Posted on March 9, 2010 @ 7:12 pm - Written by BawldGuy
Ran outa time today, and everyone, including me has been having ‘puter problems. Mine began with, of all things, hinges on the laptop. Seems they’re similar to us, you know, backbone connected to the neck bone and all that. Dave Shafer’s havin’ his ‘puter problems too, but he’s takin’ care of it and should be back in the saddle quickly. Max Whitmore is a whole ‘nother story. Apparently he’s so special, the manufacturer must make his new machine with a few 007 gadgets added to the hardware. I knew his stuff was complex, but it seems a couple of his apps require custom-built touches. Who knew? Also, after plowin’ through a few IT guys, he was booted to the engineer types who figured out what was corrupting his old machine.
Allow me to give you a real life almost real time example of Murphy’s Law. As I’ve written here before, Max Whitmore, Tom Vanderwell, and me have been workin’ with the technical guy (GeekDude) to create a subscription site for our more in-depth work. It was ‘posed to be up and running by around the first of the year. It’s been one thing after another — not to mention all three guys are in different states, different generations, (42, 73, 58) and with different technical skill levels. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on December 24, 2009 @ 7:48 am - Written by BawldGuy
Though I’ve mentioned it here randomly a couple times, you may not know I’m a PK, a preacher’s kid, grandkid, great grandkid, and nephew of five ministers. 75% of my generation on Mom’s side are preacher’s kids. We’re a wild bunch, and more. It was recently brought to my attention by the in-house soft personnel that out of that 75%, only two have ever had a regular job. The ‘regular’ cousins? All are regular folk employees — in other words, sane. Still though, one of ‘em is the lone representative of our generation to enter the ministry. He’s now the assistant pastor at the church in which his dad, my Uncle Cork, was once Senior Deacon.
The PK cousins?
One owns a detective agency. One’s a freelance commercial photographer. Then there’s the artist/music composer dude — who moved to Nashville. The motivational speaker chick. (I”ll pay for that one if she sees it.) And it goes on. We’re a buncha independent cusses apparently. Yet when we’re together the common denominators are massive personal abuse and repeated uproarious laughter. The longer the family event lasts, the more times in the abuse barrel each of us spend. There seems to be some kinda twisted rotation in play.
Almost nothing is untouchable. One of my cousins married a Polish girl. We’ve not let up from Day 1 . She’s learned to roll with it and strike back with admirable accuracy. Even her husband, one of the most consistently funny guys you’ll ever meet, takes his turn. Our parents have resigned themselves to how brutal we are to each other, since it always, without exception has ended in raucous laughter. I’ve actually seen an uncle wince at a head to head I had once with the detective cousin.
The older generation isn’t spared totally either. I recall one Christmas fondly. One of the ’sisters’ was hosting the event at her home. She’d obviously been on a successful diet, cuz she made a cool 1950’s movie-type entrance a the top of the stairs in her brand new Christmas dress. She came down the stairs like an actress arriving at a grand opening, her destination the largish ‘pit’ in which all the cousins were lazily lounging.
As she reached the bottom, she executed a perfect model’s turn, showing off not only her pretty new dress, but her newly svelte figure. All the girl cousins and wives cooed appropriately, showering her with compliments. As the admiration quieted down, I said, “Auntie, I’m truly impressed. You’ve lost a TON!!” Whereupon I was physically pummeled into submission by the ladies. Let it be noted that my fellow guy cousins groaned with poorly disguised laughter, but got away scott free. Sometimes there is no justice.
It was worth it, as I’m still smiling now, as I write this. 
I wanna be on record though — she did look spectacular that night. Also, nobody hosts a family get-together like she does.
Last time, at Thanksgiving, I was greeted by one cousin with, “Thanks for the crappy economy, dude.” Nothin’ like a closely knit family.
Three of us are in second marriages, me included. The acid test, and frankly maybe the best predictor of future wedded bliss, is the first time new wives/husbands are brought to one of these gatherings. It can be um, daunting if you’re on the timid side. Fortunately, over the years, all three of the new spouses have been fully vetted, ambushed, abused, and made a part of our family’s DNA. You know they’ve become one with the mob when they turn on their own spouses like jackals.
This evening’s family gathering has the potential to be memorable, even for us. My sister is hosting a Christmas dinner and ‘white elephant’ gift exchange. This has almost wicked potential as the gifts can be ‘taken’ by subsequent participants from a previous recipient. There will be raised voices, attempts at lame intimidation, much impugning of character, and assassin-like betrayals. I can’t wait.
Oh, and for the record, the gray crowd from whose loins we all sprung, aren’t exactly a buncha ‘go by the rules’ angels either. How’d'ya think we all turned out the way we did? Mom eschewed corporate life back in the 70’s with a one woman business. One of here sisters owns an art gallery. Another has been a driving force in her church’s administration since forever. One uncle is retired on the income from a seniors related business he bought and grew. Another is a retired Air Force fighter pilot. They’re all gettin’ grayer, but none of ‘em are anywhere close to boring. Trust me on that one.
I predict tonight is gonna be an E-Ticket ride. ‘Course none of the cousins would dream of bucklin’ up.
What’s your family doin’? Let us all know. Merry Christmas!!
