Seperating the Pros from the Amateurs in Real Estate...

This current real estate market can all be summed up with this statement from one of the great real estate investors of all time, Sam Zell.

"First you Have the Investors, Then You have the Imitators and Then you Have the Idiots".

Sam tells you like it is and he expects his employees to do the same. They don't kiss butt like some other TV hound hogs wanting to tell the world how great real estate is to always buy and that it always goes up in price. In fact... most people don't even know who Sam Zell is and that includes a lot of real estate agents. Check this interview out and what one of the current employees told the HR director for Sam's company --> …

Changes in Las Vegas Real Estate

2001. Just to give you a recap of what happened that year, the United States was in a recession. The stock market had taken a big hit with the Dot.com bust in 2000. I watched my stocks sink like the Titanic with the hope that it was something only temporary and that some lifeboats would magically appear and rescue them from the Abysss.

Yep... I lost a lot of money following stock picks from the so called experts in the name of Money Magazine, Smart Money, AOL forums (remember those?) etc... I learned from that experience and learned from one of Peter Lynch's books that if you are reading about a great tip about a stock in the mainstream media... it was time to sell. Boy.. was he right.

Unfortunately, I read that book…

Mountains Edge Bank Owned Home

Hmmmmm.... Normally I do not highlight the great Foreclosure deals going on in Las Vegas openly and reserve this for only clients but this Mountains Edge Home I came across today makes me want to break my rules just to show you what is available in this great community located in Southwest Las Vegas.

It's not uncommon to hear the horror stories of Las Vegas Foreclosures that are trashed, stripped, beat up or just plain out dirty and while there are some Las Vegas Bank owned homes that fall in that category, there are some great Las Vegas foreclosures that do not. You just never know unless you get out there and look -- something that I've been doing with a long list of interested Las Vegas buyers that see the opportunity…

T. Boone Pickens has a Plan..

In case you do not follow the financial news like I do, you may have missed all of the T. Boone Pickens commercials on the business channels concerning a plan to help the American economy.... specifically called the Pickens Plan.

Regardless of what you might think is going on concerning the United States Economy, the fact of the matter is that approximately $700 Billion dollars a year is leaving the United States economy A YEAR for our Oil needs alone. Right now we are renting... and all real estate agents should know that eventually, renting is going to cost you money. (Make Sure you watch the Video Below.)

I posted a blog post over at Active Rain concerning the Pickens Plan and how $300 Billion would buy a lot of real…

In my blog concerning "The Next Great Real Estate Investment" posted on May 5th I highlight the benefit of investing in cheap farm land surrounding Chicago with some highlights of how much land has gone up in Iowa in the past year.

I would love to say I have some power followers for my real estate advice and take credit with what Crains Business Chicago featured in their article concerning Bill Gates buying up Illinois Farmland as highlighted on July 3rd,  Hitting Pay Dirt but I can't.  That's ok.. I'll live.

What it does mean as I highlighted in the original post... many cities in the Midwest like Chicago have always been able to continue building outward because builders could just keep buying cheap farm land to turn into tracts. If gas prices continue…

As we hit record gas prices... again...for another excuse (they never seem to end), the use of Hybrid technology has been one of our investment interests since 2002. Let's face it, unless something is done the American Consumer is just going to go through this year in and year out with each year prices going higher and higher due to one excuse or another. Like any commodity, high demand with a dwindling supply equals higher prices. Economics 101.

On Wednesday, The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on a 20-3 vote moved ahead with legislation to replace one-quarter of the nation's gasoline with ethanol and set a goal of cutting gas consumption nearly in half by 2030 That's a very lofty goal. If you are into investing in commodity futures then…