#but we’ll probably have to use that money to buy down the mortgage and then refinance if the interest ever goes down

[obsidian-evening]

Im working 2 jobs, 70hrs a week trying to save for a house in the next 1-2 years but with interest so high it doesn’t matter if we have a big down payment bc the mortgage is so expensive I would have to keep working at this rate just for us to barely scrape by

[lindsaywesker]

Good morning! I hope you slept well and feel rested? Currently sitting at my desk, in my study, attired only in my blue towelling robe, enjoying my first cuppa of the day.

Wow! Here we are again: Friday! Where did that week go? No, seriously, where did that week go?

First of all, many thanks to everyone that got involved with Throwback Thursday on my page. Yesterday’s word was FIGHT and the responses were surprising. In fact, some were quite moving. Even though my friends are not violent, we are all fighters! Yes, maybe that’s what we all have in common? We are all strong and we are not afraid.

I will teach from 9.30-12.30 today, then I will rush home to make The Trouble her bacon sandwich. We are bad Jews but she really looks forward to that sandwich. In fact, if I say the word ‘bacon’ on this page, a lot of my friends get very excited.

Monday is a new term at the other place I teach so, on Monday, I will teach not one, not two but three different subjects in a day. Five hours of teaching with a one-hour lunch break. I’m ready, I wonder if they are? My students are often alarmed by me because I ask them questions and make them think. Most people don’t like thinking; it’s too much like hard work. The thing is: you need to exercise a brain the way you need to exercise a body. Use it or you lose it!

Yesterday’s headline in the Evening Standard, “BIGGEST HOUSE PRICE FALLS FOR 14 YEARS”. No shit, Sherlock! Let’s go and speak to the people visiting food banks. Maybe in the afternoon, they can buy that two-bedroom semi in Romford? Or, why don’t we speak to the really wealthy people, buying own-brand food from Tesco and scrambling around in the frozen section looking for ‘best before’ bargains? Maybe they will spend the afternoon purchasing a studio flat in Soho? Wanna know why no one is buying? Because nobody has any fucking money! Wanna know why? Because we are being screwed by energy companies, gas companies and supermarkets and, if the NHS goes private, we’ll have even less money! Security tags on formula milk and Lurpack butter? Really? The Standard actually suggested that, because of interest rate rises, buyers are “spooked”. No, buyers are broke! People that would like to buy are struggling to make ends meet and stand no chance of getting a mortgage! Seriously? A cabinet full of ‘economists’ and none of them knows how to fix the economy.

Yesterday, the weekend’s plans changed! We were going to spend Saturday night with one of our favourite people, but she has cancelled, so we will now dive down to Hove to see Lady Wesker. My brother is there too, and Mum has two lunch guests, so Sunday’s selfie will contain extra people! Could be a tricky manoeuvre? Whatever the weather, I will be strutting my stuff on the promenade on Sunday morning!

Really hope you can join me tomorrow at 1.00 p.m. for ‘The A-Z Of Mi-Soul Music’: the final part of The Letter M (Pt. 13). Doing The Letter N (Pt. 3) live from Soulstice on Saturday, June 24th.

Have a fabulous and funky Friday! I love you all. You’re probably thinking, “You don’t even know me!” but, if people can hate for no reason, why can’t I love?

[danielduranshelbyville]

NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun Predicts Falling Long-Term Interest Rates Rising Existing-Home Sales in 2024

NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun Predicts Falling Long-Term Interest Rates, Rising Existing-Home Sales in 2024 https://ift.tt/BDhdjKn WASHINGTO, D.C.—National Association of Realtors® Chief Economist Lawrence Yun forecasts that interest rates will fall in the long term, 2024 existing-home sales will rise to 4.46 million (up 9% from 4.09 million in 2023) and 2025 existing-home sales will increase to 5.05 million (up 13.2% from 2024) – with further gains in eight of the next 10 years – during the “Residential Economic Issues & Trends Forum” at NAR’s 2024 REALTORS® Legislative Meetings. Yun also explained that rents will calm down further, which will hold down the consumer price index (CPI) and make the Federal Reserve cut interest rates. Yun said that based on April’s employment data, there are six million more jobs compared to the pre-Covid highs, and jobs are boosting home prices. “More jobs mean more home sales and higher housing demand,” said Yun. “You need a strong local economy for a strong housing market.” Yun discussed the wealth comparison between homeowners and renters. In 2022, the median net worth of homeowners was $396,200, while the median net worth of renters was $10,400. “The referral business is key,” Yun told a crowd of Realtors®. “Your past clients are super happy in terms of their wealth gains. Seven percent mortgage rates are high compared to a couple of years ago, but you have to buy a home in order to build wealth. Have Americans lost the dream of homeownership? I don’t think so.” Yun made several comparisons to 1995. The U.S. currently has 40 million more total payroll jobs and 70 million more people than in 1995. However, annual existing-home sales in 2023 experienced their worst year since 1995. So far in 2024, monthly existing-home sales rates have struggled to climb above last year’s level. “How is it that home sales can be this low when we’ve got so many people living in this country?” asked Yun. “High mortgage rates and lack of inventory were a shock. Over the next 10 years, probably eight of those 10 years will improve for home sales.” Yun touched on housing inventory saying, “Not all housing demand is being satisfied, due to lack of supply. We are looking at advocacy policies to counteract that.” “Mortgage rates are very important,” explained Yun. “The Federal Reserve has delayed rate cuts. I would have thought that, by now, rates would be lower and rate cuts would have begun. Whatever rate cut the Federal Reserve does not do this year will simply get pushed back to 2025. They’re calling for a September rate cut, but we’ll see.” Yun discussed how the 30-year mortgage and federal funds rate are in a high-rate environment. He explained that the monthly payment for first-time home buyers – with a 10% down payment and 80% of median home price – has gone up significantly during Covid, doubling the cost. Yun noted that homeowners are happy. According to NAR data (2023 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers), nine out of 10 buyers (89%) relied on the services of a real estate agent or broker. Of those, there is a 90% satisfaction rate – they would use their agent again or recommend their agent to others. Yun questioned whether the immense size of the government deficit is further pressuring rising rates. He addressed government spending: “Four years out from the start of the pandemic, the U.S. is spending money as if we’re still in the heights of Covid-19.” “We had a massive budget deficit while experiencing a good economy, meaning low unemployment,” said Yun. “People may get used to permanently high inflation, and people will be looking for an inflation hedge. Real estate is proven.” via Real Estate Agent Magazine https://ift.tt/SxWUZNB May 08, 2024 at 10:51AM

[mega-hustler-blog]

We Offered $128,000 Over List — But It Wasn't Enough!

Sunday evening, Kim and I made an offer on a house. The Greenwood Place (as we'll call it) was listed at $649,000. We offered $677,777 escalating to $777,777; with no repairs required; and a $50,000 appraisal gap waiver. Our offer was not accepted. That's right: Two months after selling our home — and three months after beginning to search for the next place — Kim and I have waded back into this crazy housing market. We're not sure how long this process will last (or what the outcome will be) but we're prepared to be searching for many weeks, if not months. Both our mortgage broker (Michael S.) and our real estate agent (Michael K.) tell us we're doing things exactly right for this market. Kim and I both have credit scores over 800. “Everything looks unbelievably perfect here,” Michael S. told us in June. “That's amazing. Perfect credit.” We've sold our previous house and are currently renting a place while we search for another. This allows us to make offers without home sale contingencies. We're willing to take calculated risks to increase the strength of our offers, but we're not willing to compromise our financial health in doing so. “You can borrow $850,000 all day long,” Michael S. told us. “You'd probably have zero difficulties qualifying for $1 million.” We don't want to borrow a million dollars though because doing so would severely compromise our other goals. All the same, there aren't many homes on the market right now. Demand far outpaces supply, which is driving prices up and creating insanely competitive situations. It doesn't matter whether we're doing everything right. We're still going to run into folks who can make cash offers at more than $128,000 over a $649,000 asking price. Our plan? Be patient. Remain vigilant. We don't need to buy a home at the moment — and, in fact, perhaps it would be best if we didn't — but we want to be prepared to pounce if/when we find the right place. Today, I want to share a bit of our thought process as we attempt to buy a home in 2021. Where We're Starting From Currently, Kim and I are paying $2300 to rent a 1000-square-foot home in a nice, walkable neighborhood on the south side of Portland. We like it. (True story: Two days ago as I was walking the dog, a neighbor stopped me. “Is your name J.D.?” he asked. “I've been watching your YouTube videos!” The first time somebody has recognized me from my tiny YouTube channel haha.) This $2300/month rent payment is comfortable for both of us. Kim doesn't have the extensive retirement savings that I do, but she's in good shape compared to most people. She can afford $1150 per month for housing. And while she (and I) would love to have a lower housing payment, she's willing to go as high as $1200 per month. Our current housing situation leaves me swimming in money. That's the way it feels, anyhow. You see, one of the reasons I wanted to move was because I'd managed to cripple my monthly cash flow. I had too much invested in our house. I owned it outright. One-third of my net worth was locked into the home and couldn't be used for other things — such as buying food. When we owned the home on Wisteria, my monthly housing expenses were $377 for taxes and insurance. (Kim had no housing expenses. The home was mine.) Based on my non-retirement investments and savings, I had a monthly budget of $2059 to get me to age 59-1/2 (at which time I could access retirement accounts). That $2059/month budget was far below my actual spending, which averaged about $4200/month. By selling the home and moving into this rental, an amazing thing happened. Even though my monthly housing expenses jumped from $377 to $1150, my after-housing monthly budget increased from $2059 to $7588 — all because I now have a pile of cash in my bank account. This improved cash flow is 100% because we no longer have $500,000+ locked up on home equity. It's in my bank account. Yes, some of it will soon be in home equity once again (we hope) because we'll use it for a down payment on the next place. But I'll retain a sizable chunk of that to bridge the gap between today and 25 September 2028, when I turn 59-1/2. So, today I feel like I'm swimming in money. Instead of running a $2100 monthly budget deficit, I have a $3300 surplus. I am, once again, financially independent. This is our starting point. As we hunt for homes, I maintain a running spreadsheet that (among other things) tracks my projected monthly budget for each home. In fact, this monthly budget is my number-one consideration in purchasing a home. Selecting a City I am fifty-two years old. In the past thirty years, I've purchased four homes — and I'm about to buy a fifth. My homebuying habits are almost perfectly aligned with the American average. Homeowners tend to stay in one place for about seven or eight years, on average. In other ways too, my homebuying habits have been typical. If I'm not careful, for instance, I can get wrapped up in the emotional side of the process. When my ex-wife and I bought our hundred-year-old farmhouse in 2004, I was 100% motivated by emotion. There was nothing logical about the decision. When Kim and I purchased our most recent home in 2017, we allowed emotion to override logic to our detriment. This time around, I'm trying to be logical and deliberate. After four years in a house that proved problematic, and in the midst of a housing market that seems to have gone mad, I want to make a smart decision. So, my full-time “job” for the past couple of months has been house-hunting. I'm not saying that my process is perfect (nor applicable to everyone) but it's a hell of a lot more logical than any of my past home purchases. To begin with, Kim and I spent twelve full days during the last three months driving all over western Oregon and western Washington in search of a place to live. We'd frequently devote weekends to driving all over both states (with the dog in our laps), exploring small towns, and asking ourselves, “Could we live here?” We love Portland — despite what some media outlets would have you believe, it has not become a wretched hive of scum and villainy — but the place has grown too big for us. Both of us grew up in small towns. We want a slower-paced lifestyle without all of the chaos of a big city. While there are several cities that appeal to us, ultimately we've decided to move to Corvallis. Corvallis is a town of roughly 60,000 at the base of Oregon's coastal mountain range. It's an hour from the Pacific but still very much of the Willamette Valley, the agricultural region where I grew up. It's home to Oregon State University. It's the #1 biking town in the state (even ahead of Portland!) and has just enough stuff to do to keep us happy. After we decided on Corvallis, we made an effort to spend some time there. We'd pack up the dog on Saturday mornings, drive ninety minutes south, then spend a few hours exploring the city. We liked it — a lot. Even so, we were having a tough time getting a feel for the neighborhoods. Enter our real estate agent, Michael K. One day it occurred to me that maybe I could “outsource” learning Corvallis neighborhoods. Searching YouTube, I stumbled upon this video of a Realtor narrating a driving tour of the town. This helped us both so much that we contacted the narrator to ask if he'd take us on as clients. He agreed. For the past two weeks now, we've been working together to find a suitable location. Crunching the Numbers As you've probably heard, there aren't many houses for sale right now. I don't have the exact figures, but my memory tells me that the U.S. housing inventory is about half what it typically is. That means pickings are slim. And when you're searching for a place in a smaller city like Corvallis, pickings are even slimmer. Still, there are maybe a dozen new listings each week that meet our criteria. Michael K. has set us up with an automated tool that emails us when homes come on the market that matches what we're looking for. Plus, I spend hours each day on Zillow looking at the other homes that come up for sale — just in case, you know? What sort of filter are we using? Well, we've set an upper limit of $800,000 — remember that our mortgage broker told us we could borrow $850,000 “all day long” — and we're looking for places larger than 1500 square feet on at least one-tenth of an acre. Like I said, I use Zillow to find possible fits that slip through this net. Of the homes that come to market and make it through our filter, maybe half of them are places we're actually interested in: the price is acceptable, the house and yard look well-suited for our lifestyle, and so on. I put all of these matches into a spreadsheet that looks something like this : As you can see, my spreadsheet only tracks a handful of stats, but those are the stats that are most important to me. I don't track bedrooms and bathrooms, for instance, because our filter already screens for these. (Plus, I figure square footage is a reasonable proxy for beds and baths.) Here are the variables that matter most to me when hunting for a house: Price, of course. But the price isn't the only financial consideration, nor the most important. I don't want to overpay for a place, of course, but I look at the down payment (and eventual equity) as a transfer of assets. I'm not spending $300,000 if I buy a $300,000 house. I'm simply transferring money from cash to real estate. (The money lost to interest, however, is indeed an expense.) Size of the home. Again, this serves as a proxy for other things, such as the number of bedrooms and bathrooms. Lot size. Kim and I like a large yard. We recognize, however, that we're not going to find an acre of land in the middle of a city. Still, it's nice to have this number handy. Year the home was built. I want to know when a home was built for a variety of reasons. The building date can give me a rough idea of possible maintenance concerns. Plus, it's also a good guide for the style and layout of the house. I have three columns of numbers related to the monthly cost of the house. The “Each” column is most important to Kim. This shows her share of the housing payment each month. The “J.D. budget” column is most important to me. The “J.D. budget” number assumes that I'm using my savings to make a 50% down payment, then calculates what my monthly budget would be after my share of the housing payment. (Remember: this number is $7588 in our current rental and it was $2059 at our last house.) Walk Score. I like a walkable neighborhood. Walk Score isn't perfect for my situation — I don't care if I'm close to a school — but it's close enough. My main concern is that I'm within an easy walk of a grocery store. This is a huge deal to me. Walking distance to a park would be good too. Location. In which neighborhood is the house located? Notes. This is a catch-all for info like the apparent condition of the home, HOA fees, and so on. In practice, the most important item in the spreadsheet is the “J.D. budget” column. No joke: I tend to remember all of the other details about the various houses. Given my notoriously poor memory, this is something of a shock. As you can see, I've color-coded everything too. I'm using good ol' ROYGBIV, with red being the “bad” end of the spectrum and violet being the “good” end. This allows me to glance at the spreadsheet and know, say, that the Grant Circle house gives me an amazing budget but the Clarence house would put me in almost the same financial predicament as the home we just sold. (That Grant Circle house looks perfect on paper, doesn't it? It's not. It's a rental that's seen some tough love in the past.) A few other quick notes: Homes listed in bold are homes we've viewed in person. Shaded lines represent homes that are under contract, so are no longer available. And that one green line? Well, that's the home we made an offer on. Making an Offer Kim and I have viewed eleven homes now. A couple of these seemed fine in photos but were not good matches in person. Most were average. But one — the Greenwood house — was amazing. it was an almost perfect fit. (Why almost perfect? First of all, price. Second, walkability was marginal.) We toured the Greenwood house on Saturday afternoon. We loved it. As we drove around Corvallis the rest of the day, we discussed whether or not we should make an offer. “I think it's going to be out of our price range,” I said. “It's not going to sell for $649,000. You heard Michael. He called it an ‘atomic potato'. He thinks it'll go for much, much more.” “I know,” Kim said. “But don't you think we'd regret it if we didn't at least try to make an offer?” “Yes,” I said. “We'd regret it very much.” That evening, we met with Michael to go over the paperwork. Then I spent most of Sunday running the numbers through other spreadsheets. (What? You thought I had only one?!?) While I have my personal spreadsheet for tracking properties, the spreadsheet that actually matters most is the one from Michael S., our mortgage broker. This file allows us to make projections using actual numbers such as down payment, property taxes, and current interest rates. If we alter any one of the variables in the mortgage worksheet, we alter our projected financial obligations. As you can imagine, this can lead to many, many permutations of monthly payments and down payments. Generally speaking, Kim and I are planning to do the following: I will make a 50% down payment from the cash I have on hand after selling our last place. She and I will then split the monthly mortgage payment 50/50. This should work for 95% of the scenarios we're exploring. In order for us to make an offer on Greenwood, however, we had to break away from our standard plan. Our default assumptions would lead me to make a $325,000 down payment on the $649,000 list price, then my monthly budget would be $3803. But we knew that Greenwood wasn't going to sell for $649,000. It'd sell for something more. (Probably much more.) Ultimately, we figured we had to offer at least $100,000 over asking. Fortunately, the sellers were allowing escalation clauses, which meant we could offer $750,000+ without risking that we'd overbid anyone else by, say, $30,000. After much internal debate (and even some external discussion with Kim), I decided I'd be willing to buy this house if I could keep my projected budget at about $3800 per month. This is close enough to my current spending that I felt okay with it. Worst case, I'd find a part-time job to cover the gap, right? By Sunday evening, I'd come up with an offer amount: $777,7777 with a $250,000 down payment. This would give me my $3800/month budget assuming Kim was willing to pay $1200 per month toward housing (which she was). With at 50% down payment? Well, then my budget would be $900 lower each month. Still better than at the house we just sold, but less than what I want. Why a goofy number like $777,777? For fun. I'm not joking. Real-estate transactions are deadly dull affairs. I think it's fun to spice them up with numbers like this. (Plus, we thought it might send a positive signal to the sellers.) When I bought my condo on the river in 2013, I deliberately offered 4.01% over asking price because it was unit #401. The selling agent later confided that the owners had noticed the number and that it played a small but important role in their decision to sell to me. The offer we submitted on Sunday night looked like this: We offered a $677,000 starting price — $28,000 over asking. But our offer escalated in increments of $7,777 up to a top price of $777,777. We were offering to beat other offers by $7,777 up to our limit. We agreed to “no repairs”. We'd still perform an inspection, which would allow us to bow out of the deal if we found something catastrophic, but we wouldn't ask the seller to do any repairs. We included a $50,000 appraisal gap waiver. If our offer was accepted at $760,000 but the home appraised at $720,000, I would make up that $40,000 difference with my cash reserves. The next 36 hours were painful for Kim. She had become emotionally invested in the house. While I was hoping we would win the bidding war — our agent himself wrote one other offer for the house! — I was surprisingly cool and collected about the whole thing. Moving Forward Michael K. called on Tuesday morning. He didn't beat around the bush. “Your offer wasn't accepted,” he said without a preamble (which I appreciated). “I'm a little surprised. You wrote a strong offer.” Right now, we don't know how many offers Greenwood received and we don't know the amount of the winning bid. We won't know that until the place closes in a few weeks. But we're dying to know how much more we needed to offer in order to buy the place. Ultimately, however, we have no regrets. We know that we made the highest offer we possibly could. There was nothing more that we could have done without compromising our other financial goals. We're at peace with this outcome. Now, though, it's back to househunting. We've already lined up a couple of home tours for tomorrow afternoon. The places look promising — and one of them is much cheaper than the Greenwood place! I remain hopeful that we'll find a nice home in Corvallis with a walkable neighborhood, a yard for our animals, and space for Kim to do yoga and gardening. Still, a part of me knows we've only been at this for two weeks. The folks who bought our house in May had been shopping for ten months. The market is crazy right now, with far more buyers than sellers. Who knows? Maybe I'll be writing offer recaps through the winter and into next summer. But I sure hope not! Source link Read the full article

