Education – Karen's Perspective

16 Ways to Protect Your Home From Burglaries

Every 14.6 seconds, a home is robbed. According to statistics by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the average dollar loss per burglary is over $2,000.

With the national economy getting worse, burglary is becoming a more common crime. But, it doesn’t take much to get the thieves to leave your house alone. What can you do to stay safe?

Lock windows and doors – I was surprised to read that many people don’t. Of all reported burglaries, 33.2 percent were unlawful entries (without force) – the house wasn’t even locked.
Close and lock your garage door. It’s easy to break in from your garage. Many interior doors between the garage and your home aren’t as strong as exterior doors and may not have deadbolts. Also, once inside the garage, a burglar can use your tools to break into your home, out of sight of the neighbors.
Close shades and curtains in the evening. One way thieves decide where to strike is simply by window shopping. Close the blinds so they won’t see what you have.

10 / 05 / 2011
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Focus on Results, Rather than To-Dos

Following up on “Are You Able to Focus?“, today we’ll look at transforming busyness into action steps that actually move us toward an intentional, fulfilling goal.

First, know your goals! What is it you want to accomplish?

Determine and write out your dreams and desires. This is a fantastic habit. Once you know your long range goals, you can break them into bite-sized, achievable actions. If you don’t have a target, you’ll never hit it.

It’s important to begin with the end in mind and be totally clear about the results you seek. When you focus on what you want – the results – you begin to design your daily life around making progress toward achieving it.

If you’re not satisfied with the results of your life so far, perhaps you’re asking the wrong question.

08 / 24 / 2011
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Are You Able to Focus?

I don’t know about you, but the older I get, the more ADD I feel. It recently occurred to me that I’ve probably not actually developed this affliction, so what is it?

By the way, how many things do you try to focus on at once?

After much frustration and ultimately contemplation, I realized, multiple focus doesn’t work. Like trying to get a camera to clearly detail someone standing near as well as the waterfall in the background. It can’t. The camera’s indicator wants to know “where do you want to focus?”

So, the good news – I am not ADD. The problem = where, out of the hundreds of things happening around me, do I want to focus?

Are you aware that we’re actually losing our ability to focus?

08 / 23 / 2011
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How Secure are your Passwords?

Well, it’s come up again in our office. On-line security is a very serious thing. Make sure your passwords are SECURE! Read on and find out what I use. But first,

Do you use:
1. Your partner, child, or pet’s name, possibly followed by a 0 or 1 (because they’re always making you use a number, aren’t they?)
2. The last 4 digits of your social security number.
3. 123 or 1234 or 123456.
4. “password”
5. Your city, or college, football team name.
6. Date of birth – yours, your partner’s or your child’s.
7. “god”
8. “letmein”
9. “money”
10. “love”

According to John Pozadzides, that covers about 20% of us. And, if you’re not in that list, it will take him a few more minutes to break in. Read more…

07 / 20 / 2011
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I Made her $250,000 in 15 Minutes

money houses

I went to a Linked-in event today. Naturally, I was sitting next to someone I’d never met. At the end of the talk, I turned to her and struck up a conversation. She’s hoping to move here soon because most of her family is here in Greensboro but first she needs to sell her home in South Carolina and find a job. Then, she asked me what I do.

I love that part. I’m passionate about what I do. There aren’t many professions where you can help so many people with something as important as the security of a home or peace of mind for retirement.

So, the finding her a job part, I couldn’t help. Finding somewhere for her to live, not so sure. Selling her home in South Carolina, forget about it. But, I always believe there’s something I can do for people so I kept probing.

We began talking about the difficulties of selling in this market and I mentioned that she may want to rent out her house for a while. She wasn’t too excited. Finally, I found the right question: how old is your mortgage? “13 years”, she replied, “I’m 13 years into a 15 year mortgage.” I almost jumped over the table.

04 / 11 / 2011
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It Doesn’t Get any Better than This!

Karen

We’ve been working to prepare for our upcoming Creative Deal Maker Seminar and never seem to have enough time!

As we reviewed the past 3 months, we knew why! We have been absolutely slammed this 1st Quarter with 11 home purchases and 3 retail closings, our private investor portfolio of homes is 100% occupied, our Real Estate Brokerage added 3 new listings, 3 short sales and 10 more properties to manage. WOW!

