Posted on August 20, 2009 @ 10:06 pm - Written by BawldGuy
Just a brief reminder — you very rarely get a second bite at the retirement planning apple. You’re 35? Good on ya. Here’s a bulletin: Time, regardless of how immortal you may feel today, simply isn’t your friend. Don’t believe me, believe those who’re 45 at your company. If they started contributing to their company’s Qualified Plan (401(k) ) when they were 25, by the time they’d passed 40, they were feelin’ like world beaters. Time? They had 15-25 years to grow their already impressive portfolio just a few short years ago.
Wonder what they’re thinkin’ now? The lesson all of us learn as we age is that time, like the tides, come and go regardless of anything else in the universe. We all get caught in the backwash of Black Swans at least once in our lives.
Time can be our best friend or our worst enemy. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on August 18, 2009 @ 7:53 pm - Written by BawldGuy
Those who’ve been comin’ here quite awhile probably remember my ‘I’ve Seen This Movie’ posts. So far, nobody’s died — and it seems, as I spoiled the probable ending of this current horror flick, we’ll come outa this one bowed but not broken. The American people — um, that’d be you and me — allow ourselves a short period of whining, then we buck up and kick booty. Always have, always will. I’m thinkin’ a little economic review would be in order.
Having begun my career during the 1969 recession, a term I thought had to do with hairlines (Please — don’t say it, it’s far to easy.), I went through over 30 years before seeing a fixed interest rate under 7% — really. My first seven years in the business saw me close exactly zip, nada, zilch, zero transactions using non-government related loans. Sounds crazy now, but absolutely true. Think about it — who had 20% down? Not the folks with whom I dealt. Remember too, I was barely 18 when I started, proud to be shaving more than twice a week. 
After a few years of school and real estate, I went full time. Turns out I seem to attract recessions, as the ‘74-75 recession hit big time. Again, what did I know? Remember, I was still in the housing side of the biz at that point. I’d just started what was called ‘farming’, a new term to me back then, and just plowed through (sorry) my daily farming, oblivious to the national economy swirling around the porcelain fixture. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on August 10, 2009 @ 9:12 pm - Written by BawldGuy
When I closed my first tax deferred exchange, some time in the late 70’s, I was elated. Next to Neil Armstrong I’d taken mankind another step along the path of evolution. At 27 I thought I’d scaled the mountaintop and was about to plant my personal flag on the summit. What else could I possibly do that was better than that?
Turns out quite a bit, but anyone with a lick of common sense woulda known that. Though that particular 1031 was well advised, and double/triple checked by my client’s tax guy, I soon learned from a few mentors the lesson to be learned before the fact, about doing tax deferred exchanges. In much the same way we became stalkers when it came to ice cream and candy as kids, real estate investors will, more often than not, treat exchanges similarly.
The penalty for the later is infinitely harsher than the former for sure, but usually not discovered as such ’till the barn door has been closed.
Let’s work backwards. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on July 27, 2009 @ 8:11 pm - Written by BawldGuy
Seems the topic of the month for local and outa town real estate investors has been what kinda San Diego income property should they be buying, and what’s my opinion? I think the phrase I’ve used most in the last couple weeks as been ‘B-List Property’. Having lived here since 1967, it pains me to tell someone my own hometown isn’t on my A-List of favorite places for clients’ investment capital.
I mean seriously, you think I prefer traveling all over searchin’ for superior regions? Hardly, it’s a giant pain, at least logistically speaking. I love the real estate part, but the details can make ya crazy. I’d much rather do what I did so enthusiastically from 1976 through 2003, which was be happy as a bug in a rug in San Diego, the nation’s closest thing to Paradise I know. Life was almost infinitely simpler — Duh. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on July 20, 2009 @ 9:04 pm - Written by BawldGuy
Minding my own bee’s wax over the weekend at one of the local Starbucks, I noticed a group of 30-somethings talking about real estate investing. Turns out they’d recently started a small ‘invest for retirement’ group, and sometimes met there. I asked if I might join them to listen in, to which they graciously agreed.
Makin’ a long story short, some of the questions I asked raised more than one eyebrow. Go figure. Finally, one of them asked me just who I was and what I did? An hour or so later, they weren’t quite as sure about where north was on their investment maps. They were really mystified by what I told them about their 401’s and what they should be using instead. At first though, it was, um, rocky sledding.
Seems 401’s were a sore subject, no surprise there. But the good news was, they were eager to hear of a viable, more productive, and far less risky alternative. I told them about the EIUL — Equity Indexed Universal Life — an ‘investment grade’ insurance policy. They were on it like hungry grizzlies on fat jumpin’ salmon. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on July 13, 2009 @ 7:42 pm - Written by BawldGuy
Lately some have asked how many of these axioms there are. I don’t know. There’s a bunch though, and many have been taken from Dad and other mentors, some of whom were literally industry giants. I can claim originality on none of them, as they’re time tested over literally centuries — at least most of them. Come to think of it, I’ve been told my paraphrasing on many of them is original.
Here are a few.
BawldGuy Axiom: About the time the farmer trained the ol’ mare to work without eating — she died.
We can fool ourselves all we want when it comes to where, when, how, what, and why we invest in real estate. We can even appear to defy gravity for periods of time. Sooner or later though, Investment Physics win out. The core, or maybe better said, foundational principles of real estate investment are defined as such for a reason. As has gravity. Being a contrarian as I am much of the time, is one thing. But you’ll notice you’ve never seen me jump off a roof expecting to fall sideways. So sure, we can get a starving horse to work for us — until she dies. Then where are we? Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on July 8, 2009 @ 7:15 pm - Written by BawldGuy
There’s much data to sift through and so many ways to cook that data. Those with an agenda, either political or financial create their own recipes in order to end up with the meal they wish served. I prefer the Old School approach, as long time readers already know. When it comes to analysis OS teaches us to apply the available data and let the analytical chips fall where they may.
BawldGuy Axiom: Analysis with a predetermined conclusion ain’t analysis — it’s fiction. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on July 6, 2009 @ 8:45 pm - Written by BawldGuy
How many times have you wondered how to get started investing in real estate without feeling like you’re in the latest Friday The 13th movie?
After doing this for almost 40 years I’ve seen that look before. Or maybe you’ve kept your first home since Carter was in office, and wonder if you should have done something different than just holding on to it. Read on, because I may have at least some of the answers for you. Before I start ‘answering’, let’s ask some.
- Why should anyone invest in real estate?
- If I’m over fifty, how can it possibly make a difference for my retirement?
- Are you going to tell me I have to use my home equity?
Only two bottom line reasons to invest in real estate Read the rest of this entry »