Boomer’s Blog

A huge, largely underestimated and under-reported glut of foreclosed, real estate owned (REO) inventory is clogging up the U.S. housing market, and the majority of doesn’t seem to appear on the MLS. The size of this “ghost inventory” is unknown, but its effects cold be chilling for cash-strapped lenders. What does this mean to real estate investors? Tons of cash if you know how to buy right and stay on top of the real estate marketing curve.

Inventories, Foreclosure Filings Skyrocket
In November, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported an 11.2-month inventory of existing homes on the market, up from a 10.3-month in October. But now it seems those sky-high numbers statistics could continue rising dramatically, which is likely to lower home sales prices, and slow overall U.S. economic recovery.

Foreclosure filings were reported on 2.3 million U.S. properties in 2008, and an 81 percent hike from 2007, and a whopping 225 percent surge from 2006, according to RealtyTrac’s U.S. Foreclosure Market Report released in mid-January.

These inventory and foreclosure statistics are interesting enough to raise a few eyebrows among hungry real estate investors. But when RealtyTrac compared NAR’s MLS data with its foreclosure data they raised more than a few eyebrows: they raised the question of whether a vast “ghost inventory” is lingering in REO lender clutches, and if so, is it poised to deliver another hard blow to the U.S. housing market?

Piecing together the “Ghost Inventory” Puzzle
RealtyTrac recently examined the MLS listings in four states, including California, Maryland, Florida and Wisconsin, and found that they contained only a third of the foreclosures it has in its database. Research and analysis by Mr. Mortgage points to an even more widespread problem. There are several possible reasons for this apparent disparity and none of them are good for lenders.

At a minimum, preliminary data suggest that only one-third of foreclosures are reaching the MLS database, and it’s entirely likely that this is a conservative estimate.

The value of REO property on the books of FDIC-insured banks at the end of the Q3  rose 21 percent from the previous quarter, to $23 billion. That total represents a 134 percent increase over last year, according to the latest quarterly report released by the FDIC.

Since there is no reliable way to track these data and existing systems are likely overwhelmed by the high volumes of foreclosures working their way through the system, all we have at this point are estimates as to the number of houses that are haunting  REO’s “ghost” or “shadow”  inventory, as it also is coming to be known.

According to CNNMoney, current U.S. housing market declines are likely to sharpen dramatically as a result of this situation because so many foreclosed homes are lingering in bank possession without representation in the MLS.  Regardless of how the government and lenders approach the problem, averting a tidal wave of foreclosures appears to be impossible.

What’s the Holdup?
What could explain this Grand Canyon-sized gap between the numbers of foreclosures that are recorded vs. the number that has appeared on the MLS? Here are a few explanations that immediately come to mind:

• Inventories of foreclosed and REO properties has grown so fast and in such high volumes that the banks can’t keep up with processing demands, which could delay the MLS listing process.
• Federal and state government attempts to slow the foreclosure tide and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s holiday moratoria on foreclosures are contributing to MLS listing delays for many of these properties.
• Because it’s taking longer to process the foreclosures, the REO properties are getting vandalized or suffering natural damage as a result of what’s becoming long-term neglect. Getting these properties on the MLS is further delayed while banks grapple with making necessary repairs.
• It’s also possible that lenders are lagging in submitting these distressed property listings to the MLS in hopes of deferring their losses as long as possible in hopes of protecting their institutions from insolubility.
• Many of these REO properties might already be listed as short sales.

What does the Ghost Inventory Mean to Your Business?
REO housing inventories are expected to shatter more records in 2009 as more of them hit the market and banks continue their struggle to stay afloat. These market conditions are ideal for real estate investors who deploy sound purchasing strategies and stay on top of the game with effective real estate marketing.

For a quick  video detailing how and why this “ghost inventory” is likely to unleash a mighty wave of foreclosure inventory on the U.S. Housing market, check out this Mr. Mortgage interview on CNBC’s Faber Report.

SalesTeamLive Tows Your REI Bottom Line
As housing markets evolve, so must your marketing strategies. If you want your business to thrive, especially in a challenging economic landscape, you’ve got to set your priorities. If marketing doesn’t top your list, you’re cramping your growth and potential for profits in this business.
If you’re looking for cost-effective strategies that are designed to conquer today’s markets and build a stronger future for this business, SalesTeamLive’s Done-for-You marketing campaigns deliver results you can bank on.

