America's #1 Mortgage Broker

"Before you begin to look for your good investment, have a good understanding of your goals, timeframe, risk tolerance, and expertise. These three aspects make up the first step to finding a good investment."

"Good investment properties require looking at a property and seeing something different than 90% of the investors who would normally look at that property."

"...good investments make sense before financing. Financing is a great tool to improve returns, but creative financing can be very risky. Save the most aggressive investors, real estate deals should be profitable before financing because of the uncertainty of the real estate market"

Quotes from Michael Cook's post: Touchdown in Greensboro:  What Makes a Good Investment?

About the author:

Michael is relatively new as a weblogger, and, here and at his home weblog, his plan is to share with us his journey as an entrepreneurial commercial real estate investor.

from-Greg Swann on Bloodhound Blog

Michael won the Carnival of Real Estate Investing this week. 

Mortgage origination is a contact sport. It’s retailing. It’s selling. Too many of us can get caught up in the irrelevant tasks that top producing originators simply refuse to do. Why do we fall into the task trap rather than be focused on dollar productive activities? We do it because it makes us FEEL productive and we want to appear to have value to our Realtor partners. 

Let’s pretend that Russell Shaw was the National Sales Manager of the mythical Bloodhound Blog Mortgage. I listened to the three podcasts of Mr. Shaw’s interview and he didn’t say a damn thing...

READ THE REST OF THIS ARTICLE HERE (opens in a new window) 

I get off on maneuvering within the pre-defined rules to "beat the system"; I think that is why I'm a good loan originator. 

It should be no surprise to you that I'm "maneuvering" within Localism.  I'm no photographer but I have a kick-ass cell phone, now.  I took some really cool pictures of "Shamu" this weekend at Sea World.  I even let my daughter take a picture of the flamingos.  I uploaded four to Localism under San Diego.  I realized that the photographers get a tremendous amount of links on Localism so called my good buddy and tremendous photographer, Charles Lasnier for permission to use his pictures of San Diego.  Charlie was kind enough to grant me permission.  Now, I dominate the photos on Localism in San Diego.

Which brings me to THE BIG IDEA: 

Problem:  How does one dominate Localism by providing good content and photos without devoting their life to it?

Solution:  Conduct a photo and essay contest, at the local high schools, about your community. Tell the local paper that you are doing this so you can capitalize on "old-school" media publicity.  It promotes both Localism.com and YOU in old-school media and hopefuly drives many new visitors to your site.

Anticipated Results:  Huge presence through a community service.  Connections with hundreds of families.  Free content (you must get a waiver acknowledged) so you can DOMINATE your market on Localism. 

Will it work?  I asked Greg Swann over at Bloodhound Blog and he responded today.  He recorded our ten minute conversation and created a podcast you may hear; it's at the bottom of his post.  You'll learn that Greg really talks the way he writes and that there is one person who can actually talk more than me.

I think it can work and want to hear your opinions.  Please ponder the idea and listen to Greg's podcast.  If you disagree with him, tell him on Bloodhound.  If you agree with Greg, tell me here. 

Sean Purcell and I intend to dominate San Diego County through this contest and generate a lot of local hits to our Localism profiles.

I had so much fun interviewing Broker Bryant last week that I decided to take a stab at my old nemesis turned industry ally, Jeff Corbett.

This interview on Bloodhound Blog was bit longer but is chock full of good information.

Questions include:

You hung an originator from the proverbial yardarm when you outlined a violation of the Truth-In-Lending Act.  What was the eventual outcome of your intervention on the consumer’s behalf?

We were fortunate to get together in Laguna Beach.  What did you learn from the meeting?

It’s pretty amazing how it’s much easier it is to communicate in person. Do you think that is one of the pitfalls of Real Estate 2.0?

Aren’t you indicting Realtors for vague disclosure on the buyer side of the commissions?

AND MY PERSONAL FAVORITE... 

What did contribute to your non-conforming ways?

Get the answers here at Bloodhound Blog 

EXTRA, EXTRA...read all about it.  Bloodhound Blog has a new author. 

OTHER GOOD INTERVIEWS TO READ:

Dominating your Market on Localism (without writing or taking pictures)

Howlin' with Broker Bryant 

I interviewed Bryant Tutas, aka Broker Bryant, over on Bloodhound Blog today.

Some of the questions I asked him were:

Bryant, you were involved in commentary with Candybags, on Bloodhound Blog, some time back and followed up with a post asking “So, What Do You Do To Justify Your Commission?“. How do you think Realtors who host or comment on weblogs should prepare themselves to answer this question?

