Tuesday, February 21, 2012

You Were A Champion Before You Were Even Born!

The start of this sounds like it might be pornography, but bear with me. There is a message.

A fertile male human ejaculates between 2 and 5 mililiters (ml) of semen (on average about a teaspoon). In each ml there are normally 50-100 million sperm. Only a small fraction of the sperm deposited in the woman's vagina end up in the uterus. From those that make it to the
uterus, only a small fraction of those find their way to the oviducts
(fallopian tubes). Usually the egg is all the way up at the other end of the oviduct. Of those that are in the oviduct, a small fraction might make their way from the lower to the upper oviduct. So, in fact, the number of sperm that might successfully arrive at where the egg is located is actually very small. Another problem is that the egg is not just waiting to be fertilized by the first sperm to come along. The egg is usually covered by a thick layer of cells called the corona radiata that serve as a blockade to restrict sperm from getting into the egg. Sperm cells contain enzymes that break this barrier down. It may actually require an assault of many sperm to break down the corona sufficiently to let one sperm get through to the egg.

So picture the process like a marathon… Run in a maze… Filled with mucus… Followed by attempting to break into a heavily guarded fortress. More often than not, nobody completes the triathlon. That one sperm that finally makes it, is the champion of Mother Nature's triathlon. So, just to be born, you not only had to complete this triathlon, but you had to be #1 out of over 100 million sperm… Just being born makes you a champion!!!

So, think about your dreams, and tell me, are your odds better or worse than your odds were of being born at all??? I dare say, nothing you ever want to accomplish in this life will come with worse odds than your odds were of being born in the first place!!! So you might as well get started now!

Monday, June 8, 2009

Napoleon Hill says...

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

Monday, May 11, 2009

A child and a dollar...

"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

Friday, May 8, 2009

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

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)904-8082
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

Thursday, April 30, 2009

Lee Iacooca says...

"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

Monday, March 9, 2009

Quote for the Day - Ben Franklin...

"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

Thursday, February 26, 2009

A Chris Lund original quote...

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