To learn how you can leverage quick-fire market developments such as the REO “Ghost Inventory” to generate tons of cash for your real estate investing business, check out SalesTeamLive or call us directly at 1-877-STL1 (that’s 877-438-7851).

Historians may beg to differ on this point, but I’ve found solid evidence that outsourcing can be traced directly back to the Guinness Book of World Records’ vote for the World’s Greatest Salesman: Joe Girard. (I relate these facts with utmost respect for Mr. Ferriss.)

Joe sold 13,001 cars between 1963 and 1978 at a Detroit Chevy dealership. At that time Chevy ruled the automotive industry, and if you’ve ever seen a 1963 Chevy Corvette Stingray, you might think they did a pretty good job of selling themselves. To help put the time frame and scope of Joe’s astounding sales record in perspective, I’ve found an awesome 1963 TV ad for Chevy’s amazing winking automobile:

Embrace Change and Follow Through

Joe’s venture into auto sales, ironically enough, began after a failed real estate venture left him broke and with a family to feed. Joe had no experience in auto sales, but convinced the dealership’s owner to give him a shot — and a tiny space to work while he learned the ropes. He got fired from this gig for being too “aggressive” and didn’t give up. He moved on to the next position he would hold for the rest of his automotive sales career.

Joe still holds the all-time record for car and truck sales in one year: 1,420 vehicles! In one day alone, he once sold 18 vehicles.  According to the Automotive Hall of Fame, at a time when only 5 percent of dealerships in the U.S. sold 1,000 cars per year. Girard was averaging that amount each year by himself!

How Did He Do It?!
As his success grew, Joe began outsourcing his busywork by hiring staff (on his own dime) to handle the busywork, like filling out forms and getting clients qualified for their purchases. He was willing to spend a relative pittance of his own money so he would be free to focus on closing the deals.  Joe’s keen attention to the details that make a difference doesn’t stop there.

Joe also sent practically every person he ever met 13 cards per year: He sent one monthly and another at Christmas because he knew that the competition would most likely to be stewing over their eggnog than following up on leads. (Does this remind you of that stack of yellow real estate postcards you’ve been meaning to get in the mail?)

Real Estate Investors: It’s 11 O’clock, Do You Know Where Your Leads Are?
To learn how to apply these principals to your real estate investing business and make the most of your business by improving your real estate marketing, check out my new article: “10 Reasons Why Your Real Estate Marketing Should Go Postal.”

Since a lot of real estate investors I talk to have a shared gap in salesmanship skills, I wanted to include a little something extra here to get my members on the right track to improving their real estate marketing and sales skills on-the-fly.

Now in his 80s, Joe still lives in Michigan and though he has long since retired from auto sales, his rules of success continue to inspire us all.  I’m re-printing them from Joe’s Web site below in hopes that my fellow real estate investors will get as much out of them as I have:
Joe Girard’s 13 Rules of Success

1. HAVE A POSITIVE ATTITUDE: Hang around with positive people, stay away from crybabies and complainers, because they will pull you down to their level.  If something isn’t going right in your life, keep it to yourself, no one wants to hear your problems, make people believe you are having a wonderful time.
2. ORGANIZE YOUR LIFE: Keep an appointment book so that you don’t have to use the words that sicken me: “I FORGOT.”  At the end of each day, meditate upon what you did or did not do, so you can become stronger for tomorrow.  Plan your work for the next day.  If you know where you are going you will get there.  If you don’t, you are LOST!
3. WORK WHEN YOU WORK: Don’t take long lunch hours, and only eat with people who can help your cause, not with other salespeople.  Do not sneak out of work early, if you do you are a LOSER.
4. OBSERVE GIRARD’S NO-NOs: No smoking or chewing tobacco, no gum, no colognes, no profanity, no dirty jokes, no alcohol breath, and men should not wear earrings at work.  Turn off cell phones - they’re irritating.  The biggest killer of them all is NOT BEING ON TIME.
5. DRESS THE PART: what kind of people are you dealing with.  If you are selling to blue collar workers, don’t wear $500 suits and expensive shoes, jewelry or watches (it’s a big distraction).  Wear it on your own time, not when you’re working - clothes can turn people off.
6. ALWAYS LISTEN:  People can tell if you’re not listening.  The longer you listen, the more obligated people will feel towards you.  The more you listen, the more likely a customer is going to do business with you.  Listening shows that you care.  “The mouth should only be used for eating - keep your mouth shut!”  Silence is Golden.
7. SMILE FREELY:  A smile increases your face value.  If people would smile more, your customers would feel better and want to do business with you, plus it’s great for your health!
8. RETURN ALL PHONE CALLS & EMAILS: Not returning calls or emails are a way to lose customers and friends.  Return your calls and emails as soon as possible.  If you don’t, that’s a good way to burn a bridge!
9. TELL THE TRUTH: If you get caught in a lie even once, you will always be a liar.  Even if you tell the truth for the rest of your life, you won’t be trusted or believed, consider yourself DEAD.
10. DON’T OVERCHARGE: If you do, and the customer compares your deal with somebody else, you have lost him.  Take a little and leave a little; Joe only worked on a small profit, but he was heavy on volume, averaging six retail automobile sales a day.  Word of mouth got around that YOU CAN’T BEAT JOE GIRARD’S PRICE.
11. STAND IN FRONT OF YOUR PRODUCT OR SERVICES (not behind them):  The most important thing to do for your customer is SERVICE them, and they will do business with you over and over again. This is what made JOE #1 IN THE WORLD.
12. LOCK UP EVERY SALE: After you have closed the sale, ask your customers why they bought from you - if they tell you why, they are reinforcing their trust in you.  Therefore no more buyers’ remorse, MEANING NO MORE CANCELLATIONS.
13. REWARD YOURSELF: Treat yourself well for all the smart work you have done; YOU DESERVE IT!

