “Boy, you sure are lucky!” Yes, typical self-made millionaire sure is lucky. He got up earlier and went to bed later, worked harder, and gave it 110% effort 110% of the time. He built his success from the ground up, most of it by his own blood, sweat, and tears, especially in the early years. He did the things early on that others wouldn’t do, so that later he could do the things others couldn’t do. Meanwhile, Average Joe was enjoying the average American’s seven hours a day of TV, doing just enough at his job to keep from being fired, and never considered living below his means or starting up a side business because it would be too difficult. Yes, typical self-made millionaire sure was lucky!

So, now let me circle back to the beginning, and tie some things together. I said, “At the beginning of the road, most of us think that if someone wealthy was just generous enough to tell us how to do it, then we could do it too.” I proceeded to say, “Well, that is right, and it isn’t…” Now you see, what I mean is, the ‘how to’ is different for each person – we all have different passions and talents, so we must have different businesses, and get into different investments, etc., but the path we follow is similar. We first make a decision, and our ‘why’ has to be huge; it has to give us a burning desire that makes us willing to do whatever it takes (within moral, ethical, and legal limits, of course), because it will be simple, but it won’t be easy. Then we figure out some things, and work long and hard for many years, and make sacrifices, and figure out more things, and continue working long and hard, and figuring out things, and, eventually, one fine day we end up “LUCKY!!!”

And even before “the beginning of the road”, I shared Eckhart Tolle’s story about a beggar, and Eckhart said that we need to look inside ourselves. What I am sharing is that I think we need to look inside ourselves to see what kind of lives we lead – that we need to make conscious decisions about who we are and who we become, so we don’t get to the end of our lives and find ourselves left with a lot of wasted potential. Wealth, happiness, and success don’t come from ‘secrets’, and they don’t come from the outside world; indeed, where they come from is inside ourselves. They come from having the right mindset. They come from having the intestinal fortitude to make tough decisions, and to stick it out when times get tough. They come from overcoming our fears, and having integrity in all that we do. They come from deciding to be happy, and then doing it.

I was talking to my sister recently about goals and dreams, and she said “Well, not everyone is like you. Not everyone wants to be rich, you know”. My reply was something along the lines of “Dreams and goals don’t have to be about getting rich! They are about figuring out what is important to you, and deciding what you really want to do with your life, and then making a plan and going for it. Your dreams can be financial, or they can be spiritual, or they can be about a career choice, or anything at all, as long as they are yours!” What breaks my heart, though, is seeing so many Average Joes that spend seven hours a day watching TV, that never pursue any dreams or goals at all, and knowing there is a good chance that they will get to the end of their lives and look back and regret all of the things they never did, never tried, and all of the dreams they had that they didn’t make come true. That is really sad!!!

Real Estate Investing Is Not Dead!

2008-05-27T18:30:00.000-07:00

I know many of my readers are real estate investors, as am I, and here is a little encouragement for you... In May 2008 I attended a Robyn Thompson (aka The Queen of Rehab) four day “Real Estate Millionaire Mastermind Conference” in Altamonte Springs. The last speaker she had, to close out the event, was Frank McKinney. For those of you who don’t know, Frank McKinney is known as ‘The Real Estate Rock Czar’, because of his long blond hair, his crazy advertising antics, and the multi-million dollar spec homes he builds (he is currently working on his latest and greatest, which he plans to sell for approximately $130 million)! Frank is also heavily involved in building free housing for the homeless, especially in Haiti.

The only thing that Frank pitched when he spoke was a trip he is doing that includes touring his latest mansion, plus his personal mansion, plus some of the stuff he is doing in Haiti, with all proceeds from the trip going towards the Haiti projects. The talk he gave, in a nutshell, was his personal story, followed by his opinion of the current real estate market.

The best I can recall, here is what Frank said about the current real estate market. First and foremost, he said it is a great time for investors, because now is when we can buy at the bottom. Second, he said the number of investors has thinned out, so there is less competition. Third, he stated his personal opinion that the current real estate downturn will end this year, or next year at the latest, and here were some of his reasons... The average length of a recession is only ten months. He feels that the current downturn in the real estate market is enough of a correction in pricing, and possibly even an overcorrection (not completely sure I agree with that one). He stated 5-6 economic stimuli that have been put into place, and says that these will help jump start our economy, but it will just take them a little time to kick in… The stimulus I can remember are: the income tax break checks currently being sent out to Americans, interest rates being dropped back towards their lowest levels, the Federal Reserve proving their willingness to support banks and financial institutions, and the expansion of our money supply.

Now, I talk to a lot of people about real estate, and I have heard from many that they already feel the market is improving some. Plus, when someone with Frank McKinney’s credentials talks, with no ulterior motives, and says that he has studied our current economic and real estate climate extensively, and he feels that we will experience an upturn soon, that carries a lot of weight with me.

Now, Frank can’t guarantee he will be right, and I certainly can’t guarantee it, but a bottom does have to come some time, and wouldn’t you rather be buying at the bottom than tucking your head in the sand because the declining market chased you out of real estate? Personally, I am getting back into buying mode now, though I never really quit buying, and I plan on buying as we head towards the bottom, buying at the bottom, and buying as we come out of the bottom. I believe in real estate investing, and I plan on doing a lot more of it in the years to come. Now, to be fair, I don’t think we will see the kind of crazy appreciation again that we saw before the market turned (things definitely got overheated), but I still love the long term benefits of real estate, which I have preached on before. Done correctly, you get positive monthly cash flow after all expenses. If you do your homework, you can have significant equity on the day you buy. You should get equity build up as your underlying mortgages get paid down (basically, your tenants buy the properties for you). Long term, your properties will appreciate again. It is easy to apply leverage in real estate. And lastly, you get several tax advantages when compared with alternative investment choices. Taken together, these benefits make real estate an incredible investment option for those who know what they are doing.

Well, that is my pep talk for today. As always, use your common sense, and buyer beware; you are responsible for your own action and results. Also, I am not saying run out and buy all of the real estate you can get your hands on. However, I am saying that well thought out, well planned, long term buy and hold real estate investments that mesh with your lifestyle and personal goals can yield very nice results, as indicated by the fact that the majority of wealthy people in America either got that way, or stay that way, by keeping a lot of their wealth in real estate (and that isn’t just a coincidence!). Best wishes, and happy investing!

Financial Freedom and All Your Dreams Come True (Ten Years From Today)

2008-05-20T10:39:00.001-07:00

Let’s start with the question, “Do you plan to be here, alive, on planet Earth, ten years from today?” If so, where do you plan on being then? Don’t kid yourself, but realistically, based on what you are doing today, where do you plan on being in one year, three years, five years, and ten years? How will you and your life be different or the same as compared to today?

I got my wakeup call at about age 28, when I read “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” for the first time. I came to the realization that, after 28 years on this planet, I didn’t have a lot to show for the time I spent living, and worse, that I had no reason to believe I would do any better in the future. Up until then, my plan was just going through life, living day to day, waiting for something good to happen to me; waiting for my ship to come in. The problem was, I wasn’t even near the water; I couldn’t have seen my ship even if it did come in!

“Rich Dad, Poor Dad” was a great beginner book, which was all I was ready for at that time. It was wealth and success in an easy to read, story format that was able to hold my interest. It showed me that I needed to think ahead, long term, and begin doing little things that would add up to a better life later on. It was then that I started to become an avid learner. I figured out that if I could think what wealthy people thought, and then do what wealthy people did, eventually I would have… what wealthy people had!!!

Just a few changes... Back then, I thought I was doing about 10% of what I needed to do to succeed, and I was missing 90% of the puzzle. Furthermore, I didn’t think the other 90% was achievable before reading “Rich Dad, Poor Dad”. I really thought you had to be born into a wealthy family, and wealth was nearly impossible to achieve in less than one generation. What I eventually learned was, I actually already had 90% of the puzzle inside me, and I just needed to improve the final 10%. I already was a hard worker, with integrity, and ‘learn-ability’. The last 10% is different for different people. It might be a small shift in thinking, one or two minor activity changes, a little more discipline, changing one bad habit, or having or implementing one good idea. For me, it was largely a shift in thinking and, once made, wealth started to gradually come into my life, and stay! One year, three years, five years, ten years… Slowly at first, but then it picked up steam as I went.

Now, when someone asks me when and where they should start working on building wealth, I tell them the best time to start is now, and the best place to start is wherever they are right now! You may have to get tough on yourself to get started. You will have to ask yourself hard questions, like, “Am I reading the books that will take me where I want to go in one year, three years, five years, ten years? Am I working today on changing bad habits that hold me back from my full potential, and beginning to replace them with good habits, like living below my means and saving and investing the difference (do I pay myself first?)”?

Excellent questions. You see, what you are doing right now, today, determines who and what you become in ten years. If you keep doing the same things, you will keep getting the same results. So, ask yourself, am I improving me, and, if not, am I okay with being exactly the same person, with exactly the same results, in ten years as today? If not, when will now be the right time to make some changes? The first time I heard it put that way, I really had to think about it, but when it sunk in, it really hit home with me… When will now be the right time for you to start doing better?

So, for every one of us, we are either reading the right books to take us where we want to go in ten years, or we are not. We are either starting to discipline ourselves for a life of more, or we are not. We are either improving our habits, or we are not. Here is what you want to be careful to avoid… Don’t kid yourself. Don’t hope for and expect the best, without taking actions to create that best. Don’t wish for more, and not do something about it. Don’t fail to plan, since we all know that is the same as… planning to fail.

If you are where I was ten years ago, at age 28, with little or nothing to show for 28 years of living, ask yourself, “What can I do right now, today, to start moving towards my dreams? What can I do to begin moving towards the personal, spiritual, physical, and financial goals I want to achieve? What can I do to shake off wishful thinking, and start on a path to become the person I want to be, with the life I want to have, in one year, three years, five years, and ten years?”
Ten years ago, I ‘woke up’, I decided I didn’t want the same things out of the next ten years of my life as I had gotten out of the last 28 years, and I changed who I was becoming with a 10% change in me. A 10% change doesn’t sound like much, but what happened was it compounded, and gathered momentum, and I got on a path of personal achievement that has been absolutely nothing short of incredible! You see, just a little tiny shift in me, compounded over time, changed everything. I had to start small, biting off what I could chew and digest at the time. As time went on, I could do more and more, and I could see things I didn’t see in the beginning. If I had been given a million dollars back then, when I was 28 years old, I wouldn’t have known how to handle it, and I just would have spent and lost it all. I had to grow myself over the years, and the journey to where I am today is worth every bit as much as the money. The money may or may not disappear, but the person I became on the journey can’t be taken away, and if I started over again today with nothing, I would be able to rebuild my wealth much quicker and easier the second time around (because of who I became the first time around).

The key is to start right now making a few small changes so you can make all of your dreams come true. When will now be a good time for you to get started? How exciting, that just a few small tweaks, a 10% change from who you already are, and who you can be in one year, three years, five years, and ten years is limited only by your willingness to dream it and believe it. As Napoleon Hill said, “If your mind can conceive it, and you can believe it, you can achieve it!” You already have 90% of what it takes – why not do just 10% more??? Go for it!!!!!!! If you do, you won’t ever regret it, and if you don’t, well, the saddest truth of all… You may grow old wondering what could have been, and wishing you had done something different.

'And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.' –Anais Nin

My wish for all of us is that today be the day when the risk to remain tight in a bud is more painful than the risk it takes to blossom – and that we open up and bloom (as human beings) like the most beautiful flowers imaginable! Best wishes on the path to making all of your dreams come true!!!

It’s Time For You To Be Rich!!!

2008-05-19T12:04:00.000-07:00

Here is a fundamental truth that many people won’t admit – we would all like to be rich. If we are capable of being rich, and we can get rich via win-win situations, without hurting or taking advantage of anyone in any way, why would we not choose to be rich? If rich doesn’t agree with your moral values, think of the good you could do with millions of dollars at your disposal… How about starting up a charity to support your favorite cause? How about my personal goal, which is to give lump sums of one million dollars each to my church and a children’s charity that is near and dear to me? How about what Robert Allen and Mark Victor Hansen aspire to – to create a million millionaires who all give a million away to their favorite church or charity?

We live in an abundant universe, and God wants us to be abundant, and thinking that money is the root of all evil is so old school. Closer to the truth is that lack of money is the root of all evil. I hear biblical phrases thrown about saying how good it is to be poor, but I seldom hear mention of biblical phrases about prosperity… So here are a few.

“Let the LORD be magnified, who has pleasure in the prosperity of His servant.” -Psalm 35:27

“If they obey and serve him, they shall spend their days in prosperity, and their years in pleasures.” -Job 36:11

“Blessed is the man that feareth the LORD, that delighteth greatly in his commandments… Wealth and riches shall be in his house.” -Psalm 112:1-3

Or, how about the parable of the talents, where the servant who multiplies his talents is rewarded with many cities, and the servant who buried his talent in the sand gets nothing, because to he who hath, more will be given, but to he who hath not, even that little which he hath will be taken away? Was this not a direct biblical command to manage the money God allows into our lives, and to manage it well, and to make it grow and multiply?

Many people don’t have the why part of getting rich down, and I promise you this, if you don’t have the why, you will never, ever get the how. Also, personally, I feel that giving back has to be part of your why (especially if you have issues regarding whether or not you deserve to be rich). There is nothing at all wrong with wanting to improve yourself, your life, and the lives of your family, but for most people, the recipe doesn’t work if giving back isn’t part of the equation, too. The why is the first, necessary ingredient. Next, on to the how.

Most of you have been reading my blog for a while, and my e-mails before that, and you know that I don’t do too many actual sales pitches… But every now and then it is necessary to give people a nudge towards something that will be in their own best interest, and that is what I am about to do.