How do you think the commentary could have been handled better here on BHB?

Let’s shift to a hot topic: The Mortgage Industry’s Internal Civil War. What did you think about the mortgage industry before this post?

How have your opinions changed since that post and subsequent discussion?

How do you see Active Rain as a player in Web 2.0?

Tell us about your new weblog.

For the answers to these questions and commentary from Bryant Tutas, please click to the interview (this will open in a new window) .

My thanks go out to Bryant Tutas for the great interview! 

Here are some of the top stories from BloodHound Blog (links open in a new window): 

Technorati claims that Bloodhound Blog has "a lot of authority":

A lot of work, a lot of posts, a lot of linking, a lot of links back: A lot of authority . . .

Greg Swann posts his article from the Arizona Republic that discusses the explosion of blogging in the real estate community.  This is a must read for all Realtors:

Blogs can help Realtors connect with communities

Greg Swann posts a short but great post about HUGE builder concessions to Realtors- lively discussion

Thank Heavens the Seller Pays the Real Estate Commissions 

Doug Quance explores the potential future of buyer's agency with this essay on "showing fees"

Sure I'll Show You That House- For One Hundred and Fifty Bucks 

Jeff Brown explains "compound interest" and compares it to real estate investing:

Invest $1 Get $2 Back 

Kris Berg uses a funny analogy about "How to Pick an Agent":

The Plastic Pig (and how to pick an agent)  

Russell Shaw explains the dangers and pitfalls of a lease to own agreement and why he belives they are the worst of both worlds:

In a Rent vs Buy Bind Right Now 

Russell Shaw squares off with Russ Cofano (author on RCG) in a discussion about the DOJ lawsuit against the NAR:

Russ & Russell?

Russ & Russell?  Part Two 

Bloodhound didn't place in the Carnival of Real Estate but did place in the Carnival of Real Estate Investing:

It turns out we ain’t nothin’ but a hound dawg . . .

Here's a review of some of the leading articles at Bloodhound Blog:

Dual Agency Smack Down by Greg Swann 

A review of a book published by the Arizona Association of Realtors about dual agency laws in Arizona.  A must read for Arizona Realtors and a maybe read for others.

Metro Brokers’ new map site: First we take Colorado, then — the world!

Greg Swann reviews the mash-up technology developed by Metro Brokers from Denver. CO.  Critical reviews by tekkies in the comment section and some colorful graphics and review by Greg.

What’s Yours is Mine?

Kris Berg talks about a specific contract negotiation about "fixtures" and nineteen comments are made.  The item in question was a set of decorating shelves and the technical comments were interesting to Realtors.

Was BusinessWeek bamboozled? “Twist” doesn’t know what she doesn’t know . . .

Greg Swann discusses the retraction Business Week online made after discovering that a bubble blogger did some ...um..."creative analysis" with the MLS data.  A follow up post from Friday where Greg, Jonathan Dalton, and Jay Thompson dissected the  MLS data and found bubble blogger "Twist" to be wholly incorrect.

HARD MONEY: Life as a Legal Loan Shark

Yours truly offers information about underwriting of hard money loans.  Pretty uninspiring but attracted a great comment from a guy named NYC Joe that questioned why lenders don't have a fiduciary responsibility to the borrower.  Geno Petro stopped in to say hello.

From Rotating Careers To Gold Fish Johns

Investments broker, Jeff Brown, posts a softball about a blog he discovered The Sacramento Real Estate Blog.  Only five comments show now but it turned into a bloodbath as the author of The Sacramento Real Estate Blog and Dustin Luther of Rain City went at it.

Think globally, blog locally: If you want local leads from your real estate weblog, pursue local interests . . .

Greg Swann follows up our discussion at the Arizona Real Estate Bloggers' Roundtable with a detailed "how-to" post about how Realtors can gain leads from local links.  A MUST READ about "The Long Tail"  Sixteen Comments

Selling Out

Kris Berg exposes the contract violations of selling MLS data to non-Realtors.  Eight comments about how there will never be a ntional MLS and protecting the privacy of the consumer.  I reveal how that data is easliy obtained.

A light rain couldn't spoil the excitement and enthusiasm I felt this morning as I drove into the heart of the City of Phoenix. Papa Joe Brady, my able seminar assistant, retired sales executive for First American Real Estate Solutions, and proud Luddite negotiated the streets of the boom town as we headed to the first Arizona Real Estate Bloggers Roundtable.