Make the Most of Your Resources

Are you interested in making the most out of your real estate investing business without breaking the bank? When you join GaryBoomershine.com you get all the tips and tricks you need to maximize your real estate ROI.  Join us and you’ll be amazed to learn about how the little details that can make all the difference in your real estate business can be simple and cost-effective to implement.

Becoming a member is easy. Please sign in using the yellow fields at the right side of this page or on the main page at GaryBoomershine.com.

A lot of real estate investors with  short sales and pre-foreclosure backgrounds are used to dealing with incredibly motivated sellers, but today’s best deals are those with equity. Do you have the “right stuff” to angle these deals like a real estate professional?

Five High-Equity Markets Show You the Money
There are five major real estate market segments that offer investors the greatest opportunities to access equity. Homeowners in each of these segments have mindsets that real estate investors must understand  in order to successfully negotiate a deal.

Additional information about how to tap these markets is covered in greater detail in my article: “Pounce on High-equity Real Estate Markets for Maximum ROI.”  (Follow this link to ArticleBase for instant access to this story.)

1. Equity: Bigger is Better: Find homeowners with 40 percent to 100 percent equity. U.S. Census Bureau data reveal that property owners in this arena currently control one-third of all single-family homes. Often, they’re near or at retirement age, are empty nesters and are looking to downsize.
2. Adjustable Rate Mortgages with Equity: Homeowners with adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs) and equity  usually had an ARM for three years or more before they opt to sell. If they owe less than 70 percent on the loan relative to the house’s value, these homeowners may be looking to execute their own exit strategies while they still have equity - - and before their ARMs re-set.
3. Wholesale Real Estate: Properties in this segment are typically old enough to drink legally and tend to have cosmetic and deferred maintenance challenges. In this category, homes with loans at approximately  70 of a property’s value are great targets for real estate investors seeming to max their real estate ROI
4. Multiple Family Units with Equity: Here, concentrate  on sellers with at least two rental units and a maximum loan-to-value of 70 percent or less to buy, hold or flip income properties. These sellers likely are motivated to sell by ongoing tenant and maintenance hassles. They also may be amenable to financing your purchase if they can defer capital gains taxes and rake in some cash flow through you instead of dealing with rent collection.
5. Out-of-Towners: Absentee homeowners are easily identifiable because their mailing address on public record is different from their property address. Property owners in this segment often are disgruntled landlords with single-family homes or multi-unit properties.

Negotiating with High-Equity Sellers

Making deals happen with these property owners often requires more enhanced real estate marketing. Keep in mind that since they have equity, they’re not as likely to have the motivation of a distressed property owner. Though you may have to mail multiple real estate postcards to property owners in this group, you should be aware of local market changes in their areas.

Many of my clients at SalesTeamLive are reporting an across-the-board boost in high-equity homeowner willingness to deal. We can attribute this shift to the ailing economy, stock market and retirement fund losses, and cost-of-living and healthcare price hikes. Many are deciding that downsizing now is the safest way to preserve their standards of living — and their real estate nest eggs.

