Another creepy matter. Some of you (hopefully all of you) received an email from ME a couple of weeks ago. If you didn't here it is:

Hello Everyone. I have some disturbing news.

A handout for a 2-day event THIS weekend in San Diego included my name, supposed signature & endorsement on the last page.

I DO NOT support this event & the SDCIA DOES NOT support this event either. My name & signature were forged!!!

I hope you do not attend. If you do go; LEAVE YOUR CREDIT CARDS & CHECKBOOK AT HOME!!! Protect yourself. They committed forgery just to get you there...

Can you tell I'm displeased?

I sincerely wish that you & your loved ones take the opportunity to enjoy the great weather this weekend!

An email with my picture & endorsement also went out! I didn't know about that either...

Actually, I ALWAYS tell people that go to a sales fest like that to leave their credit cards & check book at home. You should listen to all of the speakers & if you feel that you must own ONE of the courses; contact the event's organizer & buy it AFTER the event. Give yourself a couple of days to cool off.

People buy on emotion & justify it with logic. Many won't purchase if they have a "cooling off" period immediately afterward. Besides, we make most gurus seminars available to members to borrow from the SDCIA library. If you feel it's worthwhile, then go to the author & purchase it. Or go to the public library & check out books literally for free!

Just remember that if you attend a presentation, most of today's presenters are professional sales people or have been trained to think & present like a salesperson. They think in terms of converting to sales a high percentage of the audience; not educating them.

The SDCIA isn't concerned with sales; we don't take a pecentage of our speaker's sales. That's why everyone wants to speak to the group. Our philosophy is to put speakers in front of our group that teach first & then offer products for sale.

That philosophy is only shared by a few other real estate investor groups locally: North San Diego Real Estate Investors (www.nsdrei.com) in Vista, Investors Workshops (www.investorsworkshops.com) in the city of Orange & the Commonwealth Group in Anaheim. Attend their meetings if & when you can; I do.

I wish you... Intelligent Investing!!!

"4 Arrested In Alleged Foreclosure Scam"

That's the headline. Thanks again to Fred Eckert. At the April SDCIA meeting, Fred told us about a possible foreclosure scam. I mentioned that we all needed to step up to protect the integrity of our profession & make everyone aware that this was really a scam. Well...

Here's what Brent Carlson had to say & a link to the story:
"Take a look at this friends, Granting a property to a federal land grant will not escape a foreclosure. Note the company names Federal Land Grant Company, Land Grant Services and KBS Resources. If you've been doing any business with these guys stop now they have been arrested. If you've deeded one of your properties into this scheme I am sorry it looks like you are out of luck. Brent

brent has sent you a link: "4 Arrested In Alleged Foreclosure Scam - Money News Story - KNSD San Diego"
The link:
http://www.nbcsandiego.com/money/16367127/detail.html?taf=dgo

Augie Scampone added this link to same topic, different story:

http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/articles/2008/05/23/news/01foreclosure052308.txt

If you locate anyone that signed their property over to any of these groups, call the district attorney's hotline at 619-531-4475.

Keep an eye out for these creeps!

I wish you... Intelligent Investing!!!

Collateral Foreclosure Damage for Condo Owners.

I thank Augie Scampone for sharing this NY Times article with me. It's a very good article. It reveals all of the problems condo owners are now facing due to the foreclosure of their neighbors units.

I mentioned at the last meeting that I am working with the Veterans Housing Initiative (VHI) to find housing for disabled vets. The idea is to help provide housing for our disabled vets for the months prior to their discharge and for the next two years while they continue to receive treatment. An ideal place would be close to the Naval & VA Hospitals in Balboa Park as well as convenient to transportation.

This is a niche that is currently neglected; especially for non-married personnel. After discharge, the Veterans Administration evaluates every case in regard to the disability & how much of a monthly entitlement the vet will receive. This takes months, the vet doesn't receive ANY MONEY & sometimes the vets are forced to the streets as homeless!!!

We have currently placed four vets in the Smart Corner condominium project downtown. This has been ideal since a trolley stop is literaly right outside the building and is less than a mile from the hospitals. We are attempting to purchase ten units. I'll keep you abreast of developments... I'm not optimistic because I think their current prices are TOO HIGH! It's time to be creative; let's see if they go for it. If nothing else, it would give the Smart Corner project and our VHI great publicity!

Here's my answer to Augies email:

Thanks Augie. I've known about this consequence all along. I even brought it up to the donors. The idea is to help the disabled vets immediately. The vets are in dismal psychological conditions in their barracks with other disabled vets with the resultant depression & remorse. We've placed four vets in rented condos and have integrated them back into society with amazing results!

