I have enjoyed today reading post here about fathers and sons both living and gone and of course today is a day where I miss my father the most although I think of him often. It has been a lot of years since we were together on this planet and as someone who chose not to be a father a lot of feelings race through my brain and my memory bank is flooded. There is one particular time that stands out for me today and it was when i started in real estate in October 1989. I had just finally closed up my retail home electronics business that year after 16.5 years of doing that and enduring 7 of the darkest years of the Oklahoma economy from the bursting of the energy bubble in 1982. In June that year I had done everything to pay everyone back which i am proud of and had paid off the FDIC who t... 06/18/2017

This morning Charlene and I got up early to take our walk by the ocean in Jupiter Florida since humidity was at 90% and 5 mile walks in the sand can be like being in a sweat lodge for two hours. Since recent storms in Florida fishing has been not something you want to do but this morning the ocean was like glass and the number of boats out were many in groups of 7 or more in many areas. As I was letting my mind wonder as I walked I started to see some similarities to real estate marketing and how we go after clients. As someone who has fished a lot in my lifetime it became clearer as I walked.As a child fishing with my Dad and Brother there was not any electronic fish locators so knowing the areas and understanding the structure that are fish habitats was very important. You had to trus... 06/17/2017

The snarky and hard sell answer is right now, it is a great day to buy real estate? I hate that cliche! It also needs some context because when to buy has a lot of different answers in how the question is put into context to let's try to give some answers in different ways.Your First Home: I had an agent that started with me to handle the investor resells and he was wanting to buy his first home. I told him this was the perfect time to buy an investment house. He looked at me thinking I had lost my mind. Once he got it he bought his first home that will turn into a great rental that he will keep after he buys his second home. He also got a room mate to pay him to live there so it is only costing him $200 a month for his home. I want him to retire wealthy and this was a great start.I'm t... 06/16/2017

The picture here doesn't seem to relate to real estate investment since it is a picture of the ocean this morning when we started out walk on Jupiter Beach in Florida but it will make a little sense later. With the access to information on the web we have an ability to go outside of our neighborhood and look at real estate in the United States but also outside of it so where we get out best return and what can make sense to us will be handled in this post. We have gone through the why, who, and what, so it is time for the where, and the after this the when.My Home Town: What I love about real estate is the tactile part of it. We can go by it and touch it, and see it inside and out and what better place than our home town. Given enough time even if you are not a REALTOR® who have local a... 06/15/2017

This may be the toughest part of the FAQ investment questions, who can help me get started? Let's think about medicine to start with, if you have cancer or heart issues do you ask for your GP to take care of it? No, you go to a specialist who has devoted themselves to taking care of you for that one particular problem. This is not to denigrate general practitioners because they perform a valuable entry service. Real Estate is a bit like that. We have plenty of people who know a little bit about a lot of things but not one particular thing down cold. For instance, I thought I knew a lot about new construction because I sold it and had taken classes like with CRS, but until I had a custom home built I realized how much more there is to know about it. Other specializes in real estate work ... 06/14/2017

Yesterday I started with the why of investing In real estate but now we delve into the what of real estate investments. Beginners in real estate investments who have figured out the why of building wealth now want to have me give me the scope of investments so I will go through the most asked for investments depending on the financial wherewithal of the client.Long Term investments:   Long term investments are primarily based on cash flow with an eye towards appreciation. Normally this is single family homes or maybe a duplex that yields a monthly income that allows for a conservative approach towards holding the investment for 10 years or more. I have numerous investors who have purchased even 20 years ago that still own the same property. When we analyze return on investment in Oklaho... 06/13/2017

When I deal with my specialty of real estate which is investment, I get a lot of questions from first time investors curious about the way to proceed. My first job as a specialist who gets entrusted with a lot of cash involves hours of education and I feel like a reporter at times who ask the question, what, where, why, how, and who, and not in that particular order. Today's FAQ starts with why and the need for this is in the statistics of how little money is saved for retirement by the American public. The scary thought is that 1/3 of baby boomers don't have more than $1000 in savings so working with young people for me is especially important since at my retirement age I can quit today and never have to work again to pay a bill. That is the end result of why but let's start at the beg... 06/12/2017