Someone who says no in June may have a totally different attitude come March,  when their homes still haven’t sold and they see comp prices dropping around them. This is especially true in a post-hot market where owners are facing the grim realities the market just won’t support the price they had set in their heads six months ago.

The trick is to be persistent and keep in touch. And however you communicate with high-equity homeowners, be sure to make a good impression. These days more than ever, your real estate investment business depends on it!

One Best Practice Your Mother Probably Told You About
Sending out personalized thank you cards to folks after your presentation isn’t just the polite thing to do. It’s a best practice to reinforce your professionalism, presence and status as a problem solver for your prospects.

Be resilient and implement best practices to be successful in tapping these real estate markets. Suddenly, you may find your focus shifting from what the best color is for a real estate marketing postcard to how to handle the incredibly high volume of calls you’re receiving.

It takes only a few seconds to change the way that you view your real estate business — and the world. For more best practices and strategies that rock your real estate world, sign into GaryBoomershine.com using the yellow fields on the right side of this page or on the GaryBoomershine.com main page.

A recent conversation with my friend Dan Doran reminded me of the quintessential real estate movie of all time: “Glengarry Glen Ross.” For those who are too young (or too old) to remember it, the 1992 movie was based on a Pulitzer Prize-winning play written by David Mamet.

In 1984, when Mamet wrote about a cut-throat, all-male real estate sales team working out of a dingy office and living on watered down booze and stale Chinese takeout, fallout from the “worst recession since the 1930s” gripped the United States economy — and the American psyche.

In many ways, the social, economic and political climate that led Mamet to write “Glengarry Glen Ross” easily can be compared to the many crises we’re currently seeing in the news– and in some of our financial accounts. Then, like now, banks were closing, the Fed was accused of sleeping at the wheel, unemployment rates soared, corporate corruption littered the headlines and real estate was in a major downturn.

The “World of Men” depicted in the movie includes Alan Arkin, Alec Baldwin, Ed Harris, Jack Lemmon, Al Pacino and Kevin Spacey. The focus was on their ability to close on real estate deals as though their lives depended on it. And indeed, they did.

When I first saw this movie, I was a little green in the business and it blew me away. Nearly two decades later, I’m still drawing upon its bare-knuckles illumination of real estate marketing and sales in the trenches.

There’s one classic scene that captures the essence of the real estate deal in a way that no other real estate boot camp, course, book video or coaching call can touch. And thanks to YouTube, I can offer it to you here. Please, only watch it if you’re not offended by a little salty language. (And by that, I mean a seemingly endless string of obscenities peppered with awesome wisdom on the fundamentals of survival in the real estate business.)

WARNING: This Clip Contains Obscene Language — Even By Today’s Standards.

(According to one source, actors in the movie deploy approximately 150 F-Bombs and 50 S-Bombs.) Please only view it if you’ll not be offended by the wanton use of words that beg for a bleep — or possibly if you have teenagers living in your house.

As Blake (played by Alec Baldwin) so vividly illustrates in the clip, the keys to success in the real estate can be distilled into two mnemonics:

AIDA

• A - Attention
• I - Interest
• D - Decision
• A - Action

ABC

• A - Always
• B - Be
• C - Closing

They’re deceptively simple to read, but can be brutal to implement because in real estate, as in life, the devil is in the details.

In my next post, I’ll take a candid look of one of the mission critical details that 99 percent of all real estate investors overlook in our real estate marketing. There’s one simple quick and inexpensive action you cantake to increase your income by $100,000 or more this year. Can you guess what it is?  Stay tuned and find out.

And while you’re here, be sure to become a member of GaryBoomershine.com. Just sign in using the yellow fields on the right side of this page, or on the main page at GaryBoomershine.com and you’ll get all the information you need to conquer tough markets, fly above your competition’s radar and meet your real estate investment strategic goals for 2009 and beyond.

Yale graduate, NFL Veteran, A&E TV network host of “Flip this House” and superstar real estate entrepreneur Than Merrill is adding “REI Spy” to his impressive resume in his “Mission Impossible” video series. All the intrigue is leading up to an exciting launch we’ll talk more about next week.

The Spy Who Loved REI
All you have to do to make your real estate business Mission Possible in 2009 is grab some popcorn and sign in with Than. Beyond the spoofs and goofs for the camera in the intro videos for this series is some awesome, pitch-free content.

