I have heard my entire life that people buy based on the price. I thoroughly disagree with that statement 100%. People buy on emotion. We are not salespeople. We develop relationships. If we want someone to buy from us or use our service it is not going to be based on the cost, but the service. Sales is all about service and emotion. If you create an exciting arena for your buyer or client they will react to it as you deliver. People buy on emotion so there has to be a level of excitement there. They have to respect you. They have to find some logic and reason to help them justify their purchase. Most of all they have to like you. If they dont like you they are not going to buy your product or use your service. If any of these elements are missing I can guarantee they will go to the nex... 04/09/2008

I think we all have a daily routine that we follow. Sometimes it can get us in a rut where we dont want to do anything. You already know what you are going to do at the time you are going to be doing it. Leave the humdrum routine for the birds and just do something totally different. If you are used to getting up at 7:00a.m. get up at 6:00a.m. You will be amazed not only the extra energy you will have but how much more you will accomplish that day than if you would have gotten up at 7:00a.m. If you are accustomed to going to bed at 11:00p.m. go to bed at 10:00p.m. Try starting your day with a change in your sleeping patterns. Dont waste precious time and read the newspaper or watch the news on television. All you are going to see is negativity. If you listen to them who would want to go... 04/09/2008

We deal with people on an every day basis. Nearly everyone who comes into our doors are complaining that they live paycheck to paycheck. My Dad always told me that its not what you make its what you keep. Many people think driving a fancy car is necessary for their status. A vehicle is a status symbol. If we make 100,000 per year but our bills and spending is 105,000 we really are just treading water. If we are not living within our means maybe they should do what I did with my family when my kids were small. I saved absolutely every receipt that was spent no matter what it was for. Sodas, chips, candy, going out to eat, gasoline, groceries. At the end of the month when they saw the total they were amazed and wanted to check my calculations. Try it for one month and then try if for one ... 04/09/2008

I have heard associates and friends in my past say that they are afraid of change. My parents were afraid of change. People get into the same mudane routine of everyday life. People dont like to change insurance companies, investment companies, car insurance companies, professions, where they reside. The list goes on and on and on. Without change our world never would have made it as far as it has. We are so technologically advanced than many countries. People are old fashioned. There are still some of us out there that dont even know how to email, let alone use a computer. Change is important in our personal lives just as much as it is in our business lives. If everything was exactly the same every single day, it would be so boring. Dont have a fear of change. If it feels right, go wit... 03/26/2008

In our business and our personal life it is very important that we always trust our gut feeling on everthing. Some examples would be hiring someone. If they meet all of the qualifications that you are needing but something just doesnt feel right, smell right, or look right, say no. If you are looking at a property for the possibility of rehabbing, flipping, renting, etc if your gut tells you no, dont do it. If you are applying with a firm and you get that ugly feeling, go with it. Dont accept the position. The main point is that a person needs to use sound judgement when evaluating a decision. Look at all the pros and cons and weigh them out. A simple wrong decision could cost you in more ways than one. So, always go with your gut feeling. Instinct is your best mentor. Thanks, Keith 03/26/2008

" The Optimist Club of Merced" is a local organization that my brother is President of and I serve as Vice President. My brother has been involved with the organization for about fifteen years now. We help families with children with cancer and any other special need a family might have. We have a creed at the end of every meeting that everyone says. I am quoting it below. It is very relevant to our business in Real Estate and our attitudes.                                                                    "The Optimist"                                                         PROMISE YOURSELFTO BE SO STRONG THAT NOTHING CAN DISTURB YOUR PIECE OF MIND.TO TALK HEALTH, HAPPINESS, AND PROSPERITY TO EVERYONE YOU MEET.TO MAKE ALL YOUR FRIENDS FEEL THAT THERE IS SOMETHING IN THEM.TO LOOK AT T... 03/26/2008

