The big news for the week this time is the fact that Goodyear has overcome challenges in transportation, education and recreation and for doing so has been named one of the 10 All-American cities.  The honor came on the evening of June 6th at the National Civic League's annual conference held in Tampa, Fl.  Being named an  All American City requires an application that includes extensive information on challenges facing a city and how that city has met three of those challenges.  The challenges Goodyear was faced with were the congestion on I-10, attracting higher education and problems involving BMX riders causing damage to the city's skateboard park.  All three have been addressed or are being addressed right now like the widening of I-10 which wasn't supposed to happen till 2011.  Just another reason why I'm so bullish on Goodyear!

 I have seen much change in the last couple of years in relation to Real Estate around the Phoenix metro but one thing doesn't seem to stop in Goodyear, AZ and that is growth.  The homes are in and now here comes the commercial.  I've decided to blog about some of these changes and the goings on around Goodyear because like my title line says, I beleive it is going to be a good year in Goodyear (or more optimisticly, several good years).  You can't go too far in any direction without seeing some kind of building being erected or construction project of some sort.  I believe this is going to be the place to be on the west side in the near future.  I will start out with the new Goodyear Recreational Sports Complex/Cleveland Indians Spring Training Camp being built right now.  This is located on the SE corner of Estrella Parkway and Yuma Rd.  This is set for the first game to be played by early 2009 and is looking good right now.  As if this weren't going to be enough to get you baseball fans excited the Cincinnatti Reds will be breaking ground on their Spring Training Facility in 2010 right next to the Indians Stadium.  There will be a flood of Ohioin's visiting in the next several years so I'll welcome you early.  It will be a great time to come down and get out of those cold winters!    

One thing I continually try to do is educate my clients.  Granted, there are a lot of different things you can give them in doing so but I don't know of anything as cheap as what I'm about to share with you that can have such an enormous impact on your client's lives as this-and it's under $25.  What I'm talking about is the book entitled "Own Your Home Years Sooner Without Making Extra (Interest) Payments", by Harj Gill.  We've all heard the Bible verse "Give a man a fish and feed him for a day, teach him to fish and feed him for a lifetime".  Well, what I'm sharing with you here is no different. 

I have had the good fortune to talk to Harj Gill, the founder of the Mortgage Elimination System and the author of the book.  He is on a crusade to put people in charge of their financial futures using the bank's own lending policies and products to help them pay off their mortgages years sooner and help them save thousands, if not tens of thousands, of dollars in doing so.  This is is nothing short of brilliant folks!  How do you think your client's will veiw you once you show them how they can save a ton of cash on their mortgage payments and years off the life of their once constricting homeloan?  I don't know about you, but I'm telling everyone of my client's about it and I'm joining Harj's crusade to put an end to what the bank's don't want you to know (and that's a fact).  Perhaps you've heard about these programs advertising how to pay off your home in half the time or less before, perhaps you are even an affiliate selling one of these copycat programs for up to $3500.  If you really want to look like a hero tell them you can get the same product for them for $200 a year.  Go here for the details www.speedequity.com  Whatever the case may be, you owe it to your client's (and to yourself) to share this with them.  They don't even have to be a client right now, why not just share it with anybody with a mortgage.  That's my plan, and that's why I'm blogging about it here. 

 

 

 

 

 

   

One of my pet peeves being a Realtor is others who don't put photos on marketing materials of their homes, especially MLS listings. Am I the only one here?  I don't care whether it is a rental listing, a run down shack or a million dollar mansion, I just think the photos should be there.  In one of the articles today put out by Realtor.org it relayed the conversion rate of listings with photos to those without and how much more the home sold for that had multiple photos vs. listings with only one or no photo at all.  It also said the Days on Market (DOM) fell from 70 days with one photo to 32 days with 20 or more photos.  Check the article out yourself at www.Realtor.org.com  Very interesting and insightful.  Please, help yourself the next time you take a listing and put it on MLS or any other marketing material by adding photos.

If you are like many, including myself, the first deal I did was by far the scariest.  The thought of the unknown and the horror stories I was told before I bought was almost enough to make me back out of the deal.  Of course, the realization that the free advice being given was worth as much as I paid for it helped!  It's amazing to me how many armchair experts you run into without even trying.  My advice to you is this-IF THE PERSON GIVING YOU THE ADVICE ISN'T MAKING AT LEAST TWICE AS MUCH AS YOU, SHOULD YOU REALLY BE LISTENING TO WHAT THEY ARE SAYING?  I know, I know, they have good intentions and they mean well but at the same time those good intentions are what has kept them from being very successful in their own investing game plan.  People like security, and they feel secure doing the same thing day after day after day.  Unfortunately, security can lead to a life of mediocrity.  If you want to retire comfortably and maybe even leave something for your family why not invest in Real Estate.  If you die you can pass it on, I haven't seen anybody do that with a safe, secure job before. 

