All Forum Posts by: Kevin Yeats

Robert could have also structured his compensation to the Realtor differently. Flipping the coin, Robert could have offered a small commission if the property eventually sold for the low figure (or range) and increased the commission as the sales price increased. Then both Robert and the Realtor would have made more money as the final sales price increased instead of the Realtor working for nothing if the price dropped below a certain figure.

The approach I just offered would require Robert to have a good sense of what the realisitic price would turn out to be. Prices change. Learn how to plan for price fluctuations and to incentivize people working for you.

I had a friend who owned & lived in a condo. The rented condo next door (& downstairs) caught fire. The fire dept. cut through my friend's unit to put out the blaze. My friend's unit only suffered smoke & water damage but that maxed out the insurance coverage. Everything in the house that was plastic had to be replaced.

I realize that this thread discusses the damage to structure not contents but think of all the plastic items inside a house.

The irony to my friend's story is the fire department was literally across the parking lot (less than a 9 iron away). The tenant never called them.

It is impossible to prove a negative.

If you accuse Mr. Nicklaus and Mr. Palmer of indiscretions, you need to provide positive evidence of these assertions.

Generally, put options and call options are financial instruments affiliated with or derived from other financial instruments (stock or bonds).

Call options allow the owner of the call to buy a stock at a predetermined price within a certain period.

Put options allow the owner of the call to sell a stock at a predetermined price within a certain period.

I buy a call on Microsoft which is currently trading at $25 per share. I think that Microsoft will soon trade at $35 per share. I pay $2 for the $30 call option which expires in 6 months. At anytime in that 6 months, I can execute the option and force someone else to sell their Microsoft stock to me at $30 (referred to as the strike price).

Obviously, I would not do so unless Microsoft traded above $30. If it trades at $40 per share, I buy it at $30 and make a $10 profit but I also have to deduct the $2 I paid for the option so my net profit is $8 per share.

If the option expires before the trading price is greater than the strike price, the option is worthless and I am out $2 for each option (usually sold in 100 increments).

Put options are sort of the mirror image.

The owner could have taken out a Reverse Mortgage several years ago. Many homes with RM's will end up owned by the bank after the owner passes especially in this economic environment.

[quote=Paul Beauchemin

On the other hand the "real estate is local" talk is quite true.

"Lord, give me a one handed economist. - Harry Truman

Mark, et al.

I thought I would share these steps in wealth management.

Any wealth management plan should address these 4 issues:
1) create and grow your wealth
2) protect and preserve your wealth
3) plan for the distribution of your wealth during your lifetime in the best ways especially considering taxes.
4) plan for the distribution of your wealth after your lifetime in the best ways especially considering taxes.

Obviously there are more details to a plan than outlined here. Email me for more details.

Mark, pick up a book or two on personal financial management. Since you have already ventured into real estate as a source of income and wealth, realize that some of the steps in standard planning will have to be modified. Realize that you face issues that people who work for corporations don't face - namely insurance issues and retirement savings plans. You also should address the issue of liquidity - what happens if you need a lot of cash all of a sudden? If your wealth is tied up in real estate, you can't access that wealth quickly (inlike financial assets like saving accounts and event stocks and bonds).

A $30 investment in a financial planning book is a good start.

I hope that helps.

The article indicates to me that lots of people seek no advice when making major financial decisions. Unfortunately, some lenders were willing to give these borrowers some rope.

I'm sure there is more to the story than the article tells.

I agree that this will be overturned.

I lived in a house with a flat roof while in my youth. The house was in the snow belt in Ohio . This meant that the snow accumulated on the roof. When it melted, the water pooled on the roof (slow run off). Yes, the roof leaked several years and required new ceilings inside.

Today, with mold issues, it may be much more of a problem.

One subsequent owner of my childhood home installed an inclined roof (among other changes).

In addition to talking with an insurance agent, talk with a builder & roofer about replacing the flat roof.

You are missing my point that coming to a conclusion based on one observation point (one law enforcement officer's recollections) is a poor way to establish a position on such an issue.

That would be like saying "I know a guy who tried fixing and flipping REO properties and lost a lot of money doing it. Therefore, no one should be allowed to fix & flip."