There are too many times to mention when I have been asked by friends how I stay in Real Estate and Commodities. They say with the cost of fuel and groceries there could not be a possible way that people can afford to purchase homes and such. I have explained more than once that there are many ways to save a buck. Do I always practice what I preach? To be perfectly honest with you for the most part I dont. If I did, based on the next few ideas, I would be in much stronger financial shape. Save these ideas and see if you can add some ideas and lets all share some of these. When you do it, add daily, monthly and yearly. Keep receipts for absolutely everything that you spend money on from necessities to non necessities. You will be amazed at how much money you spent and what you spent it o... 03/24/2008

I will begin this article referencing a personal friend of mine. I will not use his name to save his privacy. Lets call him Bob. He has been working for me for almost 10 years. As I said we are also good friends. A couple of years ago he decided he wanted to buy a car. They told him the first thing that they had to do was run his credit. He said fine. After the finance manager walked out he said that was the first time he had ever had his credit report done. After laughing hysterically for about two minutes I looked up to my surprise he was not laughing. I said you cant be serious. You are 45 years old and have never established a credit rating. He began to explain to me that everything he has ever purchased, he has paid cash for. I had no idea. He lived in a modest home. His furnishing... 03/24/2008

Here are some steps that we have learned through a lot of experience in buying and selling Real Estate.This is the short form. There are many other considerations to think about and inspect before you purchase a property. I recommend using a professional Home Inspector until you feel you have the hang of it. If you are one that likes to be very efficient, it wouldn't be a bad idea to use a professional Home Inspector on all of your purchases, whether they be for personal or investment purposes. Thanks, Keith I hope you will find this useful. Thanks, Keith  Exterior:   Mold and MildewRoofTermitesDry RotFoundationMortarGarageLandscapingFront and Back yardsPaint InteriorAppliancesFixturesWindows and Screens PlumbingAir ConditioningHeating SystemCabinets and DrawersBathroomsElectricalCounte... 03/20/2008

I personally believe that successful real estate investing is literally impossible without the aid of a good Real Estate Agent on your side. You need to make sure this person is known in the community. Have you seen their faces on signs all over town? Do you see ads with their name on it in newspapers, local magazines etc? Having a good Real Estate Agent could be one of your strongest ingredients to your gameplan. Feel comfortable with that person. Do they take your considerations and opinions? Do they take adequate time with you? We have some fantastic Real Estate Agents that we work with here in Merced, Ca. They are personable, patient, and are always there for us when we need them.  Be sure they know what you are looking for. Make sure they are familiar with the area that you are int... 03/20/2008

When we think of "Real Estate Investing," what is the first thing that comes to mind? Flipping houses, right. Buy low, fix up and sell high or rent the property out for awhile and then sell. In my opinion a Real Estate Investor is someone who has the courage to go out on a continual basis and make offers on properties that are just sitting out there calling your name. My niece went to an auction this past Saturday and purchased a 5 Bedroom 2 1/2 Bath home in a great neighborhood. She paid $1,000.00. Yes, I said One Thousand Dollars. I takes courage to make offers on properties. It takes courage to go out every single day and hit the streets. The question that you have to ask is "How bad do I want it?"Think outside of the box. Set goals for yourself. What do you want to accomplish today,... 03/20/2008

There are many people out there who think home ownership is just completely out of the question. You might have thought about renting or leasing with an option to buy. Under normal conditions your landlord will take an agreed amount from the rent that you pay each month and hold that money in an account for you. If the lease is for 1 year, then at the end of that year you have the opportuntity to use the extra rent that you have paid as a down payment toward the purchase of your home. Please, for the sake of everyone, make sure everything is fully disclosed and is detailed in the contract so all parties know their rights. It is a great program when your client lives paycheck to paycheck. I mean lets face it, they have to pay rent anyway. There are many landlords that would have no probl... 03/20/2008