“Rich Dad, Poor Dad”, by Robert Kiyosaki, is among my recommended books, for several reasons. First, it is a great book about having the mindset of the rich. Second, it is in storybook format, which means it is easy to read, and it is a real page turner. When I first read the book, I couldn’t put it down – I stayed up until the wee hours of the morning reading, wanting to find out what the boys, Robert and Michael, learned from their Rich Dad. I started it one day, and finished it the next. It is that good! Third, it is the book that started me personally on the path to wealth – it is where I really started to get my millionaire mind, and many others as well. Also, let me throw one other thing into the ring… I read the book the first time at the public library. It was so good, I eventually had to have it, and bought myself a copy. I loaned that copy out, and it never returned, so I bought myself another copy. Then, either I loaned that one out, or misplaced it, and I bought myself a third copy. I have recommended the book to almost all of my family and friends. To most people who ask me how to build wealth, I tell them, if they haven’t already, to start by reading “Rich Dad, Poor Dad”. I have read the book at least a half dozen times or so, and I just finished reading it again right now. I also read all of the Rich Dad books, and own several more, either books or CDs. If you don’t already own this book, ask yourself, if someone who is financially free at 39 years of age feels this book is good enough to purchase three copies, study every book in the collection, read it over and over again, and recommend it to family and friends and anyone who will listen… If it has helped countless numbers of people learn how to create wealth… Ask yourself, “If I want to be rich, is there a chance that maybe I should own it too?” If you realize you should, click on my link now and buy it through Amazon, which is where I buy almost all of my wealth materials these days. The 4% associate fee I earn won’t mean much to me one way or the other, but the book could make a difference in your life, and if I didn’t prompt you to get it, shame on me!!!

Now, to finish up, I am going to give you a few samples from the book – just a small taste of what “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” will give you…

Rich Dad says that fear of being without money motivates us to work hard, and then, once we get that paycheck, greed or desire starts us thinking about all the wonderful things money can buy. The pattern is then set. “The pattern of get up, go to work, pay bills, get up, go to work, pay bills… Their lives are then run forever by the two emotions, fear and greed. Offer them more money, and they continue the cycle, by also increasing their spending. This is what I call the Rat Race.” “There is another way?” Mike asked. “Yes,” said rich dad slowly. “But only a few people find it.” “And what is that way?” Mike asked. “That’s what I hope you boys will find out as you work and study with me.”

A little further along, Rich Dad says, “I’ve met so many people who say, ‘Oh, I’m not interested in money.’ Yet they’ll work at a job for eight hours a day. That’s a denial of the truth. If they weren’t interested in money, then why are they working?”

Now, here is a rich dad quote I really love… “A job is really a short-term solution to a long-term problem.”

“Wealth is a person’s ability to survive so many number of days forward… or if I stopped working today, how long could I survive?”

“The rich buy assets. The poor only have expenses. The middle class buys liabilities they think are assets.” Robert Kiyosaki basically says that an asset is anything that puts money into your pocket, without you having to work for it. Liabilities are anything that cost you money.

Rich Dad forbade the words, “I can’t afford it”, because he said it shut down the brain. Instead, he said to ask, “How can I afford it?”, which forces your brain to think and search for answers.

“The main reason people struggle financially is because they spent years in school but learned nothing about money. The result is, people learn to work for money… but never learn to have money work for them”, says Robert Kiyosaki.

“Every day with every dollar, you decide to be rich, poor, or middle class”, and 'Rich Dad, Poor Dad' will share with you the differences in mindset between those three groups, then you can choose which one you want to be in, so you don’t risk ending up in the wrong group by default.

Now that my article is done, let me remind you, if you want to own 'Rich Dad, Poor Dad', please click on my link (right hand side of the blog) to buy it through Amazon.com... Thanks, and best wishes!

Making Success Happen - We All Start With the Same Seeds!!!

2008-05-10T17:38:00.000-07:00

A craven hung along the battle’s edge,
And thought, “Had I a sword of keener steel-
That blue blade that the king’s son bears,-but
This blunt thing-!”
And lowering crept away and left the field.
Then came the king’s son, wounded, sore bestead
And weaponless, and saw the broken sword,
And ran and snatched it, and with battle-shout
Lifted afresh he hewed his enemy down,
And saved a great cause that heroic day.
-Edward Rowland Sill
As quoted in “The Secret of the Ages” by Robert Collier

Wow… A story about days of old, where just a few short lines say so much. I wouldn’t know how to say it so well myself, so I just left it intact as I came across it.
Now, I will paraphrase, in my own words, a story about tomato seeds that I have on CD, from Dean Graziosi’s “Think A Little Differently”. I have told the story many times, and haven’t listened to it in a while, so I say ‘paraphrase’ very loosely, and I apologize if I don’t do it justice – every time I tell the story it probably changes a little more.
These two neighbors both buy the same tomato seeds, from the same store, at the same time. Neighbor one reads the instructions carefully, goes to a prime location in the back yard, and hoes up the ground. He prepares a garden, plants his seeds at the recommended depth, and covers them over.
Neighbor two grabs the package, goes outside the back door, dumps the seeds on the ground, and kicks some loose dirt over them. Then he proceeds to go inside, grab a cold beer, and sit on the couch to watch some television. He thinks, "Ah, there, I will have delicious tomatoes in no time".
Neighbor one fertilizes his seeds, and waters them regularly according to the directions. He weeds his garden as needed, puts a fence up around it, and stakes the full, beautiful plants as they begin to reach the appropriate size.
Neighbor two checks his plants, sees a few scraggly bushes starting to pop up, and says, “Hmmm… Good… They are starting to grow.”
Some time passes, and neighbor one has big, ripe, beautiful tomatoes for his family to enjoy, and enough to share some with friends and family.
Neighbor two has a few plants, with a few small tomatoes. Neighbor two looks over the fence at neighbor one’s tomatoes, kicks the ground, spits, and proclaims, “Figures! He even got better tomato seeds than I did!!!”
On a personal note, I loaned this CD to a friend of mine, and she was listening to it in her car while driving with her daughter who was about five at the time. She told me that her daughter, on hearing that, proclaimed, “BUT MOMMY, THEY GOT THE SAME SEEDS!” Needless to say, I loved hearing that… Oh, but what sometimes comes “Out of the mouths of babes!”.

Visualizing Can Make All of Your Dreams Come True!!!

2008-05-07T10:37:00.000-07:00

The first paragraph is adapted from The Success Principles, by Jack Canfield… (see my recommended books at right hand side of the page if interested in this terrific book).
Fred Couples and Jim Nantz were two kids who loved golf and had very large dreams. Fred's goal was to someday win the Master's Tournament, and Jim's was to someday work for CBS Sports as an announcer. Fred and Jim were suitemates at the University of Houston in the late 1970's, and they would playact the scene where the winner of the Masters was escorted into Butler Cabin to receive his green jacket, and be interviewed by the CBS announcer. Fourteen years later, the scene they had rehearsed many times in Taub Hall at the University of Houston played out in reality as the whole world looked on. Fred Couples won the Masters, and was taken by tournament officials into Butler Cabin, where he was interviewed by... CBS sports announcer Jim Nantz, of course. After the cameras stopped rolling, the two embraced each other with tears in their eyes. They always knew it would happen that way, because they had already done it all those years earlier.
There is amazing power in acting as if something has already happened. In visualizing your dreams... especially when you bring all of your senses into play, and make it as real as possible. Dennis Waitley, in some of his material, talks about a study they did of high level athletes (runners, I believe). They tested the runners before, during, and after running, checking how their bodies acted at various points. This is where it gets interesting. Next they had the athletes visualize themselves doing the same run. The athletes saw the entire run in their minds, seeing it as real as possible, and their bodies tested exactly the same when they visualized as when they had actually done the running. Same harder breathing, elevated heart rate, all of it! You see, if you really become a part of what you are visualizing, and you really go there in your mind and your feelings, your body can't tell that it isn't real! What this means is, if we really make our dreams real, in our mind, daily, over and over again, our mind and body think it is real.
Then, your mind starts telling itself, "I need to figure out how to make this dream happen. I need to put together all of the pieces of the puzzle somehow." You start looking for and seeing things that you wouldn't have noticed before. Do you know that, as you go through life, every minute of every day, you don't notice 95% of what is going on around you? Stop right now, and check out every detail of everything around you. Blades of grass moving, a clock ticking, objects around the room, cars passing, everything. Look at every little detail. Up until you started looking for it, you didn't notice 95% of what was there. You couldn't. Your mind can not process that much information at one time. So it focuses on what it thinks it needs to know and pay attention to the most. How does it decide that? One way is habits. Your mind pays attention to what you are in the habit of paying attention to. Another way is pay attention to the most important things, like the road when you drive. Another way is pay attention to what you have trained it to look for. When you visualize certain dreams over and over again, you start seeing things that can help you accomplish that dream. Sometimes you see little tiny things, in bits and pieces, over time. Sometimes you find one huge answer that makes the whole entire dream come true all at once. You train your mind what to look for, and it follows your commands. Science has taught us that human beings only use approximately 5-10% of our brain functions. This might sound a little hokey to some of you, but I honestly believe that by training our subconscious on what we want it to look for, we tap into the vast unused portions of our brain, and it starts working for us. That subconscious has to do something, and I think it does whatever primary directives you give it. If you tell your brain that you are watching TV and vegging, and you don't want it to do anything, it won't do anything. If you tell it to block out something painful, it will block it out. If you tell it to pursue your dreams, it will!!! But you have to make it real. The stronger and more real you make your visualization and images, the harder and faster your brain will work to find ways to create what you are visualizing. Keep in mind, you can't just visualize riches and sit on the couch and wait for the riches. You actually have to think, and plan, and turn your thoughts into actions (T. Harv Eker says this is the process of manifestation: thoughts lead to feelings lead to actions lead to results; T->F->A->R). This process will help you find the missing pieces that you didn't see before. The most successful people throughout history knew this... If you study successful people, you will find this is a key ingredient with almost all of them. There is almost nobody at the top levels of athletics that doesn’t routinely use visualization as a method of enhancing performance, and you want to perform at your best, in any area of your life, you should be using it too! Short version: what you think about comes about! What you focus on expands.
Personally, about 10 years ago I was poor. I made about $8-10/hour, and was solidly lower middle class. I had just started to get seriously interested in real estate, started studying success, etc. My wife Tammy and I went with my Mom and my sister to a gentlemen's house that my Mom was sort of dating. He had a very nice, 3/2/2 block house, with an in-ground caged swimming pool, and beautiful poolside commercial bar and grill (if memory serves me). He was a bit of a wine connoisseur, and, while I am not a wine drinker, most of the rest of them enjoyed sampling a few wines. It was a warm summer evening, the pool had a built in light, and the water was great. We had an amazing time, though my Mom may have drank a little too much wine, and tried to return some (sorry Mom)! The home was unlike anything I had experienced before. When I say I was raised without a lot of money in my life, it is not an understatement. This was a different lifestyle than Tammy, I, my sister, or my Mom were accustomed to. I told my wife, that night, in front of my Mom and sister, that I would get us a home and pool just like that. If memory serves me, they all rolled their eyes, and I am guessing my wife said something like, “yeah, when we are about 80 years old, maybe”. I said I didn't know if it would take a few years, or many, or what, but we would have that again, and it would be all ours. I told my Mom and sister that, if they wanted that house in their future, too, they could learn with me. Unfortunately, they did not take me up on my offer. Later, in T. Harv Eker's course "The Million Mind Intensive", we did some hypnosis, and I saw the same home again. I have visualized it many times sense then. In October of 2006, my wife and I purchased our new home, in the very same neighborhood as that house. It is a 3 bedroom, 2 bath, 2 car garage, concrete block house. We have done a few things to it, and have plans to do some more some time (I rehab houses!). It has an in-ground, screened pool, with a light in it. Every time I drive home, I feel a tinge of joy that part of my dreams is coming true again. I experience that high almost every time I start nearing home. On my way home I drive past the street that man’s house is on, and I sometimes look out at the houses and wonder, which of those houses is the one we visited those years ago. Which house helped me visualize my dream home, and helped push me to make it a reality several years later?
Interesting thing... My wife and I looked at pool homes just under $200K off and on for 2-3 years. I always told her we would get our nice, new, pool home before our son started kindergarten, so we would be in a good school district. She sometimes supported me, and other times gave me a "yeah, right". It didn't matter. I already knew I would have it, because I had been there so many times in my visions. When a realtor friend of mine told me about our current house, the asking price was $249.9K, and I told him it was out of our price range. He said the listing agent said the sellers were very motivated, and we should check it out. I called the listing realtor, chatted with her about the house some, and decided that, even though we probably wouldn't be able to stretch to it, we would look at it, because the pictures were amazing. This house was in a completely different league than anything else we looked at for $200K. My wife and I walked in, looked at each other, and both had this smile on our faces like we were home. I knew I was in trouble, and these sellers better be very motivated. Long story short, at that time, I was not thinking the least little bit about my dream. Months later, I was watching "The Secret", and I was reminded that it was my dream house. In "The Secret", John Assaraf shows his son his dreaming board, and his eyes tear up. He had a picture, from years prior, of the exact same house they were living in, and he hadn't even realized it. It was a picture from some glamour homes type of photo shoot or whatever, and it was of the house he later bought as his personal residence. I think it said about 7,000 or 9,000 square feet, with a 3,000 square foot guest house. You know, your ordinary run of the mill stuff.
I made my own dreaming board recently (and I am trying to encourage my wife and 6 year old son to do the same), and I will do plenty more visualizing, because I am not done yet. I have more, bigger and better things to come, and I hope all of you reading this do as well. Don’t do it because I said so – do it because IT WORKS! Best wishes, and happy dreaming!

Top Ten Thing I Learned Playing Cashflow...

