PatrickPrecourt.com

The Real Estate Industry SUCKS … If you want it to

admin — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 19:47:25 +0000

You know the old adage. You can see the glass half empty or half full. It’s up to you but either way, YOU’RE RIGHT!

Now if that holds true, why in the hell is everybody choosing to see the glass half empty? Why would you choose that to be your reality? Let’s take the real estate industry for example. I think if you polled 1000 people around the country and asked them, “Do you think the real estate industry sucks or do you think it’s great?”

99% would say it SUCKS!

Well guess what, that’s what they believe so therefore THEY’RE RIGHT!

Now if you’re in the industry in any way, whether you’re a real estate agent, a mortgage broker, a real estate investor, attorney or whatever and you’re walking around believing that the whole real estate industry sucks, then quite frankly, you’re screwed!

Now you may be saying, “Pat, the industry does suck; the lending has shut down, there are no buyers, house values have fallen off the face of the earth, the news continues to tell us the sky is falling, recession, recession, recession, blah, blah, blah.”

Well, enough already, seriously, enough of the CRAP!

Refer to my personal motto – NO WHINING!

Stop listening to those that make money by preying on your fears. They make money making you feel bad, victimizing you. This is how the news and media, in general, operate. After all, have you heard much “lately” about how “LOW” gas prices and oil have gotten? Makes you wonder doesn’t it?

LOOK AT THE FACTS:

In 2007, there were 5,652,000 homes sold.

In 2008, contrary to the news reports that there were no houses selling, no money, or no buyers; there were 4,912,000 homes sold!

Also consider that 2007 was an extraordinarily high year for home sales. In 2008, we only dropped about 13% in sales. That means that instead of 6 houses selling on any given street, only five did. I don’t know about you, but as an active real estate investor I can live with that!

Now how about this. We all know that December is traditionally not a great month for selling houses. Especially when the sky is falling and there are no buyers and no loans and no whatever else you may choose to believe. Riddle me this- how did our December 2008 home sales INCREASE from November???

Sales went up 6.5%. HUH?

My point here is this: you can choose to believe what you want to believe. The unquestionable truth still remains. Whatever you choose to be real, will become your reality. I choose to invest and buy house wisely and to sell for a decent profit. THAT IS MY REALITY!

If you’re in the real estate industry, I would recommend you look closer at the FACTS, and not the BS hype.

If you want to learn more about THE FACTS, the state of the real estate industry, the challenges to avoid, and the HUGE opportunities the challenges have created, stay tuned for our upcoming annual call on the State of the Real Estate Economy

Till then, please, please, please, fill your glass up. It’s your choice.

Cheers,

Patrick H. Precourt

Are Your Part of the Problem or the Solution?

admin — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 16:12:16 +0000

A good friend of mine, Craig Garber, ran this head line recently. (I stole it)

Truth is, it really got me thinking. Am I a part of the problem or the solution?

That’s the easiest question I’ve had to answer in a long time. I AM THE SOLUTION … Or at least my mind set IS THE SOLUTION! Sound arrogant? Too bad because it’s the truth.

MAKE IT YOUR TRUTH!

So what are the problems? Where do I even begin?

Gas prices are up, house prices are down, food and cost of living is up, oil is changing the world, the sky is falling and a giant meteor is headed towards the earth … oh what to do.

So lets look at just one of these closer. The mind set and the solution are the same for all. Gas prices- think there too high? Yeah, me too but you know what? I’m not going to worry about them.

Why? Because I can’t do CRAP about the price of gas … PERIOD!

My solution: First, not to worry about stuff I cant change.

Second, identify areas I may be able to cut back gas usage….frivolous usage. (No, Im not trading in my monstrous SUV for a go cart or a mo-ped) Frivolous is taking my suburban to get the mail at the mail box. I’ll walk next time.

Third, and most importantly, I’m going to create a plan to increase my income many times greater than the ridiculous additional increase in gas cost.

