Income for Life

The Income for Life Preschool Project!

In a recent Income for Life newsletter, I wrote about our special project to build a pre-school for under privileged children. We have actually been working on this project for several months behind the scenes. In fact, we are over half way towards reaching our goal! 

Here is the article that I wrote for our newsletter:

Let’s Help Children for
Generations to Come by
Building a Preschool Together

In this special article, I’m going to ask for your help on a very exciting project. We would like to build a small preschool for under-privileged children. For many of us, we are very lucky to live where we have running water, secure homes, schools, and public services. This not the same for others, and we can make a difference in the lives of many families by working together!

Income for Life would like to sponsor a preschool through RoomToRead.org. Here is an excerpt from the organization’s Web site:

“Adequate schools are often scarce in the rural areas of the developing world, a factor that contributes to continuing poverty and lack of economic development. It is not uncommon for young children to walk several hours each way just to attend school. Many of the schools that do exist are often ramshackle collections of crumbling bricks, loose sheet metal and dirt floors. Although these structures are no longer safe for children, they continue to be used because the community has no alternative.”

It’s hard to believe, but it’s true. Together, we can literally build a new preschool. According to RoomtoRead.org, a donation of around $25,000 would build small school in one of these under- privileged areas. I have personally pledged $8,000 towards this project. Many of the Income for Life real estate professionals have also pledged money to this project. As I write this article, we have already raised around $12,000 toward our goal.

We need your help to finish our Income for Life Preschool. Would you be willing to donate to have a small preschool built? How many lives could we touch through this project? Any donation amount would help!

Here is additional info from RoomToRead.org:

“Through our School Room Program, Room to Read partners with local communities to build several types of schools to meet specific needs of each village and culture …

One of our main focal points is to provide access to preschool. Educational studies demonstrate that early learning makes a significant and positive impact in the educational development of young students. In addition, preschools offer an organized learning environment in which small children can be nurtured.”

Imagine all of the kids we could help– together!

   

I really do need your help to make this dream come to reality!

Our first decision is where to build our Income for Life Preschool. Later in the week, I'll add a post with our choices. In this post, I plan on allowing you to vote for the location. The location with the highest votes will win! In addition, I hope to provide an updated list of folks that have helped out with a donation to our project. I'm very thankful to these folks for their help and support!

If you would like to make a donation, please Trish in my office an email! She can be reached at: [email protected]

Stay tuned to place your vote!

Rob Minton

How to Teach Your Children to Be Financially Independent

Last night, I spoke at a meeting for the Cleveland Income for Life Members. The topic of my presentation was:

"How to Teach Your Children to be Financially Independent"

After the meeting, several members came up and asked me for copies of my presentation. Unfortunately, the presentation wasn't recorded. One member asked me to give the presentation to her church. I was actually taken back by the response I received. It seems like my presentation struck a chord with parents.

Driving home I wondered if other members would be interested in seeing this presentation. If enough other members were interested, I thought that I would create a webinar and do the presentation online. If this is something you might be interested in, please send a fax to my assistant Trish at 440-918-0347. Simply include your name and contact info with a note saying "I'd like to see Rob's Presentation!"  If we receive enough interest, I'll figure out how to turn it into a webinar for you! We will then notify those of you who faxed my office with details of the webinar.

Oh, and here is the video tour that we filmed at one of our member's homes. I promised that I would upload this for you this week! If you recall, I recently added a video interview with Julie O'Neil about her 3rd Income for Life investment. This video tour (below) is actually pretty bad. I'm terrible at this. The Seller of this home waxed the hardwood floors right before I filmed the video. The floors were like ice. I'm not kidding. When I'm upstairs, you can hear that I'm out of breath. This is because I had to concentrate climbing the stairs so that I wouldn't fall. On the way down the stairs I almost fell. You can probably hear it in my voice, too!

As you watch the home tour, feel free to laugh at me. At least I can provide some entertainment for you! However, don't miss the real reason for the video, which is to see an Income for Life Money Tree. This home will provide monthly income to Julie and her family. It will also provide an attractive profit check when her tenant buys the home from her in the next year or two. At the end of the tour, I summarized the profits created on this home for you.