2008-04-25T18:41:00.001-07:00

The top ten things I learned playing Cashflow at Steve M.'s house Thursday night:
(a hushed drum roll begins in the background...)
#10 - Those who go home to bed before getting out of the rat race will definitely not win
the game (though they may get more sleep than others)! No offense to Rod or Joe - we
are glad they made it out to play!
#9 - Being a Doctor or a Lawyer isn't worth all the years of study - it really just means your
kids (and everything else) costs too much... Well, I learned that the first time I played Cashflow,
but it's on the list now.
#8 - Partnering on deals with Jim M. is bad luck. Not his fault; not my fault; just a partnership
that is somehow cursed to not be real successful!
#7 - Education is a DooDad - I know it's true because Steve M. says so!
#6 - When playing Cashflow outside, it doesn't keep the kids awake at night.
#5 - When playing Cashflow outside, the mosquitoes might bite those who stay up too late (even in the screened in porch)!
#4 - Never buy a deal if Steve M.'s lips are flapping. He will suck you into mediocre
deals by making them sound better than they really are, over and over again...
Just ask Rob!
#3 - Persistence pays off... Despite any and all efforts to the contrary, when a man
(and possibly a woman, but I can't guarantee that, as there were no women playing)
decides he won't be stopped from achieving his dreams, regardless if he has 3 kids, gets downsized several times, and has his income reduced to just $90/pay day, if he persists it is just a matter of time until he gets out of the rat race and makes his dreams come true!
#2 - If going to play Cashflow at Steve M.'s house, make sure somebody remembers
to take an extra set of table legs with them (the Turkey says, "gobble, gobble"; the table goes, "wobble, wobble")!!!
(drum roll gets louder and louder...)
#1 - Despite much, much evidence to the contrary, Rob doesn't win every time we play Cashflow!!! Sometimes he finishes 2nd! Congratulations Jim M.! Not sure if that is Jim's first win or second, but whatever it is, it definitely ends a long dry spell! Well done!

Dreams Come True...

2008-04-15T10:32:00.000-07:00

How bad do you want your dreams to come true?
The best measure is in your follow through!

Will you get up early and go to bed late?
Will you do that for a goal that is really great?

Will you sweat and toil hour after hour?
Is it worth the labor? Do you have the power?

Will you dream and make plans, day and night?
Will you do whatever it takes, as long as it’s right?

Will you pursue your dreams when you are in pain?
Will you trudge on through mud, snow, and hard rain?

Making your dreams come true is not a roll of the dice;
It's figuring out what must be done, and deciding to pay the price!

When others are having fun, are you willing to forgo?
If spending in excess hurts the plan, are you willing to say no?

Will you avoid life’s short term pleasures,
Because you want greater, long term treasures?

Are you willing to spend a lifetime learning
To achieve the dreams of which you are yearning?

How bad do you want your dreams to come true?
The answer will be told by your follow through!

-A Chris Lund original poem

Become Financially Free By Avoiding These Common Reasons People Fail at Buy and Hold Real Estate!!!

2008-03-31T11:35:00.000-07:00

In a previous edition of “The Lund Letters”, I promised a coming attraction… “Common Reasons I See People Fail at Buy and Hold Real Estate, and How to Avoid Them So You Can Become Financially Free!!! Yes, it works, even in this real estate market, if you just do it correctly!” Well, when I make a promise, I make every attempt to deliver, so here is that article.
My experience has been in single family home, buy and hold real estate, so all of this applies to that particular arena; some of it may or may not apply to areas such as multifamily real estate, commercial real estate, etc. Also, I am giving reasons that I have seen and can recall, and this is in no way intended to be a list that includes every possible reason for failure – this list should help someone succeed in buy and hold real estate, but please don’t think that it is an exhaustive list. Above all, use common sense and recognize that you are 100% responsible for your own success or failure in real estate investing. In no particular order, here are common reasons I see people fail at buy and hold real estate, and how to avoid them so you can become financially free…
#1 – People chase the illusion of making a fast million or two, and give up too easily when they find out buy and hold real estate is a long term, work hard, get ahead slowly plan. It happens in years, not days. The solution is to have really big reasons why you want to succeed, to be willing to work hard and do whatever it takes to succeed (within moral, legal, and ethical limits is always a given with me), and to continually learn, improve, and motivate yourself (and it is my intention that ‘The Lund Letters’ be a great tool towards these ends!).
#2 – People start out too fast, and get in over their heads. I have seen many new investors come out of the gate with a ton of excitement, rush in, and start buying anything and everything they are able to buy, just because they can. Often “newbies” learn some great technique for buying houses, and figure that means anything and everything they can buy that way must be a good deal. “It is nothing down, so it must be a good deal.” Not true. “The bank discounted the mortgage, so it must be a good deal.” Not true. The solution is, again, to recognize that building wealth is a long term plan. You must buy properties that make sense, and fit in with a well thought out plan. Properties must have positive cash flow, so you can carry them as long as necessary before selling – that is what gives you the ability to ride out downturns, no matter how long it takes. This leads to several other common reasons…
#3 – People buy properties with no specific plan of how they will make money on them. My solution is that, when I buy a property, I know when I buy it that I will make money on it, and often how much and approximately when. To quote one of Stephen Covey’s ‘7 Habits of Highly Effective People’, begin with the end in mind. More on this in common reason #4. In real estate investing, you make your money when you buy. If you can’t see the profitable exit strategy from the beginning, don’t buy. Look for a better deal.
#4 – People often buy properties that are not flexible in what can be done with them. One example is buying large, expensive single family homes that do not cash flow, so they must be sold to make a profit, or they become alligators (the payments eat you alive). Large, expensive houses are for experienced investors who know the ins and outs of investing in big expensive properties (such as optioning properties, rather than buying)! Another example is buying war zone or dysfunctional properties that may cash flow well, but are nearly impossible to get good tenants for, are management intensive, and do not lend themselves well to selling if and when it makes sense. I always have multiple plans in place when I buy a property. On any new property, my criteria are that I buy well below value, that the property has positive cash flow from day one if I keep it, and that there is a substantial target market for the property (occasionally, when I can really get a great deal, I may step outside of one of my criteria, but I am extremely careful when doing so). Combined, these criteria remove most of the risk of long term buy and hold real estate investing. When I buy, I am hunting for a needle in a haystack… an undiscovered gem… a diamond in the rough. Too many investors get in trouble because they ‘settle’ when they buy. I like to buy properties that lend themselves to a flexible approach, and here is a recent example. I bought a 3 BR concrete block house in a decent North Lakeland neighborhood, for $80K. It comped around $129K (in a declining market), and needed no repairs, though it could stand about $5K in improvements to ‘make it really sparkle’. First, with the sellers approval, I began advertising it for sale “as is” before I even closed (I often do this with fixer uppers, too – sometimes the property “as is” is just what some individual or investor is looking for, and you can make a nice profit without ever having to do a rehab – no reason to avoid easy money!). You might consider this wholesaling instead of long term buy and hold – and I would agree – but I also consider it flexibility and good business sense. I did one property in the Kathleen area of Lakeland in 2006/2007, where a partner and I intended to have about $25K in total profit doing a major rehab, best case scenario, and we made that without touching it because it was exactly the fixer upper some other investor wanted at the time. ‘Nuff said. Back to my 3 BR, which didn’t sell “as is”. Next, I spent the $5K and ‘made it really sparkle’. Then I advertised it FSBO, owner financing possible, rent to own available, and for rent, all simultaneously. At this point I would prefer a cash buyer (now a flip instead of long term buy and hold, but I still make a nice profit, fast, and I can reinvest it back into my long term buy and hold real estate). That didn’t happen. With owner financing, I don’t care about credit, because I get enough cash down to protect myself (if a caller inquires about owner financing, my first question is how much do they have to put down - the more down the better; with this house $10K would be my minimum). That didn’t happen either. What did happen was rent to own (called lease/option to most investors, but I find my target market understands the rent to own terminology easily, and lease/option scares them a little). This is about my fourth choice (after sell before any fix up, sell cash after fix up, sell owner financing with a bunch of cash down), but in a tough market I knew going into this house I was likely to end up at rent to own or, fifth option, straight rental, and I had no intention of waiting around for an empty house to sell for cash. That was fine. I got $3K down, $850/month, with a sell price of $109K, and a great tenant/buyer. The tenant buyer is a nice middle-aged couple that got in over their heads buying too much home at the top of the market, and lost their home to foreclosure, but otherwise their credit is really good; both husband and wife have stable jobs with good income, and their residence looked better than my personal residence – you could eat off their floors. This one won’t make me rich, but I aimed a little low (notice my sell price $20K below comps – a huge selling feature, especially when most lease/option investors want full market value or above) because in a tough market I wanted to sell or fill the house fast – which I did; it was filled before we finished putting the $5K into it to ‘make it really sparkle’. If I fell to my last choice, renting, I was asking the same $850/month, with first, last, and a security deposit, which would have gave me almost as much money down as my rent to own deal did. FYI, when I take a house and ‘really make it sparkle’, I am extremely careful about who I put in it, and how much cash I get before letting them move in – keep in mind, the better the condition of the property, the more exposed you are, so CYA (cover your assets). FYI, I paid cash for this particular property, so the cash flow is solid; I may eventually borrow some money out of it for other deals, but I would still keep it positive cash flow if I did.
#5 – (if you have digested #4 yet – it was a biggie!) – People buy properties that don’t cash flow, and then wonder why they get in trouble. Often, they are completely unrealistic about things such as vacancy and repairs – in fact, nine times out of ten when someone tells me about their cash flow on a property, they don’t factor in vacancy and repairs at all – are they living in la la land? The solution is to figure out a realistic formula for cash flow that works for the type of property you are evaluating, and then stick with it. Here is the formula that I have found well suited to my Lakeland, Florida, buy and hold, single family homes… First, if it passes the sniff test (does it smell like a deal?), here is how I evaluate cash flow. Start with estimated rent (if you don’t KNOW what it will rent for, do some research!). I count 25% of rents as my estimated vacancy and repairs (with this formula, keep in mind that I manage my own properties, and tenants are responsible for yard, utilities, etc.). I adjust my formula as needed – for instance, a brand new block house would require fewer repairs and an older frame house or mobile home would require more; a unique or very small house might have higher vacancy because it is harder to fill and has higher turnover; and a war zone property, which I recommend against for anyone but the experienced war zone investor, will likely have higher vacancy, repairs, and management expense. Many new(er) investors tell me 25% seems high, until I ask them a few questions… Did you factor in that you need a $5K roof every 15 years? Response – No; it won’t need a roof for five years. Right, and then how will it be paid for? Ummmm… Did you factor in new carpet every few years? No, it’s already new. Right, and based on experience how often do you need new carpet in your rental units? Ummmmm… How about changing locks whenever the unit becomes vacant? Did you factor in that a certain percentage of tenants, no matter how good you are at managing property, will fool you, and be slime, and do big damage to your property before you get them out, or never pay another month’s rent after move in, or move out in the night without notifying you? Ummmmmmmm… Does that really happen? All of that and much, much more happens, but those things don’t have to stop you (more on that in common reason #6). Back to our formula; rent, minus 25% of rent for vacancy and repairs (adjusted to suit the property and specific situations), minus PITI (payment, interest, taxes, and insurance), leaves us with cash flow. Especially in a down real estate market, I do not buy property that doesn’t cash flow. It is a recipe for disaster. You want to be able to hold your properties as long as necessary to be able to sell for a price that makes sense/cents, and you want to make good money every month doing it. Trust me on this one – doing all of the work involved with buy and hold real estate for a property that costs you money every month gets old really, really fast, and even more so if you can’t afford it!
#6 – People have a good buy and hold property, with positive cash flow, and everything is going great, but they spend the profits every month. They never build themselves a cushion for problems, and something unexpected comes up (ala a few examples in common reason #5), and they don’t have money for it. Then they throw up their arms and tell the world that buy and hold real estate sucks and it makes you broke and it doesn’t work. The problem here was not the unexpected thing that came up – that happens. The problem was the lack of preparation for it – which is shortsightedness. When, not if, the unexpected big expenses come up, I welcome the opportunity to overcome yet another challenge (as much as that is possible), remind myself that I have a dozen other properties that are doing just fine to ‘average it out’, and thank God that I have funds available to right my ship, because I think long term!
#7 – People don’t properly screen their tenant applicants before putting them in a property. Big mistake! This could end up being way worse than the property being vacant a little longer. My solution is twofold. First, I don’t ‘settle’ on the up front money (meaning first month’s rent plus deposit, rent to own down payment, or whatever). Over and over again I hear about investors that got burned because they put somebody in a property with almost nothing down, and then they either didn’t pay, or did significant damage to the property, or both. The up front money protects you in two ways. It screens out the people that will have a hard time making the payments every month – if they can’t save up initial move in money, they will likely struggle with monthly payments, too – a headache you don’t need or want – and move in money gives you a cushion to cover if they don’t pay, or if they cause damage. Second, after checking applications thoroughly, including references, jobs and sources of income, etc., if everything else looks good, I take the final step, that most investors aren’t willing to take. I go by the place they live now, unannounced, and I find out how they live. Whatever their house looks like now, that is what my house will look like in 1-2 years. This is, IMHO, the ultimate best way to screen applicants.
#8 – People consistently underestimate the carrying cost and/or repairs on properties. I see over and over again people that get into trouble before they even get out of the gates because they either can’t get a property sold or filled quickly, or they underestimated expenses, and the carrying costs eat them up alive. This may apply to rehabbing and flipping, or to long term buy and hold. Are you counting payment, interest, taxes, and insurance for enough months (be realistic)? Are you adding in enough for repairs (and contingencies)? What about the utilities, advertising, upkeep for yard and other while it is empty? How about trips to the property and related expenses? Closing costs and realtor fees if applicable, etc.? Costs of staging the property? I have a few solutions to these problems, some of which we already covered in some detail. First, I have found that even as an experienced investor, I estimate my rehab based on everything I see, and then I add 50% to my estimate for the things I can’t see. Second, my flexible approach to selling/filling a property, mentioned in detail in #4, effectively triples or quadruples my target market. Compared to someone limiting themselves to just one approach, I target people wanting to buy fixer uppers, people that want to buy retail, people that want to rent, and people that want to buy and have cash but damaged credit. I can also find creative ways to help people get financing if they have good credit but little or no money, and sell them a house when someone else might not be able to put that type of deal together. These tools help me to sell or fill houses quickly, thereby reducing my carrying costs to a fraction of what many investors experience. The more you learn, the more you earn. Third, if the house justifies it, I ‘make it sparkle’. I rehab it nice, then I do the little extras that don’t cost much, but make people fall in love with a house. Fancy house numbers are a great example. A nice looking mailbox pays off in spades compared to the cost. Anything that adds curb appeal without adding a lot of expense is good, including keeping the landscaping well groomed and the yard mowed, edged, and weed-eated. I am always amazed at the number of nice houses for sale/rent that have overgrown yards and lawns killing the curb appeal. I almost always do all new outlets/switches and covers throughout. They are cheap, but make a big difference compared to old ones. Get new doorknobs and deadbolts if the old ones show any wear at all. I always put in nice new shower curtains and those toilet decoration rug set things (you can see that top notch terminology is important to me – LOL!). Often I put new blinds in the windows. Most people know to spend a little more in kitchens and bathrooms – they sell houses, and they also rent houses. When you have a choice, always lean towards neutral colors – I have seen many investors and/or homeowners that struggled to sell or fill houses because their colors, ummmm, didn’t appeal to the majority of their target market. For finishing touches, just before show-time, I make sure the house smells right throughout, is as clean as a whistle, the temperature is right, etc. One of the ways I used to know I had it right was, when I finished a house and started showing it, I would bring my wife by to check it out. If she didn’t want to move out of our lived in house and into my showroom special, I wasn’t done, or I didn’t do it right. It always fascinated me that, when we bought, she never liked the houses, but when we sold she usually loved them. See, to me it was the same house, because I knew before I bought what I would do to it, and I could see a mental picture of the finished house (begin with the end in mind). I expected the transition, but she was always amazed by it, even though we did it again and again and again. How do you sell or rent a house fast? Make it the nicest one, with the same price/rent as lesser houses. Alternatively, you could make it the same as the competition, but with price/rent lower than equal houses. If you can, be flexible. Fastest of all – make it the nicest house in the area, with slightly lower price/rent than the others, and be flexible, and it will be filled or sold fast, and a lousy real estate market won’t make a bit of difference. I let someone else be a casualty of carrying costs – not me. If you can’t afford to do the things I just talked about – then evaluate whether or not you are a) managing your money right, and b) buying your properties right (back to an earlier theme – you make your money when you buy)!
#9 – I touched on this briefly in common reason #4; people buy houses that are not aimed at a large enough target market. Roger Salam spoke at our REIA recently, and he said that a buyer’s list is more valuable than a bargain property in this real estate market. I have heard of the buyer’s list approach before, and while I thought Roger did a great job overall, I will have to respectfully disagree with Roger on this point. Just because real estate overall is beat down, doesn’t mean great deals are suddenly a dime a dozen. People that need help are a dime a dozen, but great deals are still like hunting for a needle in a haystack. I make a buyer’s list every time I work on selling/filling a property, and let me tell you my experience. First, buyers are very fickle. When someone buys a house retail, to live in, it has to ‘feel’ right, and what creates that feeling is different for everyone. When I create a buyer’s list, I can find exactly what 30 people say they want, and only two weeks later, 20 of them are no longer looking or interested, and 5 suddenly want something different than what they said they wanted, and 5 say they will go by to check it out, and 3 actually do, and all 3 have reasons it isn’t right for them. A buyer’s list grows old and cold very, very fast. What I have found to be effective, instead of a buyer’s list, is to aim at a large and definite target market. If 30 people all want the same thing, don’t worry about finding those 30 people what they want. Just know that there is a target market for what they want, find a great deal on what they want, follow methods from #8 on selling/filling houses fast, and voila – you have the makings of a great investment. In my early days I heard several investors say they only want 3/2 block houses in decent neighborhoods, and I thought that sounded kind of limiting – but there was a method to their madness. They knew there was a huge target market for that type of house, to rent it or buy it. If you can find a 3/2 block house, and you buy it right, your work is half done for you already. On the other hand, even with a good deal, small 2 bedroom houses can be tough investments, because they are too small for the majority of the population. Personally, I won’t even consider a 1 bedroom house, or a multi-unit property that has many 1 bedroom units. Very few people want a 1 bedroom, and the ones that do are very transient (they move often). One bedroom houses/units are hard to fill, and harder still to keep filled.
#10 – People don’t have enough tools in their tool box. This is similar to #4, where the property lends itself to just one exit strategy, and when it doesn’t work, the investor gets in trouble. However, now instead of the property being the issue, the issue is the investor’s lack of knowledge or creativity. One solution is learning a variety of techniques for selling or filling houses, instead of just one. Another solution is, when you have a problem you can’t figure out alone, get together with a group of investors and brainstorm a bunch of possible solutions.
#11 – Going in the opposite direction, people have too many tools in their tool box, and not enough mastery over each one of them. Each of the tools I mentioned for selling/filling houses has certain specific advantages and disadvantages. Also, there are specific things you want to do, or avoid doing, to limit your risk as much as possible. If you try to use methods you don’t fully understand, it can be like playing with fire - sometimes you get burned.
#12 – People manage their own properties when they don’t have the temperament for it. Managing property is a form of running a business, and you must treat it as a business. You must stay professional at all times. I have seen several situations where investors got into heated arguments or screaming matches with tenants, up to and including vulgar language, and it came back to bite them. They often thought at the time that they “sure did straighten that tenant out”, but not long after they found out what they really did. They brought out the wrath of a tenant without paying attention to the fact that tenants yield a certain amount of power by virtue of the fact that they live in your property. This kind of thing doesn’t happen often, but have you heard about tenants that… Poured concrete into the drains? Smashed up the walls/floors/ceilings? Poured motor oil all over the carpets? Broke all the windows in a house? Sold or stole your appliances, light fixtures, etc., when they left? Ripped all of the wiring out of your house? Helped you avoid vacancies (by moving homeless people into your house when they left)? Personally, I have managed as many as 15-20 properties simultaneously, for about 10 years, and I have never experienced any of those problems. The reason is because I always, always, always treat my tenants with respect (even when they disrespect me). When I have to evict for nonpayment, I notify the tenant that I would like things to work out for them, but I am running a business and I have to get paid. I have to pay the mortgage and support my family (I know many investors present themselves as only being the property manager, and not the owner, and thereby have the ability to make the owner out to be the bad guy when needed). I notify them of what they need to do to remedy the situation, and I try to be understanding. I notify them of what will happen when in the eviction process, so they can take measures to find alternate housing if applicable. When they need to vent, I quietly listen, and calmly and quietly say what I need to say. If something they say or do surprises me, sometimes I notify them that I will have to take some time to get back to them (rather than saying something in the heat of the moment that I might later regret). If possible, when an eviction is apparent, I try to work out the tenant leaving on their own. I have only had to do a handful of evictions in ten years, and most of those tenants, when it was done, actually thanked me for how professional and courteous I was throughout the process. Getting ugly is never the right answer, and if you can’t keep a level head, by all means, get someone to manage your properties for you.
Well, that doesn’t cover everything, but it covers what comes to mind now, and it should give you some ideas to think about. Now, since I gave you a list of all of the things I see people do wrong, let me close by sharing with you some of the advantages of buy and hold real estate, when it is done correctly. First, you should have positive cash flow on your investments. Second, your tenants are essentially buying the properties for you, since your mortgages get paid down a little more every month, and the rents cover the mortgage payments. Third, in the long run, you get appreciation (although I know right now, in this down market, it may not feel that way). Fourth, you get tax advantages such as depreciation, 1031 exchanges, and possibly, if done correctly, the ability to legally write off some of your normal living expenses. Fifth, it is easier than most investments to use leverage to your advantage. Sixth, investing in single family homes is easy to get into compared to many investments such as starting a business. And seventh, compared to having a JOB, it is a relatively passive income (once your properties are up and running, you shouldn’t have to do a lot of work relative to the long term returns you should receive), and that is a beautiful thing! Get enough properties, done correctly, and you will be well on your way to financial freedom!!!

