Posted on August 25, 2008 @ 7:07 pm - Written by BawldGuy
Things not always going as planned is par for the course when traveling. As you’ve no doubt surmised, I”ve been without wifi since early Friday morning. I’m writing this as we careen bumpily through the air back to Paradise from Durango via Denver. The thought of turning on the laptop tomorrow morning has me feeling like I used to sometimes when I had to run 15-20 miles while training for marathons. I knew I had to do it, but, well…
The email is gonna be daunting, as Josh, the Brown coming right after the ‘and’ in Brown and Brown, also wasn’t able to access email. Even with slivers of time appearing in our schedule, we either were away from our ‘puters or with someone. Life in the left lane — seminars in Durango. Sweeeeet.
Speaking of seminars. The best question of the day? “What’s yer take on cash reserves?” Thanks fer teeing it up, Big Guy. Gotta love those Sominex Accounts. Old Skool all the way.
So, Durango.
San Diego is still Paradise. But it has nothing, nada, zilch on the infinite gorgeous views offered by Durango. Whether is was by glancing down Main Street downtown, or any of the various places we found ourselves, the views were incredible. Mountains, rivers, streams, farms and ranches with cattle, horses, and whatever else we saw lookin’ back at us. Durango is much like San Diego in some ways. Real estate in Durango was, like San Diego, very high priced. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on August 22, 2008 @ 7:27 am - Written by BawldGuy
Looked at the weather report for Durango. 88˚ sunny today, the same tomorrow and and Sunday, but with possible thunder storms. For a San Diegan that’s gonna be fun. We’re there to speak to a couple groups of local investors. They’ve had the same experience real estate investors all over the country have had. Their real estate folks got them decent investments for the most part, but don’t really have an answer for their questions now.
‘Course the most important answer is to the question — What should we be doing now? Anything? Nothing? What?
We’re gonna answer those questions and a whole bunch more is these seminars are anything like every other city we’ve visited. I’m sure Purposeful Planning will come up in the conversation. The questions usually center around their retirement, but then begin to narrow down to how to generate enough income for their retirement.
Gotta cut it short today. I’ll be back once we’ve landed, and there’s some time. Have a good one.
Posted on June 20, 2008 @ 10:36 pm - Written by BawldGuy
Man, the hucksters are out in force. Been gettin’ emails and phone calls from folks wantin’ me to help them retire in the next 2-4 years through ‘fantastic’ cash flow opportunities in such and such a region. What? Huh? First, let’s ask ourselves a few quick questions.
If we at Brown and Brown could get clients to retirement that quickly, don’t ya think we’d of been braggin’ about it before now? Ya think? Do these magic cash flow properties exist? Well, on paper they do. After that? A whole lotta ‘what the heck is goin’ on here’ is what’s after that.
Seriously, didn’t Grandma tell you about the whole ‘If it sounds too good to be true, it’s probably not’ thing? I’ve literally had over half a dozen conversations this month in which I’ve been questioned about why I won’t fess up about these properties with ATM-like qualities. Wow. What new seminar, Invest In Our Magic Property And Retire Next Tuesday did I miss?
Posted on March 3, 2008 @ 10:18 pm - Written by BawldGuy
Palo Alto is as advertised — gorgeous, eclectic, and a paradise in which to live. Where else do four year olds compete in chess tournaments? Or how ’bout the median priced home — only $2.2 Million. And the restaurants? I didn’t see it, but I’d bet there’s one serving Northeastern Kansas City BBQ influenced by Southern Niger Goat Cheese stir fry.
And for the record — Kevin ‘Lost Boy’ Boer rocks. More on him later.
We met some real estate pros who flat know the region and all its nooks and crannies. In fact, we didn’t meet on agent in three seminars who wasn’t impressively knowledgeable and experienced with all that is Palo Alto. I’ve not experienced that in my travels to various other regions. It was refreshing.
On the way back to our hotel after dinner Saturday, Josh asked Kevin about some older, and frankly rather plain looking condos. He also wanted to know about the houses around the curve. Both were ‘across the street’ from the freeway — not one of yer best locations.
Seems these plain vanilla condos went for around the mid-600’s while the homes, vanilla at best and not large by anyone’s estimate were valued in the low-800’s. Apparently we were slumming, Palo Alto style and were unaware.
