SBA Facts

• The SBA programs have helped nearly 20 million small businesses, both directly and indirectly since 1953.
  
  
• The SBA currently has a loan portfolio of nearly 219,000 outstanding loans worth more than $45 Billion.
  
  
• From 1991-2000, the SBA helped almost 435,000 businesses get their start with more than $94.6 Billion in loans – more money than in the entire history of the agency before 1991.

The most creative post of the year

Google Answers is so great and makes Yahoo Answers look so insignifigant. Take a look at how many ways you can legally make 3,000 a month off of a 30,000 a year investment.

http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=535096

Online Poker
Trading Currencies
Flipping Homes
& So much more.

Investment Idea: San Diego Condos

Where to look:

San Diego Condos in the Gaslamp/Downtown.

I have a hunch that downtown San Diego condos are a great place to start looking to make big bets. Many people are bearish on the San Diego housing market and they are justified to an extent. But what is causing this sentiment? Lost jobs? Stagnant growth? Poor weather or government? Interest rates on mortgages? Well they are higher but relatively very low, historically. Is San Diego less desirable today than yesterday?

To the contrary the Gaslamp district is getting better and more attractive. Job growth is healthy. Do the research! It was voted 5th best big city to live in.

No my friends the correction or cheapening of downtown condos is due to excess supply and low demand which comes from an increase of supply or overbuilding by zealous developers. Watch this market. Look for a comfortable bottom or create a comfortable bottom with low ball offers and snatch up these bargain priced condos while you can. Sit out for at least 3 months and study and get ready to pounce on adjustable rate mortgages adjusting upward and an uptick in defaults. This is my theory:

There was an extreme pendulum to the positive in condo prices from 2002-2005. Now that same pendulum is swinging negative due to oversupply, not new land on the beach being built or major job losses. In the next 18 months we will witness the pendulum come back to where the market price should really be, a market derived medium with mid 7 interest rates and personal income growth.

Ex. 2BD 2BA condo at 1100 sq ft.

Peak: $535K in 2005
Predicted Lows Sellers will accept: $365-405K late 2006
TRUE MARKET PRICE: $450-$470K Early 2008

Whether I am right or wrong you have to respect the fact that I have an opinion. Also this assumes no major event changes things such as a 9/11, an earthquake or stock market collapse. Or an event like the Fed cutting rates back down to 1%. If one of this events happens all bets should be off. Stalk this very unique market and prepare to pounce.

700k homes on 70k income

As an avid reader of Fatwallet, I came across an interesting post yesterday. The discussion centered around the brave or stupid owners of $700,000 homes with income in the neighborhood of $70,000 for the entire household.

Read the post here:

Reading post after post one would believe that mortgage interest rates are going to rise to 11% before 2007! My goodness give me a break. You can predict the short term economic future with great success, but you can't predict intangibles. You can't predict the unpredictable. Who could predict $3.20 gas prices five years ago? Who could predict 9/11 five years ago? Who could predict Krispy Kreme tanking in the manner it did? You can not predict the future, but you can make beats that have odds behind them. Listening to media and mass market commentary are like playing the slot machine, the odds belong to the house not you.

And if you are going to bet, do not play the nickel slot machines. Skip the slots if you can. But at least bet using $1 or if you can $5 limits. The jackpots are bigger and the payouts are too. If you lose, you should have gained a costly education as opposed to cry about losing $100.

Propser.com

Not a bad idea if you ask me. Not a great implementation strategy either. More of an eeehh!

At Propser.com, the founders describe themselves as the online market place for people to people lending. I thought about this idea a while ago but lacked the interest or the real know how to implement it but the site is now up and running. Long story short, many lenders/people can lend to 1 borrower an amount of money not exceeding 25K, all while reviewing the perspective borrowers credit worthiness and group affiliation for an agreed upon interest rate. However I see business slowing down for this company for one specific reason. Savings rates. When potential lenders have the opportunity to make 5%+ guaranteed in a savings or money market accounts, why would they risk their funds to make up to 8% with a person that may or may not pay them back?

Pop Quiz Should you:

A. Lend $300 to Joey Tuffguy, with a C+ credit score, for "business supplies" to make a potential 8% per annum?
B. Place $300 in a big bank of the US savings account and make a sure 4.75 per annum?

In other words savings rates are too good to enter into a lending situation with a stranger that may or may not pan out. I saw one borrower asking $600 to pay his rent, with a poor credit rating, whhoooaaa!

Plans for prosperous improvements:

When this site begins to offer bigger loans, from more informed and risk tolerant lenders, for borrowers/people in bigger payout businesses such as house flippers that need 120 day loans, then the potential for success will increase. Higher interest can be charged and there is a more win/win potential.

Housing Bubble Ready to pop? Not for me!

I had a revelation today and it is really simple. For those of you in real estate for the investment of it, whether you flip, buy and hold, get cash flow or a combination of the two I have some advise for you. In Real Estate as in life you have two choices.

A. You can wait for the RE market to correct itself.

or

B. You can increase your income and correct the RE market.


Ask John Mackey how much his life would change if gas went to $7 a gallon. Ask Angelo Mozilo, if he takes his kids to the movies only on matinee times. Do you think that if Toll Brothers sold their homes for 1.67 million instead of 1.71, their bottom line will be in the red?

My advice to you is learn to earn more and "mass media econmoic concerns" will not concern you. Sometimes the most basic concepts are the hardest ones to grasp!

Orange County Real, Estate

Ok, they made me an offer I could not refuse. Recently I was offered a sweet commission to do SEO for a small remodeling company in Orange County, California. The company, a small remodeling firm that thrives on sales derived from phone calls. As the money starts coming in and organic page rank begins to take place, I plan on sharing the keys to my success and even the website so that you can follow. But lets just start by saying, I started a quick blog by the name of www.orangecountycabinets.net , a couple of other legitimate tricks, keyword campaigns and link exchanges that work on increasing page rank and whalah, here comes the calls.

The deal I cut? I guranteed the owner 25 phone calls per month. If I hit my mark each month, I get paid $300 per phone call. To ensure a low budget but effective quality control, I ordered a cell phone whose number is only for people that find his website via the internet. Keep your fingers crossed and send me any SEO tips you have learned along the way. I thank Thumb's SEO and NYC Money for giving me a great start a few months ago.

Hey what happened to Thumb?