Wealth, Youth, Dignity and Pop Culture

Hello! David here.

I invite you, my dear reader, to join me on a quest for financial independence and freedom.

I was laid off from my most recent IT job on the 6th of August, 2009. So, beware of those ads you see on TV promoting IT-related certifications as a way of achieving job security. "Job security" is a myth in today's workplace. The only REAL security you have anymore is found between your own two ears: what you can develop for yourself as a way to market yourself and what you do to help the people who need you.

I have explored and am exploring a number of potential income-producing activities, including franchises and various investment opportunities. Specifically, I'm looking at real estate investing as well as conducting real estate transactions as a way of generating cash and income.

This past summer, I made the acquaintance - by e-mail - of a young fellow in Florida doing a booming business which is fueled by the current economic downturn: flipping pre- and post-foreclosure properties.

O.k. I know the first words out your mouth: "Flipping properties? In THIS economic climate? You've GOT to be JOKING!!!" I know, it does seem to contradict itself. If folks are having trouble keeping properties, how can other folks afford to buy them?

Well, the technique has come to be known as "flipping" short sales and REOs. In short sales, the entities holding liens on properties in or entering forclosure are convinced to take a steep discount on the notes they hold in return for liquidating them without the expense of going through the foreclosure, eviction and resale process. In the case of REOs (Real Estate Owned, known in the banking world as non-performing assests), its simply a case of acquiring the property from the lender below market and then reselling, again below market.

In either case, these are "A->B->C" transactions. For short sales, the "A" party is the current owner, the "B" party is you and the "C" party is the end buyer. For REOs, the "A" party is the lender/title holder, the "B" party is you and the "C" party is the end buyer.

If you are familiar with the concept of trading "paper" in the secondary market, then you'll likely quickly see that the concepts are not unfamiliar, though the motivations for selling those notes are rather different. In the case of a short sale, rather than endure the expense of foreclosure, eviction, public sale and holding costs (taxes, insurance, upkeep, etc.), the lien holder - especially the primary - is convinced to accept a steep discount, sometimes a VERY steep discount. Subordinate lien holders pose other challenges.

Now the mechanics of such a deal are rather involved, so I won't detail them here. Suffice it to say that the players are many, the negotiations are delicate and forms - documents AND protocols - to be followed are detailed and exact.

That's where this young man comes into the scene. His name is Nathan Jurewicz, and he calls himself, "The ShortSales Kid". His website is http://www.shortsalesriches.com/ .

Now, Nathan is young - late twenties as of this writing - and his appearance is ... well, less than professional is probably the kindest way to put it. To see him, find his channel on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/user/shortsalesriches .

When you first meet Nathan, he makes rather a rough first impression. He's also got a good bit of an attitude. Think of the tune, "If I Were A Rich Man" from "Fiddler On The Roof": "When you're rich they think you know it all." Imagine reflecting that from the "rich man's" point of view.

Of course, this is not unique to Nathan. In general, the young nouveau riche amplify the youthful attitudes of omniscience and invulnerability, taking them to new heights. This is just a fact of life in the modern world. May as well adapt to it and move forward.

However, Nathan's experiences in the realm of real estate have provided him with a wealth of knowledge specific to his field. He has some very valuable information that he provides in his course (every real estate guy has a "course", right?) called, "Short Sales Riches".

So, once you can get past the rough exterior and the attitude, Nathan is a veritable font of quite valuable information.

Fortunately for Nathan, he has a real, professional business man as a partner, Mr. Chris McGlaughlin. Chris presents a professional face on behalf of the partnership between himself and Nathan, co-founders of the "ShortSalesRiches" organization. This works in both their favors.

During my early encounters with Nathan his people, I also came into contact with Heather Hernandez who, along with her husband, is an early success story for Nathan and Short Sales Riches. Heather, like Chris McGlaughlin, presents a very refined, sensitive appearance - at least in e-mail - and should, in my opinion, work with Chris, and the two of them exclusively should present the public face of Short Sales Riches. Sure, Nathan's doing o.k. as it is, but if one could do much better, one probably would want to, wouldn't you?

Nathan identifies Heather's husband, Frank Hernandez as the head of his platinum coaching team. Frank is ... well, let's just say that he's a diamond in the extreme rough. He could use a PhD from Charm school, based on my experiences with him. He may know his stuff very well, but his comportment and presentation greatly limit the value of his knowledge, again based on my experiences with him to date.

Through leading many of his on-line webinars, Nathan has gained a fair amount of polish. So, there is hope. Perhaps he, Chris McGaughlin and Heather could work with Frank and smooth Frank's rough edges. My gut tells me that Frank could really shine as a coach and a mentor if he could learn to get out of his own way.