P.S. - I didn't hold anything back - I shared all of the secrets I could think of that I am using to be successful in real estate at a time when many are struggling - hopefully all of you can find something useful in it!

P.P.S. - Further, and I apologize for the sales pitch, but I finally set up an affiliate account with Amazon.com, which is where I buy almost all of my books, CDs, etc., and figured out how to add recommendations to my blog. I have recommended three of the best success/wealth books I have ever read, and I may add more over time. I will never recommend books/products 'just to make money', but only because they are books/products that I have used, that I have got a lot out of personally, and that I believe whole-heartedly can help my readers!

Financial Freedom for the Rest of Your Life – Part II

2008-03-23T20:51:00.000-07:00

In my last blog, I asked “Is it possible that just 3 simple rules will give you financial freedom for the rest of your life?” I continued, “You better believe it. It worked for me, it worked for millions and millions of others, and it will work for you. If you follow my three simple rules, you will have financial freedom, probably sooner than you ever thought possible…”
If you haven’t read that blog, please check it out now, as this is a follow up, intended to break down the three rules in more detail, and to get more personal.
Here, again, are my 3 rules:
Rule #1 – Live below your means.
Rule #2 – Save and invest the difference.
Rule #3 – Continuously improve on rules #1 and #2.
Now, the breakdown…
Rule #1 – Live below your means. This point is the beginning of building wealth, and eventually financial freedom. The 2-5% of Americans that become self-made millionaires do a few things differently than the rest of the population. They manage their money better, they take 100% responsibility for their financial success or failure (no blaming, no excuses), and they take a long term view of things. Rather than spend every penny of income or more today, they live below their means, so that, rather than working for their money, eventually their money can go to work for them, and then they can do… whatever they want!
Rule #2 – Save and invest the difference. The obvious second step, is to save the difference between their income and their spending, and then to methodically begin investing it. Don’t invest it haphazardly, willy nilly. Once you get on track with living below your means, start studying investments. Figure out which avenue suits you. Learn, try some things, improve, and keep improving. What kind of investing will you enjoy enough to get extremely good at? Some possibilities include real estate and/or real estate related, stocks and bonds, owning your own business(es), marketing, and internet based income streams. One of my primary recommendations to someone who wants financial freedom is always to try to find something you are passionate about, and figure out how to make money doing it. Gaining financial freedom, or becoming a self-made millionaire, is not a stroll in the park – you might remember ‘it is simple, but it isn’t easy’. If you don’t have a burning desire (strong reasons why you want it), and have passion for the avenue you are using to achieve it, chances of you doing what it takes to make it are not real good.
When I first started trying to live below my means, I had an extremely hard time with the adjustment (from living paycheck to paycheck). I failed several times. What makes a champion isn’t making sure you never get knocked down – it is making sure that you get up one time more than you get knocked down. Brian Tracy calls it becoming “unstoppable”, and asks the question, “How do you become unstoppable?” The simple answer is you… refuse… to ever… STOP!!! How simple is this?
Here is what finally worked for me, and hopefully it will help others. I made the habit of saving automatic, so I didn’t ever have to think about it. I stopped trying to save what was left over at the end of the month, and started to ‘pay myself first’. I set up an untouchable savings account, and I set up part of my paycheck to go into it automatically. A very important thing to remember here is the amount doesn’t matter! T. Harv Eker says, “It’s not the amount, it’s the habit!” My untouchable account had to be hard to get to, so I opened it at a different bank than my normal bank. I wrote up a full year of deposits into my savings passbook, put it in an envelope that I wrote my goals and dreams and reasons I wanted to succeed all over, taped it all over completely with scotch tape so it was impossible to open without destroying, locked it up in a small home safety deposit box, and buried that at the back of my closet. Then I hid the key separately. Then, to make it interesting, I set some savings goals, and made simple bar charts to follow my progress, and taped them to my refrigerator. I used the same scotch tape that I used to tape up the envelope with the passbook savings in it – that’s important (LOL). Every payday I marked the next bar on my charts, a little higher than the last. One chart was for a $1K goal, to open a checking account that had no fees, and paid interest on the balance. The second goal was saving for a down payment to buy a house (I was renting a dumpy efficiency apartment in a bad neighborhood when I started this, and delivering pizzas for a living). The third goal was to buy a hot tub (I think it helps to have at least one goal that is fun and glamorous and indicative of the good life that your future holds). Then, and don’t skip this step, I started visualizing my dreams, already having come true, and began looking back from that place to figure out how I did it. I learned this from one of the many books I read, and, while I didn’t get all of the answers all at once, things started improving, and my finances started changing, and over time the answers came. I still visualize today. In fact, I quit my JOB, in part, because I felt that I needed more time for dreaming and visualizing, and I figured that would benefit me more in the long run than my JOB salary and benefits.
I was able to save such a small amount at the beginning that it was almost laughable, but I will tell you what happened. I started, and my ‘journey of a thousand miles began with a single step’. I started to see progress, and I got encouraged. I started saving my spare change, so it could be added to my funds. Then I got a pay raise, and I didn’t need the extra money to live on, so I increased my automatic savings, and redid my passbook higher. My charts grew faster, and I got more encouraged. Watching my charts grow became more enjoyable to me than a lot of the stupid stuff I had been wasting all of my money on. Then I got a better job, and didn’t need the extra money for living, so I redid the passbook again, even higher. Then I called around for quotes on my auto insurance, and got a better rate, and started saving the difference. Somewhere in there I worked two jobs for a short period of time so I could save more, faster. Then I got one unexpected break or another, like an income tax refund, and I didn’t need it for living, so I saved it all. To make a long story short, God seemed to help me at every turn, once I finally helped myself by taking the first step, and goals that appeared insurmountable at the start rapidly began being reached, and increased to bigger goals. Success begets success. If memory serves me, I was initially saving $10/month or less, and in less than one year I opened that $1K no fee checking account that paid interest. I had been talking to my landlord, and getting some information, and when I opened that checking account, I think I replaced that goal with a new goal of saving money to invest in real estate (even though I didn’t even own my own home yet at the time). Anyhow, it wasn’t long after that when I bought myself a house to live in (a starter home, to be sure, but I hunted down a bargain, and within three years of buying my home, I bought my first rental property, just two blocks away, and started my passion and my path to financial freedom - real estate investing).
Finally, Rule #3 – Continuously improve on rules #1 and #2. I guess I already led into this with my personal story, but you need to get better and better at living below your means, and saving and investing the difference. You also need to become a lifelong learner. I forget where I got this quote from, but, “The learners inherit the earth, while the learned are beautifully equipped for a world that no longer exists”. Only one thing in your finances is constant – change. So don’t fight the change, but become a continuous learner, and be one of those who benefits from it. Looking at history, the times when the most people built the most wealth the fastest, were in the times of greatest change. The Great Depression hurt many, but also made those brave enough to forge ahead very wealthy, like J. Paul Getty. The automobile industry killed the horse and buggy, but it made people with the vision of Henry Ford and Harvey Firestone very wealthy. The internet created countless millionaires of those who got in early, and hurt those companies that moved slower than their competition. Don’t fight change; become a continuous learner, and embrace it.
Let me give a quick point on why it is so important that you continuously improve on living below your means, and saving and investing the difference. If I offered you a choice, would you rather have $1 million today, or one cent today, which would double every day through day thirty? If you haven’t seen this before, this will astound you. I have seen it before, and I still have to do the math from time to time, because it seems so unbelievable. The one cent today, doubled every day through day thirty, becomes $2,736,509.12 (almost three million dollars!). Good thing I taught you this, because now if you ever get this offer, you won’t make a mistake – LOL! If you still don’t believe it, it only takes about five minutes to work through the math. Start with one cent on day one, and double it twenty-nine times to day thirty. Presto - $2,736,509.12! So what is my point?
Have you heard of the rule of 72? If you have money invested, divide the percentage rate of return on your money into 72, and that is how many years it will take until your money doubles. For instance, if you have a nice, safe, CD in the bank, earning 3% interest, it will take you 24 years to double your money (72/3 = 24). Hike that up to 6% and you double your money in 12 years. Figure out how to earn 12% and you are talking about 6 years, and earn 24% on your money, and you double it every 3 years. I have made 24% and more on my real estate investments, by learning the business, learning the right way to do it, and having the discipline to stick with it. I did a nothing down deal on a single family house that earned me over $40K in less than three years (with nothing down, the return is infinite). Then, when I sold that house, I learned how to do a 1031 exchange, rolling the profit into a bigger, better house, and allowing me to defer the taxes on my $40K profit until I eventually sell without doing a 1031 exchange (if I ever do). What a great country we live in! Anything is possible! Anyhow, looking at the rates of return on investment, and how many years it takes to double your investment, how good do you think you should become at investing? ‘The more you learn, the more you earn’. I have been studying real estate, investing, finance, motivation, and success since before I bought my first rental property back in 1998, and I study them still. I read books, listen to CD’s, attend seminars, etc., on an almost daily basis. I am reading two books, plus my Bible, and listening to two CD sets (one in my truck, and one in my office) simultaneously, and I am confident I will continue to do this type of learning for many, many years to come.
This is adapted from Brian Tracy… Why do you think wealthy people have libraries in their homes? Is it because they had all of this money, and decided, hey, why not a library? Or do you suppose that they started in a small house, with a few books, and as they got more and more books, and improved themselves, and moved to progressively bigger and nicer houses, they eventually decided that, when they got their next house, they absolutely had to make sure there was a place to put all of those books?
Anyhow, I guess this is as good a point as any to start wrapping up this session. Please, if you aren’t already, start following my three rules. Make it automatic if it will help. Figure out your dreams, set some financial goals (and whatever other goals suit you), and start to chart (it is much easier when you can see your progress). Peter Drucker said, “What gets measured gets improved”. Watch and see if, over time, God doesn’t speed you on your way. ‘Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it; boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.’ Best wishes!

