Would you fail anway?

I have been juggling a thought in my head for several months now and I finally have a good way to express it. The thoughts have been circling around the idea of failure and how many people make excuses for failure. My wife and I attended a formal dinner on Friday night, the guest speaker talked about how most of the businesses that are failing, aren't failing because of the recession. Businesses fail in up and down economies. These businesses would have failed either way, even though the recession may have accelerated the issue. The biggest excuse people are making right now for failure is the state of the economy. Many people I talk to say something to the effect of, "I would be doing great if the economy were not so bad," or "this economy is so bad, it is killing me." Are these reasons why these businesses are failing? or are they excuses? I am not writing this blog to be judge, jury, and executioner. I am sharing this point of view to help people shake off the dust and get out there to explore opportunities. There are hundreds of ways to make money in this country, as I have stated before. Why not get out there and explore them? This is why I make it a habit to surround myself with people that have a positive outlook on life as we all have our problems.

I have the pleasure of working with several people that see this economy as a blessing in disguise as well. These are the people that see the silver lining in the sky and are trying to make the most of the opportunity. If you find yourself surrounded by the "Eeyore's" of the world, it's time to get a new set of friends! Don't spend your time thinking of what could have been, spend energy working towards producing results.

Uncontrolled Spending

Can a government declare bankruptcy?

We are in a period of uncontrolled spending that seems to have no end. The current government seems to think that the way to get out of our current hole is to keep digging. Let me ask a question, when has this ever made sense. When you want to get out of a hole, you don't continue digging, you stop!

What we need is good, old fashioned, hard work at this juncture in our history. As was once said by a very great leader, "The only thing we need to fear is fear itself," which is absolutely true, but we are riding fear headlong into our current recession. We have several situations arising due to the fear of our nation's members, some are good for the state of things, ie better savings habits, and some are terrible, ie pulling investments out of solid markets thinking it will be better elsewhere.

I have recently had the opportunity to give a speech to our state Apartment Association. During the speech I was surprised at how few questions there were regarding how people could take advantage of the current market conditions regarding real estate. I admit that I was a bit disappointed in my own performance, not for the information provided, but from the presentation of that information. This was not as disappointing, however, as the lack of excitement in the opportunities of our current market. Baron Rothchild once said, "Buy when there is blood in the streets, even if the blood is your own." He was basically saying that you should be looking at opportunities, especially when most of the populous is running from those opportunities. Although I am glad that some people are overlooking the opportunities, I am amazed at how few there are taking advantage of them.

What do you need to know to get educated on historical real estate markets? I spent eight hours researching this current situation and have a presentation that I would be happy to share with anyone who requests it via email.

Hope you are able to take advantage of market conditions by buying a home, investing in real estate, or even expanding your knowledge at minimum!

State of the Economy? or should I say the Media?

We all know that the economy is in a recessionary state. We also should know that this is a cyclical nature that happens quite often in our economy and in any free market aka capitalistic environment. What we may not realize, however, is how much the media controls our thoughts and minds on the matter. We are in a recession yes, but do we have to choose to be doom and gloom about it? Is this not still the land of opportunity? Isn't every other nation in the world having similar struggles? Why can't get past the fact that we are in a recession and work our way through it. Why do we have to be constantly reminded about the 'hard times' and 'struggling economy.'

My thought is this, why not use this opportunity to get ahead. People have free time, start a business! Need extra income, start doing something about it. I found a way to make forty dollars yesterday without having any money. Just by working through a simple formula of paint cans and a stencil, I could have easily made much more than that, but wanted an example of a simple thing someone could do to make money with literally no overhead. You find a person who wants numbers painted on the curb, get them to pay ahead, go buy the supplies, and follow up with neighbors who may be willing to pay 15 to 20 bucks to have it done. This is just one of thousands of business ideas that are potentially out there to those industrious enough to move forward.

Real Estate is the same. I hear people tell me all the time, I would love to invest if I had the money. That seems to be the most common excuse anyone has these days. I met with someone today who doesn't have any money, but we discussed three different things he could do to start investing today!

