Larry Schoelch just brought up on the SDCIA message board an idea that I applaud. That is, go to your local library & look for the real estate investing books on the shelves & check them out. Most of the classic RE investing books are there along with new ones. Talk about an intellectual goldmine! One doesn't have to spend thousands of dollars to get an education in real estate investing; it's free!!

Check it out...

I wish you... Invest Intelligently!

A.D. Kessler Remembered

The SDCIA lost a great friend in July. A.D. Kessler was the author of A Fortune at Your Feet" and the publisher of Creative Real Estate Magazine. Along with all that he encouraged and mentored many gurus to share their knowledge with us.

“How do you thank someone who has taken you from crayons to perfume?”

These lyrics from the movie and song “To Sir With Love” are so appropriate for the relationship of the San Diego Creative Investors Association members and A.D. Our group’s existence and the success of its members are a direct result of the help and guidance from our mentor, A.D. Kessler.

The SDCIA would have died in the early 1990s but for A.D. Our membership was down to twelve members and was declining every month! We went to him for help and A.D. patiently shared with us a system of what we needed to do to survive and to grow. We are currently the largest real estate investment and networking group in California and one of the largest in the country! Every month our meetings now draw between 300-500 attendees hungry for the knowledge that A.D. helped bring to us. And now we have members that are independently wealthy due to the education and relationships they made at the SDCIA.

“Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed them for a lifetime.”

A.D. Kessler taught us how to fish and enabled us to feed ourselves for the rest of our lives. And that is truly, To Sir With Love.

I wish you... Invest Intelligently!

I received this message about the Chicago Title's "Short Sale" workshops on Friday, August 24th:

We had such an overwhelming response to our first seminars that we already have the next scheduled! Our next short sale seminar will be:

Friday, September 21st
9:30am – 12:30pm
San Diego Convention Center
RSVP to: cttsdseminars@ctt.com Please do not have any clients call the Sales Department to RSVP. They must use the above email address.

We have space for 1,000 clients. Parking will be $8 per guest. Michelle Kinney is working on the flyer which we will have available for Friday’s seminar. Please send your flyer orders to her kinneym@ctt.com.

This is a great opportunity for you to contact all of your clients who missed out on the first seminar. If this seminar does not fill up within two weeks we will begin the email marketing campaign to guarantee that we fill up the seminar.

Shannon Melody
Chicago Title - Sales Assistant
2365 Northside Drive, Suite 600
San Diego, CA 92108
Direct: (619) 521-3488
Fax: (619) 521-3633

It's free if you're interested. And please remember that the SDCIA is not involved in any way with this event.

I wish you... Invest Intelligently!

This Friday Chicago Title will offer two FREE sessions of "Short Sale Secrets Revealed - from the INSIDE out!" at 8 & 11:30 AM in San Diego at the Ramada Inn, 5550 Kearny Mesa Road, San Diego 92111.

Contact:
Shannon Melody
Shannon.Melody@ctt.com
619-521-3488.

I'm making everyone aware of these workshops due to the very high interest in short sales at our meetings and these workshops are free to everyone. The SDCIA is not promoting these events and I don't know if anything will be offered for sale either.

Keep your eyes on the SDCIA "Upcoming Events" web page with other seminars & workshops. We've updated it recently and many new events are coming up soon... including this weekend.

I wish you... Invest Intelligently!

Countrywide Mortgage... TIMBER!!! Last week Countrywide, the nation's largest lender, used up it's credit line to fund INTERNAL OPERATIONS!!! That's because other credit markets refused to lend them money and their assets aren't generating enough PROFIT.

Countrywide was the leader in alternative financing. And in an atmosphere where 1 in 5 of the conventional loans funded in the first part of 2006 are in default; it's only worse for the alternative financiers. Unfortunately, they've funded too many bad deals without getting enough return on investment for the risks they took.

What they're doing right now is trying to survive... and I don't think they will. I don't believe that the Feds lowering the discount rate will help them. Countrywide looks like a prime candidate for BK with big players buying the portfolios at wholesale prices. And they're not the only lender in trouble!!!

Now where's the opportunity? Well in an effort to survive, I believe that Countrywide will become much more amenable to short sales, work outs & maybe buying these bad loans individually & in portfolios.

Be VERY CAREFUL of portfolios. They may contain nightmares. That's why I've shied away from them. However if you can purchase them at HUGE discounts; go for it!

I wish you... Invest Intelligently!

This month’s SDCIA speaker is Reggie Lal. Reggie will talk about investing in foreclosures.

Here’s his bio:

Reggie is a sophisticated investor with a myriad of experiences in his real estate portfolio. He has been a full-time real estate investor in Northern California and presently runs his RE business from Stockton, CA. Over the last two years alone, Reggie has completed more than 100 real estate transactions including: Trustee sales, Pre-foreclosures, Retail flips, Wholesaling, New construction of Single family homes, and more.

I know he’s speaking from experience because we’ve worked together. Reggie started investing in real estate in 1999 and now he’s retired. He works when & where he wants to. And now he’s sharing his knowledge with others. We made a goal earlier this year (& to each other) to create a seminar in our specialty. He beat me to it. He’s already taught a couple of seminars on foreclosures and short sales for the San Jose REIA group. And they gave him a grade of “EXCELLENT”.

Hope you take advantage of this opportunity.

I know of two other seminars this month:

I HIGHLY RECOMMEND the seminar in San Francisco on August 25-26 by John Schaub & Jack Miller. I would be there BUT…

I’m teaching a Beginning Calculator Class in Los Angeles on August 25th. Shucks!!! My next Beginning Calculator Class in San Diego will be Saturday September 29th.

If you want more information on these classes go to the “Upcoming Seminars” page of the SDCIA web site.

I hope to see y’all on Wednesday. Remember we also meet at Mimi's Cafe in Mission Valley on Mission Center Road on Wednesday from 4-6 PM before the meeting.