Financial Freedom for the Rest of Your Life If You Follow 3 Simple Rules

2008-03-07T21:05:00.000-08:00

Is it possible that just 3 simple rules will give you financial freedom for the rest of your life? You better believe it. It worked for me, it worked for millions and millions of others, and it will work for you. If you follow these three simple rules, you will have financial freedom, probably sooner than you ever thought possible, and the only thing that can screw it up is… You.
I know this because I screwed it up for a long time before I finally got it right. However, once I finally got it right, my success sky-rocketed. I spent the first 29 years of my life spinning my wheels, financially, and then I started following my 3 simple rules, and I became financially free in the next ten years. Many have done it faster than that. Some take a little longer. Here they are:
Rule #1 – Live below your means.
Rule #2 – Save and invest the difference.
Rule #3 – Continuously improve on rules #1 and #2.
A friend recently reminded me of a saying I have heard many times before – financial freedom and/or getting rich is simple, but it isn’t easy!
It can be started on a shoestring, but it will never happen if you don’t start. Reality is not “when I have more money, I will start to manage it”. Reality is, “when I start to manage my money, I will have more… money to manage!” So many people complain that they don’t have enough to make ends meet, much less to get ahead. That is not a money problem; that is a philosophy problem. No matter how little or how much money someone with that mindset makes, they will never be financially free. Back when I was building financial freedom on about $20-30K/year, I knew a guy that was making over $100K/year. When he lost his executive job, he started working two weeks later as a salesman, not because he wanted to, but because he had to. He had to support his lifestyle (the corvette, the dinners out, the huge house payments, electric bills, and the rest of the doodads). He was living paycheck to paycheck. You see, he just never quite made enough money to get ahead. Probably the next pay raise would have put him over the top (not!).
Jim Rohn said “Shortly after I met my mentor, he asked me ‘Mr. Rohn, how much money have you saved and invested in the past six years?’ Jim answered, ‘none’. His mentor then asked, “Who sold you on that plan?” Let me take it a little further. How many books have you read in the past 90 days that might help improve your financial future? How many courses have you taken? How many financially successful people have you reached out to and asked, “Can I buy you dinner and pick your brain a little while we eat?” T. Harv Eker says you have your own financial plan in place right now. His question is, “how’s that working for you so far?” If you don’t have the financial success you want in life, are you doing the things that need to be done to change that? I am sure you have heard that the definition of insanity is doing the same things over and over again, always expecting different results. If you don’t change something, nothing much will change!
My path to financial freedom started when I finally figured out that I didn’t know everything, and that I could get help. I started reading material that improved my financial IQ. I asked questions of co-workers that were successfully investing in real estate. I stopped using my plan, which had zero success in 29 years, and I started learning from people that showed me how to become financially free in 10 years. I attribute most of my success to my three simple rules, and I challenge anyone to follow those rules, and prove to me that you can follow them and not succeed financially.
It is simple, but it isn’t easy. It requires discipline. It requires finding people that have the success you want, and learning from them. In my first 29 years, I learned financial success from dozens of people, none of whom had any financial success themselves. I needed to stop and ask directions from somebody that knew the way. When I started to learn from people who already had what I wanted, everything changed. It is simple, but it isn’t easy. You might have to get up earlier and go to bed later. I did. You might have to work harder and smarter. I did. You might have to figure out ways to add value to other people’s lives. I did. You might have to recognize that you are 100% responsible for your success, or lack thereof. That is what, after 29 years, finally, I did. You have heard me say again and again, 'you can have your excuses, or you can have your dreams, but you can’t have both'. Ten years ago, in August 1998, I stopped making excuses, and I started working on my dreams. I hope you have done the same, and if you haven’t yet, I hope I can motivate you to do it now. If you haven’t already started, when will today be the right time?
I will tell you what I see in 90% of the people that talk to me about wanting financial success, and it is easy to recognize because I had it for 29 years. I see people that want financial freedom, but they don’t want to have to learn more, work harder, do more, or become more than they are right now. Oh yeah, and they want it by next Thursday. Furthermore, if they can’t have it on their terms, then they just know it isn’t possible - anyone that has financial success must have been lucky, or took advantage of other people (just ask 'em).
Personally, I spent ten years busting my butt doing a full time job to the best of my ability, plus gave my evenings to my family, then worked until 1-2am doing real estate, paperwork, reading, goal-setting, visualizing, etc. I got up and 5am and was back at it again. I gave up 'me' time and did repairs, managed property, hunted for needle-in-a-haystack great deals. Then, occassionally someone learns how successful I have been, and tells me, "You sure were lucky!" If I feel up to it I enlighten them as to the luck I had, but usually I just smile and nod in agreement.
Let me tell you, millions of people have become self-made millionaires, and many have overcome hurdles bigger than you or I ever dreamed of. Some have overcome physical handicaps. Many came to this country without a penny to their names, and couldn’t even speak our language. In one way, shape, form, or another, whether they realized it or not, almost without fail they followed my three simple rules:
Rule #1 – Live below your means.
Rule #2 – Save and invest the difference.
Rule #3 – Continuously improve on rules #1 and #2.
It is simple, but it isn’t easy!
If my blog inspires you in some way, please refer your friends and family members to check it out, and, as my friend Tim Harris is fond of saying, “keep on keeping on”! May your parents have rich children, and your children have rich parents!
In closing this blog, anyone who wants to be notified whenever I post a new blog can get on my e-mail list. E-mail reinvestorsfl@aol.com and ask to be added to “The Lund Letters”. It is free, you can be removed from my list at any time, and I will never sell or trade your e-mail address or any other information.

A coming attraction… 'Common Reasons I See People Fail at Buy and Hold Real Estate, and How to Avoid Them So You Can Become Financially Free!!! Yes, it works, even in this real estate market, if you just do it correctly!'

Non-Situational Integrity

2008-02-25T20:04:00.000-08:00

Denis Waitley took the liberty of re-writing Edgar A. Guest's poem, "Sermons We See", to apply to setting an example as a real winner. Here is what Denis Waitley had to say…

‘I'd rather watch a winner, than hear one any day. I'd rather have one walk with me, than merely show the way. The eye's a better pupil and more willing than the ear. Fine counsel is confusing, but example's always clear. The best of all the coaches are the ones who live their deeds, for to see the truth in action is what everybody needs. I can soon learn how to do it, if you'll let me see it done. I can watch your hands in action, but your tongue too fast may run. The lectures you deliver may be very wise and true, but I'd rather get my lessons by observing what you do. I may misunderstand you, and the high advice you give, but there's no misunderstanding how you act and how you live. I'd rather watch a winner, than hear one any day!’

Efficiency, Effectiveness, and the Top Ten Percent

2008-02-19T12:30:00.000-08:00

Efficiency is doing a good job at what you are working on. It is finding the fastest, most economical, and most efficient way to do the task at hand.
Effectiveness is prioritizing. It is knowing what to work on. It is figuring out what task or tasks are the most important, that need to be done right away, and knowing what tasks don’t really need to be done at all.
Efficiency is being the best bricklayer you can possibly be. Effectiveness is knowing that you are building a frame house, and a bricklayer isn’t needed.
When you combine efficiency and effectiveness, you are on your way to becoming the best in your field. Why care about being the best in your field? As Brian Tracy says, “All the rewards go to the top ten percent.” You see, average people get average results. This is true in any field. Average people are replaceable. The average worker can quit their job today, and be replaced tomorrow, and the company won’t be hurt in the least. Average is most people (hence the term average). But the top ten percent are irreplaceable. The top ten percent require no supervision, because they always give their best. They demand more of themselves than any boss could ever demand of them. These people are voracious learners, have a great attitude, seek out improvement, and consistently perform above expectations. The company can not run without these key people, so these people get to name their price. They are invaluable. If their company doesn’t want to pay them enough, it is only a matter of time until the competition will. These people stand out wherever they go.
The average American worker complains that they work too hard and don’t get paid enough. I say the average American worker complains too much and doesn’t work hard enough – if they worked too hard there is a high likelihood they wouldn’t still be average. Further, they get paid about what they are worth. You see, wages tend to be set at the least a company can pay to fill a position with a competent worker, and the average worker tends to do the least they can do to fill the demands of their job. While the average worker complains about their pay, if they truly felt they were worth more than what they made, they would demand and receive higher pay, or quit and go find a job that paid them more in line with what they thought they were worth. The problem is the average American worker is looking too closely at themselves and their wants and needs, and not closely enough at the formula. If you get paid about what you are worth, what does it take to improve your results?
Just this one thing - make yourself more valuable! Be more efficient. Be more effective. Work harder and smarter. Have a great attitude. Make yourself invaluable, and the cream will rise to the top. It is impossible for it to happen any other way. When you become the top ten percent, you get noticed, and you get promoted. If not with your company, the competition lures you away. Maybe you leave to start your own business. If you are in the top ten percent, but don’t advance in your field, some other opportunity finds you. The top ten percent get recognized for their superior effort and attitude and work, by co-workers, bosses, competitors, customers, etc. The top ten percent stand out, and it is just a matter of time until the right opportunity finds them. Rest assured, if you get to be in the top ten percent at what you do, the accolades and the rewards will come. If you feel you have been in the top ten percent for a long time, and yet you haven’t received the accolades and rewards, perhaps you should evaluate more closely whether or not you are really in the top ten percent. Ask your boss if you are top ten percent material or not, and, if not, what it will take to get you there? Ask your customers the same thing. Figure out the missing ingredient, and then do something about it.
When I was an 8-5 employee, I was good at what I did. I received a few promotions, and eventually landed in a spot where I was very comfortable. I had a good attitude, worked hard, was efficient and effective, and, if asked, I probably would have said I was in the top ten percent. Early on, maybe I even was.
However, I did real estate on the side. In my real estate, I put in whatever time was needed to get the job done. I patched a tenant’s leaking roof in the middle of a rainstorm. I crawled under mobile homes in mud and gunk to do repairs because I couldn’t find someone who would do it for me. I routinely did paperwork in the wee hours of the night. I was gracious and courteous and kept a level head with tenants that would have drove most normal people irate. For several years, I spent six and seven days a week getting up at 5am, and not going to bed until 11pm, midnight, 1am, or later, because that is what it took for me to manage my full time job, have time for my family, and still make the progress I wanted to make with my real estate investing. No amount of real estate was too much, because I loved doing it, and I especially loved seeing the progress I was making. In my 8-5, I was average and thought I was top ten percent. In my real estate, I was top ten percent. The difference was the passion to be efficient, effective, and get the job done right, on time, every time, no matter what. In my 8-5, I got complacent. I didn’t strive to get better and better – I just did what had to be done. Eventually, recognizing that the passion was no longer there in my 8-5 is why I finally did quit. If the passion dies out in real estate investing, I may eventually have to quit that, too. However, for right now, I still strive to be the best real estate investor I can be. I am still a voracious learner, and I am still improving, and I don’t intend to quit; at least not until I can go out on top!
If you are already in the top ten percent in your field, congratulations! If you are still on the way up, you have it in you! Keep your head up, be efficient, be effective, have a great attitude, and don’t you dare give up – the rewards will be well worth it! Best wishes!