What I’m not going to do is bitch and WHINE about the problem. If you are bitching and whining, you have become part of the problem.

Your whining is contagious and spreads like the PLAGUE. That BS attitude needs to be EXTERMINATED.

Worse than that, it does not produce SOLUTIONS.

What to do?

Identify what you can change and what you can not change.

The stuff that you can not change, come to terms with it and LET IT GO.

If you can’t change it, focusing on it (worrying) only makes the problem BIGGER and wastes your precious time.

The stuff you can change you have two choices. Create a plan and commit to changing it or admit your not willing to change it and LET IT GO.

Finally, focus the majority of you prime time on INCOME PRODUCING ACTIVITIES. These are activities that specifically work towards INCREASING YOUR INCOME and that you are in COMPLETE CONTOL OF.

Bottom line, the cost of living may be going up by 10 or 15%. For the most part, you can’t change that.

You can however, CHANGE YOUR INCOME.

Shoot for a 15% minimum. All your financial problems just went away and 20% of life is getting fun again.

The minute you stop looking out the window for solutions and dependence and start looking in the mirror you’ll have become part of the SOLUTION.

Welcome to the winners side!

Remember, our mighty country , THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA was built and founded on INDEPENDENCE!

Next week we are going to look at the absolute single most important ingredient to increasing your income FAST and ANYONE, ANYWHERE, IN ANY PROFESSION can do it!

The Jack Ass and the Herd

admin — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 01:26:53 +0000

You might be thinking … what does a Jack Ass have to do with a herd? That’s simple, one controls the other!

As many of you already know, I’m not a big fan of the boob- tube. However, admittedly, I have been watching much more TV in the past few weeks than normal.

Why?

Because I’m intrigued, excited, appauled and disgusted all at the same time with the whole financial debacle that’s going on. Intrigued with the entire financial inner workings from Wall Street to asset backed securities to there effect on commodities to the intervention of the government on all these issues … and that’s just scraping the surface.

My excitement comes from the cold hard fact, supported by years of history that show with every contraction (in the economy) comes a much greater expansion. And the time to make money is early in the expansion cycle. I’m feeling like a little kid waking up on Christmas too early in morning and have to wait a little longer before I can go down stairs and rip into all the goodies.

Why appalled and disgusted? There’s no real polite way to put this. It’s because of all the absolute JACK ASSES in the news on TV, on the financial shows, in the editorials, in the newspapers all doing every thing they possibly can do to take a challenging situation (our financial markets, foreclosures, etc) and driving them into the ground for no good reason outside of there own 2 minutes in the spot- light looking for the next best ear grabbing head line.

And these guys and gals call themselves experts, even professionals? I call them lying, dishonest, low life scum!

These experts were crying recession 6 months ago for the sake of a shocking news headline and that was quite frankly BULL SHIT.

4 months ago, they said we’re in a recession, again a blatant lie!

2 months ago, still going into this same recession, which we were not in yet, again, dead wrong. Way to go experts!

Yesterday, the ‘experts’ released a poll, trying to validate their lies. “3 out of 4 people polled feel we are in a recession.” HUH?

Do 3 out of 4 people even know what a recession is? NOT LIKLEY!

The sad (but true) truth is that 3 out of 4 people (actually 9.5 out of 10) are part of the herd and here lies the big problem.

When you’re part of the herd, you do what everybody else does. If they’re scared, you’re scared, If they’re happy, you’re happy. If the news you watch tells you we’re in a recession, YOU BELIEVE IT! And once the herd begins to believe this rubbish, they act as if it’s reality, so it becomes reality! WE BECOME WHAT WE BELIEVE.

The masses now believe we are in a recession, not withstanding the fact that we ARE NOT or the fact that most have no clue what the term recession even freakin’ means.

So I want to first thank the JACK ASSES for steering the herd off the cliff. Well done!

You’re the ones who should be put in jail for STEALING from the pockets of every single American.

