All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

Originally posted by Tim Wieneke:

I think that the forum participants could certainly create a standardized means of evaluating a property management company using IREM's standards.

http://www.irem.org/

That would be awesome! Like a BP "consumer reviews" section of property management companies, that uses a standardized means of evaluation. Perhaps weighted polling functionality as a way rank various aspects of the service being received.

You know what I'd love to see, a forum section dedicated to nothing but community reviews of property management companies. Just like there is a Guru reviews forum, a place where we can get an unbiased perspective on the quality of property management companies across the country.

For example, in this thread the poster warns us against two property management companies:

http://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/12/topics/26112-need-help-with-my-real-estate-investments-should-i-sell-or-keep-?highlight=

Information like this is gold for the out of state investor.

My view on Credit Repair is mixed.
There are a some quality tips. No question there:

Pay your bills on time. Keep your oldest credit card open. Don't get more than five revolving/CCD lines of credit (Thanks Alina, I always thought 3). Keep the balances low but the cards active. And a few others I am probably unaware of.

Those basic tips will help anyone that already has the right psychology in place.

However, for the general subprime public, It seems more to me like the credit is not
what needs the repairing. This is a hybrid of psychological and cultural issues. A psychological shift will be required. Unless there is a shrink on staff - or someone teaching these people new ways to fill the void - I don't see the value add in this context.

As far as the obligatory underwater sub primer that used his or her equity to buy boats and such, all while blaming the banks for "doing this to them". I see no value add.

I also think the repair will last a lot longer if the general subprime borrower has to spend quite a few years getting back to good status. I speculate he or she will be more vigilant about maintaining credit due to working so long and hard to repair his or her credit damage: Versus simply getting a quick fix from a credit repair company (if there even is such a thing as a quick fix)

I am not referring to the minority credit repair case; divorce, identity theft victims, etc... Those people deserve fast repair, and will benefit from it. In this context, If a credit repair company can facilitate the repair and make it happen quickly then I am all for it. I see the value add here.

Interesting topic. Over the last few months I've been reading - and watching youtube clips - a bit too much on this sort of thing. The movie zeitgeist covered the Amero. It was also melodramatic. According to zeitgeist the Amero is more than under way, it was completed deal in 2005. Though obviously we don't see any Ameros floating around yet. That movie and the book, The Creature from Jekyll Island (a book about the conception of the fed) had me feeling a bit too cynical for my taste - I'd rather remain an optimist and hire cynics down the road to research this stuff for me :)

It is interesting stuff. I came across Creature as recommended by Robert Kiyosaki: One of many books he suggests for raising financial IQ. The takeaway from that book is that the US is destined to fall unless the Fed Reserve is dismantled. The fall of the US will profit the fed cartel/money trust. That the ultimate goal is a world government/world currency, with a central banking system set up exactly as our fed. Thereby, enslaving the world populace by charging interest on borrowed money created out of nothing - the ultimate act of usary. Whether or not it's true, who knows, but a thrilling read and I feel I better understand fiat currency.

Originally posted by Tim Wieneke:

Decided to fly out to Cali for a weekend and we met up for some lunch. It was good times.

Gotta update my passport for international....

Definitely good times. I predict more in 2009. I need to get my passport dialed in as well.

Donation Accomplished.
Josh, thanks for a great site with great moderators and a great community.

I am glad BP has become habitual for me.

Nice Josh!
Great job. Great site!

Originally posted by Jon Holdman:

Use a Realtor to get comps. Use public records, use a title company. I want all of that, and all easily accessible in a zillow style mashup.

I think the mashup would be sweet as well. And as a web/software developer I'd love to build it. I think what may be missing from public records, title companies and such are APIs developers can utilize to build the mash up. If those APIs were available to feed developers that data through a secured web service, and any legal issues were already ironed out, I assume zillow, cyberhomes, etc... would already have that built in. I am sure it will be on the way soon. It's probably in the works by now somewhere. I doubt it will be free like the listings in zillow/cyberhomes. If the APIs are there let's build it!

I think the ultimate stickiness site is youtube.
Maybe videos. Perhaps tapings of speakers at REIC meetings. Oh better; secret mic audio and video of real life negotiations :)

Search meetup.com, yahoo groups, facebook, myspace, craigslist, etc... for Cashflow groups in your neighborhood and play there. Usually a group will meet weekly, or monthly somewhere, and someone will have the game. You do not need to purchase the game to play regularly. I discovered that after I bought mine :)

The game can't hurt your education. I know people out of the real life "Rat Race" that still play Cashflow.