[notebooknebula]

Flip Real Estate Virtually with Paul Lizell & Jay Conner, The Private Money Authority

https://www.jayconner.com/flip-real-estate-virtually-with-paul-lizell-jay-conner-the-private-money-authority/

Jay Conner and his special guest Paul Lizell talk about how to utilize systems and processes that simplify the buying process of real estate.

Paul is the founder of The Virtual Investor, JP Homes, Inc & www.housedealsamerica.com He has been flipping properties since 2001 and is the original virtual wholesaler having purchased all over the U.S. since 2009. He has bought and sold properties in 44 out of 50 states and will continue to look at expanding into new markets.

Paul is a graduate of Drexel University in 1998, holds a degree in Finance and a minor in Economics, he now teaches at www.ReoAuctionAcademy.com. He focused exclusively on online auctions, bank REO’s, buying off the MLS and wholesalers across the country since 2013.

Timestamps:

0:01 – Get Ready To Be Plugged Into The Money

1:42 – Jay’s New Book: “Where To Get The Money Now”- https://www.JayConner.com/Book

3:20 – Today’s guest: Paul Lizell

4:57 – How Paul Lizell gets started on the real estate business.

6:58 – What is wholesaling?

8:01 – What is the advantage of buying a house vs getting it under contract?

10:28 – When you buy a house in today’s market are you primarily selling them to other real estate investors at a profit or are you selling them to the people who are going to live in the property?

11:16 – What kinds of profit are you seeing in today’s market while doing your business virtually?

11:57 – Wholesaling vs. Wholesaling

13:01 – Do you think that Wholetailing is more popular now because of the lack of inventory?

13:58 – When you’re wholesaling a house to an end buyer, what’re your criteria for pricing that home versus a complete rehab?

14:52 – In today’s real estate market as long as it’s clean and smells good that property is okay.

15:34 – How do you find your buyer?

16:07 – How do you find deals given the low inventory in today’s real estate market?

17:35 – How do you get the leads?

19:29 – How to connect with Paul Lizell: https://www.REOauctionAcademy.com & https://www.FlipRealEstateVirtually.com

20:30 – How do you manage your people on the grounds to inspect the property?

24:21 – Do you give additional compensation to your bank-owned real estate agents?

25:23 – How do you find your REO agents?

26:56 – When you become the winner in the online auction how long do you have before you got a close? Do you make a house inspection before you take it down?

28:34 – Paul Lizell’s parting message: In my business model my time is my only marketing cost.

Private Money Academy Conference:

https://jaysliveevent.com/live/?oprid=&ref=42135

Have you read Jay’s new book: Where to Get The Money Now? It is available FREE (all you pay is the shipping and handling) at https://www.JayConner.com/Book

Free Webinar: http://bit.ly/jaymoneypodcast

Jay Conner is a proven real estate investment leader. Without using his own money or credit, Jay maximizes creative methods to buy and sell properties with profits averaging $64,000 per deal.

What is Real Estate Investing? Live Private Money Academy Conference

https://youtu.be/QyeBbDOF4wo

YouTube Channel

https://www.youtube.com/c/RealEstateInvestingWithJayConner

iTunes:

https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/private-money-academy-real-estate-investing-jay-conner/id1377723034

Listen to our Podcast:

https://realestateinvestingdeals.mypodcastworld.com/11279/flip-real-estate-virtually-with-paul-lizell-jay-conner-the-private-money-authority

Flip Real Estate Virtually with Paul Lizell & Jay Conner

Jay Conner

00:02:57

My guest is a good friend. We’re in a mastermind together. Well, he is the founder of The Virtual Investor. That’s right. He is a virtual investor and virtual wholesaler. He’s been flipping properties all the way back since 2001. And he actually is the original virtual wholesaler. And he’s purchased all over the US since 2009 virtually. In addition to that, my guest has bought and sold properties in 44 out of 50 states and continues to look at expanding into new markets. Now, in addition to that, he contributes his success to utilizing systems and processes that simplify the online buying process. He’s focused exclusively on online auctions bank REOs, buying off of the MLS, and wholesalers across the country since 2013. I’m so excited to have my friend and fellow mastermind member, Paul Lizell. Paul, welcome to the podcast.

Paul Lizell

00:04:32

Thanks for having me, man. I really appreciate it.

Jay Conner

00:04:34

Absolutely. I’m excited to have you on here, Paul. And of course, we’re going to be seeing each other again here pretty soon at one of our upcoming mastermind meetings. And today we want to hear all about what it’s like to be a virtual wholesaler. What in the world does that mean? And what’s that process look like? But before you get started on all that, tell us, how’d you get into real estate?

Paul Lizell

00:04:58

Interesting story. So let’s go back to the 1990s when I was in college. I was working for my uncle who’s a general contractor and he bought a quadplex, a 4-unit building. We fixed it up, renovated it. He turned around and rented it out. He was making pretty good profits on this property, too, and still had a lot of equity in it. So that kind of stoked my interest in real estate. And that point on, after he bought a few more and we renovated them and I was going through college, I decided this is something I got to get into. It’s gotta be my long-term goal. So I did and basically in 2001, I started my first property. Unlike his, it was a fix and flip. I got into that so I could build up some cash. Eventually, I did build up, got some rentals as well, but stuck with the wholesaling, the fix and flip game owner-finance game, and I’d been doing that ever since.

Jay Conner

00:05:46

That’s awesome. So, were you doing fix and flips a while before you started doing wholesaling? Or were you doing wholesaling and fixing flips simultaneously, like right out the gate?

Paul Lizell

00:05:59

Well, I really started in the fix and flip game and then when I had too many flip deals going on, I did a couple of wholesale deals. And I started to realize it was kind of easy doing these wholesale deals. So after the crash of 2008, 2009, when all the marketing was just tanking, and you probably remember that well, I’m sure, I decided, all right, let’s go more to the wholesale game and turn them and burn them, and we did that. And we still did fix and flips, don’t get me wrong. We kept those good deals, did fix and flips on them, kept some good deals, rentals, some owner-financing, but we basically became virtual wholesalers at that point. We started expanding. We started in Pennsylvania where I was originally from. I just moved here to Florida this past month, but originally I’m from about 45 minutes north of Philadelphia. And so I started in that market, expanded out, went to Pittsburgh, New Jersey, Delaware, Ohio, Indiana, the Carolinas, which I love and where you’re from. And then I started going down to Florida, Texas, before you know it, I bought and sold in 44 to 50 states.

Jay Conner

00:06:57

First of all, let’s make sure everybody understands what we’re talking about when we say wholesale a deal. There’s more than one way to wholesale a deal. So, what’s your definition of wholesaling? And what’s that look like?

Paul Lizell

00:07:11

So for most people, they think wholesaling is getting a property under contract from a seller and assigning that contract and collecting assignment fee. So for us buying bank-owned properties, and we do a few of those, don’t get me wrong. We do a few of those deals, we get some of those referrals. But, primarily, what we do with auction properties or bank-owned or HUD properties, we have to buy them, take them down and then resell them. So, it’s a wholesale, it’s just we actually have to take down the property. So we do need the funds to be able to purchase it, whether we use transactional funding, private lending, as you’re great at, at raising money, we do as well. We love the raising money game and using private lending for that. But yeah, it’s kind of the same deal as it is with assignment of contract, it’s  just we actually take it down so we show ownership at one point.

Jay Conner

00:07:59

So, what’s the advantage of actually buying the house instead of getting it under contract and then collecting an assignment fee?

Paul Lizell

00:08:09

You know in certain states there’s been a crackdown, I think Tennessee and Illinois have had a crackdown on wholesalers where they’re making them become licensed realtors. So I think this kind of negates that because you’re actually purchasing the property, right? You’re showing you have the vested interest, not just the vested interest or equitable interest, you actually purchased it and took it down. So you have the right to do what you want to afterwards, and nothing can come back. So from a legal standpoint, we’re probably the safest and best. I am licensed in Pennsylvania. I probably will get licensed in Florida. And occasionally we’ll do some of those assignment deals, but for the most part, we just take them down, resell them. And in this market, as you know, wholetailing has been unbelievable, just getting the property in decent enough shape to be mortgageable reselling it, not sitting on it for 6, 7 months while the rehab is getting done, while the showings are going on. It’s much quicker, you’re in and out 30 days at the most, and you’re hopefully selling it in 30 to 45 days in this market right now.

So, it’s been much quicker and better.

Jay Conner

00:09:08

Right. So the reason you actually buy the house and take ownership of it is, that way, regardless of where you’re doing business, you don’t have to worry about there being issues with just collecting an assignment fee. Am I hearing you right on that?

Paul Lizell

00:09:27

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, we would prefer to do it without having to have all the cash and buy it, but the banks don’t allow you. So if you buy a property from the bank, you can’t just assign it to another buyer, you must take it down in your name and you can do things with it. We’ve done things in trust. You know trusts are great. But the problem with that is, unless it’s an investor that’s a buyer investor, that trusts in you and understands what you’re doing, that they know what you’re doing, they usually don’t want to buy your trust, or if you put it in an LLC and sell them that LLC, they don’t usually want to buy it. And I totally understand that, they’re going to want to put it in their own name. We’ve run into that in the past with Fannie Mae. Fannie Mae had that anti-flipping where you couldn’t sell it for more than 20% of what you paid for. I think it was 90 days after the deed was recorded, not when you purchased, but when the deed was recorded. So with those properties, it either had to do something off the HUD, or we just had to wait those 90 days and then just sell it to them at that point, which has other risks. But, overall, if you’re making profits, I’m alright with that.