If you’re really not too sure on who this whole herd thing is, I’ll make it simple. It’s the 95-97% of all those out there who will die, dead broke. It’s those who could not and would not think on their own. It’s those who constantly run for shelter at the first ring of thunder, and then blame others for missing out on the picnic. It’s those who seek safety instead of growth, it’s those who are a prisoner of their comfort zone. It’s those who spend their time talking about others instead of working on themselves. It’s those that believe they are a product of their circumstances, instead of a dictator of circumstances. It’s those who look out the window for help instead of in the mirror.

It’s a God given birth right to seek whatever we want in life.

I believe this, as does the 5% that live outside the herd. The difference is that the 5 % know you have to work hard, sacrifice, constantly push outside your comfort zone … often times in to the unknown, tempering fear, a constant application of pressure in a positive forward direction … it’s a belief system, a mentality, an attitude, a commitment.

The herd, simply believes it’s an entitlement. (by the way, if you’re ever confused about which direction to go, just run directly opposite of the masses. The path may be bumpier, no doubt, but the reward and outcome will be the envy of the herd…and OH they’re an envious bunch)

Homeownership could not be a better example. In our country, it is a constitutional right to own a home. But you have to first earn the right to own a home. Work, save, stay employed, the basics. (I won’t even get into my thoughts on foreclosing on people who don’t pay their mortgages and NEVER earned the right or deserved to own a home in the first place)

So let me bring this back around now.

Most of you reading this are entrepreneurs, if not in action, at least in heart. Most of you want OUT of the herd. (Those who are offended by any of this ARE most likely way deep in the herd. Pinch yourself, ask some one to punch you in the face, Do what it takes to WAKE UP … it’s for your own good)

This is not the time to react in fear.

The herd will REACT to change as it comes, mostly by hiding. It’s time you ACT NOW and CREATE the change. It’s time to kick into overdrive and start creating your history. Many investors will come out of this next cycle millionaires, even multi-millionaire and at a bare minimum, a ton better then when we went in. The majority of real estate investors or the herd for that matter however, will fall back or QUIT all together just like 95% of everybody else. Now is the time to FIGHT!

IT’S A CHOICE, YOUR CHOICE!

Run from the herd. Create your own history.

To your success,

Patrick H Precourt

http://www.creativerealestatemonthly.com

I Know What Your Problem Is!

admin — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 16:07:24 +0000

This article was recently written for and published in the March run of Creative Real Estate Monthly. If your honest with your self and truly looking for answers, dig in and enjoy. If your looking for excuses….dont waste your time….it wont help. cheers, Pat P

Why don’t you have everything you want out of live?

Why don’t you have everything you deserve out of life?

You’re probably thinking, “If I knew the answer to those questions idiot, I would have everything!”

OK, fair enough.

Let me ask you this, do you believe that you deserve the best out of life…..like it’s a birth right?……you should because you absolutely do.

So again, why don’t you have it?

3% of the world’s population gets this.

What I’m going to talk about is a piece of the puzzle….it’s certainly not the whole puzzle but truth is, you only need to link together a few key pieces to create expediential growth and quantum gains throughout both your personal and business lives.

So far we agree that it is a god given birth-right that you deserve the best out of life…all that life has to offer…….what’s the catch?………just because you deserve it, doesn’t mean anybody is going to give it to you…..as a matter of fact, if you really and truly want to possess what you rightly have coming to you, you have to go out and TAKE IT.

That’s right, take it. It’s not going to get handed to you on a silver platter……and to be totally truthful, it gets worst than that. Many of those you associate with (including friends and family) will go out of their way to make sure you don’t get it … doesn’t that suck?

So let’s summarize; it’s your birth-right, as much as anybody else in this world, to have all the goodness life has to offer; so why do the masses, surrounding you, intentionally and unintentionally do what they can to sabotage your success……Isn’t that a bit of a paradox?