Here is the video - enjoy:

Rob Minton

Hello All You Americans, Tom From Canada Here...

Image (Inland Empirical) - Teeth Whitening in a Mall

Every time I travel down from Toronto to the U.S. I pick up a new reason why the U.S. economy rocks.  This time I was in Nashville, Tennessee, for a Dan Kennedy marketing whiz bang super conference and the mall next door had the best shopping I've ever seen.

Now there's 2 things you should know about me:

1. I hate shopping.

2. I hate malls.

Big time.

But here's what had me in awe and made me actually want to go back several times during our stay.  There were tons of people in there shopping.  There were tons of people get massages.  There was a line-up at the Tony Roma's rib joint.  There were people walking around with bags of freshly purchased stuff in their hands.  There were boats rolling out of the Bass Pro Shop.  There was money flying every where it seemed. 

There was a guy lying down in the middle of the mall who had paid to have his teeth whitened and some laser beam thingy was stuck in his mouth.  And there was even a lady PAYING good money to breath in oxygen from a tank.  Just think, last time I checked you could get a whiff of the stuff for free but someone was paying to have little hoses stuck up her nose.  Nuts, but I almost paid to do it myself (just for the photo opp I swear!).

So why I am sharing this with you?  Because to a big city Canadian (the Toronto area has about 5 million people so don't get me started about how we're small time up here ok) this little town of Nashville seemed to be ignoring CNN.  People were spending money like it was going out of style.  From watching your news up in Canada we all believe you guys are hiding at home stashing cash under your mattresses.

And then my wife runs into a Realtor who explains she can't keep up with business.  She's dealing with a lot of foreclosures but she's busy with people snapping them up.  Her bank can't keep up with her apparently.

The next day I fly back home and turn on CNN.  And I hear all the negative stuff the Lou Dubbs or Dobbs or whoever is spitting out and it seems like the sky is falling.

But what I just witnessed doesn't match what I'm hearing coming from good old Lou's mouth.

And then I got thinking....maybe my perspective, being from out of the country, is making this more clear to me.  Why is the U.S. media opposed with broadcasting fear/doubt/uncertainty to you guys?  And they're airwaves reach us so everyone up hear basically thinks things are falling apart in your neck of the woods.   

But then I flash back to my Nashville experience and it doesn't add up.

Us Canucks are looking at the U.S. real estate like it's a blue light sale at K-mart (now I'm really dating myself).

Now...

I've been around long enough to know that spending a few hours in a mall doesn't give me a degree in macro economics.  My father lost a lot of money on a flip during the heavy real estate crash and recession in the early 90's....so I've seen a few horror stories up close.

But from my perspective there are obviously pockets in the U.S. where things have turned.  And I'm sure their are communities that are still suffering.  But to paint everything with the broad strokes that CNN seems to be using can be misleading.

Real Estate is a game that is different community-by-community and street-by-street.  You need to find the people in your neighborhood that are the local experts.  This is the time people like Trump make big money!  My money says he's out there buying right now, not selling.

So the next the talking CNN heads get you dizzy about what is or isn't happening maybe it's time to start ignoring them and doing your own research.  Time to look out for #1 by being your own news source.  Hit the streets, find the investors in your area making money right now.

Here's something I bet CNN doesn't report...

Ready for it.

It's good.  Real good.

I always hear how the Canadian economy is solid and moving along really well.  Which it is.  The new found hunger for oil in Alberta and corn in Saskatchewan is doing wonders for us up here. 

But you know what.  Even while our economy is humming along very well do you know which country has a LOWER unemployment rate than us?

Guess.

The U.S.

Funny eh?  Bet CNN isn't reporting that little gem. 

From my understanding the rates are calculated with slight differences but it's definitely an interesting little note, don't ya think?  Amazing how interesting details are often ignored.