There is not much I fear about the future since change is the one thing we can depend on, but the pace of change seems to be moving at light speed. I have seen some comments about my previous post on this series with computers can sell real estate and that is missing the point of this conversation. The question is not will there be, the question is what will it be? Let me start with a summary:1.3 Million Realtors®: Even without the coming changes this is an absurd number that goes so far beyond what is necessary to maintain sales it borders on insanity. The idea that we can maintain the REALTOR® with this number just doesn't compute and computers are a part of the reason. More transactions are being done with fewer agents even without the Mega-Team concept, and that is today and not tom... 06/04/2017

OK, that was an exaggeration but for those who plan on being in this business for the next 20 to 30 years the end is near may not be so far fetched. In my last two posts I gave opinions on the extreme surplus of REALTORS® we have as well as the war for data supremacy. What I want to do now is give what I think will eliminate at least 50% of the real estate agent population and it will be here before you know it and it starts with artificial intelligence.Besides movies like 2001 A Space Odyssey with an AI computer gone amok, we have the earliest real example with IBM's Newton. Even in the infancy stage of machine learning, Newton could win at Chess and jeopardy against the best, and it is now composing music based on mood. This is not quite HAL 9000 but it starts to get a bit scary to me... 06/03/2017

In my previous post about what I saw for the future of real estate I discussed the tipping point of having an 80% overage in the number of agents required to close all possible sales. I wanted to emphasize that this makes the current system even more vulnerable to major disruption, and in the next few posts I want to talk about other threats that go along with this that could change our business forever. Now it's time to address the most important battle for being the major force and influencer in the industry and it all starts with data.Even when I started in real estate every transaction pre-internet started with data. In face using Ockham's Razor to look at a real estate transaction, it should be broken down into 5 major points: Data, Prediction, Judgment, Action, and Results. We are... 06/02/2017

My non-stop flight from Oklahoma City to San Francisco gave me three plus hours to watch a movie on the flight and I saw that Hidden Figures was available and I had been wanting to see it. I graduated from high school in 1966 so the movie was contemporary for me, and the story line intrigued me when I read about it when it first came out. I highly recommend you see this and even if you are younger and weren't a part of the era it does bring back a painful past, one that i am ashamed of to this day. After Jim Crow laws were struck down in the courts, De Facto segregation was resurrected with Separate But Equal. This was where in order to keep African-Americans away from white people we built great schools for them, had separate bathrooms, and made Blacks go to the back of the bus so as n... 05/19/2017

Here's the Midtown OKC real estate market update for May 2017. The single family homes, lofts, condos and town homes in the Midtown OKC area are very popular these days.Nicely located close to Western Avenue fun and shopping, Midtown dining and entertainment and with easy access to Downtown and Bricktown, you'll find so much to love about living in Midtown OKC!As a professional Midtown OKC Realtor, I love showing and selling the great properties available in this popular central Oklahoma City area! I think you'll love seeing them up close and personal and that is why I highly encourage you to schedule a tour soon!What has SOLD recently in Midtown OKC real estate?724 18th ST, Oklahoma City, OK 73103 - Charming historical home right off of Perle Mesta Park! You won't find another home as ... 05/15/2017

Most Recent Belle Isle Real Estate Market Report UpdateHere's my latest take on home sales and values in the very popular NW OKC neighborhood area of Belle Isle! You'll love the location of Belle Isle in NW Oklahoma City. Close to the excitement and fun of Western Avenue, Nichols Hills Plaza and easy access to even more on NW Expressway. Penn Square Mall within walking distance of this wonderful community. What's the latest update on homes for sale in Belle Isle? Average Asking Price in Belle Isle homes? $301,000 Average Sold Price? 2% Below Asking Average Days on Market in Belle Isle? 52 days 23% Decrease in Inventory so it's a definite Seller's Market 1 New Homes listed for sale, 9 Currently listed for sale and 11 Sold and 9 Pending Top Picks in Belle Isle Homes for Sale This Month? 2... 05/07/2017

It has been awhile since I made any offers on MLS listed properties but in 26 plus years I have so I want to state some obvious factors in getting offers accepted but maybe we do forget sometimes what is essential and basic so i want to state my three obvious ways of getting a seller to respond to an offer.A Leveraged Reputation: I know that when I have been on the listing side if some REALTORS® I know have an offer then my senses become acute, why? The number one thing any agent should do is realize your reputation is everything. You have the air of success about you, you have a reputation for getting the job done and closed, you don't fool with half baked buyers, and you are know for your integrity, fairness, and expertise. I have taken lesser offers from this kind of leveraged agent ... 04/20/2017

