John's Blog

I'm GRATEFUL

John Thyne (Goodwin & Thyne Properties) — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 11:19:27 -0700

I just read an e-mail this morning about the passing of someone around my age (I'm 62) and while it was sad that this person has left this earth, the e-mail was full of wonderful stories of how this man spent his last year of his life. He spent it having good times with family and friends. His family feels like they got the best year of his life with him. He had a zest for living and lived life to the fullest in his last year. I am so grateful to be alive and well. I'm grateful for my wonderful, fantastic family and friends.

I'm grateful to be a Realtor. I am definitely doing this to earn money to live.....but....to be very honest, I don't have the same needs or wants that I had during the time that my kids were growing up. This is a tough market right now, but I know that when the market "comes back" we're all going to be so busy that we'll forget the tough times. I'm not letting the market get me down. I'm turning over rocks and doing what I can to find business. I don't say no to anyone. I'll travel if I have to even though the gas prices are a hinderence. Ilove the Real Estate Business. What I love the most is helping people. I recently closed on a house that an elderly woman sold and she got half the proceeds because it was a probate sale. This is all the money she had, so she wanted to buy a manufactured home in a Senior Park. She is incredibly happy in her new home and delighted that I was able to sell her other home and get enough money for her to buy her new home with cash. I recently closed on a Condo for a young couple that are getting married next month. They are two of the happiest people I know right now and are very grateful that I was able to find them their dream home to start their new lives together. I'm currently working with another elderly lady that is selling her condo to also move into a Senior Park and I found an awesome home for her that has been well cared for. She's ecstatic.

These clients are what makes it all worthwhile. None of the 3 transactions I mentioned are going to make me rich....in dollars anyway.....but they certainly have made me rich in the satisfaction of these folks and the fact that I was able to assist in bringing happiness into their lives. I'm really grateful to be a Realtor.

Have a great week everyone and God Bless You. John from Ventura CA

What Down Market?????

John Thyne (Goodwin & Thyne Properties) — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 15:11:15 -0800

Hi everyone. I posted a similar entry on "localism" but thought I'd put it in my blog too. I was riding the bus to work this morning (oh yes, that really saves money over the gas I'd use...especially on days I really don't need my car.)... anyway and I was reading about how bad the housing market is in our area. They were comparing the sales volume for the past 5 years (great boom years) and the article's tone was like so many other articles I've read about our market... doom & gloom.... woe is me.....the sky is falling! etc. etc. etc. blah blah blah; yadda yadda yadda... Well, I decided months ago to ignore all the bad news and just go about my business. Funny, how when I did that - my business was strong. I'm looking at a great upcoming Spring selling season. There's PLENTY of buyers who qualify for the low mortgage rates out there and theres PLENTY of sellers who are savvy enough to understand that prices are not astronomical...but...in many instances, overall, they're still going to make a lot of money on the sale of their home (especially if they've had it for 10 years for instance). I'm 62 years old and I've lived through Real Estate cycles for a long time... and ...the market ALWAYS goes back up after an adjustment or downturn... ALWAYS!! It's like looking at a day. The day ALWAYS follows night and I'm lucky enough to be here in Southern California where there are beautiful sunrises. This certainly is a buyer's market right now and anyone who is able to qualify for a mortgage and they can afford it should be out there buying!! Call me or contact me and I'll explain to you, like I have to my 6 kids and I experienced for myself since I was 21 years old that it's ALWAYS better to own a house than rent. Have a great day and a great selling season. Best wishes & high regards, John

Are we really in a "down market"???