One very important lesson that has yet to come Nathan's way is that the most successful people in society also tend to be the most philanthropic. This is in keeping with the principle that from those to whom much is given by this world, much is expected in return.

In Nathan's own word, he is a "capitalist", though he may not fully grasp the word's full meaning. If he did, he might rethink using that title.

What does all this mean? Well, it means that if you're out of work and struggling to feed, clothe and house your family, don't come to Nathan - that's not his problem ... and he's right, really, it isn't.

Nathan and Chris both have said in recent webinars that they "don't want victims". Of course, just by saying that, what do they create? Yup - more victims.

Then again, what separates the "men" from the "boys" among the highly successful people is the quantity of what they give back for the good fortune with which they have been blessed.

Apologies if that bursts your bubble a bit.

Check back with this blog regularly and look for an update. It may take a while to put all this together, and I am still working on other income-producing projects.

I am genuinely making an effort to pull all this together to make it work so I can begin to become part of the solution to an economic problem that most people alive today have never seen before in their entire life.

May you have greater success and prosperity every day!

- David J Dachtera

*: Did you know that not every real estate sale agent is a "Realtor(TM)"? "Realtor(TM)" is a trademark of the National Association of Realtors. Real estate sales agents are not required to be members of the NAR; however, only members of the NAR have the right to use the title, "Realtor(TM)".

About the "Uninsured"

One of my local on-line newspapers ran an Associated Press article today giving statistics about the number of Americans who were without insurance at some point during the previous two calendar years (2007 and 2008).

I had to read the article to figure out if it was talking about homeowner's insurance, renter's insurance, vehicle insurance, flood insurance, life insurance, accidental death and dismemberment insurance, flight insurance, legal insurance or what. Turns out they meant health insurance.

Health "insurance". It's almost a punch line these days.

Suppose you are a service provider of some kind - plumber, electrician, painter, carpenter, etc. - and the only way your "customers" can afford to pay you is if they make regular periodic payments to belong to some group with deep pockets.

Other than health care, what profession could possibly survive under such conditions?

"Rapid" Bus Transit?

An article the Daily Herald on 14-Feb-2008 reports:
"Pace is forging ahead with plans to start a rapid bus transit program on the Stevenson Expressway. Expected to begin in 2009, Pace would likely start the service in Will County and offer stops at Plainfield and Joliet, agency officials said at a Wednesday meeting. The bus would travel on I-55 to downtown Chicago. The new service would be funded through federal congestion-relief dollars. Details of fares and schedules are still being worked out. Also in the works is a rapid bus transit service on Golf Road between Evanston and Elgin."

The trouble is, of course, that "Rapid" and "bus transit" are contradictory terms. Buses are subject to the same congestion delays as every other vehicle on the road. Designating existing lanes as HOV and/or Bus-only just exacerbates the existing congestion by reducing the lanes available for those whose commuting options are very limited.

These monies would be better used to expand existing rail service, such as extending the Rock Island service to Morris, the Heritage Corridor line to Wilmington, the UP West line to DeKalb and the BNSF service to Plano, and adding new rail service where none currently exists, including funding the STAR line and South-East service, acquiring land for new rail lines and track rights for Metra on existing rail lines, in addition to acquiring new rolling stock to service expanded commuter rail lines and expanding parking at existing Metra stations.

Look at any system map for Metra and the CTA Light Rail to see where the service gaps are - its VERY obvious. The Canadian National (formerly Illinos Central Gulf) line through the western suburbs could help fill one gap, if linked to the UP West line near Villa Park. Metra's Heritage Corridor also needs additional investment to add bi-directional commutes, both a.m. and p.m. as well as mid-day service, as does the Southwest Service which also needs weekend service.

Feel The Fear and Do It Anyway

The subject of this book came up last night at Toastmasters. I listened to it on tape when I was driving 54 miles each way to/from work some years ago. I'm thinking I should listen to it again because I seem to need help getting/keeping myself on track toward my goals.

I keep thinking my wife would benefit from it to help her overcome her fear of heights. Like most of us, she views avoidance as less painful than breaking through and enjoying what she's been missing by avoiding "the edges" and the best vantage points.

Dunno - just a very puzzling situation.

Still, in all, I need to get hold of the feelings that pass through me when I see my own potential. Right now, something about realizing that potential is paralyzing me, causing me to seek avoidances like watching movies on TV, participating in Usenet newsgroups or writing this blog.

In the past, I've captured the power within me and used it to raise myself up from a factory worker to an IT professional. I used it in high school, also: my junior year I performed in the talent show - a poor to mediocre performance, as I recall; my senior year, I produced/directed the talent show and received some very unexpected compliments on it.

I want to learn how to recapture my own personal power (yes, I have the Tony Robbins tape set!). Much of what lies ahead of us depends on me to provide for a comfortable retirement.