If you guys wait too long to figure this out all your neighbors will be Canadians who picked up some great deals on prime real estate.  And trust me, you don't want to be surrounded by us all day...you'll have to listen as we explain how we invented the telephone, baseball, basketball and hockey...and how our Canadian Loonie (dollar) is on par with your buck.  Not fun I'm sure.

Is it perfect smooth sailing ahead, no, never has been, never will be.  Does the U.S. have to adjust to a rapidly changing global economy, yes. 

Is this the time to pick up some good U.S. real estate investments?  My magic 8 ball says "affirmative".

Will the masses follow this advice?  No.  More reason for you to do your homework and plow ahead.

Until next time...

Tom Karadza
Income for Life Toronto
www.TheRealEstateRenegades.com

Smart investing idea profiled in Money Magazine, but the author chickened out!

Finally, an article in Money Magazine about buying real estate NOW!

Typically, financial magazines advise their readers to buy mutual funds. However, in the April 2008 issue of Money Magazine, Jean Chatzky wrote an article titled:

"Now's the time to hunt for a vacation home."

In her article, she indicates that she is considering a second home purchase right now because of the recent dip in pricing in beach and vacation areas. Her reasoning is as follows:

1) The market is soft in vacation markets here in the States

2) Mortgage rates are now down to 2004 levels

I couldn't agree more. Early in 2007, I purchased a 3 bedroom, 2 batch condo in Myrtle Beach. My wife and I successfully rented our new vacation condo on a weekly basis throughout the summer of 2007. We made a few mistakes and learned a great deal.

This year, compounding our lessons from last year, we increased the weekly rent by 20%. As of today, our condo is pretty much booked for the entire summer with substantially higher weekly rents. I believe we have one remaining week available in June. This remaining week will be rented by the end of April.

When we purchased our ocean front condo, I negotiated an attractive price. Today, I could probably buy the same condo for $30,000 less. Am I mad? No.

Why you might ask?

Well, this investment is long-term for us. When our kids head off to college, in about 13 years, we plan to sell this condo and buy a true retirement home for ourselves. I plan to use the cash flow generated from the investment to pay off the mortgage. Today's price doesn't impact us in the slightest. As long as our condo rents out each week during the summer, we are happy as could be.

Now, as an investor, I'm actually thinking of buying a second condo in the exact same complex because of the drop in market prices. I see the decline as an opportunity. Why wouldn't I? Our weekly rents are up 20%. Our first condo easily rented throughout the summer. We have learned a great deal already from our first condo. Prices are down. Interest rates are down. We could leverage our existing marketing and rent out two units, instead of just one. This would lead us to higher net profits on the second condo.

All of this means that my risk has been decreased.

I now can see having two condo's paid for when our kids go to college. What kind of retirement home would we be able to afford by selling two ocean front condos? I plan on paying CASH for our retirement home. If you stop and think about it, our retirement home will be FREE to us, because our weekly vacationers paid for our condos.

Back to the Money Magazine article...

At the end of the article Jean Chatzky writes:

"I have more research to do.... I'll do some off-season visiting and keep my eyes open. And my credit score high."

She has decided not to buy now. She chickened out... This is typical from the "wanna be" investors. They research, they study and they actually "see" opportunity. But then they hesitate. Down the road, they then kick themselves for not buying.

Not me. I don't hesitate.

I have learned that opportunity only knocks once. Opportunity doesn't wait for you. You either take advantage of it, or you regret.

Refer to the August 2007 Income for Life Newsletter for my article titled "How to Profit from Weekly Vacation Rentals" for how we rented our condo over the Internet. In this article, I explain, in detail, everything we did to advertise and rent our first vacation condo. This newsletter can be downloaded from the Income for Life Member's Only website.

Also, if you're thinking of buying a vacation property yourself, contact your Income for Life center. They can connect you with experienced Income for Life Wealth Coaches with access to fantastic deals in several vacation hot spots including: South Carolina, Florida, Arizona, California, Alabama (Gulf Shores), Colorado, New Jersey and more.

Rob Minton

Rob Minton Interviews Income for Life Member Julie O'Neil

Late last week, we shot an impromptu video interview with Julie O'Neil. Julie is an Income for Life Member in Cleveland, Ohio. The video was taken at one of Julie's Income for Life investment properties. We also took a video tour of the home. I plan to have that video for you next week.

