Toying Around with Real Estate

Yoyos come in two basic styles: there is the “classic” which looks like a simple hamburger turned on it’s edge, and the “butterfly” which resembles a compressed hour glass, turned on it’s side.. The spinning toy may be clear like glass or made of some richly-colored opaque plastic. Perhaps his new toy is made of a hybrid space-aged metal or it just might whistle when he throws it just right. With a little practice the young lad learns legendary tricks like “the sleeper,” “walk the dog” and “rock the cradle.” But, even though there is a wide variety of flamboyant yoyo’s to choose from they all perform the same humble function - they go up and down.

Close your eyes and imagine such a youngster with a brand new cherry-red, semi-transparent butterfly-style yoyo. In your mind’s eye. notice him at the foot of a trail which leads up a hill towards a fantastic magical pot of gold. Observe him throwing the yoyo up and down. Up and down. Up and down. With that yoyo still in motion, envision our friend heading up that trail toward the awaiting treasure. Now, chart the path of the shiny red toy as it travels up and down the string and progresses up the hill at the same time. Notice that even though the yoyo sometimes goes down, the general trend is always up. That same pattern applies to real estate values in most markets.

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Cluttered Minds

Have you ever known somebody whose life was “broken’? You know the type. They always seem to be riding the drama train. They have problems holding relationships together. They make their work more difficult than it ought to be. Chances are they have weight problems. They worry too much. They might be wrestling with drugs, tobacco or alcohol issues.

Everything is out of control for these poor souls. There are all sorts of unfinished projects in their basement or garage. Their desk is untidy and overrun with dust. Their kitchen sink is full of dishes. They seem to have more stuff than places to put it. They have too much debt from entertaining their minds with unneeded purchases. It is obvious that they got off track somewhere along the way. They are overwhelmed.

I would imagine that psychologists make a fortune analyzing people like this but some times our problems come down to something as simple as we don’t know how to get organized. When the mountain is so large, we just don’t know what to do first. When we examine the sea of confusion that is our lives, we don’t know how or where to find an island of sanity. We need somebody to help us remove the clutter from our minds and lives. This is the case for the person suffering from a cluttered mind, and it is true for people who are struggling with financial drama. A person might have money woes because she is suddenly single due to a death or divorce. Someone else might have lost his job. Somebody else may have lost her home in foreclosure. Another person may have fallen ill or come across a personal tragedy of some sort. And very frequently men and women just never learned how to manage their money properly in the first place.

Obviously, I cannot fix divorces or make an employer give somebody a job, but I do know a bit about money management. My book, Stop Flushing Your Money Down the Drain, is devoted to shedding light on how we get into financial trouble and how we can get out.

Most people don’t have to get big pay raises or deny themselves basic pleasures. All they need to do is find out how they waste money, frequently in ways they do not even realize, and then redirect that wasted money into more productive endeavors.
For instance, do you know the difference between collision and liability insurance for your car? Which do you have? Why? What is the deductible? Why? Most people do not really understand their auto insurance policy and are most likely Flushing money down the drain that they could use more wisely.

Did you know many people pay for mortgage insurance on their home that they do not need and do not have to pay?

Somebody else may have been turned down for a new job just because his or her credit score was not very good. But nobody told them that new employers often look at credit reports and they didn’t even know there was some false and negative information on it. If they would only correct the false information, they will have a better chance at landing that next job. Failing to land a job is certainly Flushing money down the drain and you can fix that.

This is the kind of information we discuss in my book. If you would like a sneak peek, just let me know and I will be happy to share it with you.

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