If Kevin had to use his car to find his own butt, he wouldn’t be able to even if he had a GPS and a guide. Talk about wrong turns? Seriously, Josh and I think he believes wrong turns are good luck. When he picked us up at the airport to take us to our hotel, we made three wrong turns and could still see the planes taking off. All this while he’s holding the GPS! And he lives there.
You’ll have to ask Kevin about the day he got his driver’s license in Niger, as it’s a classic. The epilogue is the best part. We should all prod him to post on it. Being a preacher’s kid can make life, uh, more cumbersome at times. I totally empathized with him on that score. Been there, done that.
As you’ve seen here, deep after tax cash flow analysis is often required when deciding if a particular project is up to snuff or not. Excel is used in concert with my trusty hp 12C. I muddle along with the application, but get the job done right. Kevin has Excel in his DNA. Lord Almighty! During the seminar I’d look over after I’d said something about depreciation, or a factor in income & expenses and his fingers would begin flying over the laptop’s keyboard. In seconds, no exaggeration, seconds — the projector’s screen would show an example of what I’d just alluded to — from a blank sheet dead start.
Holy Spreadsheet, Batman. Scary, very scary. Also massively impressive.
The question and answer periods for all three seminars lasted from 1-2 hours. The questions were pretty incisive and challenging, always a good sign. We’ll be returning to Palo Alto soon.
Thanks from the heart to you Kevin. You took expert care of us and were fast on your feet when thinking on the run mattered. Upon leaving Palo Alto we felt we’d made a new friend. Regardless of Murphy camping at your door, the weekend was a fabulous success, almost entirely due to your efforts. The quality of the agents you brought to us was magnificent, which says much about your standards as well.
If you’re ever in the Bay area anywhere near Palo Alto — give Kevin a buzz. You won’t be sorry. There is one caveat…
Posted on February 29, 2008 @ 9:17 am - Written by BawldGuy
Today’s Agenda — Ain’t doin’ nothin’ if it ain’t fun.
Lost two low profile tires in less than two seconds the other day. Felt like I ran over an invisible dead cow for Heaven’s sake. Seems a camouflaged pothole at 50 mph isn’t recommended for low profile tires. Go figure. The crunch was so hard my electronic door locks unlocked. Stop laughing, it’s not funny. Well, maybe a little bit.
Even when I’m not havin’ fun today, I won’t be workin’, or at least what I’d call workin’.
Enjoy your Friday, and as you listen to the video — think of me meeting new folks tonight sharing food, drink, and a great time — all disguised as work. Life is good.
Now turn up your speakers and close the door — Todd Rundgren can get a little crazy — why don’t you get a little crazy with him? Have a great weekend — I’m seminar bound.
Posted on January 26, 2008 @ 12:13 am - Written by BawldGuy
Though there are some great post subjects doing repeated three cushion banks off the inside of my noggin, I’m too pooped to do them justice. That said, I can do plenty of justice to short thoughts.
Had our normal post-workout lunch at Casa de Pico de BawldGuy Friday. Carne Asada tacos to the rescue. Gotta take Chris to this place when he’s in San Diego. It’ll ruin KC for him on the Mexican food front, but he’ll deal with it. Normally Josh and I do this alone. We talk about real estate and sports mostly. I convey a thought on a current sports subject, and he tells me how full of it I am. ‘Course now he’s not sayin’ much any more about Eli, since he’s now a Super Bowl quarterback. Eat yer heart out, Peyton.
Sam joined us today at my invitation. He’s a local broker here. He runs is own company and his business model, in my opinion is not only rare (unique?), but effective. Since this blog isn’t about business models I’ll leave it at that, but it was interesting. I think he’s on to something. A very bright guy. Turns out we went to high school in L.A. a few miles and a couple decades apart. You may be hearing more about Sam as time passes.
He likes investing in San Diego — yeah, still. Different strokes and all that. Using his numbers it was self evident over a five year period that $100,000 would likely be worth a quarter million bucks more out of San Diego than if it stayed in town. Like I said, two schools. His model will work if SD explodes some time in the next 4-6 years. Pretty sure I’m not up for a gamble of that magnitude — especially as it calls for so long a time for it to come to fruition.