In the first video, Than and his real estate investment business partner Paul (who you also may recognize from their hit TV show) delve into the nuts and bolts of investing in probate properties for wholesale. Their innovative approach to tapping probate markets blew me away.

This training is incredibly comprehensive and robust. Because Than’s training is geared for wholesalers, he’s sharing a fresh perspective that puts an entirely new spin on probate real estate investing as we know it.

Got Leads?
In the second video, Than guides us through a simple 15-minute process using Google’s local business listings to pull the trigger on rapid, high-volume REI lead generation online.

This training is useful because it simplifies a process for scoring leads online that for too many of us, remains a highly technical mystery that can be downright intimidating.

If you think there are a lot of gurus in REI . . . just type:

search+engine+optimization

In any search engine on the planet, and you’ll instantly find more experts than cockroaches in a section 8 rehab. You’ll also quickly discover that the price of their advice is nearly as attractive and reach for the aspirin.

The information you’ll likely find while trying to get a handle on an affordable, scalable and effective Internet marketing solution can be confusing, conflicting, and incredibly expensive.

Web 2.0 marketing is here to stay, folks. And you don’t have to sell a kidney to make it affordable for your business.

In this video, Than clearly demonstrates that if you use some common sense, it won’t cost you any vital organs — or your life’s savings to start scoring leads and raise your real estate investing business profile online.

Got Tips? You Could Win Free Bootcamp Excursion with Than!
Share your single best real estate marketing strategy to find buyers on Than’s blog when you sign in to watch his videos and Win! Than will choose the most creative entry and announce his pick. Than says the winner will receive two tickets to his next four-day real estate marketing and wholesaling Bootcamp.

The most surprising entry I’ve seen so far calls for investors to scan the news for homes that police have been determined to be meth labs. Apparently, those owners are incredibly flexible and eager to make a deal. Though very creative, this business model may have some flaws ….

Do yourself a favor this weekend. Visit Than Here, get some useful free training and let your creative juices flow!

Bloomberg had some interesting news about real estate investors earlier this month. “As the U.S. housing recession enters its fourth year, there’s no sign of a recovery because speculators account for most of the rise in sales.”

What is Recovery?

This got me thinking: How do they define recovery? In terms of the housing market, how will recovery ultimately be measured? Price stabilization? Fewer foreclosures?  More accessible home loans? More reasonable terms? Housing Inventories that don’t match the number burgers served by McDonalds?

Though some of us may look great in tights and a cape — members of or proud and independent profession are ill-equipped to go back in time and undo the havoc that has been unleashed on or economy by unbridled Wall Street greed and Main Street folly, but at least we’re doing or part to clean up the mess.

According to a National Association of Realtors (NAR) report released at the end of 2008, there were 4.2 million homes on the market in November, falling from a record peak of 4.6 million in July. What does Bloomberg call that? A death rattle?

The REI Light at the End of the Tunnel

Most signs of recovery seem to relate back to confidence in the market. If real estate investors are out there in the trenches, securing financing and taking chances on houses that the mainstream has written off as blight, aren’t we leaders on the road to recovery?

According to the FDIC, half of all U.S. purchases in November were foreclosures, and at the end of Q3, banks owned a record $11.5 billion of repossessed homes.  What do these data tell us?

Can Our Efforts Turn the Tide?

While much of the nation is sitting on the couch, watching the news and wondering why their credit cards suddenly stopped working, and lenders continue panhandling  Congress for their next financial bottle of Night Train, we’re out there in droves,sweating real bullets, replacing miles of copper wire that’s been gutted from abandoned (bank-owned) properties, finding homes for abandoned pets, painting, landscaping and committing other wanton acts of rehabbiness.

These efforts aren’t just entrepreneurial wizardry, they’re American in spirit. And it’s going to take a lot more of where that came from in every every economic sector to get this train back on the tracks.

If We Can’t Spur Recovery, How Can We Trigger the Next Crash?!

While the media may be slightly more reluctant than banks to give credit where it is due heading into 2009 with a fresh, new federal administration, this Bloomberg article does raise an interesting point about our mighty force in the rapidly evolving housing market.

Robert Shiller, father of the popular Case-Shiller real estate price index and current Yale University professor told Bloomberg: “You don’t have [the market] in strong hands, you have flippers. These speculators are preventing the market from crashing now, and when they get out, it could fall again.”

Is it just me, or is it ironic that the same article that prematurely credits us for the next crash gives us none when it comes to setting the recovery wheels in motion? Read the article for yourself and let me know what you think.