Jay Conner

00:10:26

There you go. So when you’re buying the houses in today’s market, are you primarily selling them to other real estate investors at a profit? Or are you selling them to people that are actually going to move in and own the home themselves and live in it?

Paul Lizell

00:10:44

In this market, we’ve done more to end-buyers. More people are going to live there than in the past. Typically, we sell to other investors for the most part, but in this market, the way it’s been and the kind of properties that we targeted, we’ve kind of pivoted and go on into less of the trainwreck properties, the ones that need everything and more to the ones that just need a little bit enhancing to get it back to become mortgageable and then resell them. So we’ve kind of pivoted a little bit just in this market to try to take advantage of what’s there. Go after the low-lying fruit rather than everything else.

Jay Conner

00:11:14

I got it. I know it’s going to depend on the market. I mean, you’re in all kinds of markets all over the nation, but what kind of profits are you seeing in today’s market doing the business the way you do it?

Paul Lizell

00:11:26

So our wholesale profits are generally around $12,000 per deal, and that’s your standard wholesale. If we’re wholetailing it, we’re around $32,000 and the full-scale fix and flip we’re into anywhere from probably close to your number, the $67,000, but we’ve had plenty of that have been $80,000, $100,000, even $120,000, especially in this market over the past year. So it’s been nice, but those are your full-scale rehabs. And those were the home runs, obviously, they’re not your average.

Jay Conner

00:11:55

Right. And we’ve already said it, but I want to make sure our audience understands it. Tell everybody what wholetailing is versus wholesaling.

Paul Lizell

00:12:05

Yeah, great point. So wholetailing is more or less where you’re getting a property and it just needs some paint, some carpet, it doesn’t need a full kitchen gut. Maybe you just repaint the cabinets. Maybe you put new cabinet poles on them, or maybe put countertops on them. With bathrooms, you’re okay with them but maybe you just put a new toilet in, or a new vanity or even easier sometimes, just a new faucet on a sink. And then you’re reworking your painting and carpeting. Usually, you don’t have to do roof siding, windows, things like that. So wholetailing has really just been super profitable. It’s more so than the fix and flip, believe it or not, for us. When you look at it from a time standpoint, we’re selling those so quickly, as quickly as our full-scale fix and flip, but we’re putting less effort in, and our holding costs are so much lower. It’s been worthwhile for us and less management of contractors because it can be one of the most difficult, taxing things in this business.

Jay Conner

00:13:00

Do you think that wholetailing, or in other words, “not doing a full rehab,” but you just make it okay and nicer? Do you think wholetailing is so much more popular now and working so well because there’s just no inventory?

Paul Lizell

00:13:16

That’s it. You hit the nail on the head with that, Jay. We go back to 2009 when I was doing fix and flips. If I didn’t do a full-scale, redo everything, you didn’t have that many buyers interested in the property unless it was the first-time home buyer. But as the market has gotten hotter and hotter and has lesser and lesser inventory, people are being less picky figuring they’ll do some of the work themselves. So it’s really just kind of taking what the market gives you. We follow it in our business. We follow the “Keep it simple, stupid” theory, and I think that’s the best thing to do in any business. Whatever the market is giving you, take that, right? If you don’t need to do the full-scale rehab, don’t, unless it’s going to warrant you getting an additional $50,000 or $60,000 where it becomes worthwhile, just take what the market gives you.

Jay Conner

00:13:56

Yeah. So how do you determine how to price? Like if you’re wholetailing a house to an end-buyer, what’s your criteria for pricing that home at the stage you got it in versus a complete rehab?

Paul Lizell

00:14:15

So basically what we do now with the wholetailing, we’re discounting it at 10-15% off what the normal end, full-scale rehab would be, which is still giving some equity to the buyer, should they want to do something there. And still it makes them fly off the shelves, I tell you, they don’t last very long when you’re just doing the basics and people see it’s clean and easy. I can change the carpet. I can change the paint color or whatever, I can do this or that. So people aren’t as picky as they used to be because there’s just no inventory. It’s hard to be picky. You take what’s there, basically, more or less.

Jay Conner

00:14:50

So in this market, as long as it’s clean and it smells good, if it’s dated, that’s okay, right?

Paul Lizell

00:15:03

Yes, dated, okay. You go do the ’80s, ’90s style. People can live with that as long as things aren’t broken, right? As long as you don’t have holes in the roof and things like that. Roofing is definitely a big issue, HVAC system for people. We just did one in Laurinburg, North Carolina, and unfortunately it did need a new HVAC system, so we did install that. We’re still gonna do pretty well. His property is still gonna net around $32,000, even though we had to do the roof and the HVAC system and the rest of it was a wholetail.

Jay Conner

00:15:32

Gotcha. So when you’re wholetailing to an end-user, are you finding the buyer by listing it with a real estate agent in the MLS?

Paul Lizell

00:15:42

We are. So, 90% of the time we do that. And occasionally like we did in one in Charleston, Tennessee, which is a very rural area, I had my disposition manager reach out to a bunch of agents in that area to just let them know we have a property and we offered them 2% commission. And the only thing we had to do was put it in a hot water heater in that one. That was literally it.

Jay Conner

00:16:05

That’s amazing. So first of all, to be virtually wholesaling, you have to find these deals and there ain’t no inventory to speak of. So everybody wants to know, well, if there isn’t any inventory, how in the world are you finding the deals?

Paul Lizell

00:16:27

Well, we got a little bit of an advantage over a lot of other people in the market. Most real estate investors out there stick with certain territories, maybe one or two markets out there. Occasionally somebody does three or four, but for us, the whole country is our oyster, really. That’s what we look at. We got inventory anywhere. We have preferred states where we’d like to do business, don’t get me wrong, but if there’s a great deal in another state where we don’t typically do business, we will go there. Just to give you an example, we’ve done 5 deals in New Mexico this year. We hadn’t done a deal in New Mexico in I think the previous 6 years before that, so we just kind of take what the market gives you. If there’s a deal there, we’ll take it. And we also hit those tertiary markets, and the second-tier markets that if you’re looking at a town or a city like Charlotte, go an hour outside, like a town like Kannapolis, Gastonia, and then go another hour outside that loop there. And then you’re in like a third-tier market. We target those markets because people do want to live there, especially now with what’s going on with the pandemic and everything. People are looking to be more and more rural. So it kind of fits right into what we’ve done all these years, which is a big advantage for us.

Jay Conner

00:17:33

Right! So how do you get the leads?

Paul Lizell

00:17:35

So for us, it’s our own time. So we pay no marketing fees, right? We don’t have any marketing costs whatsoever. I had turned off the direct mail marketing in 2013 and I just buy exclusively off of these auctions. For me, it’s really looking at what’s on the auction sites right now. We use VAs. We have several VAs that do this for each different auction site, whether it’s Auction.com, Xome, the Hudson & Marshall, Hubzu, Realty Bid, Auction Network, HUD Home Store, Fannie and Freddie. We have them go through and they do what I call “First-level fig.” They look at it and we give them the criteria of what we look out for – square footage, repair amount – and then they’ll send me a spreadsheet on Excel. Yes, yes, no, no, no. So, let’s say there’s 250 properties on this particular auction that’s coming up.

We might weed that down to about 20 to 25 that we’ll actually bid on. And then as the bidding process goes, if we’re getting out there and we just let those go off and again, we pick the low-lying fruit there. We’re not going to get into a bidding war. Today, for example, there’s a property in Florida that was in Sarasota, which is a red-hot market. It’s a nice market. My maximum allowable offer is 141 because there’s a buyer’s premium on this property. So the most I would spend was 150 because the ARV was 350 tops. This thing ends up getting bid up to 203 with a buyer’s premium. It was over 210 that that person is purchasing a property for, plus it needed everything. This thing needed at least 125 and work. So basically whoever bought this is probably an end-buyer, but they’re going to be upside down when all is said and done. So we fall off that, we have our maximum viable offers that will go up to, and you can’t get emotional with it, right? That’s a nice market. I would have liked to have been in there, but it didn’t fit our criteria. So I let it go.

Jay Conner

00:19:27

Paul, in case we’ve got some listeners that need to leave the show a little early, go ahead and let folks know how they can get in contact with you and continue the conversation.

Paul Lizell

00:19:38

Sure, absolutely. So we have a couple of different websites. www.REOAuctionAcademy.com is one of them. And also FlipRealEstateVirtually.com is another one. Both URLs work. You can contact us, and if you want to learn more about our coaching program, which we teach people how to do exactly what we do. As a matter of fact, we teach a lot of other investors who do direct mail, postcards, and PPC. They want to learn this aspect of the business. They actually hire somebody or have somebody who doesn’t have as much going on and let them handle this whole new arm of the business for them.

Jay Conner

00:20:13

Again, those 2 websites are REOAuctionAcademy.com, and the other one is FlipRealEstateVirtually.com. All right, so you got the leads coming in. You got your VAs researching all the houses that are coming up on all these different auction sites. How in the world do you have boots on the ground, eyes on the ground, in all these different markets, taking a look at these houses to even know what a close estimation of repairs would be that you need to do? Because, obviously, you don’t want to bid on a property until you know what kind of repairs you’re looking at.

Paul Lizell

00:21:02

Absolutely. And this is one of the most important things. So how you develop these kinds of relationships and these relationships end up blossoming and give you more deals throughout the years. I’ll give you an example of it. So in Tucson, Arizona, there was an REO agent who I bought a bunch of properties through over the years from 2010, all the way through now, we still currently do. Basically, he saw I was a serious player in Tucson, Arizona. We wholesaled a bunch of them. And then he was starting to bring me deals and bring me leads and bring me properties. So he was my boots on the ground. And how that started was I just reached out to him initially after I was bidding on some properties, and this is what you need to do if you’re entering any new market, you need to contact the realtor or the REO agent for that property.

If it’s a bank-owned property, get some details. You’re trying to get the BPO, which is the “Broker’s Price Opinion” of the property. And if you can get that, that’ll tell you basically what they think the “as is value” is, the 30-day sale price, the 90-day sale price,  the 120-day sale price. And they’ll show comps on there, and that’s like, that’s gold. That’s gold when you get that. So you utilize them for that. You also try to get additional pictures from them. And then you’re trying to get what kind of repairs are needed because they generally know, again, the utilities usually aren’t on, but they know what repairs were needed. They know if the roof’s leaking, they know if the air conditioner or heater looks really bad and it looks like it needs replacing, the hot water heater. They’ll tell you if the kitchen needs to be replaced. And the best referrals I get for contractors, hands down, is from these agents.

And the big reason is these contractors who work for these agents get referrals and they get a lot of referrals. So they do not want to screw over these agents when they’re giving them, basically, free marketing. So the guys that we’ve used from all the agent referrals have all been good, and I’m going to knock on wood when I say that, the ones that I run into that have been bad are ones that I picked on my own. I’ve also gotten great ones, but the best referrals from people who are there, who have boots on our ground and have local people, you know how to do those repairs. So we relied big time on the agents on these properties. If there is no agent, we use a company called BPO Photo Flow that’ll go out there and take some pictures of the property.

And if we have a lockbox, they can usually get inside, take more pictures. And we kind of tell them what to look for, like take pictures of the exterior, make sure there’s no cracks in the foundation, take a picture of the basement, the systems, make sure the HVACs are right, hot water heater, kitchens and bathrooms are important. You know, anything that they noticed cracks or issues with flooring, whatever, anything off-level. We want to know that kind of thing. If there’s moisture in the basement, just so we know what we’re in for an aid, generally do a pretty good job and they’re fairly inexpensive to utilize.

Jay Conner

00:23:49

And what’s the name of that service? One more time.

Paul Lizell

00:23:54

It’s BPO Photo Flow, like “Broker’s Price Opinion.” BPOPhotoFlow.com. And they do a really good job. They’re not in every market, so sometimes we actually have to reach out to other local agents and send them out there. And then we just pay them basically more or less to go out there and take some pictures for us and then tell them if we buy it, we’re going to list it through you. We do offer that. And if we do buy, we do end up listing it with them or having them help us sell the property if they know some investors.

Jay Conner

00:24:20

So these REO real estate agents, also known as bank-owned real estate agents, have the listing for these properties that are going up for auction. So obviously if you buy it, you don’t have to pay them anything for the purchase because the bank, the REO, is paying their commission. But do you compensate these agents in any additional way other than when you make a purchase, the bank pays them?

Paul Lizell

00:24:46

We do at times, like if we know they’re going to be doing above and beyond, and they’re not going to get the listing, we will definitely pay them. We’ll say, “What do you want for this? Or what free one for that service?” They usually are very, very fair with the prices and we’re glad to do it. We just Venmo them most of the time. I’ve never really run into any issues with that. Most of the time, they’re really happy to just hand the listing for you. I even have thought of them managing my rehabs for me because they know the contractors, they kind of manage, oversee, and take pictures. They’re happy to go do that. They see the progress and they want it listed so that they can get their permission when all is said and done.

Jay Conner

00:25:21

Awesome. And how do you find these REO agents? I suppose one way you could find them is, well, your VAs are looking at auctions coming up. They go research the property and right there, they see who’s got the real estate listing on it. Right?

Paul Lizell

00:25:37

Absolutely. And you get a lot of these agents who will have 5, 10, 15, 20 different properties. And they’ll cover a huge geographical region, which is crazy. I mean, they’re running around all the time. Nobody works harder than an REO agent, that I can tell you. Those guys and gals, they work their butts off and they are good. Their numbers are so spot on. For example, on a property we had in Ohio a few years back, I was talking to the agent, “What do you think the value of this property is, as is?” And she’s like, it had to be somewhere between 17 and 20. Sure enough, we picked it up for like $7,500. We sold that for $17,500. She was just right on the money with it. And that happens time and time and time again, the only time, if you’re in with a newer agent, that’s where you want to be careful.

If it is a newer real estate agent, they’re not going to be as experienced. You’re going to want to try to lean on a secondary agent. Hopefully somebody that’s in one of these towns that has their own brokerage that’s been there for 10, 20 years and really knows the market. Well, those have been our best sources. Far and away, the people that are in small mom & pop shops, they just know the market. They know everybody in town. They usually know who lived in that property, especially if it’s a smaller town, like you live in, Jay, they know people, right? And they’ve been our greatest source all over every market that we’ve ever been in.

Jay Conner

00:26:55

Let’s say that you make a bid and you win the bid at the auction and all these auctions are online, right?

Paul Lizell

00:27:04

Yes. They’re all online.

Jay Conner

00:27:05

So you win the bid. So now you’re the winning bidder. On average, how long do you have before you get close? In addition to that, do you sometimes, or always get a home inspection before you take it down?