The interview was filmed by Mark Koesnter, who works with the Cleveland Income for Life Center. The video tour of the home was filmed by me! I include this information, because we are not professional videographers!

I know what you're going to say after watching the videos - "Don't quit your day job!"

While videoing the home, I almost fell down the steps. I think you'll be able to hear it in my voice. Watch for it next week!

Here is the first part of the video for you to watch now:

If you are not a member and would like to apply for membership, click here.

Stay tuned for the video tour of the home next week!

Rob Minton

Grandmother's advice - continued from a Tree Grows in Brooklyn

This post includes some great advice from the book "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith. See my first post titled A Tree Grows in Brooklyn before reading this post!

Here is a small excerpt from the book with the rest of Grandmother's advice to the new mother. She said...

"Before you die, you must own a bit of land - maybe with a house on it that your child or your children may inherit. Katie laughed (the new mother) "Me own land?" A house? We're lucky if we can pay our rent."

Today, around 70% of us own our homes. This was considered a luxury back in the 1800s. We are very lucky compared to previous generations. Unfortunately, many people don't feel this way. Above I underlined something important - "your children may inherit." What are your children going to inherit?

The Grandmother continued...

"For thousands of years, our people have been peasants working the land of others. This was in the old country. Here we do better working with our hands in the factory. There is a part of each day that does not belong to the master but which the worker owns himself. That is good. But to own a bit of land is better; a bit of land that we may hand down to our children...that will raise us up on the face of the earth."

"How can we ever get to own land? Johnny and I work and we earn so little. Sometimes after the rent is paid and the insurance there is hardly enough left for food. How could we save for land?"

"You must take an empty condensed-milk can and wash it well."

"A can...?"

"Cut off the top neatly. Cut strips down into the can the length of your finger. Let each strip be so wide... Bend the strips backward. The can will look like a clumsy star. Make a slit at the top. Then nail the can a nail in each strip, in the darkest corner of your closet. Each day put five cents in it. In three years there will be a small fortune, fifty dollars. Take this money and buy a lot in the country. Get the papers that say it is yours. Thus you become a landowner. Once one has owned land, there is no going back to being a serf."

"Five cents a day. It seems a little. But where is it to come from? We haven't enough now and with another mouth to feed...."

"You must do it thus: You go to the green grocer's and ask how much are carrots the bunch. The man will say three cents. Then look about until you see another bunch, not so fresh, not so large. You will say: May I have this damaged bunch for two cents? Speak strongly and it shall be yours for two cents. This is a saved penny that you put in the star bank. It is winter, say. You bought a bushel of coal for twenty-five cents. It is cold. You would start a fire in the stove. But wait! Wait one hour more. Suffer the cold for an hour. Put a shawl around you. Say, I am cold because I am saving to buy land. That hour will save you three cents' worth of coal. That is three cents for the bank. When you are alone at nigh, do not light the lamp. Sit in the darkness and dream a while. Recount out how much oil you saved and put its value in pennies in the bank. The money will grow. Someday there will be fifty dollars and somewhere on this long island is a piece of land that you may buy for that money."

"Will it work, this saving?"

"I swear by the Holy Mother it will."

We have what we have today because our ancestors sat in the cold in order to save for a bit of land. We have what we have today because our ancestors bought damaged carrots in order to save for a bit of land. We have what we have today because our ancestors sat in the dark at night in order to save for a bit of land.

What are we willing to do?

Today, we don't seem to be willing to sacrifice anything for a bit of land. Statistics show that the majority of people aren't saving nearly as much as they should. This is a sign that we don't care about owning a bit of land. We also don't seem to care about what our kids will inherit.

What are you willing to do to own a bit of land?

Rob Minton

P.S. If you're serious about owning a bit of land, you'll join us tonight for our IFL Tuesday FREE Conference call. The call will start at 8 pm. I'll be interviewing, Jim Loomis, an Income for Life Member from Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Simply dial 1-212-461-8613 from the comfort of your home. There is no need to register to participate in this FREE call!