Join Us @ GaryBoomershine.com

Stay tuned for tips on using Google for free and effective online lead generation, a step-by-step guide for finding the best probate real estate deals in your market … and how A&E TV network’s “Flip this House” star Than Merrill just added REI Spy to his already illustrious resume.

Be the First to Know

Sign up either here or on the main page at GaryBoomershine.com and you’ll get the best this industry has to offer in real estate news, real estate marketing, real estate training systems, and all the creative real estate ideas that drive success in this business. Members also get exclusive access to compelling multimedia content and jaw-dropping discounts!

REI ALERT: Don’t Touch That Dial!

Tune in at Noon EDT for Mike Collins’

REIWired All-Star Internet TV Network Debut Bash

Stay Tuned to this Channel for ALL the Winning Details!

In a matter of hours, Mike Collins is launching the widely anticipated REIWired.com Internet television network and Than Merrill is one of more than 20 real estate superstars who are headlining Mike’s special lineup.

Building up to this awesome launch, Mike has been sharing hours of highly inspirational and educational videos online. He’s even smashed a real TV to make a statement about how much time and money most of us squander by sitting in front of the ‘boob tube” hoping one day our lives will suddenly improve.

In Mike’s final pre-launch video, Yale graduate, NFL Veteran, A&E TV network star of “Flip this House” and real estate entrepreneur extraordinaire Than Merrill discusses his play for glory as a real estate investor.

Than’s career as a mega-successful real estate wholesaler and rehabber had shocking start. “My first wholesale deal was singing with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as a seventh round draft pick for $20,000,” Than says. But after a moment of paralyzing hesitation quickly ended his football career, he applied a major life lesson to his new career in real estate.

“In the beginning, I didn’t know jack, so I went to a seminar,” Than recalls. “They were pitching and I was buying. Everything they were teaching me was new. You’ve never seen a guy so excited. I walked away with 12 courses, called my business partner and told him we were going to be rich!”

At first, Than’s business partner was a little skeptical about the cost of all the training he had purchased. Than says that at the time, they were over-leveraged with their rental properties and expenses. But they realized that they would have to put what they learned from their training into swift action to beat the odds.

Tackle Your Opportunities in 2009
Now, Than tells a different story. “My focus is on real estate marketing. I’m a wholesaler and a rehabber. We do both. It’s split down the middle,” Than says. Though his business is structured to profit from wholesaling and rehabbing, because it is diversified and has built-in multiple exit strategies, Than’s real estate investment business has the flexibility to respond to market demands.

“This business is about knowledge and business systems. You can’t just hope that one day a million dollars lands in your mailbox,” Than says. “You’ve got to reach out for opportunities and then run with them.” Especially when working in today’s real estate markets, hesitation is a fumble from which your business may not recover because it can keep you from discovering what will work best for your business.

Perfect Your REI Game
“When the market is bad, we wholesale a little more because it’s a safer niche to be in. But when the market was good, we were rehabbing 80 percent of the time and wholesaling 20 percent of the time,” Than explains. “Right now, we’re making a lot more money on wholesaling.”

Than believes that adaptation to changing market conditions and the speed with which you implement ideas are the keys to ongoing success in his business. To thrive, Than says, “Your niche needs to adapt. If you can put what you learn into motion, you’ll always succeed.”

Take This Ball and Run With It
For more of Than’s remarkable story and unique insights about how you can overcome any adversity, watch this video. It’s not too late to catch up on all of the great videos in Mike’s pre-launch series for REIWired Internet TV. Just sign in and Mike will send you hours of videos to help you make your best plays in 2009.

This Launch is going to be huge! Be sure to join Than, Larry Goins, Preston Ely, Cris Chico, Steve Cook, host Mike Collins and all of your favorite REI celebrities for history in the making! Just Tune in Thursday at Noon EST.

I wanted to share with you this funny and inspirational video to help you kick off your New Year with a real bang! And what better way to do that than with wholesale real estate genius Mike Collins, his giant hammer and a pair of safety glasses?

It’s going VIRAL!

This video looks like Mike has lost his mind - - but clearly not his sense of humor. You’ve got to see how he rang in the New Year. It’s hilarious- -especially if you’ve got kids and pay a monthly cable bill! Even if you’re not active in RE right now, you’ve got to see this video. You’ll never look at your TV the same way again!