Posted on December 11, 2009 @ 9:18 am - Written by BawldGuy
Though I’m finally at the point where writing a book chronicling my years as an investment broker, plus more than a little of what I’ve learned, I keep being prodded (bullied?) to write an eBook first. That won’t be a problem, as I’ve given myself 10 years to do the ‘real’ book right.
I’d love to write about stuff important/interesting to me, but would no doubt be better advised to write on topics about which you guys wanna read & learn. It would please me greatly, and I’d be eternally grateful if you’d drop by here to let me know your preference(s).
Thanks so much for your input.
Posted on December 1, 2009 @ 5:54 pm - Written by BawldGuy
You might be wondering why anyone would even have rent increases on their menu these days. Fair enough. But there are regions in which the future will indeed include rising rents — in fact the last 12 months have seen rents head northward for the folks who’ve invested in the Texas neighborhoods I’ve recommended. It’s been roughly 2-4% in our real life/real time experience there. Just food for thought.
My decades as a real estate investment broker have led me to understand how landlords can rationalize just about anything, especially when it comes to direct dealings with their tenants. This is a good time to recommend professional management, as my stance has always been that your income property should work for you, not you for it. It’s not always feasible, and I get that, but if it’s at all possible, at least consider it seriously.
The question is often posed, “Should I always be on the cutting edge of market rents?” OR “What will happen if I raise my rents and they all move out?” There are myriad iterations. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on August 12, 2009 @ 8:22 pm - Written by BawldGuy
The week that wasn’t is now almost past hump day. A mildly strained back incurred during yesterday’s workout. I grade it as a mild strain as I was able to complete the workout, sans one exercise. Treated it like a good boy last night and today, so I wouldn’t miss a workout. Mission accomplished, though I’m treatin’ it again tonight to be safe. Once you learn the hard way, you don’t ignore gym mishaps, no matter how ‘mild’ they may be. Anywho, today’s schedule called for me to run a mile, then do about 20 minutes of other stuff, then run another mile. Since I ran the second mile faster than the first, I think I’m just about outa the woods. (I knew you’d wanna know.)
Continuing with the theme about the week that wasn’t — had to cart my stiff self to the DMV today. Is the excitement palpable or what? Couldn’t get an appointment cuz I misfiled the renewal notice, found it, but too late. Had to show up with the unwashed masses, book in hand, lookin’ forward to sittin’ way too long in a molded plastic chair. The Lord showed mercy by sittin’ me next to a 35 year old manager of a couple local tire stores, a national company. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on July 6, 2009 @ 1:58 pm - Written by BawldGuy
Just had a back ‘n forth with Max via email. You’ll be happy to know he’s doing well, still maintaining his ever reliable Super Chart, and investing for his own account. Here’s his latest record:
Max called the bear market, the commodity market crash, the October crash — to the number of the drop — and then called the March crash. The guy is scary he’s so good.
Alas, he says it appears NewsMax (or anyone else so far) won’t be picking him up, due to their minimum subscriber requirements. Seems to me if you can’t market a record like Max’s you can’t market yer way out of a wet paper bag. But I digress.
A newsletter from Max Whitmore has value to say the least. Frankly, I’m at a loss here. It’s my sincere belief Max would easily attract thousands of subscribers if a newsletter was professionally marketed and 2.0 priced.
The thought we’ll not be reading Max’s thinking ever again is simply unacceptable. I’ll be exploring some possibilities.
Posted on June 30, 2009 @ 8:45 pm - Written by BawldGuy
Some weekend when you’re lookin’ for something to do, grab a clipboard, a legal pad, and a pen, then head over to one of your income properties. Start at ground zero and pick a direction to start walkin’ and talkin’ with tenants in the neighborhood. I can almost guarantee an eye opening hour or two. I’ve had clients do this for years as a hands on exercise designed to show them all the things they didn’t know about the area, and all the misconceptions they may have had.
One client called me up laughing. Seems he came upon his high school sweetheart living a couple streets down. Ya never know what you’ll find and/or learn, but you’ll do both if you’re focused.
Here are some suggestions you may wanna incorporate. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on April 20, 2009 @ 10:35 pm - Written by BawldGuy
Disclosure: In order to avoid hurt feelings I’ve taken some liberty with some of the facts of the example used. These changes are insignificant as they relate to the main theme. They’re required, in my judgment so as to protect the privacy of others. You’re free to continue reading now.
This example recently took place in a smallish northern California city.
First of all let’s face something that may be our currently reality — it’s entirely possible real estate in general is beginning its painful U-Turn as we speak. It’s also entirely possible it ain’t. From my vantage point, which allows me to see more than a few markets up close and personal, there’re too many signs for me not to think something might be afoot. But I digress, and besides, we’ll not know for sure until our rearview mirror tells us, right?
Buyers in markets so heavily tilted in their favor tend to behave accordingly — Duh. They make sometimes insultingly low-ball offers. Insist sellers pay a large part if not all their closing costs. Want price adjustments at every turn, mostly from the leverage they perceive available to them during the inspection period. They do it until they sense the seller is about bleed out, then smile, back off, and wait for the escrow to close. Read the rest of this entry »