Archive for December, 2010
Real Estate Investings Inner Game
THE INNER GAME OF COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE
Every once in a while I get an internal reminder that I am a work in progress. In this instance it was not one of those hit you over the head with an 8 pound sledge hammer reminders that you get when you have been particularly blind to your own faults. It was more of a little A Ha! that had larger implications if uncorrected. And by being aware of this quiet reminder I hope to avoid the previously referenced sledge hammer in the near future!
The subject of my internal wake up call was driving a beautiful new black Mercedes 550S Class sedan and was waiting to make a left hand turn across my lane. The driver was female looked like she had just gotten back from the salon and was politely waiting for me to pass. She did nothing wrong sat there calmly waiting for me to drive by with her flasher on. As I drove by I thought to myself something like: Oh boy there goes another rich twit in her paid for
Whammo.
The guardian of my mind popped into my head waving his mechanical arms like the Robot in an episode of that 1960s television series Lost in Space.
Warning! Warning! Danger Craig Higdon!!!
For those of you too young to know the reference Im sure that you can find an old episode somewhere on cable TV. You wont have to wait too long before ol Mr. Robot shows up to give you a demonstration.
Anyway do you realize what my guardian did for me? He trounced all over a limiting belief and gave me a chance to correct it.
Choosing Our Beliefs
For those of you not familiar with the term limiting belief I first came across it while investigating Neurolinguistic Programming or NLP some years back. NLP is a study of internal and external communication processes and its effect on human behavior.
One of the things that you learn in the course of studying NLP is that in large part our behavior is governed by our beliefs and that our beliefs are what we make them! Think about that for a moment we chose all of our beliefs! Everything that you believe about everything was a choice that you made. You will have to take my word for it for the moment because I could fill volumes on just this aspect of NLP.
Just for fun you might want to examine a belief or two that you have. Start with something simple like: I believe that peanut butter is good for me. Now ask yourself a few questions:
When did I start to believe that? What evidence do I have that makes that true? What evidence do I have that makes that not true? What do I get out of believing that? What would happen if I did not believe that?
There are more questions to ask that would help you to change a belief but hopefully in the course of asking yourself the questions above you came to the realization that you decided to adopt that belief at sometime in the past based upon some rules some evidence or an experience that you had. This has some interesting implications doesnt it?
And what does this have to do with commercial real estate investing commercial loans and construction projects? Quite a bit actually.
One of the questions that I get frequently is: How do I get started or go to the next level in commercial real estate? The overly simple answer to that is: Well first you have to believe that you can!
Limit Those Limiting Beliefs
Let me illustrate this. I have had people who owned multiple 1 to 4 unit properties maybe 20 to 30 units in all ask me how to buy their first apartment building or other piece of commercial real estate. When I get that question I have to chuckle because they already have an apartment building! It is simply broken up into smaller chunks. Granted the mechanics of multifamily real estate are slightly different than for multiunit residential but in this case the questioner is already a commercial real estate or income producing real estate investor. He just hasnt realized it.
He doesnt believe that hes is a commercial real estate investor and has thus artificially limited his options for investing. He does not yet believe that he can invest in other types of real estate.
So let me get back to my story and my little mental guardian. I passed the nice lady in the Mercedes saw her make her turn in the rearview mirror and we both went our merry ways. As I drove away I changed my thoughts about her to: She has done well and I wish her to continue to do well.
Because I have had a little training in NLP I was able to catch myself looping into an old belief about wealth and wealthy people and make the change at the time in my thinking. The experience did serve to remind me that I need to be vigilant in my belief monitoring and that I might want to make a personal inventory of my beliefs concerning wealth in the near future.
And if you dont think that you have some buried beliefs about wealth and being wealthy that are working against you in your real estate investments my friend you are simply kidding yourself. They are all there in the daily newspapers T.V. shows magazines etc. You probably cant go 10 minutes without hearing or seeing something bad about making money or being rich. Have you ever heard the phrase filthy rich? Uh huh. And Ill bet that you know a bunch of others too.
So you need to place a guardian in your mind to sift out those limiting beliefs. This will help you with any selfsabotage you may have encountered in your life. It is not easy without the right tricks but it is very rewarding. So as you develop your commercial real estate investment techniques remember to focus on your inner game to manifest your outer goals.
Note: NLP is slowly being supplanted by a more powerful technology called Hemispherical Integration. You can find out more about it at the web site NLPLA.com.
About the writer: WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR EZINE OR WEB SITE? You can as long as you include this complete statement with it: The Investment Property Insider is published by Craig S. Higdon a veteran commercial mortgage broker. He publishes the weekly ezine and blog www.InvestmentPropertyInsider.com for commercial real estate investors developers and industry professionals. Visit the blog and get this free report: The 7 Biggest Loan Mistakes Real Estate Investors Make And How To Avoid Them.