Paul Lizell

00:27:22

So, Jay, I’ll answer the first question first. 30 to 45 days usually is what you got, time-wise. Sometimes a little bit longer. If the title is a little cloudy or there’s past issues or where something wasn’t done right at the Sheriff’s sale. That’s the answer to the first question. The second one, we never get a home inspection. We’ll just send a contractor out there. I don’t have too much faith in the home inspection field, business, people. Most of these guys learn out of a book and never swung a hammer a day in their life. So the people I rely on are the contractors. I try to find general contractors that really know everything, as many aspects of it. And yeah, if they miss some stuff, sure, they’re gonna miss some stuff here and there, but they’re going to see the big stuff. And they’ve been a great source for me and are far less expensive because you’re just gonna pay $400 or $500 for these home inspections when I can send a guy out there for a hundred bucks to give me a pretty good inspection, you know.

Jay Conner

00:28:14

And again, as you said, you find these general contractors by referral from the bank-owned real estate agents, right?

Paul Lizell

00:28:21

Yup. And about 95% of the time, they don’t charge you a penny to go out there. They’re hoping to get the work.

Jay Conner

00:28:26

That’s fantastic. Well, this is a fantastic business model you’ve got, Paul. Any parting comments?

Paul Lizell

00:28:35

I love it. It’s a great business model. The one thing I really like about it is that I can turn a business on or off anytime I want, unlike the direct mail marketing or the PPC where you gotta be on those calls right away. On a PPC lead or direct mail, it’s constantly going. If I want to go on vacation, I shut down for 2 weeks or a month. If I want to go overseas, I can do that and just stop operations and start right back up when I get back. So I do love that. That is my favorite aspect of the business. I also don’t have to deal with home sellers 99% of the time. So those are 2 facets. I really like how it’s really simple. It’s not turnkey, but your time is your marketing costs, right? Your time and energy, which is your most valuable asset. Your time is all your costs involved.

[dreamypeaches]

run, baby, run | jj maybank x reader

request: @drewsephsmiles asked: an imagine where reader and jj sneak into midsummers under a different name, and he finally confessing his feelings as you guys are running away??

summary: angry at your friends for spending the night on the dark side without, you and jj decide to crash midsummers, only to grow closer throughout the night. 

warnings: alcohol use, cursing, ward cameron

word count: 3.2k

a/n: this made me so happy while writing it. it’s just a bunch of fluff and dorky jj. also, lmk if you notice the parks and rec reference in here. i think it’s pretty obvious lol. enjoy :)

You and JJ had been abandoned. Thrown to the wayside in favor of some Kook party. And not just any Kook party, but Midsummers, the Kookiest event of the year. To be fair to your friends, none of them wanted to be there either. Pope had to work with his dad, Kiara was forced by her parents, and John B was Sarah’s date. Usually, you would have attended as Kie’s date, keeping her company while the two of you got drunk off expensive champagne. But, since John B was attending this year, you didn’t want to leave JJ all alone. So now you found yourself in the least Kook place in the Outer Banks: lounging on the couch on the porch of the Chateau, smoking with JJ while complaining about your friends going to the dark side.

“Did you see John B is his monkey suit? He looked ridiculous. Sarah’s got him whipped for sure,” JJ noted, referencing the suit Sarah had picked out for his best friend for Midsummers. The moment John B had emerged from his room wearing a dark blue suit and a pair of fancy loafers, JJ couldn’t help but go off on the boy.

“Leave him alone, he’s in love,” You said emphasizing your words with a fake dreamy voice, “Besides, we both know your ultimate dream in life is to go Full Kook.”

“Yeah, well, doesn’t mean I’m not allowed to complain about it now. I mean, that suit probably cost more than my whole life, and Sarah just bought it like it was nothing.”

“You should see her closet. She’s got shit in there that could pay my parent’s mortgage five times over.”

JJ passed the joint you and you took a hit, mind wandering to Sarah’s closet full of beautiful party dresses. JJ sighed and flipped around so his head rested in your lap. Your fingers instantly went to his blonde locks, running through them lazily.

“If I went full Kook, I would buy a suit for every day of the week. No, every day of the month, plus one to sleep in. That’s what I want, so much money that I can sleep in a suit and not even think about it. If I fuck it up, oh well, I’ll just go buy a new one.”

You giggled at JJ, looking down at him as you passed him the joint. His red, hooded eyes met your own, just as glazed as his. For a moment, you were thankful that your friends were all stuck at Midsummers. You cherished moments like this, where it was just you and JJ. You had been friends with him and John B as long as you could remember, the three of you sharing a third grade class. The three of you were thick as thieves. You thought of John B as a brother. JJ, on the other hand, was something else entirely. He was your person, always there by your side. He could read you like no one else could, and you understood him just the same. That’s why you loved spending time alone with JJ. Neither of you had to be anyone else but yourselves. Sure, you could do that with the Pogues, but with you and JJ it was just different.

You’d really started to notice the difference lately. You noticed it in the way he looked at you, in the way his touch would linger on your skin, the way your heart skipped when he laughed and they way your stomach flutter when he sat close to you, like he was doing now.

Looking down at your best friend, observing his lazy smile and the way his hair felt against your fingers, you could safely say you were in love with JJ Maybank. And you were okay with that. You were also okay with never telling him your feelings, because you couldn’t risk losing him. Even if it was only as friends, you wanted to keep JJ by your side for the rest of your life.

You were pulled out of your thoughts by JJ booping you on the nose after handing you the joint, small giggles escaping his lips.

“Whatcha thinking about, sunshine?” He asked. You took a hit to avoid answering for a moment, mind racing to come up with something.

“Just imagining myself as a Kook at Midsummers right now. As much as I complain about it, I actually love getting all dressed up and getting shitfaced with Kie.” You said, Midsummers being the first thing that came to your mind. JJ suddenly shot up from his place on your lap, almost knocking your head with his own in the process. He spun around so he was facing you, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

“Then let’s fucking do it!” He said. You furrowed your eyebrows at the blonde boy.

“Do what? Go to Midsummers? JJ, how will we-”

“Sarah got John B an extra suit, just in case she hated the way the other one looked on him. And I’m sure Kie wouldn’t mind if you borrowed one of her dresses, it’s not like she uses them anyway.”

You opened your mouth, ready to question every aspect of his plan, when JJ jumped to his feet and stopped you. He positioned himself so he was standing obscenely straight, a studious look on his face.

“Ms. Y/L/N, would you do me the pleasure of allowing me to escort you to Midsummers this evening?” He said in a terrible fancy voice. He extended his hand towards you expectantly. You looked at his hand then up at his face. His gaze was soft as he looked at him, wiggling his eyebrows at you as he waited for your response. After a few moments of thinking over everything that could go wrong, you looked at him again, and remembered, this was JJ Maybank. You would walk through Hell for him. The only differences between Midsummers and Hell was free booze and food.

You gently placed your hand in his, meeting his eyes and smiled.

“It would be my honor.”

After stealing the extra suit from John B’s room, sneaking into Kiara’s house to pick out a dress (you knew where she hid the spare key), and quickly doing you make up in the car, you and JJ parked outside of Kook country club where Midsummers was taking place.

“So what’s the plan?” You asked. JJ just looked at you.

“What do you mean?”

You stared at him incredulously, throwing your arms in the air.

“What do you mean “what do you mean”? What is your plan for sneaking into the most prestigious Kook event in the Outer Banks?”

“When have I ever had a plan?”

You glared at him for a moment, before rolling your eyes and stepping out the car. He met you on your side of the car, positioning his arm for you to hold onto.

“If we get caught, I’m telling them you kidnapped me.”

JJ chuckled and started leading you towards the door.

“Don’t worry, sunshine, we’ll be fine. Just follow my lead.”

You sighed and shook your head, too used to JJ’s antics to truly be worried.  

When you were a few feet from the door, JJ leaned down till his lips were close to your ear.

“By the way, you look beautiful, sunshine.”

You turned your head away from him, trying to hide the smile that was stuck on your face.

A man stood in front of the door into the country club, blocking the way. He looked the pair of you up and down as you approached, picking every detail that set you and JJ apart from the Kooks. Despite dressing the part, you two didn’t hold yourselves the same way the Kooks did.

“I’m sorry, but the club is closed for a private event,” The man said with a look that said “sorry, not sorry.”

“Oh, we’re well aware. We’re here to attend. Sorry, we’re running late, you know how women can be with their make-up,” JJ said, motioning to you. You lightly elbowed him while continuing to smile politely at the man.

“I understand, sir, but…the event is at capacity. Maybe next year!” He said, giving you a snide smile. You glared at the man while JJ removed himself from your grasp.

“Excuse me, do you know who I am? My name is Charles Cameron, and I don’t think my uncle, Ward Cameron, would be very happy if his favorite nephew didn’t make it to his party. Especially a nephew who is visiting on his honeymoon and wants to show his wife the absolute best the Outer Banks has to offer.”

You felt your cheeks heat up as he referred to you as his wife. But you didn’t have time to dwell on it as the man opened the door quickly. The look on his face made it clear he didn’t want to take the chance of facing the wrath of Ward Cameron. JJ looped his arm with yours once again and led you inside, giving you a wink and a smirk after thanking the doorman.

“Wow you really unleashed your inner Karen back there, Charles,” You laughed.

“Nah, it was more of my inner Gretchen Wieners. I’m so glad you made me watch that movie last week. I went all my father, the inventor of toaster strudel on his ass,” JJ said, putting on his best teen girl voice.

“I think we need sign you up for acting classes, you’re a natural!”

“Classes? Nah, sunshine. The master doesn’t take classes, he teaches them.”

You threw your head back in laughter as he pulled you to the open bar. The pair of you ordered the fanciest and most expensive drink you could think of, trying your best to blend in with the Kooks surrounding you.

Sipping on your disgustingly expensive drinks, you moved through the crowd. You spotted John B and Sarah at he edge of the dance floor and led JJ toward them.

“What the hell are you doing here? Is that my suit?” John B questioned.

“It’s not like you were gonna wear it. Anyways, Y/N and I were no pissed that you guys abandoned us for this Kookfest, we decided to come crash your party. Free booze, dancing, the chance to fuck with some Kooks, it’s one hell of a honeymoon.”

He wrapped an arm around your waist and pulled you closer, giving John B an exaggerated smile.

“Honeymoon?” Sarah questioned, raising her eyebrows and giving you a sly smirk.

“Yup. Oh, and, by the way, if anyone asks, I’m your favorite cousin Charles. Okay, we’re gonna go find Kie. See you love birds later.” He led you away from the dance floor, but you didn’t miss Sarah mouth we’ll talk later at you.  

Sarah was the one to help you realize your feelings for JJ. When she had first started dating John B, she has assume the two of you were dating. When she asked you about, you were disgusted. After asking her to elaborate as to why she believed you were dating your best friend, it became less and less disgusting. Suddenly, you realized that you very much wanted to date your best friend. That had been three years ago. Ever since, Sarah was constantly pestering you about telling JJ how you feel. She would always mention things that proved JJ felt the same way. From the way he looked at you, how protective he was of you, how he got jealous when anyone was even remotely interested in you. But no matter how much Sarah pointed out to you, you could never believe that JJ would want to be anything but friends.

The pair of you wandered around Midsummers. You eventually found Kie, who had escaped the center of the party by hiding by the grill with Pope. After complimenting your dress, then realizing it was her own, you were forced to explain how you kinda, sorta broke into her house. You and JJ escaped her wrath quickly, running to the other end of the party. You spent the next hour wandering around, drinking champagne and making shitty small talk with the Kooks who always found ways to rope you into conversations. JJ had somehow convinced a lady that the both of you were very wealthy entrepreneurs on the look out for new companies to invest in.

“So, you do a lot of investing?” The lady, you think he name was Eleanor, asked.

“We like to dabble. I recently invested in some shirts I got a garage sale. Left those at Wendy’s on the way home, so,” JJ raised his glass towards the women, giving her a serious look, “the economy.”

You both let out the fakest rich laughs you could, causing the women to step away from you quickly. Your fake laughs turned into real giggles at the look the lady’s face. You walked father away from the crowd learning against a wall near the edge of the party.

“Who knew Midsummers could be so fun,” You remarked, grinning at JJ. He smiled back, bumping shoulders with you. You dissolved into a comfortable silence, observing the party moving in front of you. You glanced toward the front of the club and noticed the doorman from watching you and JJ.

“JJ!” You tapped the boys shoulder and nodded toward the man. He looked at him quickly before looking back at you.

“I think it’s time for an acting lesson. Lesson one, method acting,” JJ said. He leaned forward, placing a hand on your cheek. For a second, it seems like his lips are heading straight for yours. You stomach flips as he gets closer. But he suddenly changes course, his lips landing on your cheek.

“I don’t think that’s what method acting is,” You said.

“It’s my method of acting,” He whispered in your ear, sending a shiver down your spine. He quickly pulled away, going back to leaning against the wall. You gave yourself a moment to calm your racing heart before looking back towards the doorman. He was no longer watching the pair of you, thankfully. You returned your attention towards the party, trying to ignore the tingle on your cheek where his lips has touched.

Your head perked up as the music changed, the band playing Dream a Little Dream of Me. You let out a content sigh.

“I love this song,” You said. JJ gazed at you, taking in the peaceful look on your beautiful face. He slowly took your hand in his and brought it up to his lips. He placed a gentle kiss on your knuckles as he met your eyes. Your breath caught in your throat at the intensity of his gaze and practically swooned at the tone of his voice has he quietly spoke.

“Sunshine, would you like to dance?”

You could only nod, smiling at the boy as he led you to the dance floor. Your hands stayed clasped together, while your other hand rested on his shoulder. His hand landed dangerously low on your hip, gripping it and pulling you close. Your face was only about a foot from his, breath mingling as you swayed to the music.

“You look beautiful tonight,” He whispered.

“You already said that,” You whispered back.

“And I’ll say it again.” He grinned at you, pulling away to give you space to twirl before pulling you back in, closer than before.

“God, you deserve this. Not having to worry about a thing. Getting to wear beautiful dresses and go to glamorous parties. Why do people like Rafe Cameron, the living equivalent of trash, get to enjoy this shit while you, a literal goddess among women, gets stuck on the Cut with trash like me.” He glanced down has he spoke, refusing to meet your eyes. You placed your hand under his chin, lifting it to look at you.

“I’m glad this wasn’t my life. Because if I was stuck on Figure 8 I never would have had met you. I’m glad I’m stuck on the Cut, because I get to stuck with the coolest people I know. Even now, if I were given the chance to go Full Kook, I wouldn’t go anywhere unless you were with me.”

JJ looked at you, mouth agape. Your hand moved from his chin to his cheek. You started to move in, as did JJ, breath picking up the closer you got. Suddenly, a hand slammed onto JJ’s shoulder, making both of freeze.

“Enjoying your honeymoon, nephew?” Ward Cameron spoke from behind JJ. JJ looked in your eyes and smirked.

“Well honey, looks like we’re heading home early.”