You don't need money, there is money to be found, what you need are goals and desires to exit the hole you are in and move forward! Let's quit listening to the media and go make a difference.

Bloggin in the New Year with thoughts on Real Estate

I have to say that I have had fun this year with my new real estate business and the many accomplishments that I have made. I am looking forward to an even better 2009 as I will be graduating my MBA program and have several real estate ideas to implement in this new year.

One thing that has been bugging me is the number of people that are being taken advantage of in this down real estate market. I am seeing several people make promises to people in foreclosure that are not realistic and that will actually hurt the client in the long run. I am trying to think of a way I can get word out to the masses about how to avoid foreclosure or at least get out of the situation in the best method possible. There are tons of options open to people to try before entering foreclosure, but many people don't know what they are and rely on idiots who just want to try and bleed them of any money they can.

Real Estate is truly fun for me and I enjoy helping people achieve their goals, whatever they may be. I cannot say that I am going to be able to help everyone in the World obviously, but if you know anyone in Northern Utah who needs help with a real estate problem, an investment, or any other real estate need/question, I will likely be able to help them quite a bit.

How do you get the word out to the masses? I want everyone in Utah to know that there are honest real estate professionals that actually know how to help them, if anyone has alternative ideas I am all ears.

Anyway, to the few that may read this, please have a great New Year Celebration tonight and look for increased bloggage this new year as I will be looking to post at least weekly if not more as I am starting to enjoy writing much more and am actually seeing some traffic to the blog!

Thanks again for reading

Geoff Dearing
www.ReturnRealEstate.com

The Bailout? Who is really being bailed out and will it actually help?

I have been doing some reading and thinking about this bailout that keeps getting resurrected and I am wondering how it will actually effect things in the economy overall. I feel like things were starting to pan out and finally were reaching some stability, when they through this huge wrench into the wheels. This country is founded upon democracy, capitalism, and freedom. I don't agree with the government coming to the rescue every time a failed business needs a boost, that is part of the system working itself out.

I have seen some positive things come out of this situation. For one, We are seeing continued low interest rates in the housing market. I am contemplating building a home right now because the builder is offering a brand new 3600 foot house, with almost a half acre lot, for 290k. (If you want more information, there are several available, just send me an email) It is in a great area of West Jordan and is ideal for what we have been looking for. If you have a chance to consider buying a house I would look at it now. We are likely to see interest rates rising in the next few months as the election hits and the market goes cold for the Winter.

I am always up to discuss real estate and finance issues, two heads are better than one as they say. Getting the perspective of others is always very enlightening to my own paradigm. Please contact me if you have anything you would like to discuss.

Cheers,

Waiting to buy? Now is the time to get off the fence.

The rates on mortgages are rising, homes are staying on the market longer, so many people are deciding to keep rather than sell. If you are on the fence with you real estate decision, then you should act now. Whether you are living in an apartment and your lease is up soon, or you just want to move out of the current situation, now is the time to act. I would be happy to help anyone try to find a place in Utah by visiting www.utahsrealestatesource.com otherwise I would certainly make the effort to buy wherever you are at.

What are some things that you are wondering about the market? I think that the market is at the bottom or near it.

We need to get you off the decision to watch and wait:

Now is time to move or get off the pot.

Geoff Dearing
gwdearing@yahoo.com

Investing for the long term

I often get asked questions like: where do I start? or how do I make the right investment? Although these are good questions, they are difficult questions to answer without spending a large amount of time working with the individual in assessing the individuals goals and desires.

That is why I am creating a curriculum for my clients that will not only assist them whenever they are looking to buy or sell a home, but will also help them to know what type of real estate investment will work for them in their long term goals. I am giving a presentation at the West Jordan Library on March 19th that will demonstrate part of this curriculum. I invite anyone who wants to learn more to attend from 630PM until about 9PM. If you have any questions I would be happy to talk to you as well. In the meantime please visit www.returnrealestate.com to research property, get information on neighborhoods, and communicate with me.

Thanks and have a great week!

Geoff W. Dearing