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

As noted in April's Income for Life newsletter, I have been reading the classic book titled, "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith. I'm only about half way through the book; however, I stumbled across some very valuable advice that I thought I would share today with you.

The foreword of the book describes it as "a book about city life, a story about grinding poverty,
a tale of the struggles of immigrants in America."

When the family had their first baby, the new mother asked her mom for advice. The Grandmothers response was priceless. See for yourself...

"Mother, I am young. Mother, I am just eighteen. I am strong. I will work hard,
Mother. But I do not want this child to grow up just to work hard. What must I do,
Mother, what must I do to make a different world for her? How do I start?"

Great question, isn't it?

Here is the new Grandmother's response...

"The secret lies in the reading and the writing. You are able to read. Every
day you must read one page from some good book t your child. Every day this
must be until the child leans to read. Then she must read every day, I know
this is the secret."

Of all of the things I do in life, reading is the most valuable time I spend. The more I read, the more I learn. The more I learn, the more I earn. In almost every book I read, I get ideas that I then implement in my life.

I try my best to turn books and newsletters that I read into money. I typically read around 4 books a month. I usually flip flop between books depending on my mood at the time. Some books I read in entirety. Others I take bits and pieces from. I always read books with a pen and note pad in hand. When I stumble across something great, it goes down in my notepad. I then take a minute and I
ask myself the following question:

Where can I use this in my life? 

In addition, I underline sentences and I make notes in the margin of the book. I really, really read the book. My 4 year old daughter still asks me why I always write in my books. My response is - "It helps me learn." Hopefully this practice will help her learn as she grows older.

This little habit has been extremely valuable to me. Could it be valuable for you, too? If you have children, would Grandmother's advice be helpful for them?

A few years ago, I began asking an interesting interview question when hiring someone
to join one of my businesses. The question I asked was...

What was the last book you read?

You would be amazed to find out that the majority of people I interviewed couldn't
honestly answer this question. So, I'll ask you - what was the last book you read?
What is the last "real" newsletter you read?

If you're not reading wealth building books and newsletters on investing, your not
very serious about building wealth. You might think that your serious, but in
reality, your not.

Every single millionaire I know reads like I do.

Every single person I know that is struggling financially doesn't read like I do.

Stop and think about it. This one action may be the difference between wealth and poverty for you and your children. You have to read with a purpose. You also have to ask yourself the million dollar question, which I have included in this post.

See you at the bookstore!

Rob Minton

P.S. There is actually more to the Grandmother's response. I'll include the rest of grandmother's advice in my next blog post!

Interview with Credit Score Expert Stephen Snyder

Photo of Credit Score Expert Stephen Snyder

I was blown away by the feedback I received from last post series on how to improve your credit scores. I received emails asking for more information. This feedback prompted me to upload the recording of the interview I had with Stephen Snyder. Now this recording is a little old, but it is fantastic.

You probably haven't heard of Stephen Snyder, but he is the "real" deal. He is an expert on credit scores. His company teaches hundreds of credit repair seminars throughout the year. This will be evident as you listen to this interview. In fact, Stephen has written several books on how to improve your credit scores, including the one pictured here.

Here is the interview:

I realize improving your credit scores is not a fun job. In reality, it is a big pain in the rear end. It falls into the category of important, but not urgent. (Stephen Covey's book) Your credit score is one of your biggest assets, or liabilities, depending on where you rank. It either gives you investing power, or it takes away investing power. Even if you don't plan on buying a property in the near future, take time now to analyze and improve your credit scores.

Trust me, you'll be thankful you did. You never know what will happen in the future. You wouldn't believe the number of investors who tell me that they have missed out an fantastic deals because they couldn't qualify for a loan. Don't make this same mistake!

Also, if you are new to our blog, you might want to check out these posts, too:

How to Improve Your Credit Scores - Part One

How to Improve Your Credit Scores - Part Two

How to Improve Your Credit Scores - Part Three

Rob Minton