Out of the corner of your eye, you saw a few security guards making their way towards you. JJ gripped your hand and began running off the dance floor. You ran with him, laughing as he antagonized the security guards chasing after you. You kicked off your shoes as you ran, making a note in your head to apologize to Kie later. The two of you weaved through the crowd, running down the beach and into a grouping of trees. JJ suddenly pulled you to the side pressing you up against a tree. You could hear the the security guards talking at the edge of the woods.

“Just make sure they don’t make it back in.” One of them said, before walking away. You barely paid attention to the security guards, though, too busy staring into JJ’s eyes. You both were breathing heavily after your daring escape. JJ’s hair was a mess, falling into his eyes. He licked his lips, eyes moving from your eyes to your mouth. You reached up to brush his hair back. Hi hand caught your wrist, pulling you closer to him before his hands wrapped around your waist. His lips crashed onto yours  hungrily. You kissed him back with equal fervor, hands tangling in his hair and forcing his head closer. He tasted sweet and bubbly like the champagne you had consumed the night. He tasted like the stars, beautiful and sparkling and like a dream.

When you finally parted to catch your breath. His hand move up to your face, cupping your cheeks.

“I love you, Y/N. It may be selfish, but I’m so glad you got stuck on the Cut with me. Being around you makes me feel like I can be anything and that I don’t belong dead in a ditch somewhere. And for so long I thought I could handle just being friends, but I can’t fucking do it anymore. I want kiss you and hold you and make you feel good!You are my fucking sunshine and I want to give you everything you deserve. I may not be able to give it to you now, but, if you’ll let me, I will stop at nothing to give you everything.”

You were frozen. Tears were gather at the corner of your eyes as you took in his words. One of your hands moved to cover JJ’s on your cheek. You gave him a watery grin.

“JJ, you’re here in front of me. I already have everything.”

He smiled and captured your lips once again, silently thanking the universe for putting you in his life.

[of-wrens-and-whirlwinds-blog]

Nanny

Commission for the ever-wonderful @depressedstressedlemonzest ! I hope you enjoy this, my love! Even though it got away from me a bit, eh heh heh. *sweats* Commission info is in my about page!

CW: ableism

~

Geralt did not know what to expect regarding the nanny he had contacted. He had been open to it being anyone, as long as they weren’t a creep.

He would never in a million years have expected his one-night-stand for two days ago to end up on his doorstep.

Geralt and Jaskier stared at each other, equally stunned. Finally, Jaskier cleared his throat and said lamely, “So you’re the Mr. Rivia who emailed me?”

“Yes,” Geralt got out stiffly.

“Daa-ddyyyy!” Ciri wailed from the living room. “Hungry!”

Geralt grimaced and rubbed his forehead. “Please come in,” he said with no enthusiasm. “I have to get Ciri her lunch.”

Jaskier nodded and followed him inside the small townhouse.

Ciri was stomping inside her pen, making frustrated noises. As soon as Geralt lifted her out, she beamed and threw her arms around his neck. “Hungry!” she yelled again, right in his ear.

“Of course, love,” Geralt agreed, rubbing her back soothingly as he took her to the kitchen. “What would you like for lunch today?”

“Ramen!” Ciri squealed, bouncing in his arms and tugging his hair. Geralt didn’t even flinch. He was used to it by now.

So he put Ciri in the high chair, started the ramen, and only remembered Jaskier when Ciri asked, “Who are you?”

“I’m Julian,” Jaskier replied. “And you are?”

“Ciri. That’s my daddy!”

“I noticed!”

Geralt’s mouth tightened as Jaskier and Ciri chatted. They were already on their way to being friends. Not good. If he decided not to hire Jaskier, Ciri would be upset and cry. But it would be better to not hire him. Right?

It had been a very good night when he shared Jaskier’s bed. He’d especially liked how Jaskier had--

Geralt swallowed hard and poured in the ramen noodles. They had both decided to end it there. It was a bad idea to let Jaskier stick around. He was too… bright, and loud, and frankly annoying. It didn’t matter that his terrible flirting was entertaining, or that he was a great singer, or that he obviously knew how to befriend children. Geralt would probably get pissed enough to throw him out in a week.

Ciri crowed with laughter and Geralt’s breath caught in his throat. She hadn’t laughed like that for anyone other than Geralt since Yennefer left.

With his heart sufficiently aching from Ciri’s excitement, Geralt turned away from the stove and walked to the table. Jaskier was already teaching her that stupid song about the spider and the water spout, and how to move her hands to the words. They were both grinning, as Ciri tried to sing along. Geralt wanted to say something, but she was happy, so he got a juicebox from the fridge and set it in reach for her, then retreated to the counter to watch them.

“Do you like ramen?” Ciri asked Jaskier, her green eyes wide with fascination.

“I do,” Jaskier replied, still smiling. “It’s one of my favorite foods.”

“It’s mine too!” Ciri said gleefully, waving her arms and knocking over the juicebox. Geralt lunged and caught it, and set it on the tray of the highchair again. “I like chicken ramen best! Daddy makes the best chicken ramen!”

Jaskier glanced over to Geralt, looking thoroughly amused. Geralt reddened in embarrassment. “That’s wonderful, wee,” Jaskier told Ciri. “Do you eat it often?”

“Every day!” Ciri crowed proudly.

Jaskier’s smile faded a little, but then he brightened it again. “Wow, it must be really good.”

“It is!”

Geralt looked down at the floor to hide his shamed expression. It was a good thing Ciri liked ramen, cold cereal, and canned soup; Geralt hadn’t had the money to buy fresh food since the lawyers stripped Geralt of his income from Vesemir’s estate. Unemployment payments were barely enough to pay the mortgage, the utilities, and Ciri’s diapers. Anything extra came from odd jobs around the city.

But he simply could not afford to leave Ciri alone, not when he needed to find a full-time job, and none of the daycare centers would accept a child of a Witcher. So--a nanny.

Ciri and Jaskier kept talking, and Geralt kept feeling more and more horrible, as Ciri told Jaskier all about her and Geralt’s playing every day except the days after he drank too much, and visiting Lambert and Eskel for dinner (they had insisted on at least feeding them, though Geralt refused their financial help), and her mommy sending her presents in the mail. At least, Daddy said they were from her mommy.

Geralt turned away at that point. The presents were not from Yennefer. They were what he could buy with scraped-up savings. He didn’t want Ciri to think Yenn had abandoned her, and to never remember her fondly.

The ramen was done. He drained it, put half a packet of seasoning in, and brought it to Ciri, along with her favorite spork. She squealed in delight and immediately began eating. Geralt’s stomach ached. Fuck, had she been hungry all morning? Was that day’s breakfast not enough? They didn’t have much cereal left, and he wasn’t sure he could afford more when the next check came in, oh fuck, he was going to have another panic attack--

“Please slow down, love,” Geralt managed to say, stroking Ciri’s hair gently. “You’ll hurt yourself.”

Ciri grumbled, but slowed. Geralt sat at the table across from Jaskier, and waited for the reprimands. Everyone reprimanded him when they got to know how he was raising Ciri. It was why he never told anyone about her unless pressed.

He was shaking. His chest hurt, especially his lungs. Why did he feel so light-headed?

“So,” Jaskier said, breaking through Geralt’s fearful thoughts. “I’m assuming the interview can happen now?”

No, absolutely not. Jaskier should leave, and swear not to report Geralt for neglect. Instead of saying that, Geralt nodded mutely.

“Innervu?” Ciri asked with her mouth full.

“An interview is where a person asks another questions, usually about their work,” Jaskier told her.

“But Daddy doesn’t work,” Ciri replied, confused.

Jaskier’s face flickered sadness before he shut that emotion away. “No, he’s going to ask me questions.”

“Ohhh.” Ciri nodded wisely and continued eating.

Geralt swallowed hard. Questions. He’d had a list of questions, hadn’t he? On his phone? He pulled his phone out of his pocket and navigated through his various note and writing apps until he found the one where he kept questions for professionals like doctors and lawyers. There, the list for the nanny. He opened it and slid it across the table to Jaskier.

Jaskier picked it up and read the first question out loud. “Do you have education related to caring for children? Actually, yes, my major in college was childcare. I’ve kept up to date on research and techniques, especially for younger children. How long have you been a nanny? About eight years, now; the first child was about ten and was sent to boarding school a year later, and the second child was a pair of twins. They were delightful, but I have very little training for special needs children, so I pointed their parents towards one of my colleagues who is trained. Do you know sign language? A little. I can converse in it, but I’m not an expert.”

Geralt listened hard as Jaskier worked down the list of questions, and grudgingly decided that Jaskier was a good enough fit. There were probably better nannies, but Geralt would never be able to afford them. So, when Jaskier handed the phone back, Geralt nodded and forced himself to say, “Good.”

“Daddy,” Ciri said suddenly, putting her spork down and reaching for him. “Breathe-hugs.”

Geralt obediently stood and picked her up, and hugged her tightly, facing away from Jaskier a little. Breathe-hugs. He kept forgetting his breathing exercises, but hugging Ciri helped him remember to calm down. This was only the fourth time that she had offered breathe-hugs before he thought of them. It made him feel terrible, that he leaned on her so much. But she was also the only thing still holding him to this shitty world.

He shouldn’t use his daughter as an anchor. He really shouldn’t.

After several deep breaths, he was calm enough to put her down again, and sit. He swallowed hard and said, “Thank you for answering my questions.”

Jaskier was frowning slightly. “You’re very welcome,” he replied. “Are you alright?”

Geralt nodded. “Do you have questions?” he asked, hands tightening on his elbows.

“Ah, yes, a few. Do you have any kind of steady income?”

“Yes,” Geralt said. “I get my unemployment check every month.”

Jaskier pursed his lips and frowned more. Then he asked cautiously, “How much will you be out of the house?”

“I… don’t know,” Geralt confessed. “I’m starting an internship on Monday, but I’m still not sure if I have a schedule yet.” That pained him worse than knowing the position was given to him out of pity.

“Paid internship?”

“...No.”

“Oh.” Jaskier tapped his finger on the table and bit his lip, then nodded firmly. “Well! I think we’ll suit well enough. What do you think, sir?”

Geralt blinked, then blurted, “I do too.”

“Excellent.” Jaskier beamed at him. “I’ll be by tomorrow morning to start.”

~

It was three weeks later and Geralt was a wreck.

Jaskier had started right out with telling Geralt that penning Ciri for most of the day was a terrible idea, and then showed him how to childproof the house.

“Pens are fine if you’re trying to train a puppy,” Jaskier explained, “But children aren’t puppies. She needs room. She needs to explore the house.”

“My father put me in a pen,” Geralt said hesitantly. “I turned out fine.”

Jaskier gave him an unimpressed look. “Nevertheless, Ciri isn’t you. Give her space to play.”

Ciri hadn’t known what to do without her pen, until Jaskier convinced her to play hide-and-seek. Then they had both run all over the house, hiding and laughing and exploring. Geralt’s heart was in his mouth the whole time, as he tried to make sure Ciri was safe and unhurt. The pen had been as much to keep her safe as it was meant to keep her where Geralt could find her.

After that, Jaskier went through the kitchen and declared that he was going to buy some frozen food and fresh veggies.

“Those are expensive,” Geralt blurted, alarmed.

Jaskier shook his head. “Not all of them. Bring Ciri, and I’ll show you the good deals.”

Geralt did not have a car safe enough to drive Ciri in. The one he used to drive was on its last legs, and so he usually either begged a ride from Eskel or took the bus with her. Jaskier frowned a little, and asked, “How long have you had that car?”

Geralt shrugged. “About twenty years,” he said.

So they took the bus, and Jaskier let Ciri sit in his lap and play with his necklace, which held a silver pendant shaped like a lute, with gold designs inlaid on it. They talked about animals, and Geralt kept his head down. The shame from being stared at like he was some sort of creep for having a daughter still roiled in his gut and made him nauseous.

Grocery shopping was strange, because Jaskier kept pointing out things that were cheap and Geralt had to tell him, over and over, in front of other people, “I only have fifty crowns, I can’t afford to spend it on only one week of food.”

Jaskier somehow negotiated him into buying some potatoes, and wretchedness settled on Geralt when he realized he wouldn’t have enough money to buy Ciri a present for two or three months. She had plenty of toys, though, surely she wouldn’t mind?

“Daddy, why are you sad?”

Geralt hugged Ciri closer and kissed her forehead. “I’m not sad, love.”

The internship was more draining than any other job he’d ever had. Everything was too loud, too fast, too hot, too much--but he had to do this. He had to be hired. Because he needed money for Ciri.

Jaskier kept Ciri company, and taught her songs, and bought her workbooks with her favorite cartoon characters. Most evenings, Geralt showered, changed clothes, and then slumped wherever they were and watched. It hurt, honestly, that she was so much happier with Jaskier. But, well, Jaskier was a better person in general.

And then on the third week of everything, Geralt completely broke down.

It was while he was making dinner. His nerveless fingers dropped the butter and the spoon, his knees buckled, and when he was crouched on the floor, rocking on his toes, he let himself whimper a little. He could not cry; he would not cry in front of Ciri. She didn’t deserve to see him be weak like this. But gods, he wanted to sleep, sleep forever, vanish from this planet and become nothing, so he would never feel or hurt or cry or disappoint or scare again.

A large, warm hand settled gently on his back. “You can go lay down,” Jaskier said gently beside him. “I can finish dinner. Go lay down, Geralt. It’s okay.”

So Geralt went to his room, and shut the door and laid down and let himself sob. Worthless, useless, couldn’t even keep a fucking internship long enough to be hired--

He must have fallen asleep, because when he opened his eyes it was late at night. He sniffed, wiped his scratchy eyes, and got out of bed. Maybe there were some leftovers in the fridge. Probably not. Ciri had been eating so much lately, and her energy had gone through the roof. Geralt had to keep cutting down on his own portion so she would have enough. Was that why he was so exhausted and achey lately?

When he reached the kitchen, he blinked.

Jaskier was at the table with a laptop, looking grim. He had papers all over the table, and a thick notepad that he wrote in every few seconds. He looked up at Geralt in the doorway, and managed a tired smile. “Hey,” he whispered. “There’s food in the fridge. Ciri wanted to leave everything, but I convinced her to eat some.”

Geralt nodded and got the leftover soup and fried potatoes out of the fridge, not even bothering to heat them up before spooning some into a bowl and sitting down at the other side of the table to eat. He hurt. But because he wanted noise, any noise, to keep his thoughts away from the evil place in his head, he looked up at Jaskier and asked, “What are you doing?”

“Researching unemployment laws,” Jaskier answered, tapping a few keys and then scribbling on his notepad. “It’s illegal to pay you so little when you have a child. Did you know you’re supposed to get two thousand crowns a month?”

Geralt gaped at him. “Whuh… the lawyers told me I could only have eight hundred,” he replied, feeling another surge of confusion and self-hate boil up in his chest. “Because my brothers have jobs.”