Great reasons to be a little behind!

Then, while creating the seminar, we reminisced a bit, looking back through what we have accomplished over the years buying houses creatively! There is one particular deal that will always be special to me:

04 / 04 / 2011
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Radiation Fallout levels in Your Area

Has radiation from the nuclear plant disturbance in Japan hit your area? The EPA has this great interactive map for you to follow radiation levels both before and after the Fukushima quake and tsunami.

Remember, we’re constantly bombarded with radiation from the atmosphere. Radiation spikes are normal on sunny days!

03 / 24 / 2011
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Working With Your Spouse

I love to write. Hence, the blog. I love to inform, educate, inspire, entertain.

I have been encouraged, from many sources, to write a book. What? Really? Well, maybe. What topic interests me? Refer to the title of this post. And so, I might. As I was thinking about this topic, here were some of my thoughts:

If possible, #1 is, don’t work with your spouse. When you do, it’s so hard to, over time, have any part of the relationship not be about the business. To talk about anything that doesn’t end up being about the business. To make any personal decisions that don’t depend upon the business.

My husband and I are both high Type A personalities. We are both self-starters, self-motivated and can accomplish, well, any task we take on. We are both the best at what we do and know the best way to do it. Do you see a potential problem here?

03 / 22 / 2011
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15 Books all Business Owners should Read

books

What are you reading? You do read, don’t you? Extremely important if you’re an entrepreneur! Here is a list of books, in no particular order, that we recommend to our students and to anyone we talk with about business.

The Maui Millionaires for Business – by David Finkel and Diane Kennedy – an absolute must read for any business owner
The Real Estate Fast Track - by David Finkel – great choice if you are building a business in residential real estate
Rich Dad’s Real Estate Advantages: Tax and Legal Secrets of Successful Real Estate Investors - by Sharon L. Lechter, Garrett Sutton – the number one profit center in real estate are the Tax Advantages given to real estate investors by the IRS. Read and grow wealthy!
The E-Myth / E-Myth Revisited – by Michael Gerber
E-Myth Mastery – by Michael Gerber
Imagine / Re-Imagine - by Tom Peters
The Essential Peter Druker - by Peter Druker
The ABC’s of Real Estate Investing: the Secrets of Finding Hidden Profits most Investors Miss - by Ken McElroy
The Art of the Start – by Guy Kawasaki
What Every Real Estate Investor Needs to Know about Cash Flow - by Frank Gallinelli – everyone who invests in real estate needs to read this nook BEFORE you start investing
The New Positioning – by Jack Trout – great book on highest level of your marketing
The 8th Habit – by Stephen R. Covey
Good to Great – by Jim Collins
How to Win Friends & Influence People - Dale Carnegie
Think and Grow Rich – Napoleon Hill

Have you read any of these? Comments? Which books do you recommend?

03 / 17 / 2011
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Is your Future Secure?

There are many ways to make sure your future is secure.

You can create and control your own economy.

You can take your power back!

We did it! In just 7 years, we created wealth, income and a secure future for retirement. Now, we’re showing others how to do exactly what we did, in less time!

Interested?

We can help you!

We train couples, partnerships and businesses in the Triad and Triangle areas to be successful.

Our next full day seminar is the end of this month, October 30 at the Ashford Suites Airport Hotel in Greensboro near I-40.

Do you have a day to invest in your future?

Getting Rich in Real Estate in Today’s Market

Topics to be covered:

1. long term holds vs. flips – how to make the most from every property
2. multiple streams of income – wear yourself out cashing checks
3. creating a business plan – design a road map of where you’re going
4. tax strategies for real estate investors – maximize IRS tax code everyday in your business
5. new lease option/owner finance legislation – and what to do about it
6. property management – forms, filings, documents, handling evictions and judgments

Date: Saturday, October 30, 2010
Time: 9:30am – 5pm
Place: Ashford Suites Airport Hotel

Special Guest Speaker: Al Aiello
Teaching how to protect your wealth by substantially reducing your taxes, audit proofing your return against the IRS and protecting your assets with the right entity.

Click here to Sign up today!

For more information, contact Karen Rittenhouse
336-834-0614
Triad Residential Solutions