Things are getting expensive. I was thinking, I just paid $9,000 for 1 set of kitchen cabinets/counters and one bathroom set of cabinets and counters. This would have cost me closer to $6,000 just 4 years ago, less than $4,000 10 years ago. There are three possible reasons for this: 1. US Dollar is worth less 2. Trade War/Tariffs are making manufactured imports more expensive 3. Labor is more expensive I wonder how this will extrapolate out. In theory, when times are tough the US dollar goes up, it and gold are the "last man standing" in a downturn, anything denominated in dollars will do better. Source: Bullionstar.com Essentially, non-US friendly countries have been moving their reserves of gold up recently. Personally, I believe it is possible that we are seeing a country such as China making a move against the US dollar for world reserve currency status. This is based on the fact that the 1944 Bretton Woods Agreement which established th...

I want to speak briefly to the masses today. Normally our audience is the Buyer and Seller, and yet it is easy enough for anyone to become both. It could even happen that you are a Buyer, Seller, and Investor at the same time! How can this be? Me, a normal person can be a Investor? Yes. Even more than that, as soon as you start your journey you start doing something greater than yourself, building generational wealth. Let's start at the very beginning, a very good place to start. This beginning looks like a house purchase. That would be because it is a house purchase. Assuming you are buying this house to rent out, you are now a Landlord and Investor. The first house is going to be the scariest, it gets easier from there. Let's assume you have rented out the house for a couple of years and you are looking to upgrade from a Single Family Residence to a Duplex. You would sell your Single Family Residence and 1031 the proceeds of the sale into the purchase of the duplex. Yo...

The stay at home initiative, or quarantine, began on 3/20/20. At that time we only had one active lease, we are going to call that: Rental A. We gather leads during the week and send out a showing text on Friday, for a showing - Open House Style - on Saturday (Sundays as needed). As you can guess, or lived with us, everything was sluggish as no one knew what to make of our hopefully temporary circumstances Week 1 of Quarantine: 3/28/30 Rental A - 3 Bedroom Townhome Yorba Linda: 7 Inquiries | 0 people attended showing | 0 groups attended showing | 0 Apps Makes sense right? Everyone was told to Stay At Home, not look for home, so they stayed home. Week 2 of Quarantine: 4/4/20 Rental A - 3 Bedroom Townhome Yorba Linda: 4 Inquires | 0 people attended showing | 0 groups attended showing | 0 Apps Less inquiries and similar attendance. But the show must go on right, so we kept at it. To make things even more interesting, Rental B and Rental C went live on the market between W...

In this modern day and age, companies like Yelp have made a business out of Reviews. As a consumer, reviews are often used to feel out a company you are considering using and are looking to do some research on. As a business, we love good reviews. But to have such a thing as a good review, means we have to have such a thing as a bad review. No one likes bad reviews, except the person who put it there as a tool of negativity for (usually) self gain. If you have been in business for 10+ years, and your business is a sensitive one-as if you provide people a place to live-you are bound to have some reviews. Home is where the heart is, many people say and the heart is the source of emotion. We ourselves have more people that like us than don't like us-but they don't often leave reviews. If you called and spoke to them though, they would be happy to tell you about what it was like to be a tenant with us. But where there is good, there can also be bad. Not many people know ...

Greetings, Today I would like to do a continuation of observations I had about our Coronavirus lives: - Cash is Trash . The Fed has decided to monetize not only government debt, but had a "special purpose vehicle", or "SPV" to purchase corporate debt. The reason they had to do this is because their charter does not allow them to purchase these types of (risky) assets, the SPV is housed at the Treasury, meaning with the executive branch. - This is sinister as it bypasses the need for the executive branch to ask Congress to loosen the purse-strings, Mnuchin, and by extension, Trump, can buy what he wants at will.  - Debasing the currency means that you should consider hard assets, either gold ($GLD, $IAU) or real estate. I have closed, or will close (removed contingencies) on 4 properties since this started, two of which are units. - Seriously, in case you missed it, go buy gold and real estate , when you debase a currency, assets denominated in that curre...

Now that we have our priorities in place, and an action plan based on those priorities-time to make the plan a reality. Here is how: 1.       Create your list of action items for the home zones 2.       Organize your project list based on your priorities 3.       Make a realistic, comfortable budget 4.       Determine your time frame and team Now, let’s assume you have completed and you started your journey going green. The journey once started-never really ends. Here is how to continue the journey once your greenovating is completed: 1.       Practice proper maintenance for optimal performance 2.       Keep it clean 3.       Watch for problems 4.       Share the rewards of your green home adventure Sharing is caring-caring about the world and inspiring others to...

We are onto our last zone and almost done with the going green blogs! Here is the Outside Zone. Here are some Sustainability action items for the outside zone: water your lawn more efficiently, create a sustainable landscape, and plant a garden of your own. To water your lawn more efficiently: be water wise, collect your rainwater, and use your rainwater. To create a sustainable landscape: landscape for your climate, choose native plants, and be wildlife friendly. To plant a garden of your own: grow your food with a raised bed garden and compost to create organic fertilizer. Here is a Money Smart action item for the outside zone: Improve your energy efficiency from the outside in. To improve your energy efficiency from the outside in: plant shade trees, add awnings to stay cool, and consider a solar CPV power system. Here are some Healthy action items for the outside zone: Practice safe landscaping technique and bring your home outside. To practice safe landscaping techniques, lim...

Last week we discussed the first zone, this week are discussing the next zone: The Systems. Here are Money Smart action items for the systems zone: Understand how you use energy, pay yourself back with easy energy updates, and tighten the building envelope. To understand how you use energy: take a hard look at your utility bill and establish a baseline with an energy audit. To pay yourself back with easy energy updates: install a digital thermostat and light your way to savings. To tighten the building envelope: seal the gaps, patch your ducts, beef up your insulation and improve your window’s performance. Here are some Energy action items for the systems zone: Maintain your mechanical heating and cooling system and work with nature. To maintain your mechanical system: stay warm and keep cool. To work with nature: take advantage of natural heating techniques and incorporate natural cooling methods. Here is a Healthy action item for the systems zone: Optimize your ventilation syste...