Jaskier looked up sharply, and he looked livid. “They were basing their calculations on your brothers’ incomes?” he demanded.

Geralt flinched, and nodded. “They--they have custody of me,” he explained. “Because a judge ordered when I was nineteen that I have to have a guardian.”

It was Jaskier’s turn to gape. Then he asked, much more gently, “If they are your guardians, why don’t you live with them?”

“Because…” Geralt frowned, trying to remember. “Because the homeowner’s association forbade my brothers from taking me in. So they gave me money to buy this house, and moved to a new apartment. But when I bought the house, some attorneys came by and claimed I was violating court orders, so they took my inheritance.”

“That’s illegal!” Jaskier burst out, aghast. “Why would they do that?”

Geralt’s head was pounding and his breath was getting shorter. He didn’t like thinking about that year. He didn’t like it all. It was a clusterfuck of despair and confusion and terror and he didn’t want to think of it. “I don’t know,” he said, and his voice shook. “I don’t know.”

Jaskier opened his mouth to say something else, then thought better of it, and sighed. “I’m sorry, Geralt,” he said. “I shouldn’t have pried. But now we have some idea of what to do.”

“Huh?”

“Well, you’re being discriminated against, mistreated, and refused the help you need. So.” Jaskier steepled his fingers and grinned, eyes glinting fiercely. “We’re going to tear these fuckers apart.”

~

A year later, Geralt hated the memories of the confusion and rage of dealing with laws and lawyers and people casually threatening to take Ciri away from him if he didn’t shut up and go away. He hated them with the fury of the planet’s molten core.

But outcomes had been good.

His payments were raised to the legal amount. He was allowed to go to therapy and job training without being threatened. Ciri had new clothes and a new bed and new favorite foods. And Jaskier was not annoying anymore. On the contrary, he had become something much, much better.

Jaskier was still only the nanny. But Geralt had a plan, and it involved the engagement ring he bought on the one-year anniversary of hiring Jaskier.

[dirtyfilthy]

The problem of buying a house

So, I don’t know about you, but with everything being totally crazy right now, many people lack the capacity to afford to buy a house. Specifically me, and most of my friends are in the exact same position. It seems impossible to get on the property ladder and we’ll probably be paying rent for the entire our lives.

So i was thinking: what if we weren’t paying rent, but instead all paying a mortgage and getting equity in a property we co-owned.  Sounds simple enough right, rent is money you’ve just flushing down the shitter generally, so you may as well actually something for your dollars.

And I ran the initial numbers on the median cost of house in melbourne ($600,000) and it looks plausible.... like I figured people could just pay the same rent as they do now, we’d all end up owning different percentages of the house but that’s ok. 

That way, me and my friends can be finally saving some money. Even at paying $500 a month, I can see someone coming out this four years later with $20k, which is a nice chunk of change to do something positive with. That’s $20k more than what they would have got through renting, which is nothing, and a vague, uneasy feeling that you’ve been getting violated in horrible ways you can’t exactly explain or even remember, like coming-to on a groggy Tuesday morning, after being rohypnolled at last Friday’s church dance. 

Under australian law this model is called “tenants-in-common”. So far so good, there’s even a ready made structure for it.

But the real problem is the FUCKING DEPOSIT. 20%, $125k. Now, I’m sure there are plenty of responsible adults out there with $125k kicking around in old coin jars and in various smashed piggy banks from their childhood and such. But I do not have $125k or anything close (who the hell even has savings these days) and i’m willing to bet even amongst 5 people we'd have a tough time scraping together maybe  $20-25k been all of us. 

I do have $116k in my super (pension plan for you yanks). It’s possible to manage your own super and invest it (nearly) where you want. But there’s lots of caveats (can’t use to buy your own home, most relevantly), and a lot of reporting requirements. I was thinking I could pull the old shell game of investing in another company  owned by a friend I wasn’t a director on., but I really need to think about this very carefully because a) it’s incredibly illegal b) people have totally gotta be trying  to pull this shit all the time c) there’s a yearly audit by an auditor appointed by the Self-Managed Super-Fund overseer committee, so d) I bet they’re wise to all this sort of stuff.

Well fuck.

If I can’t manage to flamboozle the government with my roguish chancery, good natured charlatanism and my winsome “surely-you’d-never-punch-a-face-like-this” smile, that only leaves this really old fashioned plow-and-oxen one-brick-at-a-time type technique I remember my grandfather telling me about called actually saving.

If I really pulled my finger(s) out of my ass and stopped eating avocado toast and consuming vast amounts of expensive and illegal drugs for breakfast ( ...ok so “stopping” is obviously bit extreme, maybe “cutting down” is more realistic)  I could probably see my way to saving 24 grand a year. That’s still five years to bankroll this operation.

Five years. Fuck me. I want things to start now.  Maybe I just have to realise that there are limitations to even my powers. Maybe I should simply bite the bullet and be mature about it. Goddamn it. I don’t want to wait five years to start with stage 1 of my “save the world plan”

Maybe I’ll just have to escalate to stage 2.  We will need to find all the still living members of The Weathermen.... I’m getting the band back together.

[notebooknebula]

Private Money & Self-Storage Investing with Scott Meyers and Jay Conner

https://www.jayconner.com/private-money-self-storage-investing-with-scott-meyers-and-jay-conner/

Scott Meyers shares the world of Self-Storage Investing

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His education organization www.SelfStorageInvesting.com provides courses, tools, life events, and mentoring to help others launch self-storage businesses to enjoy a lifestyle, as his saying goes “free from tenant, toilets & trash!”

His various companies are also very mission-focused and funded the construction of 12 houses in Mexico and the Dominican Republic by taking his staff, partners & other associates on their all-expense-paid short-term mission trips.

Timestamps:

0:01 – Get Ready To Be Plugged Into The Money

1:38 – Jay’s New Book: “Where To Get The Money Now”- https://www.JayConner.com/Book

2:58 – Today’s guest: Scott Meyers

5:44 – How Scott Meyers got started in the real estate business

8:31 – Scott Meyers’ very first storage facility

10:15 – Scott Meyers’ lesson learned on his first storage facility deal

11:04 – What is syndication?

13:29 – Does the storage investing business also offer multiple exit strategies?

17:09 – Get connected with Scott Meyers – https://www.SelfStorageInvesting.com

18:34 – How does the pandemic affect the Self-Storage industry?

22:09 – No business strives unless it’s solving a lot of people’s problems

23:10 – Scott Meyers’ recent projects

25:19 – Best way on starting with Self-Storage Investing business

27:43 – Common mistakes that new self-storage investors make

30:17 – Scott Meyers’ parting comments – “It’s when everybody is running out that you should be, not just running in but understanding what it means to be in the real estate business.”

Private Money Academy Conference:

https://jaysliveevent.com/live/?oprid=&ref=42135

Have you read Jay’s new book: Where to Get The Money Now? It is available FREE (all you pay is the shipping and handling) at https://www.JayConner.com/Book

Free Webinar: http://bit.ly/jaymoneypodcast

Jay Conner is a proven real estate investment leader. Without using his own money or credit, Jay maximizes creative methods to buy and sell properties with profits averaging $64,000 per deal.

What is Real Estate Investing? Live Private Money Academy Conference

https://youtu.be/QyeBbDOF4wo

YouTube Channel

https://www.youtube.com/c/RealEstateInvestingWithJayConner

iTunes:

https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/private-money-academy-real-estate-investing-jay-conner/id1377723034

Listen to our Podcast:

https://realestateinvestingdeals.mypodcastworld.com/11241/private-money-self-storage-investing-with-scott-meyers-and-jay-conner

Private Money & Self-Storage Investing with Scott Meyers and Jay Conner

Jay Conner:

Stir. And you are still struggling to do your first deal because you don’t have the funding and you can’t find the money for your deals, or are you a wholesaler? And you’ve received some assignment fees, but there’s some deals you want to stay in, but you said probably haven’t been able to stay in the deals because you don’t have the money or the funding, or are you a seasoned real estate investor? And you’ve done a ton of deals, but you’re sick and tired of paying high interest rates and you want to be in control of your business and you just want to get some more cheap money really, really fast. Well, if you answered yes to any of those three questions, don’t go anywhere because I’m getting ready to plug you into the money right now.

Well, hello and welcome to another episode of the private money academy podcast. I’m Jay Conner, the private money authority. I’m the host of the show. And I want to welcome you here to the show here on the private money academy podcast. We obviously always talk about private money and getting deals funded, getting money for your deals. But in addition to that, I typically have an amazing guest and expert to join me here on the show. And today is no exception, but before I introduce you to my good friend and expert in this area of self storage, that you’re going to find amazing. I’ve got a free gift for you for just being here on the show. And that is, I just recently released my new book, which is titled where to get the money now, subtitle, how and where to get money for your real estate deals without relying on traditional or hard money lenders.

So here’s the deal folks. I just released this book hit number one on Amazon. And this book was show you. Step-by-step how I went from having no funding from ideals to over $2 million in less than 90 days and how you can get plugged into money as well. We’re not talking about traditional money. We’re not talking about institutional lenders, how to get money very, very fast at super cheap, low interest rates. And I’m glad to send this book to you for free, just cover delivery. You can get the book for free at www dot Jay Conner, J a y C o n n er.com forward slash book. Again, you can get the book, we’ll ship it right out to you@wwwdotjcounterjayconner.com forward slash book. And we’ll get you plugged into the funding for your deals right away. What, as I mentioned, I’ve got an amazing guest and a very, very close personal friend of mine on the show with me today, a little bit about him before I bring him on he and his affiliated companies, they focus in this area on the acquisition, the development and the syndicating of self storage facilities nationwide.

Now, my guests currently owns any operates over check this out 2 million, 200,000, my land’s square feet and over 13,000 units that is gotten nationwide. Well, not only does he do the business, but he also teaches and coaches other real estate investors that want to learn about self storage and how that works. His education company is self storage, investing.com, and it provides courses and tools and live events, coaching, and mentoring to help others launch like you self storage businesses to enjoy the lifestyle. And, you know, as my guest, a good friend is known to say many, many times, get in this business and you’ll be free from tenants free from toilets free from trash. Well, you know, one thing that he and I talk about, and he and I are in a high end mastermind group together, his various companies are also very mission focused. He’s got a heart of gold, he’s got a servant’s heart and he is so far to date. He’s funded the construction of 12 houses, and I’m very, very familiar with this project. 12 houses down in Mexico and the Dominican Republic by taking his staff, his partners, his friends, his business associates on their all expense paid mission trip to do houses for these people. Wow. What a service heart, where that my good friend, Scott Myers, welcome to the podcast.

Scott Meyer:

Hey Jay, it is a good to see you again, my friend, how are you?

Jay Conner:

I am doing fantastic. I know we’ve got a mastermind meeting coming up pretty soon out there in Scottsdale. Are you going to make that one or you don’t know?

Scott Meyer:

I am looking forward to it and I will attend to any, and all of those that will be held in Arizona because now I have a two kiddos that are going to grand canyon university in Phoenix. And so we’re going to be spending a lot of time out in Arizona.

Jay Conner:

Oh, that’s great. Well, Carol joy and I we’ve already got our plane tickets. We’ve got our hotel reservations. So I look forward to seeing you in Scottsdale in just a few short weeks, right around the corner.

Scott Meyer:

Likewise can’t wait. Absolutely.

Jay Conner:

Well, Scott, as I told everybody in the introduction, I mean your expertise, your wheelhouses self storage and self storage facilities, but before we get into that world and your arena, first of all, just tell everybody how you got into real estate.

Scott Meyer:

Yeah. Wow. I think probably like most people out there started with the single family house and I learned from, and many folks on here will this name and a whole lot won’t Carleton sheets, who was one of the grandfathers along with Ron Legrand and some of the others that taught people how to get into real estate. So I followed this program to buy houses, rehab them refund, and some rent them out and then replicate and do that over and over again. So the burn method before it was called the bird method. And so that’s how we got started bought a single family house. This was back in 1993 was the first one that I ever bought. It had an assumable VA mortgage on it, which I don’t think there’s any of those left out there any longer and allowed me to get in and just assume that mortgage with very little experience in the way of even credit history at the time, it was a pretty young guy at the time, as you can tell by my age now and doing the math.

So that’s how it started. And then we moved on to buying up more. We refinanced about two more houses than we need to fix them up refinance and buy more. So we had about 75 in 76 houses and didn’t really have the cashflow and the, the, you know, the freedom that we wanted that Carlton sheets had mentioned in the home study system. So we thought, well, economies of scale will fix this. So we started getting into apartments and buying several complexes around central Indiana, but same thing and just kind of bought us more tenants, toilets, trash headaches, and the business model just wasn’t right for us. We wanted to have time. We wanted the freedom that real estate brings. And so to do that in real estate, that means no tenants, no toilets. So that’s either parking lots or self storage, and you can’t really build a lot of value in, in parking lots.

And then we found, but once I dug into self storage, I realized that, ah, this is, this is a place I need to be. People don’t pay rent. You lock them out and you sell their stuff off and get paid. You turn it around by taking a blower and you blow the unit out with no paint, no carpet, no extensive clean-out or repairs. And once I more, the more I looked into the business, I really saw the light and decided that this is the path I wanted to take. So sold their houses, our apartments, and now we’ve gone just, you know, 100% into self storage made that transition about 2005 to where we are now, today, which is where you mentioned Jay, we, we buy existing facilities. Still. That same model is in place. We also convert industrial buildings, grocery stores, anything that is, can be repurposed into so storage, we’ll buy it and convert it. And then we build from the ground up and we do a lot of this on by partnering and doing joint ventures and then syndicating the private equity, which is where you come in, Jay and you know, all too well, what that looks like and how we can leverage other people’s money and bring them along as limited partners to enjoy in the growth in this incredible business. So I hope that wasn’t longer than what you were looking for, but that’s, that’s my story.

Jay Conner:

No, that was perfect. Well, tell us the story about your very first self storage facility that you got into and, and what lessons did you learn from that first deal?

Scott Meyer:

Yeah, so the F the very first facility that I got into was a, that we were sending out mailers to facility owners, just like we all do in real estate to the asset class that we’re in. And we ran across some business owners and they were getting a business, a divorce. They were partners in a concrete business and things weren’t going so well. And they wanted, they were parting ways. And this facility, they owned together as well. Well, they, as what happens, unfortunately in the worst is the other one, one side wants to hurt the other. And the other one definitely wants to destroy the other one. And so that’s what they were doing. And they were destroying the value of the facility in the meantime. And so what that meant is we were able to get into this a facility for it, was it appraised for $800,000 more than what the selling price was?

And they just had to get out from under the note, because those two had done such a good job of fighting each other, that the bank was about ready to take the facility back. So I partnered, I partnered up with a gentleman. We came in at 50, 50 cash and both on the balance sheet and excuse me, on the loan request and ended up moving forward on this first property, by taking the existing tenants and raising the rates, which they hadn’t been raised in 10 years, we let them manage, well, let me see. We didn’t let her, we freed up her future to pursue other career opportunities and put a kiosk in place because we don’t have to manage these facilities with a person on site. And then we bought the land next door and expanded and built that up and leased that up as well.