Telemarketing is a word that makes many people cringe. They are normally regarded as those irritating people that call you during dinner time for the purpose of selling you something. Let me tell you what our experience has been with telemarketing. We obtain leads that are in adjustables that are about to go up. We call them and offer them a free in office consultation on their current mortgage. We don't ask them any personal questions over the phone. We just ask them to come into the office for a no cost mortgage analysis. If we can save them money, thats great. If they are in a loan that they are comfortable with, that's ok too. We just want them to understand their options. They are normally very responsive. If we can't help them, it has also been a great source for referrals. We ask... 03/19/2008

I think we all can benefit from something very simple that I use every day. It only takes a very few minutes but trust me you will notice the difference by the end of the day, if not sooner. Every morning after I get my coffee, the very first thing that I like to do is to get out a To Do List. It is formulated by priority. On the paper I put Business on the left and Personal on the right. On the list I put everything that I need to accomplish that particlar day. As I accomplish one task, I mark it off whether it be business or personal. I hold myself accountable to this list daily. I do my utmost to accomplish everything on the list before the close of business. If  staying late to finish is just simply out of the question. I put tomorrows date on a fresh piece of paper and that will be... 03/18/2008

I would like to address attitude for a moment. I hear a lot of negatives every day in our business. It is absolutely vital to wake up every morning with the attitude that today is going to be better than yesterday. We cannot call downfalls failures. Some people call different setbacks as failures. I have always held fast to the term hiccup. Yes, hiccup. When you are having a great meal, if you are human there may be times that you get the hiccups. Does it ruin your whole meal or do they eventually subside or go away? They go away. Just like in our business, there are hiccups in the business, but does this mean we stop for the day? No we go directly back to work. We spend too much energy on the negatives. If we all spend half of the energy we spend on negatives on positives, our entire l... 03/18/2008

I always preach in my blogs to never read the paper or never read the newspaper or you wont want to even go to work. I still stand by my comments. However there is one reason to look at the paper and the news. Look for REO's. We specialize in matching up buyers and sellers in large to small purchases and business is good. I always hear all the negatives about the market. One thing I learned from my Mother and my wife is if its on sale buy it up! Buy as much as your pantry will hold. That is my advice on the current market situation. It will still be my attitude in a few hours when the feds cut the rates again. Just go to work!  03/18/2008

Here are some simple things to do to improve your credit score:•1)    Pay your bills on time: Paying your bills for just six months can increase your credit score even with a bad credit rating. A history of late payments negatively impacts your credit rating and will result in paying more to make purchases over time. Late payments that occurred five years ago carry much less weight than missing a payment two months ago. Lenders start to forgive your past mistakes after you have demonstrated about a three year history of paying your bills on time. The sooner that you show all of the creditors that you are a good risk, the sooner you will establish an excellent credit rating and the higher will be your credit score. One of the biggest mistakes consumers make is not mailing their payments ... 03/13/2008

One of the very best ways to avoid identity theft is to purchase a good quality shredding criss cross cutter. I have heard that if you just use the single shredder certain, knowledgeable people can paste items back together and utilize them and steal your identity. Basically everything that has any personal information whatsoever should be shredded. People have been known to rummage through garbage cans at businesses and residences. Always shred items that have account numbers, social security numbers, credit card numbers, drivers license numbers, employee numbers, debit cards. Whatever you do not want to shred such as bank statements, cancelled checks etc, make sure it is in a locked safe or filing cabinet. In this day and age, one can never be too careful!  03/13/2008

Whether we are loan officers, realtors, or otherwise sales, should not be our title. When someone asks me what I do for a living, I always tell them I build relationships. The business always comes through building relationships. This philosophy works just as well in our personal lives. Life is too short to constantly trying to sell sell sell. Build relationships and you will never worry about having business or friends....  03/13/2008

We have discovered some free conference call lines that are absolutely free. On each call you can have up to 90 callers. We have had one and it has never failed. We have used it for over a year and never received a bill. Surf the net they are out there easily found.. 03/13/2008