Now most of you reading this would certainly describe yourself as an entrepreneur ……or at least an entrepreneur in spirit…..Great…AND you’re kind of screwed.

What do I mean??

Tell me if this is your typical day, week, or month.

You work hard, real hard…you are busier than you know what to do…running, no sprinting, from point A to point B…never slowing down….sometimes you don’t even know if you’re coming or going…..for every item you cross off your list, you add three more back on.

You may even get so overwhelmed that you stay up at night, dare I say, worrying about everything….always in motion, lots of energy getting burned up….day after day, week after week, month after month…….and at the end of it all, when you look back on all that you have done… …

BAM!..I said BAM!

No matter how hard you look…..NO FORWARD PROGRESS!!!!!! What????

You just worked your ass off and for all intents and purposes…..you have nothing to show for it…..no movement forward.

The greatest analogy I have heard for this disease is this; you’re like the eight legged Octopus on roller-skates; lots of action, tons of movement but you’re not MOVING any where. . Eight tentacles working against each other….no direction, no control…..no LEADERSHIP and therefore no DISIPLINE!

That’s right, YOU LACK DISIPLINE!

Discipline is one quality of a leader (albeit, a major significant one).

When you master leadership- discipline, communication, charisma, character, focus, generosity, competence, courage, passion, responsibility, commitment……and a number of other qualities that make up a true leader, all that you want and deserve will flow freely.

Remember what I said earlier, link a few of these together and phenomenal quantum gains will begin immediately.

Discipline is a challenge for the Entrepreneur. Appreciate, embrace it as a weakness, and fix it! (Acknowledging, embracing and taking ownership of your weakness’s can be unbelievable liberating)

Here are four steps to control your lack of self-discipline

1. Create a plan- Yea, I know, you’ve heard this before…but did you do it?? And if you did, did you stick to it??. A key part to creating a plan is to clearly identify priorities. When you determine what is truly a priority, this will release you from everything else, allowing you to follow through on what’s important…..and that is the real foundation to self-discipline.

2. Make no excuses, take no excuses- It is human nature to come up with reasons why we can’t do things we don’t want to do….why we can’t be self-disciplined. Challenge your excuses….and do not except them. Recognize they are nothing but excuses and squash them. Even if the excuses seem legitimate, fight to dismiss them and overcome them….find a solution. You can not rise as a leader making or accepting excuses.

3. Reward yourself after the task has been successfully completed, not before.

Don’t reward yourself, your employees, your kids or anyone for that matter for anything shy of a job well done. Accepting rewards before completing your job teaches you not to complete your job. Kind of like paying a contractor in full to paint your house before he starts…….The job will take much longer to complete and will not be done with the same passion, commitment and discipline. Quality will suffer. See yourself as the contractor. No exceptions.

4. Stop focusing on the work it takes to plow, plant, and harvest the fields, focus on the bountiful goods the fields produce. As an entrepreneur, our workload at times can seem very daunting……don’t focus on the hard work, focus on the results of WHY we work. Complete financial freedom, time to travel the world, endless quality time with the ones we love……next time you look down at your to-do list and you’re thinking about doing what is convenient instead of doing what’s most important…..change your focus….look at the benefits of paying the price…….and hit it hard!

Look for much more to come on your development as a leader.

To your absolute rock’in success,

Patrick H. Precourt

http://www.creativerealestatemonthly.com

ps Your success comments are truly welcomed!

Last nights teleconference with Patrick Precourt

admin — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 21:07:16 +0000

Hey Guys this is Bob Lachance, I’m Pats partner in crime. No, not that kind of partner, his BUSINESS partner!
Hope you enjoyed the call last night. It started off rough but the call kicked a$$.

The call will be posted later today for those who missed out. You can listen to it at http://www.askpatrickprecourt.com. I don’t know if you figured this out yet, but Pat is on a mission to make some sweeping changes in this industry. He is passionate about what we do and quite frankly doesn’t give a crap if he makes some enemies along the way. A top Politician was quoted as saying “You can’t always make everyone happy, especially your spouse!” Your comments and feed back are welcome here.