Financial Freedom: How to Keep Score in the Money Game, and Why It Matters!

2008-02-15T12:17:00.000-08:00

[Article adapted in part from The Maui Millionaires by David Finkel & Diane Kennedy]

Far too many people will never be financially free simply because they unwittingly fool themselves as to the real status and direction of their financial lives. Most millionaires agree that in order to win the money game they must consistently update a meaningful measure of financial score, and they have to keep track of the trend (which way am I headed, how much progress or lack of progress am I making, and how fast is it happening). When you have this information, in a reliable, consistent, and simplified format, you are able to make accurate financial decisions and accelerate your progress towards financial freedom.
The main wealth trap for most people is fooling themselves as to the real score of the game. People fool themselves for three primary reasons…
First, far too many people simply take the path of least resistance, and do nothing. They put their long-term financial future into the hands of others because it is easy and expected (sadly, it is the norm). “Social Security or my kids will take care of me.” “Hopefully I will have a pension fund.” “I’ll find a way to get by somehow – I always have.” This is an almost certain path to financial failure! Yes, it takes energy and effort to put your financial house in order. But it takes 100 times more energy and effort in the long run to live your life paycheck to paycheck, to struggle to get by, and to work your whole life and eventually depend on someone else to support you when you are able to work no longer. The old adage is true: An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
Second, people fool themselves about their current financial status because of ignorance. They never learned financial skills, they don’t understand the how or why of figuring it out, that was good enough for their parents so it is good enough for them, etc. Let me (Finkel, Kennedy, and Lund - haha) just say, YOU are totally, 100% responsible for your financial success, and ignorance is no excuse; it is a cop out and an acceptance of financial failure.
Third, people fool themselves about the real condition of their finances because of fear and shame. Millions of people are afraid to look at their financial status because it is too scary for them, or it is filled with painful feelings of shame. They may have lived beyond their means for years, and are ashamed of the big negative number that represents their net worth. Maybe the idea of anyone finding out their true financial status threatens them immensely. These people might rationalize, fantasize, ignore, distract, or flat out deny the truth. Right up to the point where their financial house of cards comes crashing down around them. If this is you, at some point your financial status is going to come out, one way or another, so you might as well bring it out into the open yourself, and start making it all that it can be.
So, what is the solution? First, understand that the foundation for wealth and financial freedom is changing yourself on the inside. It is knowledge, followed by a little discipline. When you upgrade what is on the inside, you empower yourself to get richer on the outside. And YOU BETTER KEEP SCORE! You can not win this game if you do not keep score!
If you haven't already, begin today to spend a little time getting acquainted with finances, net worth, cashflow, passive income, etc. It doesn’t have to be hard or complex. Start setting a percentage of your income aside for saving and investing. Set up a plan to get rid of credit card debt if necessary. If you start slow and simple, and you continue to spend a little time learning along the way, eventually bigger numbers will happen with more and more ease. “It’s not the amount, it’s the Hobbitt!” Seem familiar? You might remember from previous e-mails, my son Justin repeated that at age two (when he couldn’t pronounce habit). You probably recognize patterns and repeats in everything I say and do… That is because the rules of this game are short and simple. People are scared of it because they think it is more complex than it really is. It is the discipline of doing it consistently that is the tough part. For every minute of time I spend on financial knowledge, I spend an hour on trying to motivate myself and others. The knowledge is easy. Doing it is actually easy. Getting yourself to do it over and over again over a long period of time is a little tougher. Consistent persistency and persistent consistency is how Richard Flint might put it (though he never talks specifically about money or finances in any of his material). But it is oh so worth it!!! Get started, learn some things, make some progress now, and later you can focus on wealth accelerators like clarity/focus and leverage!
Let me briefly discuss my own personal scorecard, to give you an idea what it takes. It took me a couple hours to set it up, tops. I have a one page net worth statement. It lists my assets, liabilities, and net worth (which is merely the difference between the two). Every month it takes me about ten minutes to update it (occasionally more if multiple houses are bought and/or sold in a particular month). I watch it over time to monitor my progress, to see what is working and what is not, and with this clear financial picture, I am able to learn from the past and make wise choices for the future. I am also able to notice if I slack off for too long, and give myself a kick in the pants. Because I own a lot of real estate, I also have a one page Real Estate Owned sheet, which breaks down my real estate (and mortgages paid to me), what they are worth, and what I owe on them. This doubles as a partial cash flow statement because it also shows the flow of money in and out of my real estate and mortgages. With a minimal amount of upkeep (again, about ten minutes a month), these two pages (and if you don’t have a lot of real estate or own your own business, you would only need one page) allow me to keep my finger on the pulse of my race for financial freedom. This also gives me everything I need, quickly and all in one place, when I apply for a mortgage or loan or make other financial decisions. To simplify even further, you might remember that when I first started on the road to wealth, my scorecard was merely a chart that tracked how much money was in my savings account. That was it. Can you make yourself start keeping score today, simple as possible, so you will know if you are doing what it takes to get on the road to financial freedom? Are you worth it?
Ever hear anyone say “Money isn’t everything”, or something akin to that? Did you ever ask them how their finances were, or did you not really need to? Money isn’t everything, and it certainly isn’t the only thing. With just a few seconds (literally) thinking about my priorities, there is no way I would ever put money above fourth on my list, and maybe not even that high. However, having money allows me to take better care of my higher priorities. I can give more appropriately to God. I can take better care of my family. It is easier for me to act with integrity in everything I do (even someone of the highest integrity might resort to stealing if they had to in order to feed their family). Winning the money game, and achieving financial freedom, is awesome, and it doesn’t require sacrificing who you are or how you live - having money doesn’t make the man; it just reveals the man (or woman)! It requires a little bit of knowledge, some long term thinking, a little bit of discipline, and a little bit of… Keeping Score. You have to play the money game no matter what, so you might as well play to win! And finally, one last time, YOU CAN NOT WIN THE MONEY GAME IF YOU AREN’T KEEPING SCORE!

-Best wishes

Never Fail (At Anything You Really Want In Life)!!!

2008-02-06T21:19:00.000-08:00

This might seem a bit “hokey” to some of you, but I offer it only because I have seen it work in my life, and I believe it to be true. I believe that God wants each of us to have more, do more, be more, and to give back in proportion to our blessings. 'To he who hath, more will be given, and to he who hath not, even that little which he hath will be taken away'. I personally think that God wants each one of us to live to our fullest potential; to make the most of our God-given talents. However, the decision is largely up to us.
So, first, I propose that a person needs to figure out what their God-given talents are. A good way to get started is by asking, what do I enjoy doing? What am I really good at, and what have I been successful at in the past? What am I really passionate about? What will make me willing to stay up late every night and get up early every morning? That is where you should start looking, first, and then, when you find your passion, figure out how to make money doing it.
Second, with that figured out, we need to recognize that God is great, and God is all-powerful and all-being. God is in everything, and in everyone. Since God is great, and God is in everyone, we arrive at the conclusion that every one of us on Earth has potential greatness in us. This begs the question, have we tapped into our inner greatness?
Third, I propose that we interact with God in many ways, including prayer and reading the Bible, but our response back from God, in this day and age, is primarily discovered in our hearts and in our minds. Some might think you feel it in your gut, have an intuition, have a premonition, or somehow just know that you are supposed to do or not do something, any of which is probably fine. While I don’t believe we get perfect answers 100% of the time, I do think that if we give careful consideration, analyze information, pray, and come up with an answer, it will usually be right for us in that circumstance at that time, and sometimes even when it seems later it was wrong, it is because God knew we needed that setback first so that his bigger, better plan could play out for us. Napoleon Hill said that in every failure are the seeds of an equal or greater success, and if you believe, it will be true for you. Sometimes what we do wrong turns out to be our biggest blessing.
As an example in my life, most of my tough decisions have turned out great, but I can think of a recent example where I missed the boat, as well. I had this ‘feeling’, for several weeks, that I should contact a lease/option tenant, inquire about how things were going, and see if I could talk them into buying. I knew the price we set on their lease/option was at the peak of the market, and was probably higher than current fair market value, and I thought of lowering the price to entice them. Rather than go to the trouble of making the call, and possibly leaving a little profit on the table in the interest of fairness, I took the route of least resistance. I fully intended to make that call ‘when I got around to it’, but I waited and did nothing. A couple of months later, that tenant/buyer called me, and said they were buying a new house. They said that only a couple weeks earlier, they saw a new subdivision near my house (that they were renting to own), and for kicks decided to just window shop. Turned out they thought it was a great bargain, and they got a contract and eventually bought it. Had I followed the ‘feeling’ God gave me, I feel certain I would have worked something out with them to sell them my house, and they never would have went window shopping. I think in the long run I may have done them a disservice as well as myself, because I think the new house they bought is of inferior quality compared to my house, and while new now, over time my house will outshine their new house. Still, because I didn’t “listen”, and take action on what God was telling me was the right thing to do, I missed the boat. Over the years I can think of dozens of examples like that, but very few examples of when I listened to that inner voice and regretted it.
Following all of the first three steps, we now have an idea of our God-given talents, we know we have potential greatness in us, and we are beginning to feel led to something we really want in life, and/or ways to achieve it. Fourth, we need to consistently give thought and energy to our purpose, dream, or goal. We need to visualize the end result as if it was already true, and thank God for the great result as if we already received it. This gets us in harmony with our desired result.
Fifth, we need to take actions consistent with our desired result. If we just sit back, think, visualize, and wait for the great results to come rolling in, it might be a very long wait. God will help us, when we first help ourselves. I once heard a joke about a man in financial distress. The man prayed over and over again, asking God to make him win the lottery. Finally, after many weeks of praying and waiting, he prayed asking God why, when he prayed so fervently, did God not make him win the lottery. This time God responded, saying, “I wanted to help you, but couldn’t you have at least bought a lottery ticket?” We often know what we want, pray for it fervently, but never take the first step towards meeting God part way. We have to do our part!
Sixth, stay positive, and manifest the greatness that is inside of you, not just in this one thing, but in all areas of your life. Begin to be great today, in your home, with your immediate family and friends, in your current job or career, and in all of your interactions with others. Be great in the details of everything you do, no matter how small. Treat others with kindness and fairness. Have integrity in everything that you do. 'How you do anything is how you do everything', and if you start manifesting greatness in small things, it will soon start spreading to bigger and better things. Don’t brag about how great you are or how great you will be. Just do it! People will start to notice how you do business, and how you handle your affairs, and they will want to be a part of what you have going on. I am reminded of a quote, “People will be drawn to you, and when they show up, bill ‘em!”, which I believe to be part joke and part truth. God pays attention to the biggest things, like keeping the planets in their rightful place in the universe, and he pays attention to the smallest details, like numbering the hairs on your head. When you show God greatness in the smallest details, he will allow you to show greatness in bigger and better things. Be great, and have faith!
Let me share two examples of how this plays out in my life through my real estate investing (which is, by the way, my passion!). I make every effort to have the utmost integrity, and to treat others fairly. I make sure I deliver on any promise I make. I have at times been given a lead by someone, simply because they said they couldn’t do anything with it. I worked the lead, figured out a workable deal, and went back to the person and asked what they wanted to make on the deal. They weren’t expecting anything, but I took care of them anyhow. How much more likely are they to contact me with other leads, as opposed to if I had not taken care of them out of kindness and a sense of fairness? The other example comes via my handyman. He has told me on multiple occasions that he charges everyone else more than me (and I know it to be true), because he likes working for someone that is fair, kind to him, and does business the right way. He appreciates that I have him always do the job right, even when I could save money by taking shortcuts that the buyer would never see (like using more insulation inside a wall instead of less or none at all). As a result, I consistently find my houses getting filled before the work is even done, and have buyers/renters tell me, “Your handyman was the clincher. He is a good man, and he says you are fair in your dealings and always do a quality job.” They often tell me about something specific that we repaired/replaced, and how they appreciate that we did it that way. The only way I can put it is to say trust me - doing the little things great every day, now, will bring rewards over time that can’t be comprehended until you get there.
Brian Tracy says that all of the rewards go to the top ten percent. There are no great rewards for mediocrity. Mediocre people are a dime and dozen, here today, gone tomorrow, and easily replaced. Now, I could go into a number of other things, like habits, continuous learning, what you think about comes about, daily declarations, managing your money, etc., but I would quickly get outside the point of this message, so I will save the long version for my book. For now, suffice it to say that if you start with these six steps, you will Never Fail (At Anything You Really Want In Life).