Real Estate Boom Blows Every One Out Of Way
Real estate sector is one sector in India that has witnessed some outstanding growth in the recent past. Being hailed as the most phenomenal development ever occurred in the Indian history this overall changeover in the real estate has proven to be a landmark. It has directly and immensely contributed to the maturation of India as an economy. Due to this remarkable ontogenesis India is now counted as a developed nation. This transition from developing nation to a developed one has not taken much less time than is usually taken by an economy. This clearly tells every one about the giant leap taken by India.
Many factors can be held responsible for this sudden change on the real estate front. The first and the most important being the problem of accommodating ever increasing population. Yes it is one of the basic reasons that has contributed quite significantly to this fulminant change. India is a country that is home to around 1/6th of the total population present on this blue planet. However despite being the seventh largest country it is now becoming increasingly difficult to support such a huge population which has now crossed the mark of 125 crores in numberswith the same infrastructure. With more jobs pouring in and increasing standard of living people are now not willing to settle down for any thing less than what they desire for. Due to this changed attitude people are now willing to buy piece of lands flats virtually at any price. This is a major reason that has kicked in the prices of real estate property.
Another major factor is the liberal policies of government. In past few years the development seen by Delhi and NCR region is nothing but stunning. This all began after Ghaziabad was declared as the ‘sixth most dynamic city to live in’ a title which no else city in India has. This title found Ghaziabad a place on the World map rare recognition indeed. After that there was no looking back along with Ghaziabad Noida and Gurgoan were the other cities that became hot cakes for almost all the real estate developers situated in various parts of the world. These cities are education job and fun hubs for the young generation. Ghaziabad is home to IMT a highly recognised management institute and also has some 21 multiplexes. Noida and Gurgaon boast of having ample BPOs KPOs ITES and export centres in their region thus making them exceedingly popular among the job aspirants. This development has been all due to the liberalised outlook of the government. Due to these policies past few years have seen a tremendous inflow of eminent names of corporate world into these regions which has catapulted the prices of real estate property to an unbelievable mark. The policies adopted by government that have allowed 100 FDI participation too have played their part in this direction. Other factors such as growth in tourism sector rise in number of nuclear families and most of all real estate are being cited as prominent investment alternatives. All these factors have added to the rise in the prices of the properties.
With prices of property rocketing to an unimaginable level it has now become very difficult for the people residing in country to get the residential place of their choice. Although availing loans too have become very easy but loan products are yet to cement their place in the hearts of Indian people. But even then people today are smart enough to take the cue from others and are preferring to go the loan way. They are not hesitating to take the help of Internet and are not even shying away from the idea of seeking professional help. There are many websites that can provide adequate information about home loan products offered by various authorities. The best part of this is that you can easily indulge in home loan comparison. This feature of home loan comparison helps the prospective buyers to take a sensible decision regarding loans that could suit their budget as well as their requirement.
About the writer: Jolly is a writer for paisawaisa and has a passion for writing.For more to know on real estate property just visit www.paisawaisa.com
Real Estate Auctions – An Effective Way To Sell!
Right now it’s a buyer’s market. Buyers have lots of properties to choose from and sellers are looking for a way to stand out. It’s not a surprise that more sellers are turning to auctions for help.
Yesterday I attended a live auction in St. Louis MO in which 6 properties were auctioned. The auction took place on the front steps of 1 of the properties. About 40 people attended and probably 2025 took part in the bidding. Out of 6 properties 5 of them sold at prices that if listing in the MLS would have sat for weeks and maybe months. Only one didn’t go well receiving only one bid and that property recently caught fire and was a tear down in a rural area but at least it sold. I’ve attended auctions before but in this market it proved to me once again that an auction is definitely the best way to sell quickly and for a decent price.
It’s no surprise that auctions are growing in popularity especially in the market we are in today. There aren’t many other solutions for sellers who need to sell quickly and buyers are drawn to them because of the idea of a big discount.
As the market and technology changes a shift is beginning to take place and we are seeing more real estate auctions take place online. The reason for this shift is because technology is making it easier less expensive and just as exciting.
A successful online auction still requires planning online and offline marketing and sometimes holding open houses. However all the effort pays off by bringing lots of attention and being able to condense the time it takes to sell. One of the biggest benefits is that buyers don’t all have to be at one place at one time to bid. They can connect whenever and from wherever they have Internet access.
An auction whether online or live helps a property stand out and that’s the goal for any sale. Auctions are a very effective selling strategy and especially appealing in a slow market.
About the writer: Joe Chong gardens in his spare time. He recommends debt consolidation as an effective method for refinancing mortgages.