I’ve been really busy this week, but nothing too exciting going on. I have the closing from hell going on currently- the scam artist buyer and the sketchy Title Co are in bed together- I’ll post details and warnings on that once the deal closes and the bank clears the check. It’s ridiculous, to say the least.

The Super Bowl is Sunday- Times like this I’m really glad I don’t live in the West Side. I can only imagine the insane traffic and morons out there this weekend. Good luck to those of you who live over there- now’s a great time to consider dumping your house and picking up a foreclosure here on the East Side! I wonder how those people who were trying to rent out their homes for $2k/week are feeling right about now. I’ll bet they’re saying it wasn’t worth it, and ‘I shouldn’t have offered to be their personal Chauffeur for the week!" The Arizona Cardinals are making a FORTUNE off of this thing- and from my experience of working with them years ago, I’m sure they’re milking it for every last penny they can. Oh, and you better believe they’re already bidding for the 2012 Super Bowl rights. Personally, I’m not rooting for either team per se’, I just hope they have better commercials than they’ve had the last few years.

Wal-Mart has soo generously slashed their prices (*cough ‘on selected items’ *cough) 10-30% with a HUGE media spin. All week the media was reporting the price reduction as their efforts in assisting with the economic crisis currently going on in our country. The funny part is, by the middle of the week, it appeared that only ‘Super Bowl Items’ were receiving the discounts- items such as flat panel tv’s, specific football groceries, etc. So, while that American Family fights to save their home from foreclosure, at least they can save a bundle on that new 52" Flat Panel TV for the big game this weekend. Aww, Wal-Mart Cares.

Britney Spears was committed to a Psych Ward and listed as ‘Gravely Disabled’- meaning, she is not capable of providing the basics in life, food, water, shelter, etc. Her entire estate has now been turned over to her family/lawyers, which is enraging her more. Poor Brit Brit, life must be soo hard for her.

The Feds slashed rates again. I didn’t post about it because my sources are telling me that the rate cut only really benefits the lenders. The rates for consumers buying loans stays about the same, but provides a little more profit margin for the banks. I believe there’s more to come in the near future. Much like gas prices, the rate cuts are coming at a good time for greasing the wheels of the next President. And yes folks, politics has influence over the Fed’s rates (or is that the other way around?).

Locally- deals are still flowing. I’m seeing a slight increase in what wholesalers are buying/selling at. It’ll probably gear up a little bit during our peak buying season, but then drop back down during the dead times. Still tons of deals out there, lots happening under the radar that doesn’t get reported in the media. It’s a great time to be in Real Estate and building your wealth!

Be careful out there this weekend!

Just got an email on this- some of you may have already seen it, I think it’s pretty impressive.  Read the back story before watching the video. Sometimes putting Real Estate deals together is just like this…

If you thought that the people who set up a room full of dominoes to have
them knocked over later was amazing, you haven’t seen anything yet..
There are no computer graphics or digital tricks in these images.
Everything that you see happened in real time exactly as you see it..
The recording required 606 takes and in the first 605 takes there always
was something, usually of minor importance, that didn’t work. It was
necessary for the recording team to install the set-up time after time and
it took several weeks working day and night to achieve this effect.
The rec ording cost 6 million dollars and it took 3 months to finish,
including the engineering design of the sequence.
The duration of the video is only 2 minutes, but every time that Honda
shows the commercial on British television, they make enough money to
support any of us for the rest of our lives. However, this commercial has
turned out to be the most displayed in the history of the Internet.
Honda execs think that it will pay for itself simply because of the free
showings (Honda is not paying one cent for you to see it) When Honda
senior execs viewed it, they immediately approved it without
hesitation-including costs.
There were only six Honda Accords built by hand in the whole world, and
to the horror of Honda engineers, the recording team disassembled two of
them for the recording.
Everything you see in the sequence (besides the walls, floor, ramp and
untouched Honda A ccord) is part of those two automobiles. The voice is that
of Garrison Keiller. The commercial was so well received by Honda execs
when they saw it, that their first comment was how amazing the computer
graphics were. They almost fell out of their chairs when told that the
recording was real without any graphics manipulation.
By the way, about the wind shield wipers in the new Honda Accords, they
are sensitive to water and designed to start working as soon as they get
wet.

My wife showed me this clip yesterday at work. I have seen it before, but felt it was appropriate to post on the site at this time. We live in a time where our American Men and Women are putting their lives on the line to defend our freedom and prolong our current way of life. Most do not get to come home this season to see their families. Many people are suffering a major financial crisis, with no hopes of better things to come. We have Cancer, Aids, kidnappings and murders everyday in our morning news. Weather systems continually challenge our survival in many parts of the country. Families roam the streets praying for a bite of food and a warm corner to huddle in to get through the nights. It’s easy to get caught up all the stresses of the holiday season, bills and other crisis’ consistently demanding our time and emotional energy. Yes, there’s many, many things we encounter on a daily basis that challenge our strength, character, and spiritual light. This is why it’s soo critical to dig down deep into who you are this season.

I invite each one of you to watch this video, and remember who you were at 6 years old. Do you remember the magic of the season? The excitement you had everyday when you woke up, begging you to be careless and free? There were no cares in the world, and anything you wanted to dream was possible. No bills. No health concerns. No drama to interfere with you and your boundless energy. Your dreams were real, and life was soo easy. I encourage you to get in touch with those feelings this Christmas Season, and remember how it felt to have your dreams dangling in front of your face, ready for the taking. Bring back the magic we all had inside of us at one time.

Let’s forgive each other this year. Let’s let go of our health concerns and financial worries. They do not own our spirits and destiny. You are in control of your life, and nothing outside can change that. Get in touch with who you were at 6 years old, and bring that into 2008. I promise there is a world of change coming when you uncover that magic you once had inside.

I’ve had a number of people ask what is RSS, and what’s this little orange icon all over the place and in my browser’s address bar? RSS stands for ‘Really Simple Syndication’, and it’s very easy to use. In fact, it’s the way the internet is going, so you’d better get used to it. Instead of traveling to every website and checking for updated content on a daily basis- RSS streams the articles and blog posts directly to you. So, you can open your RSS reader (right in your web browser), and see all the websites that have updated their content since the last time you were there. It’s awesome, easy to use and a huge time saver. I skim through about 200 Real Estate and News websites every morning in about 30 minutes. Yes, it works for local and national news sites too. Trust me, once you start using it, you’ll understand how great the Web 2.0 is! Watch this video below, and then click on the silver RSS icon on the top right of this page! BTW- I use Google’s Reader- it’s fully integrated with FireFox and IE, and is awesome.

I bet you didn’t know that President Bush is venturing into rap, hip hop, and beat-boxing. His album drops today- here’s a sneak peak. This has nothing to do with Real Estate Investing in Arizona or the elections, but it made me laugh. What a great way to start off your Friday morning.

Stop the Presses! The Winter Rainy Season is Over! After a 2-day downpour here in Arizona, you’d think we would’ve all washed away based on the news reports What a great and groovy day! No rain, my birthday celebration- life just can’t get any better than this. This oughtta sum it all up…