By the time you read this, Pat will be on his way down to Tampa, FL so if anyone is down there don’t be afraid to track him down!

- Bob Lachance

A lesson learned from a child, AGAIN!

admin — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 15:59:28 +0000

Have you ever watched the show "Are you Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?" If you have, then I’m fairly sure that you come to the same conclusion that I do. YOUR NOT! Now, granted the show is set up to make us adults look like complete jack asses, which it does very successfully by the way, BUT don’t over look the pure knowledge and innocent wisdom the young’ens can teach us. Here is a small example of a Childs wisdom at work ignoring the possible existence of any barriers, real or imaginary, producing immediate quantum growth. I was skiing last weekend up in Vermont with my 10 year old son Patrick. This was officially only his second time on the mountain. He’s at the point where he has reasonable control and can usually stop before crashing…usually. Needless to say, we’re skiing the easier slopes but we are going all the way to the top of the mountain. Really cool! On the way up the chair lift, he spots the Park. The FREE STYLE PARK. Grinding rails, half pipes, boxes, table tops, massive launching ramps…EXPERT skiers…I think your getting the picture. And then I here the exact words I was expecting. "Dad, I HAVE to go down there.” My mind quickly evaluates all the crap that is about to happen. Crash on the grinding rail, crash on the table top, get run over or run some one else over but who am I to step in the way of all that fun? ”SURE” “Dad, I want to go over one of those big jumps. “Sure, but if you’re going to go for it, don’t be afraid just do it!” (What else could I say at this point) So sure enough, only capable of moderate control of the fiberglass sticks strapped to his feet, Patrick lined up the first tall ramp he saw and went for it..and sure enough he pulled it off. It wasn’t pretty. As a matter of fact it was pretty ugly but he DID IT and out of this comes the wisdom from which we all need to learn from. Patrick pulled this off for one reason and one reason only. He focused on the END and not the Means! Open minded, goal focused, believer in experimentation and completely VOID of methodology (the means.) NO EXCUSES! He locked in on his objective and let the goal determine the methodology…the means or the how. Adults, on the other hand have it all wrong. Way wrong. We can’t seem to determine a freakin goal until we have first completely evaluated and researched all our resources and skills to see what goals we can even consider! That’s PATHETIC! Our methodology then, determines our goals, which to some may make sense until you throw in the fact that our methodology is based on our PERCEPTION. The perception of what’s available to us, not the reality of what is available to us. Uur perception is EXTREMELY lacking peripheral vision and extremely narrow minded. After all, how can we possibly know how high we can reach if we haven’t reached for it yet? This ‘over thinking’ trap lowers expectations, empowers doubt and will slam the door on your massive potential! Nevermind, validate all your LAMO excuses. Any rational adult, if given time to think it through, would have advised Patrick against going down the freestyle park to begin with, nevermind launching off the first massive ice ramp he spotted AND would also have denied him of a massive break thru and a new plateau conquered! G lad I sit just south…OK WAY south of rational! Define your goal first and stop worrying about how you will get from here to there. The technique, method and process you need to follow will come to you. Just make sure your crystal clear on your goal. Open your self to the unexpected and now proceed. You absolutely don’t have to know how you’re going to get there as long as you know exactly where it is you want to go! For the inquisitive minds, NO, I did not participate in the launching exercise my 10 year old, 2nd time on ski’s, hardly a beginner, BARRIER VOID son did. But, you know what? I did learn an important lesson and I WILL NOT wimp out next time! Patrick H Precourt Thepreforeclosuredailygrind.com Nsehomes.com

Why I Love New Years

admin — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 15:12:29 +0000

If you are like most everybody else, in the back of your mind you are starting to see the holiday season not too far off in the future and if you are like most everybody else, with the holiday seasons come excitement as well as some real discomfort.