John Thyne (Goodwin & Thyne Properties) — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 14:53:19 -0800

Hi Everyone. I was reading the local paper this morning and it continues to SHOUT that things are awful in the Real Estate Industry... woe is me!! the sky is falling!! we're in a recession!! Banks are hurting!! I am surprised that they don't insert some graphics of black storm clouds above these articles. Geez... I'm 62 years old and just getting into the Real Estate field (2 yrs as an agent in CA)... however my wife & 6 kids and I moved over 12 times while I was in corporate America and I ended up on both sides of the Real Estate equation... sometimes we made lots of money and other times we didn't... I rarely lost money over those 30 years, though, because the Real Estate market ALWAYS ALWAYS COMES BACK. Funny..I read in one article this morning that some economics professor at a local college predicted that housing prices will stabilize in 2009 but won't start rising again until at least 2011 or beyond.. What's he smoking?? He needs to do a little more research on the cycles of Real Estate ...especially in California. I decided months ago to simply ignore all the bad news. I remember a little story about a guy selling hot dogs on the street in NYC (Manhattan) and he never read the newspapers to find out that he was in a recession. He continued to have double digit increases in his business throughout the "recession" period. I'm taking the same approach... what slowdown in housing? There's PLENTY of buyers out there and PLENTY of sellers... there's a pent up demand in California ... I think I'm going to have an incredibly good Spring and have record sales. Good luck everyone. Regards, John

How do you keep up to all the opportunities to "Get & Stay Connected?"

John Thyne (Goodwin & Thyne Properties) — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 13:09:31 -0800

Hi Everyone. I joined A/R back in September and I've had a hard time putting aside some "free time" to get back on. I love the site. As a Realtor, I KNOW that it can help me. I also realize how important it is to "stay connected" in the general outside world too... for instance, I am signed up on Linkedin and Plaxo Pulse. I have yet to set up a MySpace page or a Facebook profile... I get invitations all the time to link to friends and business associates on these various communications vehicles. I love to communicate... I type fast.... but I haven't figured out when to get online for all of these great opportunities. Has anyone out there figured it out? Thanks! Looking forward to any suggestions you might have. Best wishes for a great week. John

Newbie to Active Rain but not to life

John Thyne (Goodwin & Thyne Properties) — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 12:23:24 -0700

Hi everyone. This is my first post to Active Rain. I'm 61 years old and have had quite a ride in life so far. My wife and I have been married for 40 years, we had 6 kids and now 8 grandchildren. We've moved 12 times during my career in Corporate America, which gave me lots of exposure to the Real Estate business since we bought 12 homes and sold 12 homes during that time. I left Corporate America after 30 years (I was a VP at PepsiCo) and decided that I was smart enough and bold enough to start my own business. I went to work in the Manufactured Housing business and became a General Manager for a couple of years to learn that business. Then I opened my own Manufactured Housing & Construction business in Indiana. I thought I was on top of the world and was spending all of my stock options, 401K, savings etc. on the business. I spent like I had PepsiCo's money behind me - but soon found out it was my money and it was going out the door a lot faster that it was coming in. Needless to say, I ended up closing the business after 5 years and went bankrupt. I decided to join my son in the Real Estate business here in California. He had started up a company about 5 years ago and was very successful at it. I got my license and have been selling Real Estate for about 2 years now and I only have one regret...that is that I didn't do this 10 years ago!! I LOVE this business. I love helping people and I empathize with both my buyers and sellers. I've been pretty successful at it and even in this down market, I've found that I can find business ... especially from referrals. I'm starting to "dabble" a bit in the commercial Real Estate world and am enjoying that too. I've been lucky to latch on to an investor who is pretty aggressive, but wants to find "deals"... I've put in offers on at leasst 5 REO properties, but I'm finding that the banks are not negotiating at "fire sale" prices that my investor typically wants to pay. He's more in the school of paying 65 cents on the dollar asked. These offers are summarily rejected by the banks. Is anyone experiencing some positive transactions with the REO properties out there? If so, how do find the ones who will actually "deal"? I found a great property at a great price from a flyer I got the other day from Rehablist.com and my investor put an offer on the property and we'll be closing on it in 2 weeks. I've tried to track down properties on realtytrac.com but I come up dry on how to contact the bank who actually owns the property (Bank of America, Wells Fargo etc.) Anyone have advice as to how to locate the right person at the bank to negotiate with? Well this is rather lengthy and I'm going to close for now and start reading other blogs...but I thought I'd get started. Any help you can pass on will be most appreciated. In the meantime, I hope you are doing well!! Sincerely, John Thyne - Ventura California