Financial Success Is Merely A Decision

2008-01-22T18:58:00.000-08:00

In a period of barely more than nine years, from August 1998 through December 2007, I went from a paycheck to paycheck existence to being financially free. At age 38, I quit my full time JOB and semi-retired, with plans to manage my investments, to make sure I didn’t miss my two boys growing up, and to pursue my passions in life. My average JOB income during that span was probably about $25,000 annually. Occasionally, someone asks me how I became financially successful in that relatively short period of time, while many others struggle for a lifetime and never achieve financial success. The simplest answer is that I made a decision to do it, and then did it. Many others made the decision not to.
I decided to set goals that could change my finances. Many others decided not to set goals. I decided to read books that could improve my thinking, my planning, and my skills. Many others decided not to read those books. I decided to attend classes and seminars and join groups that promised to teach me how to have a better financial future. Many others decided not to attend. I decided that if I only lived on this earth once, I wanted to give it everything I had to give, and I wanted to dare to dream and I wanted to dare to pursue those dreams. Many others decided those things were not possible, or were not worth the trouble, or were not “safe” enough.
Nine years later, I am 38 and semi-retired, pursuing my passions and being there to see my children grow up, and many others are blaming the economy, the government, the country, the JOB, the boss, the lack of hours in a day, the way they were raised, and anything else that they can think of as an excuse for why they still struggle financially. I learned somewhere in that nine years when I was working on financial freedom, that “you can have your excuses, or you can have your dreams, but you can’t have both”! I decided to go for my dreams. Many others decided not to. I learned that for every excuse I offered up before I “decided to”, there were thousands of people that overcame bigger obstacles to go on to amazing successes, financially and otherwise, and that meant my excuses were no longer valid.
Today, I think the biggest reason most people are not doing as well financially as they are capable of, can be summed up by saying that they decided not to….
It is not the lack of money – America and the world contains insane amounts of money, and it will flow freely to anyone that adds enough value to other people’s lives. T. Harv Eker taught me two of the declarations that I say out loud every morning – “I get rich doing what I love. I deserve to be rich because I add value to other people’s lives.” It is not the lack of opportunity – America and the world offers more opportunities for financial success today than at any time in history. There are more millionaires today than at any time in history, and more self-made millionaires are being created faster than at any time in history. It is not lack of access to “The Secret” or a recipe that works – financially successful people offering to teach how they did it are everywhere you turn today, and if you can’t afford the gurus, the libraries are full of free access to their books. Most of the books I started with came from the public library. Today, I am beginning to have my own small library of success, motivation, and real estate books, CD’s, etc. Today, I believe that the more you learn, discern, and implement, the more you earn. I forget who to give credit to, but somebody I studied said, “The learners inherit the Earth, while the learned are beautifully equipped for a world that no longer exists”.
Jim Rohn says “economic disaster begins with a philosophy of doing less and wanting more”. I agree. Finding a formula for financial success that works is easy. I can go to any bookstore and find a few dozen of them in less than an hour. Deciding that you are willing to pay the price is what stops most people. T. Harv Eker puts it this way… “It is one thing to know what to do, but a whole ‘nother thing to do what you know.”
I believe that “Deciding not to” erodes people a little on the inside. When we “decide not to”, we know we are capable of more, and we feel like less of a person because of our decision. Our self confidence erodes a little, which causes our dreams to be smaller, which causes us to take less action. Less action means less results, which leads to a decline in our attitude, and our self confidence erodes even further. This creates a vicious downward spiral.
The upside is we can “Decide to” at any time, and if we “Decide to”, we can create an upward spiral in the same way. “Deciding to” builds us up a little on the inside. We feel like more of a person, and our self-confidence grows, which causes us to dream bigger, which leads to more action. More action leads to better results, which improves our attitude, and our self-confidence grows even more and we take even more action….
I believe this upward or downward spiral all stems from one decision… and I ask you, are you “deciding to” in your life today? I hope so, because your success story might be just what you need, and it might be just what your family needs, and it might be just what the world needs. Please, don’t neglect to write your success story! Also, if you haven't already started, when would now be the right time to start?

Visualizing All Your Dreams Come True

2008-01-15T20:04:00.000-08:00

The first paragraph is adapted from The Success Principles, by Jack Canfield…
Fred Couples and Jim Nantz were two kids who loved golf and had very large dreams. Fred's goal was to someday win the Master's Tournament, and Jim's was to someday work for CBS Sports as an announcer. Fred and Jim were suitemates at the University of Houston in the late 1970's, and they would playact the scene where the winner of the Masters was escorted into Butler Cabin to receive his green jacket, and be interviewed by the CBS announcer. Fourteen years later, the scene they had rehearsed many times in Taub Hall at the University of Houston played out in reality as the whole world looked on. Fred Couples won the Masters, and was taken by tournament officials into Butler Cabin, where he was interviewed by... CBS sports announcer Jim Nantz, of course. After the cameras stopped rolling, the two embraced each other with tears in their eyes. They always knew it would happen that way, because they had already done it all those years earlier.
There is amazing power in acting as if something has already happened. In visualizing your dreams... especially when you bring all of your senses into play, and make it as real as possible. I think it was Dennis Waitley that said they did a study of high level athletes, runners, I believe. They tested the runners before, during, and after running, checking how their bodies acted at various points. This is where it gets interesting. Next they had the athletes visualize themselves doing the same run. The athletes saw the entire run in their minds, seeing it as real as possible, and their bodies tested exactly the same when they visualized as when they had actually done the running. Same harder breathing, elevated heart rate, all of it! You see, if you really become a part of what you are visualizing, your body can't tell that it isn't real! What this means is, if we really make our dreams real, in our mind, daily, over and over again, our mind and body think it is real.
Then, your mind starts telling itself, "I need to figure out how to make this dream happen. I need to put together all of the pieces of the puzzle somehow." You start looking for and seeing things that you wouldn't have noticed before. Do you know that, as you go through life, every minute of every day, you don't notice 95% of what is going on around you? Stop right now, and check out every detail of everything around you. Blades of grass moving, a clock ticking, objects around the room, cars passing, everything. Look at every little detail. Up until you started looking for it, you didn't notice 95% of what was there. You couldn't. Your mind can not process that much information at one time. So it focuses on what it thinks it needs to know and pay attention to the most. How does it decide that? One way is habits. Your mind pays attention to what you are in the habit of paying attention to. Another way is pay attention to the most important things, like the road when you drive. Another way is pay attention to what you have trained it to look for. When you visualize certain dreams over and over again, you start seeing things that can help you accomplish that dream. Sometimes you see little tiny things, in bits and pieces, over time. Sometimes you find one huge answer that makes the whole entire dream come true all at once. You train your mind what to look for, and it follows your commands. Science has taught us that human beings only use approximately 5-10% of our brain functions. This might sound a little hokey to some of you, but I honestly believe that by training our subconscious on what we want it to look for, we tap into the vast unused portions of our brain, and it starts working for us. That subconscious has to do something, and I think it does whatever primary directives you give it. If you tell your brain that you are watching TV and vegging, and you don't want it to do anything, it won't do anything. If you tell it to block out something painful, it will block it out. If you tell it to pursue your dreams, it will!!! But you have to make it real. The stronger and more real you make your visualization and images, the harder and faster your brain will work to find ways to create what you are visualizing. Keep in mind, you can't just visualize riches and sit on the couch and wait for the riches. You actually have to think, and plan, and turn your thoughts into actions (process of manifestation: thoughts lead to feelings lead to actions lead to results). But, still, this process will help you find the missing pieces that you didn't see before. The most successful people throughout history knew this... If you study successful people, you will find this is a key ingredient with almost all of them. Short version: what you think about comes about! What you focus on expands.
Personally, about 8-10 years ago I was poor. I made about $8-10/hour, and was solidly lower middle class. I had just started to get seriously interested in real estate, started studying success, etc. My wife Tammy and I went with my Mom and my sister to a gentlemen's house that my Mom was sort of dating. He had a very nice, 3/2/2 block house, with an in-ground caged swimming pool, and beautiful poolside commercial bar and grill (if memory serves me). He was a bit of a wine connoseuir, and, while I am not a wine drinker, most of the rest of them enjoyed sampling a few wines. It was a warm summer evening, the pool had a built in light, and the water was great. We had an amazing time, though my Mom may have drank a little too much wine, and tried to return some (sorry Mom)! The home was unlike anything I had experienced before. When I say I was raised without a lot of money in my life, it is not an understatement. This was a different lifestyle than Tammy, myself, my sister, or my Mom were accustomed to. I told my wife, that night, in front of my Mom and sister, that I would get us a home and pool just like that. If memory serves me, they all rolled their eyes, and I am guessing my wife said something like, “yeah, when we are about 80 years old, maybe”. I said I didn't know if it would take a few years, or many, or what, but we would have that again, and it would be all ours. I told my Mom and sister that, if they wanted that house in their future, too, they could learn with me. I think, at the time, it wasn't real enough for them to start pursuing it. Later, in T. Harv Eker's course "The Million Mind Intensive", we did some hypnosis, and I saw the same home again. I have visualized it many times sense then. In October of 2006, my wife and I purchased our new home, in the very same neighborhood as that house. It is a 3 bedroom, 2 bath, 2 car garage, concrete block house. We have done a few things to it, and have plans to do some more some time (I rehab houses!), but it has an in-ground, screened pool, with a light in it. Every time I drive home, I feel a tinge of joy that part of my dreams is coming true again. I experience that high almost every time I start nearing home. On my way home I drive past the street that man’s house is on, and I sometimes look out at the houses and wonder, which of those houses is the one we visited those years ago. Which house helped me visualize my dream home, and helped push me to make it a reality several years later.
Interesting thing... My wife and I looked at pool homes just under $200K off and on for 2-3 years. I always told her we would get our nice, new, pool home before our son started kindergarten, so we would be in a good school district. She sometimes supported me, and other times gave me a "yeah, right". It didn't matter. I already knew I would have it, because I had been there so many times before. When a realtor friend of mine told me about our current house, I told him $249.9K was out of our price range. He said the listing agent said the sellers were very motivated, and we should check it out. I called the listing realtor, chatted with her about the house some, and decided that, even though we probably wouldn't be able to stretch to it, we would look at it, because the pictures were amazing. This house was in a completely different league than anything else we looked at for $200K. We walked in, looked at each other, and both had this smile on our faces like we were home. I knew I was in trouble, and these sellers better be very motivated. Long story short, at that time, I was not thinking the least little bit about my dream. Months later, I was watching "The Secret", and I was reminded that it was my dream house. In "The Secret", John Assaraf shows his son his dreaming board, (I have been gathering pictures so my family can make these soon), and he starts to tear up. He had a picture, from years prior, of the exact same house they were living in, and hadn't even realized it. It was a picture from some glamour homes type of photo shoot or whatever, and it was of the house he later bought as his personal residence. I think it said about 7,000 or 9,000 square feet, with a 3,000 square foot guest house. You know, your ordinary run of the mill stuff.
I will be making a dreaming board soon (and encouraging my wife and kids to do the same), and will do plenty more visualizing, because I am not done yet. I have more, bigger and better things to come, and I hope all of you reading this do as well. Best wishes, and happy dreaming!

The Navy Destroyer Captain

2008-01-07T12:02:00.000-08:00

A Navy Destroyer, which is a huge battleship, is traveling on a foggy morning, with horrible visibility, and the lookout sees a beacon light flashing ahead. He reports to the captain, who has the crew hail the source of the beacon on the radio. The captain says, “tell them to change their course 5 degrees starboard”. They radio the message, and they get a response back saying “change your course 5 degrees port”. The captain says to notify them, “change your course 5 degrees starboard immediately or we are going to collide”. The response comes back, “change your course 5 degrees port immediately and there won’t be a collision”. The captain says, “YOU TELL THEM this is the captain of a giant Navy Destroyer Ship speaking, and they better change their course 5 degrees starboard immediately, because they don’t want to collide with a vessel of our size!”. The response comes back, “change your course 5 degrees port immediately, because this is the lighthouse you are talking to”.
Some things that seem impossible can be accomplished by virtue of hard work, creativity, persistence, etc. There is much to be said for the person who insists on finding a way to get something accomplished, no matter how difficult the task. I am a firm believer that you must be a “find a way to get the job done” kind of person to be truly successful in life.
On the other hand, we need to be sure that what we are trying to accomplish is the right task or tasks. The moral of the story with the captain destroyer is, some things are beyond your control, and your efforts can be much better spent working on things that are within your control, rather than fighting against things that are not. If you are spending your time and energy trying to change your spouse or someone close to you, you are probably fighting a losing battle. You can definitely improve your life by working on you, and I am a firm believer that the more personal development you do the better your life will get, but you can’t change someone else – the decision to change is a decision people can only make for themselves. If you spend all of your time and energy complaining about the economy, the government, the country, or the world, you got a tough row to hoe. If, however, you find the flaws, and figure how to best work within these systems, or even come up with ideas that solve problems that are common to many, then you are in business (or at least you should be). One of the secrets to life is figuring out the fights that are worth fighting, so you don’t waste your efforts trying to get a lighthouse to change its course.

MAKING IT PERSONAL

On occasion, when politics comes up, friends or colleagues ask me why I seem sort of ignorant of candidates, causes, etc. This is just my personal leanings, and many very successful people disagree with this completely, but I don’t spend much of my time on political issues. I discovered long ago that, for me personally, I could spend a pound of effort trying to influence political issues, and I would get back only an ounce of return (very little influence on a vote outcome, etc.), but I could spend an ounce of effort figuring out the best way to work within the existing systems, and get back a pound or more of return (for example, I don’t make knowing every candidate’s stance on tax law changes my personal agenda, but I do make sure I know the changes that are happening, how they affect me, and how to make the most of the existing laws and/or future laws as they pertain to my business).
Now, here is something that kind of makes me a little sad. I drive by LRMC (the local hospital) on my way to work most days, and I routinely see people “picketing”. For example, I saw one person there every day, for over a month, carrying a sign complaining that they received a $3K procedure that they didn’t want. They probably gave up 200 hours of their life, or more, to let those driving by know how mad they were at the hospital. Do they think it mattered much to the people driving by? What could they have done that would have helped their cause more? First, did they make sure they had the appropriate insurance coverage to begin with, and, if not, are they getting it to prevent a similar situation in the future? Second, did they take the right approach, and talk to the right people, about trying to resolve the issue in their favor as much as possible (or did they just scream and yell a lot at whoever came on the line whenever they called)? Third, if there is a cause involved that they care about, which I doubt, then is there a better, more productive way to take up for that cause? Fourth, and lastly, did they evaluate what the 200 hours of their time spent carrying a sign was costing them? It would have cost me more than $3K, so I would probably be cutting off my nose to spite my face. Plus, if their time isn’t worth that much, then they should worry more about improving how much their time is worth, and less about being angry at a world that is probably largely just doing what it is supposed to be doing – which may very well be giving someone the best possible care in spite of themselves… Then again, maybe if they persist long enough, they will get that lighthouse to change course 5 degrees starboard!
I spent many an hour trying to back down lighthouses in my life before I discovered personal achievement (complaining about things I had no control over and/or fighting battles I couldn’t win used to be a regular thing for me), but I just couldn’t get most of them to budge… Today, I still hit a bump in the road now and then. Do you have any lighthouses in your life, that you are working fervently to get to change course 5 degrees starboard, and if so, are there other things you could do with the time and energy being spent that would help you to have more success and happiness in your life? If so, I wish you Godspeed in recognizing those issues, and changing your focus, so you can do more, have more, give more, be more! Best wishes from a former Navy Destroyer Captain - LOL!