Not only does Mike handle a hammer like a pro, he makes a great point . . . one that hits close to home for anyone who ever has wondered where to start to affect positive changes in their lives without spending a dime! In fact, many of us could save over $1,000 per year by following Mike’s comedic lead. (Though in my case, it would bea mightly long year with the kids - -and possibly my wife not talking to me.)

If you like what Mike’s got to say, sign up for the two hours of strong content videos in Mike’s free Internet video series: “Insider’s Guide to Quick-Start 2009.” His 24 years of experience as a wholesale real estate entrepreneur and straight-shooter approach really make this training as interesting as it is educational.

I just watched another awesome hour-long video, and I was so riveted by Mike’s presentation, I totally forgot to eat lunch! With this video series, Mike is really delivering a stimulus package you can count on! Before I head off to NOT eat that burger and fries I’m craving, I wanted to give you a taste of Mike’s real estate investor’s food for thought. I pulled this info from my own personal notes.

The future of this industry belongs to the wholesaler, Mike says. And in this game, the person who finds the inventory, finds the best deals. Here, a 30-to-50 percent slice of each transaction goes to the wholesaler, only with less work than is required with other approaches.

Five Tips for Creating your Own Economic Stimulus Package

Here are five tips from Mike to whet your appetite for What’s Working in 2009. There’s plenty more where this came from. All you have to do is Sign Up Here to get access to this rich content.

1. Know Your Market: Develop an in-depth knowledge of the players in your local marketplace. Shop for qualified buyer leads at auctions, for example. But perhaps most importantly, learn how to use direct mail marketing to save while you fill your pipeline with premium leads.
2. Stop Elephant Hunting: Shift your perspective and business model so you see houses as commodities rather than as homes you might want to inhabit. Three bedroom houses in blue-collar neighborhoods tend to be winners, Mike says.
3. Learn About Values: Both wholesale values and retail values are important for you to know in your local markets. Look at previous transaction data and comps for an overview. Mike’s got lots of innovative tips to help you get a professional real estate marketing handle on these data. Developing this knowledge is absolutely mandatory to prime your business for success in this and every year..
4. Explore Direct Real Estate Marketing: In this arena, it’s essential that you develop the ability to quantify and calculate your ROI & maintain your creativity. Early on in his career, Mike says that postings in laundromats and even flyers he sent through a local pizza delivery operation helped give him a boost in this business. It also made him realize the true value that a constant flow of leads could bring to his business.
5. Find your Niche: Both in your local markets and in your overall investment strategy.. To find success, you’ve got to first get a grasp on what’s working in your local target areas.(Realtors call these niches “farms.”) With some persistence and diligence, the opportunities will become increasingly more apparent with ongoing focus on your market.

Now that we all know about Mike’s plans and strategy for the New Year, what about you? What have you decided to do differently in 2009? Whatever it is, aim high and stay strong. Remember: This is your year!

As the economy, troubled job markets and the credit crunch push a growing number of homeowners towards foreclosure, pressure has mounted for policymakers to implement home loan modification programs and policies to curb the foreclosure epidemic’s spread. So far, top-level efforts to help homeowners avoid foreclosure appear to be failing, but bad news for homeowners and banks may trigger a short sale renaissance for real estate investors in the New Year.

Is “Hope for Homeowners” Hopeless?
In July, Congress passed a $300 billion Hope for Homeowners program which was supposed to help an estimated 300,000 homeowners avoid foreclosure when it took effect in October. Fortune reports that only 321 applications to the “Hope for Homeowners” program have been completed. And the Department of Housing and Urban Development says that the costly program has so far produced zero loan workouts. Some say that the heavy stakes for banks has crippled the plan.

Loan Modifications Lead Homeowners to Speedy Re-Defaults
Although a lot of folks are saying that reworking mortgage terms is the silver bullet in stemming the foreclosure tide, but prevailing evidence to the contrary shoots that idea down with a vengeance.  If loan modifications are anything in today’s rough and tumble real estate markets, they’re a boon to pre-foreclosure and short sale investing.

U.S. Currency Comptroller John Dugan announced in December some interesting data from the latest quarterly Mortgage Metrics report from the U.S. Office of Thrift Supervision which tracks mortgages and modifications for Nearly 35 million loans worth more than $6 trillion, or about 60 percent of all first-lien mortgages including prime, Alt-A, and subprime mortgages, and using standardized definitions for loan modifications.