That's why I'm looking for condo projects of 10-50 units in foreclosure & perhaps unfinished. We would then control the project. I would put most likely put an investor into the project & have them rehab or remodel the project (there is grant money available). I would then have the military personnel to rent the units & have a foundation on the back side to sell the project to. Win-Win-Win.

Thank yous to Augie & Seth for their encouragement & help.

I wish you... Invest Intelligently!!!
Collateral_Damage_for_Condos_Owners.pdf

Ron LeGrand is teaching THIS SATURDAY May 10th in Los Angeles for FREE by himself!

Here's the story by my friend Steve Love:

Dear IRCA Friends-

Your read the above headline correctly. Due to some very late and unexpected events, Ron LeGrand will teach an all day event this Saturday, May 10th, 8 am –5 pm in Culver City. For those of you who know Ron, that’s enough said and we’ll see you there.

For others who don’t yet know Ron, a further explanation may be warranted. You may or may not know that Ron founded our group, the IRCA (Investor’s Resource Center of America) about 3 years ago. He chose my spouse and myself to run the group due to our success in the local market. He planned to meet with our group himself and train our members once per year. When it became clear that the time required to spend with all the groups in the 10 cities that he founded would be too great, he backed off and asked us just to run the group without him. Nevertheless, whenever I’ve seen him in the past 3 years, I’ve repeatedly nagged him to come train our group, but without any success. Then yesterday I heard that he’d be in Los Angeles this Friday on business. I immediately called Jennifer, his CEO and she got him on the line. I nagged him some more, but he didn’t think we’d have enough time to get the word out, locate a room and get the million little things done that are necessary to do in order to have such a training event. After some more nagging (maybe begging?) he reluctantly agreed. Maybe we don’t have enough time, but we’re going to give it our best effort!

He asked me to emphasize to you folks that he’s doing this for two reasons:
1) to get me off his back
2) to help our members in this so called “crappy” market. He intends to teach us how to deal in this market, how to adjust to it and most importantly how to PROSPER in this market. Unlike what the media says, this is the best buying opportunity we’ve had in a decade. It’s time to “make hay while the sun shines”.

You probably know that Ron is undoubtedly one of the best and most respected real estate entrepreneur trainers on the planet. He’s in such demand that he only speaks to very large groups of 300 or more. To get him to train our little group personally, all day and for FREE is unprecedented! I know this is very short notice and you may already have plans for this Saturday. Cancel them! You absolutely, positively MUST be at this event Saturday! To be able to gain his knowledge, ask him questions and even bring your own deals for his feedback in such a small intimate setting is a most rare privilege! BE THERE!

Here’s the deal: like all our General Meetings, this event is FREE and open to anyone. You may bring any guests, but each person must sign up in advance by calling our office at 818-678-6269 or fax us at 818-998-8064 and give us all the following information: 1)Name 2)your email address 3)Phone number 4)Fax number
5) mailing address. All 5 of these items are required. If you come on Saturday without registering first, you risk not having a seat. Seating for this intimate event is limited!! Get registered NOW!

Details: Check in will start at 7:00 am this Saturday, May 10th. We’ll meet at the Four Points Sheraton Hotel, 5990 Green Valley Circle (at Sepulveda), Culver City. Ron will start teaching promptly at 8am and will go all day until 5 pm. Ron will be the ONLY speaker. Refreshments will be provided. DO NOT miss this event!! I’m sure it won’t be repeated.

Sincerely,
Steve Love, co-director IRCA

P.S. I almost forgot. After I got off the phone with Ron, I asked his CEO Jennifer if she could supply some special FREE goodies for our group. After searching, she agreed to give everybody in attendance 1) a special CD on land trusts that they sell for $59.95, and 2) a brand new set of 10 special reports that’s so new they don’t even have a price for them yet.
Again, DO NOT MISS this event! Come meet the man who’s changed countless lives for the better, including Yours Truly. See you Saturday! Register Now at 818-678-6269 or fax 818-998-8064.

It's worth attending. I don't like his style but Ron has created many successful real estate investors.

I wish you... Intelligent Investing!!!

Just returned from participating in John Schaub's All-Star conference last weekend in Las Vegas. Wish you'd been there. Like WaiChung said to me: "I've had two headaches today." One was from listening to Peter Fortunato & all his great ideas & then from Clyde Wilson & his great ideas. Every speaker had great ideas. One of the best parts of the conference was the "cafe". John Schaub set up an entire room as a "real estate cafe" with a table for each speaker to sit at. You could get snacks & drinks, buy at the bookstore & sit down with each speaker at their table. Each speaker was supposed to spend time when they weren't speaking to sit at their table & talk with attendees. It was great!!!

I wish you... Intelligent Investing!!!