Buying investment property? Get yer loan yesterday around 4:30 cuz this drop is temporary. It’s probably not gonna zoom up, but it won’t stay where it is. At least that’s what my mortgage guy is telling me. He was so pooped Friday, when we talked at the end of the day he said, ‘No time for small talk, as I’ve been going since 7 this morning, and there’s nothing left in the tank.’ (paraphrased) I’ve felt that way since late Friday morning myself Big Guy.
Posted on January 21, 2008 @ 10:28 pm - Written by BawldGuy
Let’s get the whole What’s a BBQ thing out of the way first. A while back I committed the almost unforgivable sin of calling meat cooked on a patio BBQ grille, actual real life BBQ. I’m here to say I’ve been appropriately rehabilitated in the very heart of BBQ Mecca — Kansas City.
Here’s visually empirical evidence of my hands on rehabbing, supervised by BBQ expert Chris Lengquist himself.
The People
Down to earth, possessing loads of common sense, and just plain nice. The level of sophistication when it comes to investing was typical of those in San Diego. In other words, just like Grandma said, people are people wherever you go. In Kansas, trust me on this, they’re nicer, a little more practical, and in January? Way colder. Are you kiddin’ me!? 5˚ plus the breezes. Meanwhile Josh and I are in jeans, a few layers of shirts, and leather coats.
Give you five seconds to pick out the guys from San Diego.
The Area
The entire time we were there was as if we’d been inserted into a Hallmark card. Snow, fields, trees everywhere, many with ponds, and views that were worthy of framing. Driving down a road Chris says, “On yer left is Missouri, and on yer right is Kansas.” Oh.
Turns out those two states aren’t what you’d term friendly with each other. Man, that’s not even scratching the surface. It goes back to civil war days, even before that. It’s serious stuff. They tax each other based upon origin. No, really, they do. You can’t make that up.
Sports
Basketball at Kansas University is just short of a religion. I’ve been in Manhattan during October baseball playoffs, Yanks vs Red Sox in a sports bar. Pretty dang exciting, right? It has nothing, nada, zilch on watching KU vs Missouri in a KC sports bar Saturday night. Oh — my — God! Chris was surprised we got a table, as we were only 90 minutes early.
Next
Since today found me on my cell for about a ‘charge and a half’, the post I had written in my head was impossible to get done. I’ll write it tomorrow instead. Thanks for your patience. The seminars were an even better experience than I’d anticipated. The real estate project I viewed was as Chris said — worthy of further serious analysis.
Know this — Chris Lengquist listened when I answered his questions about how to set up the seminars. They were literally flawless in design and execution. The room was perfect, and the people were exactly who should’ve been there. Both seminars took serious time when it came to Q & A. In fact, in the afternoon gathering we finally quit after around 90+ minutes of answering very thoughtful questions — which took time to answer in kind. We had to quit — everyone had to haul buns because the tip-off for the KU basketball game was quickly approaching. I understood totally.
Both groups asked questions honing in on the core of concepts they’d just heard about. They were getting it right — and really keeping me on my toes in the process.
Posted on January 20, 2008 @ 9:20 pm - Written by BawldGuy
I’m beat, but tomorrow I’ll start writing about what Josh and I inspected, experienced, and ate. Boy did we eat.
The real estate was more than interesting, it was enticing.
It was beyond cold.
KC folks rock. We enjoyed the seminars immensely.
Gimme a chance to sleep awhile, grab some morning coffee, and i’ll start coughin’ up what we saw. By the way, look for a picture of me in front of a real live KC BBQ. Turns out real BBQ doesn’t come from a grill on the patio after all.
By the way, if you took my advice and took the Chargers and the points, you cleaned up today. Alas, matching touchdowns with field goals is a losing proposition. The Chargers showed themselves to be one of the toughest group of football players around. They’ve gained my everlasting respect, and that of the league I’m sure.
Gotta love those Sominex Accounts. Old Skool all the way.
During the seminar I’d look over after I’d said something about depreciation, or a factor in income & expenses and his fingers would begin flying over the laptop’s keyboard. In seconds, no exaggeration, seconds — the projector’s screen would show an example of what I’d just alluded to — from a blank sheet dead start.
