(By Kevin)

What's Going on In Your Head? 

Our quote of the month talks about creating our destiny and that all begins with our beliefs and thoughts.  The trouble is our beliefs may be based on what I call "stinkin' thinkin'".   Stinkin' Thinkin' are chains that bind us to where we are right now and keep us from where we want to be.

For instance, you're driving down the road and a car swerves in front of you. Where does your mind go?   That so and so, cut me off!   That driver is trying to hurt me!  That driver is trying to impose their will on me!

The truth is, what you witnessed was a driver who cut you off.  It is your belief system that gets your thoughts to add the other potential meanings to what you witnessed.  In truth, the driver may not have seen you, didn't mean to hurt you, or impose their will on you, they just made a driving error.  We all make driving errors and it would be a rare person who is making those errors to purposely hurt or infuriate the other drivers.

So our stinkin' thinkin' adds meaning, which may or may not be true, to what we see and experience every day.

For business, let's say real estate investors, can stinkin' thinkin' hurt us? It sure can!  Here's a couple of examples.

• You find a house that needs a lot of work, you've arrived at a price you think is fair due to all the work you will need to do.  Your stinkin' thinkin' kicks in and says things like "This owner will never accept that offer." "If the owner accepts this offer will I be able to raise the money to close in time."

The truth is you don't know if the owner will accept the offer not until you make it. AND you don't know if you'll be able to raise the money to close until you have that sweet deal under contract.

Does stinkin' thinkin' get in the way at 9 - 5 jobs, at church, or in families?  I should say so. 

• Suppose someone says something, you take it personally and are offended. Unless the statement the person made is directed right at you, you could be, and probably are, wrong in your interpretation of the statement.

The trouble happens when you don't seek clarification from the person who made the statement and you choose to be offended, even though they may never have intended to offend you.  Ask yourself this question.  "Have I ever offended someone when I really didn't intend to?"   Other people do that too.

Ever been afraid to ask the boss for the raise or transfer you'd like? Why?  Is it FEAR, (False Evidence, Appearing, Real)?  

Fear is often an emotional chain that is binds us from getting what we want.  

One thing I've learned over the years is that answer to a question that isn't asked is always NO. So if you ask you always have a better chance of a YES.

We all attach meaning to the things that are going on in our lives.  This is our truth!  I'm not saying don't make judgments just know when your judgment might be influenced due to stinkin' thinkin'.  For instance, how many of us have heard the voices in our head tell us we couldn't do something and then we actually do it?

I've heard many successful people say that the road to success is 90% mental and 10% hard work.  This is because once you believe you can do it and are driven to bypass any obstacles stinkin' thinkin' puts in your way, you'll figure out a way to get it done and it really won't seem that hard any more.

Mary Jane and I both recognize the need to recognize the stinkin' thinkin' in our lives and get past it so we can grow and prosper and help others do the same.  It is not something you can do easily on your own.  I have found that a good coach who will be very honest with you can be your biggest help. 

All hugely successful people I know have one or more coaches. These coaches help their students expand their thinking, see where they are making mistakes and so forth.  They may become a friend but they aren't hired to be your friend, they are hired to help you become what you hired them for.

Going back to our quote of the month.  Our beliefs and thinking have gotten us to where ever we are in life.  If you want to go somewhere else, you need different beliefs and thoughts.  So how are you going to do that? 

We recently met and spent a Saturday with Mr. Paul Finck.  That Saturday helped Mary Jane and I start to get rid of some of our Stinkin' Thinkin'.  We even spent a few moments with Paul one-on-one, he's a nice guy but more importantly a good coach, he got pretty direct with me a couple of times and helped me to identify some of my stinkin' thinkin'. 

Paul has a program called the Chain Breaker's Club that we have joined. If you would like to know more, click here.  

Industry News  

(by Kevin) 

Who is Funding $325B in Commercial Real Estate (CRE) Investing? 

Three to five percent of the broader $6.5 trillion IRA market or $195 billion to $325 billion was pumped into commercial real estate investing from self-directed IRAs. Read More Here. 

Will Housing Take Another Hit?

The market is giving us mixed signals. Consider the following:

•  Existing home sales rose 2.4% in September but compared to a year ago, September existing home sales were down 1.7%.
•  Unsold existing home inventory fell 1.3% in September and there is a 5.3 month supply at the current sales pace. A 6 month or more supply may be a sign of a housing slowdown. Inventory supply and days on market are indicators to determine your market cycle.
•  Single-family new home sales rose 0.2% in September however August's reading was modified to 466,000 units down from the initial reading of 504,000 units.
•  There is also a 5.3 month supply of new homes on the market.

Remember, all real estate markets are local. The area you conduct real estate investing in is probably different but now you know what indicators to pay attention to. Your local Multiple Listing Service (MLS) should be keeping these statistics.

Do Consumers Still Have Confidence?

• On the consumer front consumer prices rose 0.1% for a total of 1.7% over the last 12 months, excluding food and energy. The good news is gas prices are more than 10% down, at least in our area.
• Retail sales fell 0.3% for the week ending October 18 however sales are still up 2.1% over the last year.

Foreigners buying U.S. commercial real estate. 

The U.S. commercial real estate market still offers opportunity as evidence by the fact that foreign investors poured $85.4 billion in property purchases in the first half of 2014 as compared to $76.7 billion in the first half of 2013. Read more here. 

Laughs and Interesting Stuff 

(Kevin and Mary Jane) 

Two teenage boys were walking home after a Halloween party and
decided to take a shortcut through the cemetery just for
laughs.
 

Right in the middle of the cemetery, they were
startled by a tap-tap-tapping noise coming from the misty
shadows.

Trembling with fear they moved forward where they found an old man with a hammer and  chisel, chipping away at one of the headstones.

"Holy cow, Mister," one of them said after catching his
breath.  "You scared us half to death -- we thought you were a
ghost!  What are you doing working here so late at night?"

"My family are such fools!" the old man grumbled. "They misspelled my
name so I have to come back and correct it!  You'd think I could finally rest."

(so people will wonder what your up to AND its contagious)