Way down in the bottom of your stomach the stress is just beginning to rumble,soon, Thanksgiving will be upon us and the rumble will begin to boil.
The stress of preparing, shopping, decorating, entertaining; for many, the guilt of getting fatter. Hanukkah and Christmas come and go.
Then, out of the blue, New Years. Jan 1, 2008 is in site! That’s right, 2008!

As we approach the last two weeks of 2007, then the last week of 2007, what are most people going to do? Start thinking about their New Year’s Resolutions. And when do most people actually begin their New Year’s Resolutions?
Jan 1, 2008. And once again, most people on Jan 1, 2008 will begin the same old FAILURE process that will be complete around February 1, 2008. That’s right, most everybody will have QUIT and failed miserably on there COMMITMENTS to themselves by the end of the first month!

Like it or hate it, doesn’t matter, IT’S THE TRUTH!

And worse than that most everybody thinks its OK to QUIT, year after year after year.The mentality of, “I’m ok with you quitting because it makes me feel better about the fact that I quit”(I call it herd support)…this all goes on unspoken of course, but its true.

ARE YOU FREAK’IN KIDDING ME?

If I’m getting under your skin a bit, good, better yet, GREAT! Let it burn for a moment, get pissed off, get pissed off at me, I don’t care, just get your head IN THE GAME. Now take a moment and then read carefully.

IT’S A CHOICE AND YOU CAN CHANGE IT NOW!

Follow these baby steps:

Look carefully at what everybody, the masses, the heard, is doing AND DON’T DO IT! STOP being part of “EVERYBODY” and start being YOU. 95% of the masses die poor or dead broke. RUN FROM THEM NOW!
What ever life changing, income producing, weight loosing, health and wealth improving, relationship building New Years resolution you’re planning to start Jan 1, 2008, START NOW! I mean like right now. Immediately if not sooner.

Look at it this way: If I told you that you could START TODAY to change your life and truly reach out AND TAKE all that you deserve and have everything you EVER wanted out of life, or for absolutely no rational reason whatsoever you can wait until Jan 1, 2008 to start, what would you choose?

Then, what if I added the tiny little fact that if indeed you choose to waste this time and wait until Jan 1, 2008 to start… history shows (your history as well as 95% of the masses) that you WILL FAIL and, you will be in the EXACT SAME SPOT you are at now, exactly one year from now! which, taking time into consideration, means you went BAKWARDS!

Now that quite frankly SUCKS!
So what’s your choice?

Want to kick 95 % of the masses square in the teeth on New Year’s Day? (which by the way is a very effective way to separate yourself from the herd)
Start your New Years resolutions TODAY.
Write them down. Scream them out to the world. Commit to them. Swear on the holy bible (or what ever you hold sacred) that you will not quit, you can not quit, you can not fail.
That you might get knocked down (remember, the herd is powerful and doesn’t like deserters, makes them uncomfortable, so as you step out, they always pull you back or try to knock you down), BUT YOU WILL NOT BE KEPT DOWN!

Come New Years day, when the guilt and reality set in that another New Year is upon the herd, disappointed at the lack of success in the past 12 months, another list of New Years resolution in hand (half knowing it’s a futile exercise) YOU are actually ENJOYING the day off…..AMPED at the opportunity 2008 may, no WILL BRING YOU.
YOU ARE IN MOTION…building momentum…and you’re only in the first few hours of 2008! How SWEET is that?!
You are now in the elite 5% who have learned to RUN from the herd!

I started two weeks ok……why….because I will be dammed if I’m going to let my competition get ahead start on me……and you know what, I will have more completed on my 2008 NEW YEARS resolution list by Christmas 2007, than 95% of the masses will get done in the entire calendar year of 2008! Remember, IT’S A CHOICE!

Boy I love New Years!

Patrick H Precourt
Thepreforeclosuredailygrind.com