Starting Real Estate

Robert Kiyosaki and Casey Serin

Sun, 04 Feb 2007 09:44:44 +0000

Casey Serin of iamfacingforeclosure.com appears with Robert Kiyosaki (richdad.com) and tells his story of flipping houses, leverage, and debt. This guy bought eight houses in eight months, with no money down. While it didn’t end well yet, I have to say, this guy’s got guts… and an very interesting blog to go with it. In the clip Kiyosaki mentions Buckminster Fuller. He’s the one who said, “Mistakes are only sins when not admitted.” His name is the newest addition to my reading list (books I want to read.. not people reading my writings). I have a feeling that Casey’s book, when published, is going to bring in more income, and passive income, than all those houses could have, even if flipped without any problems.

Here’s the link to the video: iamfacingforeclosure.com/116/mistakes-are-only-sins-when-not-admitted-robert-kiyosaki/

Citibank

Tue, 04 Jul 2006 11:46:01 +0000

Citibank has had some amazing offers lately. I wish they had some kind of affiliate program, because I’d hop over a fence to join it, but here’s the deal. I got a Citibank Divident card, which gives me five percent back on gas and groceries and gave me 0 percent for almost my entire first year. Plus it doesn’t pay silly reward points, I ordered a check and got it within a few days without any problems. Raising the credit line is super simple too, just make payments on time, and every few months you can automatically raise the credit line online. No applications and no inquiries, just one click. If for some reason it’s not there, quick service on the phone explains why. I have no complaints at all.

Now Citibank has a new e-savings account which pays 5 percent with no hidden fees. That’s more than most banks’ CD’s. I just got the account so I have yet to fully review it, but at five percent almost everyone I know who hears about it and has money losing value in a no pay savings account is happy to transfer. Of course there are securities that pay a lot more, but for a completely liquid and safe savings account five percent is a wonderful deal.

Properety for sale - Property for rent - GlobalHideaway.com

Fri, 12 May 2006 10:58:46 +0000

Very interesting, useful, and free international real estate website: globalhideaway.com.

Jaime Mills set up this site about a year ago, and now they have over 36,000 listings in over 90 countries. The site lets people/companies advertise their sales or rental properties for free (browsing is free too).

They have some really nice property listings for Krung Thep.

Kiyosaki Columns

Fri, 05 May 2006 08:17:29 +0000

Turns out Robert Kiyosaki has been writing for Yahoo Finance for quite a while. While it’s not just real estate investing, his columns are powerful, to the point, and definitely worth reading.

finance.yahoo.com/columnist/archives/headline/richricher/2006/1

Readings Materials!

Fri, 21 Apr 2006 18:32:40 +0000

Just added a list of reading materials. The Ken McEnroy book is awesome. Worth a read. You could get through it in a couple hours at the store.

Ameriquest Mortgage 101 Book

Tue, 28 Mar 2006 08:29:42 +0000

Ameriquest Mortgage Company has done something truly amazing… they put out an honest and informative pocket e-book about financing.

Right off the bat, they let people know that even at six percent, they will likely end up paying more interest than the original loan. They also let people know what to watch out for (like the catch when interest-only financing runs out, what negative amortization means, and they warn about prepayment penalties). They nicely explain both fixed and adjustable rate mortgages (ARM’s). They explain reverse mortgages and equities.

They even explain when not to refinance (which is their business). In the end, they include a further links and agencies.

Simply fantastic.

Check it out for yourself: Ameriquest’s Mortgages 101

Calling Thailand - ThaiTel’s Sansabury Card rocks

Wed, 22 Mar 2006 10:42:51 +0000

Calling cards–I’ve gone through many, but ThaiTel’s Sansabuy Card blows the competition away. No hidden fees no ridiculous rates. Just a fair and honest calling card. I can even check my history on the ThaiTel website.

Before discovering this wonderful card I made the mistake of buying a FastCard World Connect card. Well, FastCard can connect you to the world at a ridiculous price. My card lasted a wonderful six minutes. Ridiculousness.

Before that one I had a Call4Less card fromt he Russian store. The card gave decent rates, but all the sudden the rest of my credit disappeared.

Before that was another FastCard from Nob Hill, as trashy as the latter one.

Before that I bought a card off the net. It worked really well and had a fair price, but the only problem was that weekly fees truned it into nothing within a couple of weeks, fees that didn’t exist according to the selling site.

Well that’s my calling card adventure. ThaiTel beats everything I’ve seen. Call4Less gets a nice second place. Google Groups is a very nice research place.

If you’ve tried some others and would like to share, please leave a comment or send a message.

Coldwell Banker - Another Online Home Value Estimator?

Mon, 27 Feb 2006 05:54:41 +0000

Coldwell Banker follows Zillow.com by giving estimates of home values? That’s what I thought after seeing the commercial. Well I went to their Home Value Estimator, and I guess I expected something different. I don’t think it’s quite there with a pretty interface, but it’s a nice simple way to get comp information. You can get recent nearby sales and control the number of miles and months. Maybe I missed something. Still worth checking out.

Property Valuations Online, Fast, and Free

Fri, 10 Feb 2006 07:44:14 +0000

There’s a fantastic real estate website that quickly gives you information about thousands of homes, without any fee. It lists not only the last appraised values, but also the nearby property values, the rooms, square feet, value of the land, value of the house, the square feet, the buying price, even the property taxes. It may not reflect recent or unregistered additions to the property, like a bathroom just added to a garage, however I don’t think anything could, and this website is simply amazing.

Check it out: zillow.com