Quail Creek Oklahoma City Real Estate - Homes Sold ReportNeed to know the latest information on homes that have sold in the Quail Creek neighborhood in NW Oklahoma City?Houses are selling well in this popular Quail Creek community in NW OKC. The houses selling in Quail Creek consist of golf course homes and homes that are located close to Lake Hefner and the easy access to all of OKC via the Lake Hefner Parkway.Let's review what has sold in Quail Creek recently! Status: Sold (27)     Beds Baths Sq Ft Total Year Built List Price Current Price By SQFT DOM Close Price Close Price By List Price Min 2 2 2,262 1964 $102,000 $40.49   $102,000 .854 Max 5 4 6,445 1996 $649,900 $180.47 411 $575,000 1 Avg 4 3 3,248 1975 $361,337 $104.85 46 $343,937 .958 Median 4 2 3,069 1973 $344,900 $110.93 9 $33... 04/19/2017

I haven't done an update in awhile but the last two days have been highly motivated. The original post talked about my obsession with health apps on my Apple Watch and the ability to set daily parameters for my goals. One goal I set was a minimum of 700 active calories burned each day and 1000 over the weekend. The last two days have been stellar with 750 active calories burned by 9:30 AM. The day starts early with hydration, then some meditation and yoga stretching and then on to spin class. For me three things are important not only for my health but also my business plan that creates brain power. Those three things are hydration since the brain contains a lot of water, and blood and oxygen flow. This is why we have to work hard the older we get because it is so easy to say I'll do it... 04/01/2017

I have enjoyed participating but even more reading what brands people were passionate about. Many were surprising to me either because they were local and we often think of branding on a large scale, and other devotions were to companies  where I had seen bad reviews especially automobiles. I had a few comments on why I used Chase as one of my brands and you could see that some here had their own bad experiences where I didn't. FYI, Chase is a place where if you do a lot of business and you have a lot of money with them they are spectacular. If you don't then I guess they are another bank, but I digress.Here is the important point I want to make about branding and I have to go back to a book by someone I have read a lot, Seth Godin. Seth Godin said in his book Purple Cow that it is not ... 03/30/2017

Tony Robbins has been writing investment books lately and on an article on the home page of MSN, he said that young people should not buy a personal home. The simple reasoning he gave for this is that a home to him is not a good investment for them. His feelings is that without income being produced they are only buying a hedge against inflation. Now I know that Mr. Robbins is not against home ownership completely because he has a pretty nice spread as his main home, but I found the advice interesting as well as fitting with my experience with younger California investors who work in the tech sector.Recently I have had a good number of Millennials who work at Facebook and Google buying investment homes in the Oklahoma City area. Almost all of them don't own a home but they are wanting m... 03/27/2017

I have a lot of investors and almost all of them are out of state. Many of them are from California and a good portion of them are in the tech industry. Recently I have had a slew of Facebook IT people and I spoke to quite a few of them in San Francisco a couple of weeks ago. Just in the last few weeks I have had visits and sales with people from Russia, India, Vietnam, China, and Israel and all challenge me not only in language to make sure that we communicate and connect, but also in cultural differences that are very important not merely to observe but also pay respect to. The worst thing I can do is expect everyone to think like I do, to believe like I do or even act like I do. To expect that for me would be the height of arrogance. Not only would it be arrogant to shoehorn them int... 03/24/2017

Time for a not so serious post but maybe somewhat serious. My wife and I have had three "puppies" together. We call them puppies regardless of age because we are crazy silly parents when it comes to our pets. I write in honor of the first dog who adopted me which was Corduroy, named after the children's book. She was old and had been with my wife for quite some time so she was in fair health and was aging when we got together. Charlene says I rejuvenated her because she wanted to show the new guy that she was good forever. That was our first bond with a "puppy"Then came Hope who also adopted me. Hope was a standard poodle who was rescued from a puppy mill and was barely alive and had never set foot on grass. Hope was also scared on lightning because she was kept outdoors in a pen, but s... 03/23/2017