This is how I stepped out of my comfort zone on my first deal.  I bought a 4-plex and a 6-plex from a private party back in 2002 on the same day.  That might not seem like such a big deal but you have to consider I had never rented a day in my life (bought my first home at 22 while living with my parents).  So, to buy a couple rentals with no experience as a llandlord, or a tenant, was to say the least, the scariest thing I had ever done.  There was a short learning curve but hey, it didn't kill me and if I had to do it all over again I wouldn't change a thing.  It's all about networking and getting educated.  Join your local RE Investing Club or Apartment Association and listen and learn.  If you can, find a mentor, what you can learn from them will save you thousands of dollars and years of aggravation and headache.  I sat down with a very successful Investor in my hometown who owned over 3,000 units at one time and picked his brain.  He had many great tips from his experience.  Join some websites.  Here is a good one www.reiclub.com  Some great information on there but do always get a second opinion. 

Just remember the definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result.  Are you happy with where you are with your investing or retirement plan?  What are you doing differently this year than the last?  I'll tell you what I'm doing, I'm buying more Real Estate, and as much of it as I can get my hands on as long as it fits my criteria.  My refi of the apartments I just mentioned will be complete this week and that will give me another 25K line-of-credit to go play with.  What a country we live in! 

Happy Investing!            

That's right, I do and you should to!  If you are an Investor like me you realize that right now is the time to be buying Real Estate.  I don't care what the media says.  Keep quacking about how the sky is falling, it is helping me with less competition.  Let me tell you about my latest deal.  As an Investor who happens to have a RE License, I work a lot with wholesale companies here in the Phoenix area.  A Wholesaler is someone who aquires properties at huge discounts, sometimes 50% of value, through various means like auctions, Short Sales, Probate, etc.  They then add a little to the price as their profit and send it out to their investors to fight over.  Like everything else there are good wholesale companies and there are bad ones.  One morning a couple months ago I get an email from one of the better ones with the details about an Auction property in Goodyear, AZ.  I know the area well as I have had clients of mine buy in the neighborhood.  It appears this is a good deal from the information provided but just to be sure I need a closer look.  I go for a drive and check it out and I'm pleasantly surprised, this house is nice!  Built in '03, 2237 sq.ft., 3/2 w/den, one level, 3 car garage with extra storage along one side of the garage, corian countertops, dish, alarm system, water softener, reverse osmosis, immacultely landscaped, screened in patio and the real clencher for me, a pool with waterfall feature!  Needless to say I was on the phone immediately when I saw that pool asking the wholesaler what I have to do to secure the property.  He says the first person with $2500 in his hand gets the house.  I lost about 6 months worth of tire tread leaving that place!  To the numbers: this house was bought for 335K two years ago.  I bought it for 179K!  I have two verifiable comps of the exact same floorplan within the last 5 months-one sold for 255K w/out a pool and the other sold for 300K w/pool.  I'm going to list it at 260K and see what happens. If it sells great, and if not I have a great asset that I can either move into or rent out until this storm is over.  About two or three more of these this year and I'll be sitting pretty.  That's my goal anyways.  I want to set myself up for life with my investing this year alone.  If you aren't investing in '08 you, in my opinion, are missing the biggest and best opportunity you are going to see in your lifetime.  

I had enough information to make an informed decision that this was a great deal but one day when I was painting the interior a guy stopped in and said he was the original owner (he sold it to the guy who lost it for 335K).  I asked him what he paid for the house when he bought it new in '03.  He said just for the house alone he paid 226K.  The pool, patio and everything else cost him another 39K.  So basically, I picked this house up for way less than what he paid for it back before the big run up in prices.  Crazy I thought to myself for a moment, but then again the very reason why I love this market!  

    

That's right, I have officially broken down and joined the ranks of many others into the wonderful world of blogging.  I look forward to the many contacts from fellow bloggers and if there is anything I can do to help you on your path to financial success I would love to be of service.  A little about me: I am an active Real Estate Investor and Realtor.  I have been investing for a little over 6 years now although at times it seems like an eternity ago.  In retrospect though I wish I had started sooner.  I love this game (yes, it is a game) called investing and I look forward to the next deal or the next challenge to getting the deal done.  I'm looking forward to telling you about what I'm doing now in this market and hearing what others are doing as well.  Thank you for reading and happy blogging!