Here are some remarkable data from the U.S. Office of Thrift Supervision’s 2008 Mortgage Metrics reports:

• More than half of the mortgages that were modified in Q1 2008 again became delinquent within six months.
• Three months after individual loan modifications, nearly 40 percent of the borrowers’ mortgages were more than 30 days past due.
• Within six months of modification, the re-default rate hit 53 percent.
  Eight months following mortgage modification, the number of re-defaults rose to nearly 60 percent.

Policymakers Continue to Target Foreclosure Epidemic in 2009
State and federal lawmakers — and other officials convening in the New Year are gearing up to take action to slow the foreclosure process. These efforts, combined with a heightened sense of cooperation from banks who’ve been hard-hit in the economic crisis will shine a new light on pre-foreclosure and short sale deals as we move into the new year.

Massive Profit Potential for Short Sale Investors
Amid so much shifting activity in other real estate market segments in 2008, popular investor focus strayed briefly from pre-foreclosure and short sale deals. But with the current national trend towards slowing and perhaps suspending foreclosures, all levels of pre-foreclosure and short sale deals are likely to generate millions of dollars for savvy real estate entrepreneurs in 2009.

Don’t Be a Sucker: Get the Facts Before you Invest
To get the lowdown on safe strategies for investing in short sale and pre-foreclosure real estate, join GaryBoomershine.com using the yellow fields on the right side of this page or on the main page of GaryBoomershine.com.

In the Chinese Zodiac, 2008 is regarded as the “Year of the Rat.” Those who bet on Wall Street are likely to agree. Some pundits however, and a great many more investors are recounting the most stellar mistakes of the year with a rueful cringe. Perhaps we’ll all fare better in 2009. This Chinese “Year of the Ox” is aptly named for the heavy load we’ll likely be carrying in our nation’s journey toward economic recovery.

Here are some of the more memorable blunders of the year, many of which are reported in Fortune’s “21 Dumbest Moments in Business 2008.”

1. Apple’s “Think and Glow Rich” App for Entrepreneurs: The geniuses at Apple have made a silk purse out of a dismal economy with the iPhone and its affordable interactive applications and games.  Most iphone apps cost around $5 and many are about as useful to enterprise as pet rocks. But this story may as well be torn from a chapter on psychic ability from Napoleon Hill’s century-old capitalist manifesto: “Think and Grow Rich.” Apparently, a stealth developer penetrated Apple’s channels with an application called “I am Rich” that sold at Apple’s store for $999.99. Eight users apparently bought the app, which produced nothing more than a glowing ruby-red image on their screens before Apple caught on to the hoax pulled the plug on their idreams.
2. Hopeless for Homeowners: In July, Congress passed a $300 billion “housing rescue plan” aimed at preventing an estimated 300,000 foreclosures when the plan took effect in October. Fortune reports that a mere 321 applications to the “Hope for Homeowners” program have been completed. And the Department of Housing and Urban Development says that the costly program has so far produced zero loan workouts.
3. Don’t Point that Bazooka at Me: When Mortgage servicing giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac hit the pavement in July, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson convinced Congress that a federal funding boost would fix the problem. “If you’ve got a squirt gun in your pocket, you may have to take it out,” Paulson told them. “If you’ve got a bazooka and people know you’ve got it, you may not have to take it out.” Although lawmakers bought into the metaphor, in September, massive declines led the Treasury Department. Now the gun is pointed at American taxpayers.
4. The Man Who Would Be King: Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson’s three-page, $700 billion economic bail-out plan for Wall Street that included less transparency than former mafia kingpin John Gotti’s tax returns.
5. The Primetime Bailout Bonanza: Congressional debate and subsequent beleaguered approval of Paulson’s plan was a circus sideshow of its own. The 450-page final bill they approved contained more sugar and lard than a Paula Deen fruitcake. While the plan did a miraculous job of preserving Paulson’s ambiguity about how the money would be spent, provisions extending tax breaks for toy arrows and wool products are among the few aspects of the Bail-out that were comprehensible to the peanut gallery.
6. Real Estate Entrepreneurs Succumb to Fear: Amid the softening economy, and crises on Wall Street, many real estate investors lost their shirts in 2008 for one simple reason: They failed to execute strategies that are calibrated to meet the changing demands of today’s markets. Too often, when the entrepreneurial belt gets tightened, real estate marketing is the first budgetary item for cutbacks when it should be the last. Without consistent and effective real estate marketing, the “Big Picture” fades and even potentially profitable businesses wither up and die.

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