So I sold off to my partner eventually. And that leads to, I guess, the second part of your question, Jay, which is what did I learn from this? Well, first of all, I, I understood the power of leveraging and bringing partners in to projects. But I also, the lesson I learned is that I, I really want to be in that manager position. I wanted to have that control rather than 50 50, and it’s not a control issue. It’s just that, you know, once I learned about syndication and moving on to other projects, that I can be the syndicator, the promoter, and the person who is calling the shots, and I can bring in limited partners for sometimes their balance sheets to sign on the loan as well. But mostly for the equity that is, that is required to get into a facility. So that was probably the biggest lesson. And I also learned, sometimes you shouldn’t bring people that are close to you or friends into a business as well. Sometimes it doesn’t always turn out well. Yeah. Yes.

Jay Conner:

I’ve been, I’ve been down that road myself as well. So to make sure everybody understands what you’re talking about, what do you mean by syndication? What’s that look like? And what’s the benefits of it.

Scott Meyer:

Yeah. So in the true sec definition, and I am paraphrasing, anytime you bring two or more people together into a project, and in this instance, a real estate investment where one person is, is active, doing all the heavy lifting, doing all the work, and the other person is bringing money and they’re passive. They don’t have a hand in making decisions or doing any of the project management in a project. Then, then you’ve created a security and then it’s governed by the securities and exchange commission. And so they state that you have to file that, and you have to register with the, depending on the fund or the entity that you set up that has to be registered. So for us, that is a true, so for us, there was one person, as I just mentioned me that I am the promoter. I am the active person on the investment.

Whereas I bring in then a lot of private equity, a lot of limited partners that come into the project. They don’t lend a hand. They’re not involved in the decision making process. And what they’re lending is money into the project. They’re investing into the project with me. And so their role and responsibility is to wire, the funds to close the project. And my responsibility is to do everything else, report back to them, the progress show, the projections and how we are exceeding, hopefully meeting, or if we are underperforming on our projections and then send out to our K ones at the end of the year, because they do become owners of this entity. And they get to participate in the upside as well as in the depreciation as well. So that’s, and I guess a limited sense without getting too far in the weeds, Jay, is, is the definition of a syndication and how we go about approaching the market. Yeah.

Jay Conner:

So, you know, in the world of single family houses, there’s multiple exit strategies. There’s multiple strategies of what someone’s going to do with that property after they invest in it, you know, you can, you can buy a single family house, you can fix it up, you can flip it, you can wholesale houses and, you know, wholesale houses out through other real estate investors. You can buy houses and you can fix them up and you can hold them, you know, for the longterm. So compare self storage to what I just did with single family houses. Are there all these different strategies as to how you can go about the self storage business. And second part of that question is if there are different strategies, how do you decide which one you’re going to do?

Scott Meyer:

Yeah, I’d say property is property. And, you know, in a general sense, and you can do all of the above. You know, we buy them and wholesale them, or sometimes a wholesale without us ever taking ownership or taking deed to the property. You can buy them, you can fix them up, turn around and flip them. You can buy them and turn them around partially, and then sell them off and call it a flip or non you sell them to the next person down the road. That’s going to take it the rest of the way, the way that we do it is typically we’re a longer-term hold three to five years. That gives us time to in an existing facility, really turn it around, raise rates, make the improvements, and reduce the expenses as much as possible to maximize the net operating income and then sell it for maximum dollar, our conversions and development.

You know, those projects take roughly four to five years to either buy a building, say a vacant grocery store and convert it to self storage, and then start from ground zero. And at least it up to 80, 85% occupancy and bring in our limited partners and allow them to have a payday and an exit that is comparable to if they were to invest in any other type of entity, a business over that time, and really focusing on the internal rate of return and the same goes for development. So in terms of an exit strategy, it’s a little more difficult in, in the way that we head into those larger projects with our partners in that we can’t do a 10 31, unless everybody decides to go along with us into the next project, which obviously they’re not going to. So at that point we will sell and that we will take our profits off the table.

And then we will move into the next project for our limited partners. For the most part, they are investing through a retirement vehicle like a self-directed IRA or a solo or a real estate 401k. So they don’t really have those tax consequences at, at, at the exit. We also are looking at in terms of an exit strategy. And I guess to back up a step, you know, Jay, I think you, and hopefully everybody on this call recognizes that you, you should always look at the exit strategy or determine what your exit strategy is before you get into a project. It’s not a good plan to just don’t say, well, there’s a good deal. I’m just going to buy it and figure it out later. You can find yourself, maybe a do not, you know, don’t want her later on down the road, or you sit back and take a look at your empire and you realize what a mess.

I can’t even manage this because I never paid any attention to what I was doing. So every time we hit into a project, you know, we identify if it’s a good deal, are we going to keep it? You know, if we’re going to flip this thing in a year, then we’ve got some, you know, capital short-term capital gains taxes. That’s a consideration. If we own it solely, then we can do a 10 31 into something else on. Do we want to do that three years from now? And I’m saying at any point in time, do we want to do that two or three years from now? Where, what are the interest rates going to be and what our cap rates going to be, and how do we expect the market and the economy? What’s it gonna look like? So we’re, we’re always looking six months a year down the road, five years down the road and anticipating what’s going on with the market, meaning interest rates and our capitalization rates, which is how we value these facilities.

And then overall, does this really fit in our business plan? I suffer like everybody from shiny object itis, and I want to buy them all, you know, if somebody else buys a self-storage facility and develop those one, and I’m going down the road, I was just like, that should have been mine. I should have built that. I should have bought that. And it’s a, it’s a real struggle. But if we get into that, you know, we can paint ourselves into a corner if we get into that situation where we just, you know, every once in a while we have to say no. Yeah, for sure.

Jay Conner:

So just to make sure everybody knows before, anybody’s got to jump off a listing here to the podcast. How can people get in contact with you and your companies, Scott, to learn more about what you do and how you can help them in this area of self storage?

Scott Meyer:

Sure. So we go into self storage, investing.com. That is the mothership, and there’s a links to our other websites that focus on the passive investing side of the business. But self-storage investing.com is really the mothership. And, and this is where we’ve been at this longer than anybody in the business and teaching people the right way to go about investing in self storage. I’m just in hopes that once again, you know, a rising tide raises all ships and so that we want everybody to be as educated as possible to go out into the marketplace before they do this to avoid any mistakes. And then also, you know, that just kind of makes it more difficult for the rest of us, that there are a lot of gunslingers out there that aren’t really doing their due diligence and doing things the right way. So that is our, our main purpose in educating people in the business. Cause it just makes it easier for all of us to conduct business in this incredible niche. Exactly.

Jay Conner:

So if you’re remotely interested folks and connecting them with Scott and his team, that website again is www dot self storage, investing.com, self storage, investing.com. We’re coming out here, hopefully on the other side of COVID and the pandemic and all that stuff. What are you seeing in the self storage industry? I mean, overall nationwide is the industry growing, how has COVID affected self storage?

Scott Meyer:

Yeah. Self storage is on a tear right now. I mean, if you look at the asset classes in real estate, no matter what stat you look at in terms of, you know, which asset class has done well, of course I’m biased, but the stats don’t lie, self storage and industrial are right up at the top. I think data centers may be up there as well. Industrial has done really well with Amazon expanding and, and the supporters of the Amazon and the distribution centers that are now coming down to the smaller market size. And, and as we see, unfortunately, the slow death of retail, the, the industrial side and the industrial sector has benefited greatly and self storage because we are heading into a time where we’re heading into a recession. Again, we also have seen now people come home from work and they had to clear out the dining room, the spare bedroom, the spare of family room, or living room and create a workspace for one of the income earners.

And sometimes too, they also last year during the lockdown, you know, when everybody was sent home from school, the colleges shut down and, and the kids had to put all their stuff into storage again, until they were able to go back. The kids that were in K through 12 came home, and we also had to make room in our homes to do school at home as well. So clearing out more furniture to make all of that happen. And then unfortunately there’s a whole lot of businesses that immediately when, when the lockdown started, it just went under because you know, customers are go figure on the lifeblood of their business. And if they couldn’t do it online, they went under. And so their inventory machinery and furniture, business furniture went into storage. And so, you know, we see this was somewhat of a microcosm of what we see during a recession and self storage really benefits during a recession because businesses downsize and put their things in storage, individuals downsized during a recession, they may have to move in with somebody else, a friend or move back home.

And so their extra stuff goes into storage. And so we, we, we spritz traditionally has always done better. You know, we go up to the right during times people buy more stuff and they store more stuff. That’s the nature of what we do here in this country. And if that’s you on behalf of the industry, I thank you for that mentality in this country. But during a recession, you know, we get the hockey stick effect. And then that’s when banks slow down development slows down of all sorts and then demand for self storage goes up. And so that’s what we saw during the pandemic last year. And 2020 was an absolute banner year for our industry. We have been, we have been contactless and touchless since before it was cool to be contactless and touchless using kiosks to rent a unit, much like a kiosk because self storage, you know, renting a unit is a very low labor intensive transaction that can be done over the internet.

And it can be done by way of a cell phone access to our facility, our software, getting a gate code and even a key fob and access on the phone to access a unit can all be done by way of a smartphone as well. So J we don’t, we don’t celebrate recessions personally, nor my company. We don’t celebrate pandemics for now shakes, but our, our industry, I’m, I’m thankful for the industry that we’re in because we have benefited with a huge wind in our sail, not only during a recession as we’re going to pet into again, but then the pandemic, which kind of accelerated that has really benefited our industry. Well, you know,

Jay Conner:

No business thrives, unless it’s solving a lot of people’s problems. And that’s what, and that’s what you and your company and the industry is doing. I mean, due to the pandemic, you got all this and increased demand for people needing to put their stuff somewhere. And unless your industry comes along and provides a place to put their stuff, then you know, you’re not a, you’re not solving that problem. So it’s what is, so let’s say someone is, and I’ll tell you, it’s the same thing as going on around here. It’s like here in my little area where Carol joy and I live total, total area of only 40,000 people, I know of four brand new self storage facilities that are under construction right now, four of them. And we already got them everywhere. It’s like my lands, people must have a whole, much more stuff. It’s just like, it’s crazy. It’s crazy. How are you? Are you doing new construction these days? Are you still focusing on existing facilities?

Scott Meyer:

Well, a little bit of both, we are, we were really focused on in 2020 on construction. We had some projects already in the pipeline and then also picked up some others from some folks that while we’re just kind of taking the ball the rest the way down the field, some folks that had some stalls due to due to COVID and some funding issues. And so absolutely we’ve been known developing for a number of years. Now, we’ve got the team, we’ve got the experience. We’re in several markets where we know where the demand is, and we just know it’s a business model that we can replicate over and over again, that allows us to look at a market. And, and Jay, if I could, just the reason why we see so many opportunities and why you’re seeing the say, four facilities going up in your town is a lot of folks will think, well, wait, I see these things everywhere.

Isn’t the market saturated. And you know, how can we possibly, you know, have enough demand for this, but, you know, when we go into a market and we’re looking at it in a place that potentially maybe good for developing a self storage facility, there’s a lot of research that goes into that. First of all, our market is really five mile radius. That’s all the further people are going to travel to a self storage facility from their home is about five miles. And so within that five miles, if the facility is the 1, 2, 3, 4 facilities are full, have a waiting list. And the raising rates every three or four months, then we know what equilibrium is in a market. And it’s, you know, anywhere from five and a half to six and a half, you know, five and a half to six and a half square foot per person.

And anytime that we’re below that if there’s only three or four square foot per person, we know that there’s a lot of demand in that market. So that, and rental rates will dictate when we’re going to go in and build. So it’s not a build it and they will come or hope that they will come and just, you know, hope is not a strategy. And we spend millions of dollars on these facilities. And so that is the reason why we’re seeing a lot about construction. And so we absolutely are bullish because of all the factors that I just mentioned that are, that are occurring in the market right now, which is creating a huge surge in demand for storage.

Jay Conner:

If someone is brand new to self storage, and they’re really interested in exploring it and, you know, really want to see if this makes sense for them, what’s the best way for a brand new person to even get started? Where do they start looking?

Scott Meyer:

Well, I think it starts with, with learning so that they know what they are looking for. And so no shameless plug, but we just got a lot of free resources on our website. Again, just to help people, you don’t have to spend a dime on it, just so you know, what you’re looking at and looking for, then begin to seek out if you’re a part of a real estate investor group in your city and there’s people that are in stores and then strike up a conversation. I I’d asked you to ask them to go out to lunch, to pick their brain, but we know that there’s a whole lot of folks that maybe aren’t interested in doing that these days, but if you can strike up a friendship, get into a conversation or even a subgroup, and some of these other real estate investor circles, or online with several meetups around at your area, then that’s the best way to get plugged in and just sit back and be a consumer of the information and to be a student of the industry to know what’s going on.

There’s I was in single family homes for a number of years. I was in commercial real estate being multifamily. And although a lot of that skillset applies and I’m looking at leverage and cap rates and underwriting, it’s a different business. And so to understand the nuances is really key before you take a take that next and first step, and we’ve seen, as you can imagine in our, on the education side of our business, we’ve seen a lot of folks that have taken that first step and they, and they stepped in a lot of do-do and create a lot of mistakes and messes for themselves. And men have come to us to help them unwind it and get out of it or to survive that one, you know, lose the battle, but win the war by understanding what it takes to succeed on the next one.

So, and then temper that with, you know, don’t, don’t analyze too much or, you know, analysis paralysis by analysis and analysis that causes paralysis. You, you, you know, the saying that to spend too much time researching before you do actually pull the trigger. So learn about the business, get some good advisors and mentors around you before, you know, to put some eyeballs on your underwriting and your offers, and obviously the good legal team or, or a, an attorney to look at your contracts before moving forward. Those are probably the best ways to Intuit, to avoid getting into a catastrophe. My

Jay Conner:

Good friend and guest today is Scott Myers, founder of self storage, investing.com. Be sure and check out his website for the free training and resources that he has there. One last question for you, Scott. And that is what are the most common mistakes or some of the most common mistakes that new real estate investors in self storage makes.

Scott Meyer:

Yeah, I’m writing a book on it as we speak, that’s going to be out before long. So I got 101 of them because that’s the title of the book. So I’ll, I’ll focus on how about the overarching one. And that is I think, and perhaps I’m guilty of this, you know, we’ve been teaching and training people how to do this for 16 years. And, you know, we, we, we state that it is a very simple and predictable business model because it’s compared to other businesses. It is, it’s a simpler and predictable business model. You know, we know the numbers, we know the equilibriums and we can go into a, an existing facility or a development project and make our projections and darn near hit our marks and, and beat them almost every time. But so I, I say that I’m, I’m a product of that.