 
The Roundtable was a trial balloon post here at Active Rain.  I had planned to be in Phoenix this first week of the new year to write some loan applications and visit my family.  I had hoped I might convince a few AZ Realtors from Active Rain to allow me to buy them some donuts and have a collaborative discussion.  Yes, boys and girls, you heard that correctly, America's Most Opinionated Mortgage Broker broke marketing to Realtors rule #1; I bought them donuts.

Many things contributed to the excitement I felt.  Nostalgia was one of them because I spent 12 years in Phoenix.  The compelling reason for my excitement was the Roundtable, an historic event. Today reinforced my earlier declaration that Phoenix is the epicenter of real estate blogging.

The huge draw was the presence of three accomplished webloggers:  Greg Swann of BloodhoundBlog (accompanied by the lovely and articulate Cathleen Collins) . Jonathan Dalton of Phoenix Arizona Real Estate Blog, and Jay Thompson of The Phoenix Real Estate Guy.

READ:  The Bloodhound's post about this event complete with a picture and follow-up action item (BLOGINAR) 

The excitement was further driven by budding blogging superstars, Tony And Suzanne Marriott, Adam Tarr and Sharon Kotula, Ken Spencer, Mario Romero,  and "Doctor" (check his profile) Kaushik Sirkar.  The enthusiasm was apparent in newer entries to the Real Estate 2.0 world, Lorine Lovett, Brian Cross, Rich Pieropan, Nicole Whitman, Sandra Heredia, and Blake Mata.

I tried to gently moderate the Roundtable by asking three questions:
1- How did you get here?
2- Why are you writing?
3- Where do you see the future of Real Estate 2.0?

This prompted two hours of lively discussion which is not limited to but highlighted in these points:

1- Transparency is clearly working.  Consumers love to "get to know" a future real estate professional by reading about them online.  Jay Thompson shared the story of the Vanilla Pepsi buyer, I related how quickly I've built relationships with Realtors, and Greg Swann cautioned us that transparency is a double-edged sword; lie and you die.

2- Real estate bloggers blog to find business,  Adam Tarr was unabashed in his declaration of this goal as was Tony Marriott (I stipulated),  The "Old Guard" of the epicenter  Greg, Jay, and Jonathan were somewhat circumspect in the desired results of that goal but were quick to offer practical solutions to those who felt it possible.  That discussion led to...

3- The Solution; linking to local blogs for your "farm" area.  Note that we concluded you should link to local blogs, NOT local real estate blogs.  An example might be for Kaushik Sikhar to find a city council race in Chandler, AZ and link to the candidates weblogs as a mode of setting himself up as the expert in Chandler, AZ.  Rich Pieropan proudly claimed the title of #1 for Luke AFB, AZ.  When the group chuckle died down, Greg Swann ebulliently offered a detailed plan for taking advantage of the long tail by writing about topics relevant to the communities surrounding Luke Air Force Base and thereby establishing yourself as the expert.

4- The Long Tail versus SEO rankings.  Fancy words for getting ranked high on Google search versus establishing yourself as an expert online for a specific community or market.  I attempt to do this with my articles about hard money.  Thoughts steered to the conclusion that The Long Tail might indeed be the future versus SEO rankings.   One only has to look at the creation of Localism.com and MyHouseKey.org as examples of how some of the big thinkers in Real Estate 2.0 believe this war can be won.

5- Active Rain is the absolute best place to learn how to become a real estate weblogger.  The environment is friendly, supportive, and very instructive.  Newer or hesitant authors should attempt and hone the craft here.  I will personally reinforce this thought by stating that the Active Rain community doesn't care if you suck.  The members want to give constructive advice because we are grateful to have a forum to explain our views and improve our writing skills.  Newer authors MUST take the leap here and MUST do it today.  

In 13 years of lending and 22 years of financial services, I have NEVER seen a cause more exciting, a group of people more supportive, or a time more relevant.

Today was the epitome of that conclusion.  Thank you to everyone working in the epicenter.

Related posts include:

Jonathan Dalton's  Meeting at the Epicenter of Phoenix Real Estate

Jay Thompson's The Power of the Long Tail and Local Content Blogging

Suzanne Marriott's A Bloggers Blowout Blast!  

Adam Tarr and Sharon Kotula's GREAT BIG THANKS to Brian Brady - ARIZONA'S FIRST BLOGGERS ROUND TABLE