Tag Archives: kitchen

Happy Memorial Day…

A Tribute to the men and women that have served and sacrificed for each and every one of us…

I found this video on Youtube and spent a few moments in silence thinking about the men and women I’ve personally known – and the many millions that I have not known – that have fought on foreign lands for our freedoms. I also thought of the next generation getting ready to head overseas and my thoughts and prayers are with them…

Thank you for serving our country and preserving our freedoms… the very rights we have that allow us to build our businesses and live the American Dream. Continue reading

2010 Real Estate Investing Predictions

It’s been a year of mixed reviews for many people! Certainly, there were highlights, but many folks are happy to see 2009 ushered out and welcome 2010!
With the New Year – and new decade – there are going to be lots of changes to come in real estate investing, online marketing, information marketing, and business in general.

I know that lots of people are posting their thoughts, predictions, and opinions for the coming year! Here are just a few of my predictions for real estate industry – specifically for investors.

  1. Property Values Will Stabilize.
    We’re not going to see a huge change in property values this year. Many of the markets have bottomed out, or are close thereto. However, there is a lot of inventory that has yet to hit the market before we can start to see an increase in value. This will make it easier to evaluate properties and determine the after repair values as there’s less decline to calculate. However, there are still Continue reading

Giving Thanks and Moving Forward

Thanksgiving has always been one of my favorite holidays!

I remember back to when I was a child and we’d spend the day at my grandparents house. When we’d walk in the front door, the aroma of turkey and stuffing and pumpkin pie filled the air. I was always SO excited to get there.

Then, I would help my grandma in the kitchen. Usually she’d give me a task like preparing the salad (or something equally as “kid-friendly”). I’d help set the table with the fine china and I’d always sit in the same spot – right in front of the fireplace.

While the adults had their favorite cocktails, I had my orange juice with grenadine cherries inside my mom’s Shirley Temple glass or a German Beer stein! Continue reading

The Amazing Race: Real Estate Edition!

I know that rule #1 in real estate is not to get attached to a piece of property! However, when it’s your own home, the rules change! And that’s what happened to me.

I bought my home in Coral Gables back in 2003 and absolutely fell in love with it. It was an old spanish home with unique architectural elements and it was absolutely perfect for me. In fact, it even had a converted carport that I used for my office so that my work didn’t creep into my entire living space (as it has in my new home!)

In 2005, I bought another house… This time, in West Palm Beach a block from the water. The house itself was not my dream house, but I loved the location. I could even put my own sailboat in the water at the end of the street (which I never got around to). I decided to move to West Palm Beach because I was doing more real estate in the area and didn’t want to keep both houses as active residences. I did go back and forth for the first 18 months and just didn’t want to do it anymore. So, I rented it for just about a year and a half. Continue reading

How to Use "Language" to Influence People

My name is Bill Twyford. I’ve been in the business for little over eight years, and I’ve done almost 850 transactions. I’m very, very assertive. My specialty is communication–talking to homeowners and talking to banks.

So let’s start with some embedded commands. Embedded commands are patterns of language that bypass conscious reasoning and speak directly to the subconscious mind. Embedded commands influence people at the subconscious level. This allows you to direct people to take specific actions.

They will also have specific thoughts and will generally do whatever it is you want them to do. The subconscious is in a constant search for patterns. One command is not a pattern. You have to bombard your customer with command after command after command.

Your brain is always analyzing what’s going on around you. It’s trying to find similar things from your past and trying to line them up. The subconscious mind has stored millions and millions of conversations with other human beings. These conversations have become so routine, that the mind has virtually fallen asleep. Continue reading

Flipping Homes, House Flipping: What’s The Deal?

Flipping Homes… Flipping Houses… What is everyone flipping over?

In the past five years, you’ve obviously heard the buzz surrounding flipping homes. There’s a new TV show popping up weekly, it seems. And it’s hardly even possible to keep track of them all these days.

But, what’s the real scoop behind all the “flipping houses” buzz? And is it right for you?

In this article, we’re going to dispel some of the myths surrounding flipping homes and also give you the steps in case you want to jump in. First off… the term “flipping houses” often refers to two different things:

  1. Wholesaling, also known as “assigning the contract,” is when you simply put a property under contract and “sell” the contract to someone else, usually another investor.
  2. Retailing, or “rehabbing” is when you actually buy the house you are going to flip, do the repairs, and then sell the house, usually to an end buyer, or homeowner.

On TV, they’re showing the latter: buy-fix-sell.

There is a lot of money to be made flipping houses, but if you don’t do it right, you can also LOSE a lot of money. What you don’t see on the television show is how they find their properties, how much it costs to acquire the properties and, in most cases, the profit. It’s funny how these programs very rarely tell you HOW MUCH the person REALLY made from the deal (not the gross profits, but what they put in the bank after all is said and done). Continue reading

Embedded Commands

by Bill Twyford

The key to success is knowing how to communicate with others. Whether you are a real estate investor, work at a fast food restaurant, or are a doctor, without good communication skills people won’t like you. Have you ever met someone and didn’t like them, but didn’t know why you didn’t like them? They just “rubbed you the wrong way.” Subconsciously you did not like their communication skills. My goal is to teach you to master your communication skills so that you can have others eating out of the palm of your hand.

Sounds good, where do I begin? Embedded commands. What the heck are embedded commands? Embedded commands are patterns of language that bypass conscious reasoning and speak directly to the subconscious mind. Embedded commands influence people at the subconscious level. This allows you to direct people to take specific actions.

Our subconscious mind is in a constant search for patterns. Using one embedded command at a time is not a pattern. You have to basically, bombard your customer with command after command to get what you want. Our conversations have become so routine that our mind has virtually fallen asleep. Our subconscious mind runs on auto-pilot. Continue reading

Building Your Real Estate Team

We’re often inclined to think that we can handle it all in our real estate businesses, especially in the early phases of the business. There are 7 key people that you need to have on your team… I realize it’s a balancing act because you’re often faced with balancing the financial aspects of a new business with finding the right people. However, the cost of NOT getting the right advice can be crippling.

My very first partnership was with a long time friend. We’d attended some workshops and trainings, asked an accountant and attorney we knew what we should set up for the business entity, and ultimately set up a basic corporation with an s-election. We weren’t real clear on what we needed it for and were primarily looking at the tax beneifts. Well, from a tax perspective, we did alright, I suppose. But, what we didn’t factor in was what was going to happen when we inevitably wanted to go in different directions.

We were warned by a good friend and mentor early on. He said, “Partnerships will only survive as long as both people need each other. Once either one is able to stand on his/her own, the partnership no longer works.” And we, of course, said, “Yeah, but we’re different.” Continue reading