'And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.'

Best wishes,
Chris Lund

What Makes the Most Sense in Real Estate Investing?

2008-01-07T11:43:00.000-08:00

When it comes to real estate investing, I hear a lot of opinions about what works (and what works the best). Some make a lot of sense, and some make very little. Some sound like they make a lot of sense, but really make very little sense. Due to Barbara encouraging me last night (thank you!), I will share some quick opinions (keep in mind, I am doing this very quickly before going away for some weekend R&R with my family (if it is with the family, is it still R&R? - LOL), so it is not meant to cover every aspect of any one type of real estate investing, but just to give you all a little food for thought (means it is only what pops into my head, and not necessarily well thought out, so be forgiving). Wholesaling property is a great way to get started in this business. You can learn how to find deals, determine what constitutes good deals, tie deals up with a contract, and usually you assign your interest in them to investors with the cash and/or rehab experience that you don't have, yet. If you wholesale deals to the right people, they would probably be willing to spend a little time teaching you some of the ins and outs, do's and don'ts, in the process, thus speeding up your learning curve. You can make money fast, with little or no money at risk (wholesaling is hands down the fastest way to a payday). You can also find out right away whether or not you have the ability, and the consistent persistency, to be able to find serious bargains in real estate. Many of you already know, finding serious bargains in real estate can be easier said than done. In regards to wholesaling, I happen to know someone who is buying a serious bargain every month or two in and around Lakeland, Florida, so if you find great deals in Lakeland I can tell you who to call!!! Second, flipping. I am flipping a house every month or two in and around Lakeland, Florida (coincidence? LOL) right now, and attempting to quickly accumulate serious cash that way. A few things to be aware of with flipping: seasoning is required by many lenders when you try to sell (I am finding many that want 90 days in the current market; I have heard that some lenders want a lot longer than that), be careful not to get yourself personally tagged with IRS dealer status, give yourself a big cushion on your cost of estimated repairs (I still do that and I have been doing this business for almost 10 years), be prepared for a likely big hit at tax time... However, the main issue I see with flipping is this... Most flippers are not truly investing, but are working a JOB flipping houses. They flip a house, live off the proceeds, flip another house, live off the proceeds, and never accumulate any wealth. In order to eat, these people have to keep flipping houses. That is a job, and not an investment, although it may be a job you like better than many other jobs). When you flip houses, you need to be accumulating a war chest of cash, and not be living Just Over Broke (my personal opinion)! Third, long term investing (rental property). I made the bulk of my personal wealth holding a lot of real estate over the past ten years, while the market was rocketing higher. The catches: most people underestimate how much of their cashflow needs to be designated for vacancies and repairs. Many people with positive cashflow spend it as they make it, then when a major repair is needed or a vacancy occurs, and they don't have anything saved for it, they claim rental property doesn't work and tell how it will make you broke (even experienced investors allow this to happen sometimes; ask me how I know this!). The upside is rental property, done correctly, has multiple profit centers: positive cashflow, paydown of mortgage (tenants buy you houses), tax advantages, and appreciation over the long run. Keep in mind, rentals are great, but you must have patience, and the mindset to put up with occasional babysitting (if you manage them yourself). They are generally a great way to build wealth for the long term (history proves this, as it is the way many, many people have accumulated great wealth). Consider which method of real estate investing will best help you achieve your personal goals... What is your return on your money in any given activity? As an example, I have some properties that I own free and clear, and people tell me how great that is. Wrong! They provide great cashflow, but I recognize that my return on investment this way usually sucks. As an example, one of my free and clear rentals is a $70K rental property. It rents for $650/month. Taxes and insurance suck up $200/month. Of the remaining $450, about $150/month covers vacancy and repairs (averaged over the long term). My average cashflow over time is $300/month, or $3600/year. On $70K, that is barely over a 5% cash on cash return on my money (obviously that doesn't factor in appreciation, tax benefits, etc.). If I can leverage a property like that, by getting a mortgage, and still have positive cashflow, I might do quite a bit better. However, if I invested that same $70K in flipping, I could buy one cheap house, fix it up, and sell it for a $20K profit. If that takes me 4-6 months, I might do it 2-3 times in one year. If I keep those profits growing and working for me, have I sky-rocketed my returns compared to rentals? Absolutely (if I am not living off of that money)! That begs the question, why would I ever keep property long term? Well, flipping only works when I bust my butt hunting deals, buying, fixing, and selling. Most of my long term keepers require little of my time and attention from day to day. Furthermore, my long term keepers, done correctly, keep chugging along making me money day in and day out, whether I find a good deal lately or not, whether I am working hard or gone on vacation for a month (the test for passive income - does it make you money while you sleep?). They also give me a good, stable base to support me through good and bad, and, over time, they continue to grow my wealth, even if very slowly at times. So I find a mix that works for me. If I get too many good deals at once, I can still wholesale a deal here and there. So, wholesaling, flipping, and rental property are all important, and all have their place... You just have to figure out what works best for your personality, which will best help you meet your personal goals, and which most suits your current financial situation and level of experience.

'And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.'

Is Your Life A Complete Success?

2008-01-07T11:30:00.000-08:00

With some work in the area of personal development, and maybe even without it, I think most people recognize to some degree or another that a big part of the path to real happiness is figuring out their destiny. What is the path that was meant for you, where everything seems right with the world? What is the path that God laid out just for you, that you need to discover and travel to be truly fulfilled? I have seen the following put a few ways, a few different times, but just saw it again recently… It can shake you to your core. It is very thought-provoking, and if you do it, and follow through, maybe, just maybe, it will help you make all your dreams come true! And, if you read it, and say that was interesting, and don’t do anything, well, then you will keep on doing the same things you have always done, and keep on getting the same results you have always got. Here goes…
Imagine yourself on your death bed, and consider this question: “Was your life a complete success?”
Then ask yourself, if not, “What things do you wish had happened that would have made it a complete success?”
That’s it. Just answer those two simple questions. Once you have answered them, maybe you just figured out your destiny; your passion; the path that God uniquely intended for you! If you did (figure that out), then don’t waste another day without taking steps towards your dreams. Take some small, symbolic action now, to signify the change in you, and start changing your life for the better. New beginnings. I hate to be clique, but success starts by figuring out your destiny, and then starting to move towards it. Embrace it. Don’t worry if it seems impossible now – in fact, the more impossible it seems, the better – because the journey and the achievements will be that much more incredible! By starting, and taking little action steps every day, you start on the path, and at the right times and in the right places, God will send the miracles you need to help you along the way. You don't need to have every piece of the puzzle figured out before you start, either. The process of achieving goals and making your dreams come true should, by design, be lifelong - with short term, intermediate, and long term goals. As you grow and change, your goals and possibly your dreams can change with you. May you have more, do more, be more, and make all your dreams come true! Best wishes, and God Speed!

Focus On Fixing

2008-01-07T09:46:00.000-08:00

I hope you all had a Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year’s Day (or New Year’s Eve, as the case may be). I thought about doing an e-mail about New Year’s Resolutions, but I kept coming up with the same old tired stuff everyone already knows. Don’t make too many resolutions, and burn yourself out. Break big goals down to bite-sized, manageable pieces. Make your goals specific, and measurable. Determine ahead of time that it will be difficult at times, and that you are willing to see it through. Have a plan in place for overcoming your toughest temptations. Buddy up with a friend, and hold each other accountable. Write or draw your goals as if they have already happened, and post them in locations where you will see them for constant reminders. Continually visualize your desired results as if they have already happened.

Then I thought about resolutions myself, and, as it turns out, I already had short term and long term goals in most areas of my life, and doing New Year’s Resolutions seemed kind of redundant. So, what I ended up deciding was to focus on something for the New Year… I am going to FOF (Focus On Fixing), aka stop complaining, and FOF that which I formerly complained about! That being said, if any of you catch me complaining in 2008, please give me some encouragement (accountability)! Anyhow, rather than talking about resolutions, I am going to FOF with my first ‘newsletter’ of 2008.
Let me start with a story… This guy takes his lunch to work every day. On Monday, he opens his lunch box and finds a bologna sandwich and a pickle. He whines and complains to his coworkers about what a lousy lunch he has. On Tuesday, he opens his lunch box to a bologna sandwich and a pickle again. Again he whines and complains to his coworkers, saying he doesn’t care for bologna sandwiches or pickles. On Wednesday, the same routine repeats, and again on Thursday. On Friday, he opens his lunch box, and has a bologna sandwich and a pickle, again. He whines, complains, pounds his fist on the table and says he is sick and tired of bologna sandwiches and pickles, and he lets go of a few choice words. This time, a coworker that watched the same tired routine all week long, asks him, “Why don’t you tell your wife you don’t like bologna sandwiches and pickles for lunch, and ask her to fix you something different? The guy responds, “Wife? What wife? I’m not married. I make my own lunch.”
The point of the story is we can only truly succeed in life when we take responsibility for our own results. Whatever our lives are today is largely the result of the decisions we have made and the actions we have taken (or not taken) in the past. Further, we need to realize that, no matter what hardships come our way, we choose whether to let them beat us down, or whether to settle for mediocrity, or whether to rise up and overcome them so we can push on and make all of our dreams come true! Way too many people in this world spend most of their time and energy complaining, and never stop to appreciate the fact that they created most of the results they are complaining about. Hmmmmm….
My personal example… I grew up poor, and spent many years complaining that a poor person could never succeed financially in life. I could spend hours on end saying how unfair it was that wealth only came to the lucky; those who were born into it… or maybe to a few fortunate lottery winners or professional athletes or star actors/actresses, etc. I really knew how to whine and complain about how unfair life was to someone like me. Furthermore, I had friends and family that were great at commiserating with me. We could tell stories about our problems, try to outdo each other with the size of our problems, and exaggerate how bad things were more and more every time we told them. Ever do that yourself?
As long as that was my approach, I would never do any better financially than I was doing at that time. A tale for another time, but, fortunately, I read a few good books, starting with “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” by Robert Kiyosaki, and I got up the nerve to talk to a few people (a coworker and the guy who was my landlord at the time come to mind) who had succeeded in real estate, starting from nothing and building from the ground up, and I discovered that maybe, just maybe, I was wrong about wealth. Needless to say, I have since discovered that I was completely wrong. I was fixing myself bologna sandwiches and pickles, and then complaining every day about what I had in my lunch box.
Here comes my old adage – what you focus on expands. If you focus on complaining, you get more to complain about. If you focus on crap, you get more crap. I think it was T. Harv Eker who said if you complain enough, you become a giant crap magnet. I believe it, because it was true in my life.
Still applies to me today, in fact… I just found myself complaining the other day about how my wife is impossible to get along with. Then I thought back to a discovery I made not too long ago. The more I blamed my wife for being hard to get along with, the harder she was to get along with. However, a Bible Study class about marriage taught me the following, which I then proceeded to prove true. They said when I stopped complaining and blaming my wife for our disagreements, and started doing everything I could to make my wife happier and my marriage better, she would respond in kind. Bible study theorized, correctly, that when innately good, Godly people are treated great, they have no choice but to respond in kind. Someone like my wife MUST, by definition, respond in kind. I purposely treated my wife like a queen for several weeks, and my wife and I were both amazed at how well we seemed to get along. She was treating me like a king! Then, I got lazy, and slipped back into old habits of mediocrity. Now, it is time for me to stop complaining about bologna sandwiches and pickles in my marriage, and to start making myself better lunches again. It will work again, the same as it did before, if I just follow through and do it. My wife MUST respond to my kindness with kindness, by definition of who she is as a person. It is a thing of beauty. Don’t believe me? Take it for a test spin in your life, and see if treating good people well isn’t repaid in kind…
Back to the point of my story… almost all of us have an area or areas in our lives that we complain about. Do you have anything in your life that you complain about routinely? Is there a chance that you can find ways to improve that area of your life instead of complaining about it? It doesn’t matter if its finances, or relationships, or medical problems, or a bologna sandwich and a pickle in your lunch box every day, if you find yourself complaining about something, stop, and seek out ways to Focus On Fixing instead of complaining, and see if it doesn’t change your life for the better.
Best wishes, and I hope you all have less to complain about, more to be happy about, and a great year in 2008!!!

To be added to or removed from my e-mail list, respond to:
Chris Lund at reinvestorsfl@aol.com and let me know your wishes.
One of my goals for 2008 is to increase my readership. If you like receiving ‘The Lund Letters’, and you know someone else that might enjoy them, just have them drop me their e-mail address and I will add them to my list. I promise to never sell contact information, and readers can be removed from the list on request at any time. Thank you!

P.S. – I am not sure how long it will last, but attached below is a URL on ‘Making A Difference’. It is neat, and touching, and I thought you might enjoy it. If you can’t click into it, then it might work to cut and paste it into your browser.

http://tinyurl.com/2zesmp