Real Estate Investment Seminars — A Two Way Learning Experience
Posted @ 10:18 pm - Filed under seminar, Real Estate Markets, Communication, Palo Alto
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…
Just don’t let him drive you anywhere.
This entry was posted on Monday, March 3rd, 2008 at 10:18 pm and is filed under seminar, Real Estate Markets, Communication, Palo Alto. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.