And that is, I think people have heard that enough. And they’ve heard that, you know, this is a simple, less moving parts. You know, you don’t have the rehabs, you know, lock them out. They don’t pay their money and then you just blow it out and you’re done. You move on to the next and all that’s true, but it’s not a hobby. I mean, this is a business and you have to treat it as such and you have to walk the four corners of your business, and you have to understand it before you get in you. As most people know that are in commercial real estate, you make a $10,000 mistake in your underwriting, meaning you miss some expenses by 5,000 and you missed them. You know, they overstated the income for late fees and other things that shouldn’t have been counted. Well, a $10,000 mistake and underwriting is a hundred to $120,000 in value that you would over pay for a facility.

So you need to understand the nuances, how to value them, how to underwrite them before putting offers, in understanding how to analyze the market. And then for gosh sakes, I’m you don’t take your hands off the wheel and assume that this is a mailbox business because no rental businesses, I don’t care who you said listen to, or, or who says it. It’s not, it’s a business and a business needs to be tended. So a long-winded answer to your question, Jay. But the mistake that people make is that they think, and they hear and assume that it is a simple business because it’s simpler than what they were doing before, but it, it means that they have to understand it and they have to tend it. And, and you do have to farm the business once you own it. And constantly be working, looking at ways to grow occupancy, to grow rates and reduce expenses. And that is perpetual, and that is on a regular basis.

Jay Conner:

In other words, folks, don’t start doing this business without joining hips with somebody that knows what they’re doing, right. And of course, Scott Myers is the expert in this arena. Scott final comments and advice.

Scott Meyer:

Final comments change is good to see again, my friend, I can’t wait to, to see each other. I can’t hold that back. And so you always make me smile and I’m looking forward to hopefully getting together and having dinner together as well with you and Carol joy. And maybe we can get that old gray hair gentlemen, to pay our bill next time again, too, that might be nice and fight from that gang. It’s an exciting time to be in a, in real estate. There’s certainly a lot of changes and there’s some potential threats that are out there, but it’s when everybody’s running out that you should be not just running in again and shooting from the hip, but understanding, you know, what it means to be in the real estate asset class and investing the way and where you should be investing. But now it’s absolutely an exciting time to be doing so. So with that, just great to be here. I’m thankful for the industry of the real estate industry and self storage and a happy to help and assist anyone anywhere along the way that we can. And just be kind, just, just choose to be kind how’s that after a long weekend, so far, and it’s only Tuesday, I’ve had some difficult conversations. So how about I leave it with, let’s just choose to be kind to one another.

Jay Conner:

I love it. There you have it. Folks. My good friend and expert in self storage, Scott Meyers, visit him at www dot self storage, investing.com. Well, so glad to have everyone here on the show. I’m Jay Conner, the private money authority wishing you all the best here’s to taking your business to the next level. And we’ll see you right here on the next private money academy podcast.

[talabib]

How to Break Free From The 9 to 5 Grind And Find A More Meaningful Life.

What did you do last week? Was each day about getting up, going to work and coming home exhausted?

Is your house filled with gadgets and toys meant to distract you from the dreadfulness of those 50-, 60- or 70-hour work weeks?

In case you haven’t realized this for yourself, there’s little happiness to be found in devoting your life to a job that only provides you with a paycheck. And to make matters worse, the meaningless things we buy to make the job easier to cope with only serve to clutter up our lives and cause more anxieties and distractions.

As these post points out, it’s time to reprogram our minds and bodies away from the corporate culture of fast-food, disposable goods and instant gratification. With some simple techniques and a bit of effort, you can reclaim your life, declutter it of all that’s hollow and useless, and refill it with meaning and purpose.

Money and stressful jobs are not keys to happiness.

Many people grow up with the expectation that getting “a good job” is everything. From this perspective, true “success” is based on how good the job is – which is largely dependent upon the size of the paycheck. But the truth is: money doesn't buy happiness.

Even rich people will tell you that more money comes with more problems, including being so stressed that you resort to comfort eating, waste money on meaningless gadgets and constantly think about the future while never enjoying the present.

Success often comes at another great cost: very few hours to spend with loved ones. Hired help raises many children from families of success-oriented adults, just so their parents can spend more time earning money.

So, more often than not, the thing that money really buys is unhappiness. Ask yourself this: Is any stressful job worth having?

Ryan Nicodemus asked this question while working at what many would consider to be a great job. He was even on the rise, getting promoted to a managerial position, but the role came with 80-hour work weeks and huge amounts of responsibility and pressure. What it added up to was debilitating anxiety, stress and depression.

Nowadays, Nicodemus believes there is no amount of money to justify the toll a stressful job has on your mental health. However, when you’re wrapped up in the job-is-everything mentality, it feels like you always need to make more and more money.

Both Nicodemus and his friend, Joshua Fields Millburn, thought they would be happy once they hit $50,000 a year. But after reaching that milestone, the goal quickly crept up to $75,000, then $100,000 and so on. At no point did they feel satisfied.

Part of the reason for wanting more was that, as their paycheck grew, so did their financial commitments and responsibilities – in the form of loans, cars and mortgages. Eventually, enough was enough and they both quit their jobs and decided to live on less money.

It was at this point that Millburn and Nicodemus finally experienced happiness. All thanks to their decision to adopt a minimalist lifestyle of working and consuming less.

But as we’ll see, the minimalist ethos is about more than money and work; it’s about letting go of everything that holds you back.

To begin your shift to minimalism, pay off your debts and declutter your surroundings.

If you were to ask yourself “What are the anchors that are dragging me down?” the answer might not be readily apparent. But there’s a good chance that you have some form of debt, be it a mortgage, credit cards or student loans, that weighs heavily on your well-being.

That’s why the first and most crucial step to minimalist living is to pay off all your debts.

At some point, you may have been fooled by credit-card ads or a banker telling you to take advantage of a certain mortgage, but let’s be clear: there’s no such thing as “good debt.” All debt is bad, plain and simple.

As Joshua Milburn was preparing for a minimalist existence, he followed a strict budget and spent two years saving as much as he could to pay off his debts. This meant a hundred weeks of no vacations, no restaurants and no luxuries of any kind. But it was worth every minute for the relief he felt in finally paying off his debts. He was now free to live the life he wanted.

While you’re decluttering your finances, you should also turn your attention to reducing your material clutter.

First of all, it’s important to recognize that your possessions aren’t a meaningful statement about who you are as a person. Instead, you should ask yourself whether your belongings truly help you live in the present or if they prevent you from doing so.

For decades, Joshua Milburn’s mother had four sealed boxes in her home that she never opened. They contained every scrap of work John had brought home from elementary school, from handwriting tests to drawings.

Millburn understood that she was hoarding these things in an effort to hold on to her little boy, but the cherished and meaningful things in life aren’t objects, they’re our memories and relationships. This doesn’t mean you need to throw away everything, but Milburn’s mom could keep one meaningful drawing in a frame rather than four sealed-up boxes.

By decluttering, we not only give ourselves more physical breathing room, but we also provide more mental breathing room. Having objects everywhere vying for our attention can easily weigh us down mentally.

Minimalism is also about reducing the amount of junk you put into your body.

There’s no shortage of diets or fitness programs out there. In fact, the sheer amount can seem overwhelming. But you can avoid trendy diets and temporary fixes by reprogramming the way you think about your body.

From now on, think of it as a machine: when you give it high-quality fuel, you’ll allow it to perform at its maximum potential. With this frame of mind, it should seem obvious that junk food, like processed and prepackaged goods, should be avoided.

This kind of food is full of additives and preservatives that add zero nutritional value to your diet. All they provide are empty calories, especially sugar, which are terrible for your health. Sure, these foods may taste good in the moment, but they can often make you feel awful afterward. So any temporary pleasure is far outweighed by the long-term damage they can cause to both your physical health and your mood.

A good decluttering regimen should also include dairy and bread. We’ve been eating wheat and pasteurized milk for a relatively short period in human history – only since the invention of agriculture. Our bodies were never designed to digest the vast quantities of dairy and bread contained in the average modern diet.

So, whether you have a gluten or lactose intolerance or not, you can benefit from cutting back on these foods and replacing them with natural whole foods like vegetables, fish and beans. Once you’ve made this adjustment to your diet, you’ll soon find yourself with a surplus of energy. And this is a good thing to have for the next step: getting the most out of your body.

Fitness is something that works best when you have a constant growth mind-set, which means you’re always aiming for more than last time – whether it’s a faster running time, more repetitions or heavier weights.

To adopt this mind-set, you need to demand more from yourself. To help make this happen, you can reprogram your thinking away from “I should...” to “I MUST...”

Don’t tell yourself “I should go out jogging three times this week;” instead say “I MUST go for a run tomorrow at 8 a.m.” With some persistence, you can even make yourself accomplish new things.

Maybe you can’t do a single pull-up now, but you can probably hang from the bar for 30 seconds. So, do that and then tomorrow, hang for 40 seconds, and then continue doing more until you build up enough arm strength to do a pull-up.

Change and improvement don’t have to impact your authenticity; they can lead to better relationships.

Friends and loved ones are important. If you’re currently feeling isolated or unhappy with your relationships, it may be time for another round of reprogramming, this time to become more accepting of others as well as appearing more acceptable to others. The first step to making this happen is to have a willingness to change.

It’s hopeless to try and change other people – in fact, it’s cruel to even attempt to do so – but it is possible to improve yourself.

However, you may be resistant to the idea of change if you think that there’s nothing wrong with being your “authentic self.” But it’s important to take an honest look at your behavior and recognize when you’re doing something that upsets people or is a turnoff.

If you’re unhappy about being shy, a poor listener or overweight, don’t think “that’s who I am.” Instead, do something about it and be proactive in your self-improvement.

Changing yourself isn’t betraying your authenticity; it’s simply a way to attract better relationships. Would you rather be lonely or would you rather work on yourself so that you’re a better conversationalist and a more appealing person?

Another avenue toward self-improvement is to be more accepting of those with different opinions than your own.

Don’t think that you’re meant to find someone who thinks and shares the same opinions as you – this is just another fallacy. Relationships aren’t about hobbies and tastes; they’re about love, so you should accept that people are going to think differently than you.

If more people were open-minded about whom they hang out with, there would be far fewer lonely people in the world!

So, don’t just tolerate and accept your loved ones' peculiar habits; respect and appreciate them!

Let’s say your loved one has a hobby you find annoying, like collecting action figures. After all, isn’t a silly collection the opposite of minimalist living? Actually no, especially if they get a lot of meaning and pleasure out of that collection. So don’t deter them; understand that the collection enriches your partner’s life and therefore should be cherished as part of what makes them the person you love.

With this in mind, here are the four steps to help you better tolerate, accept, respect and appreciate the person you’re with:

Tolerate their unique hobby or passion;

Accept that it will always be there;

Respect the effort your partner puts into their pastime;

Appreciate the hobby as a part of your life because it is an important part of your loved one’s life.

Don't let work define you as a person.

Just as we saw the importance of breaking away from the idea that money and work are the most important things in life, so too should we avoid thinking that our jobs define us.

Think of it this way: You’re a complicated person with a variety of interests and talents, some of which make money, some of which cost money. So you’re far more than just your job. Nevertheless, it's easy to fall into the trap of letting your job title define you.

Many people will find a job in a certain industry and feel they should stick with that industry for the rest of their lives as if it's a part of who they are. But remember, a job is just a job. In fact, your job might even be an anchor that weighs you down.

Consider this: your job isn’t even one of the top five most important aspects of life. Those are: your health, your relationships, your passions, your personal growth, and your contribution to society.

These are the aspects of your life that make sense to measure yourself against, not your job title or how much money you make.

This is why you should avoid the annoying small-talk question of “So, what do you do?” This is often asked early on in a conversation as if it were the most important characteristic of someone’s life and not just a different way of asking, “So, how much money do you make?” Instead, why not ask them, “What are you into?” or “What are you passionate about?”

And if someone asks you, “What do you do?” you can redirect the conversation by saying something like “Oh, I do a lot of things, but my current passion is gardening. How about you?”

For more freedom, reduce your dependency on money.

One of the primary purposes behind minimalism is to spend less of your life working at a job. Naturally, this means finding ways to become less dependent on a big paycheck.

There are a number of ways to help with this, including learning how to make things yourself rather than buying them, and selling off the needless clutter in your home. But the next reprogramming you should learn is how to live on a small income.

The first step here is to create a monthly budget and stick to it. So start by making a list of needs, which includes all your fundamental household costs, such as food, pet food, gas, electricity, insurance and transportation. These are basic needs that have to be met, so there’s no getting around them.

Next, start a second list of wants, which might include categories like new clothes and entertainment. Now, at the start of each month, separate your extra money so that both of these categories are given a budget. And to make sure you don’t break the budget, you can separate them into different spending accounts.

Remember, every dollar in the budget should be accounted for. So, if you dip into the entertainment budget to buy new shoes, you’ll have to wait until next month to go out to that restaurant.

To reduce hard feelings and make things fair, get the entire household to agree on the budget. Since everyone has a say, there should be a feeling of mutual responsibility for making it work. For example, by making the kids part of the process, they’ll know not to bother trying to get extra money for video games when that money is being set aside for school supplies. But it’s still wise to set up a safety net.

Once you get yourself set up, you’ll find that it isn’t hard to live comfortably with less money, but that doesn’t mean life won’t surprise you with something unexpected, like an illness or the car breaking down.

This is why it’s smart and sensible to establish a safety net of at least $500 to $1,000 at first. You should not only do this as soon as possible, but you should also put the money in a place where it isn’t easy to spend.

Once you're out of debt, you can add to this safety net. And with your new found powers of budgeting, you’ll find that this fund can grow quite quickly.

Make life more rewarding and purposeful by taking on difficult work that contributes to society.

So you’ve cut all your anchors and are finally free from your dependencies. The only question now is: What are you going to do with your newfound freedom?

Sure, you have your new plans to get healthy, fit and friendly, but you won’t get far without a strong purpose in your life. And true purpose only comes from a meaningful life that allows you to actively contribute to society.

You might think that donating money to a charity means doing enough for society, but you can only have it be meaningful and purposeful if you’re directly involved.

What you’re sure to find is that the most rewarding activities are the ones that are the most challenging.

Some activities are easy, like reading in the park or swimming in the pool, and while easy activities are fun, they aren’t very purposeful.

Challenging activities, on the other hand, might make us feel uncomfortable while we’re in the middle of them, but afterward, they make us feel fantastic. This can include child rearing or running a marathon – there are a lot of difficulties involved, but the rewards make these efforts feel worthwhile, and they become the most significant experiences in our lives.

That’s why these are the kind of events we should seek and build our lives with, especially when we don’t just contribute to our lives but to society as a whole.

Fortunately, there is no shortage of charities looking for volunteers for this kind of meaningful work, whether it’s building affordable homes for the poor or turning vacant lots into community gardens. This is tough work, but it’ll be extremely rewarding when you’re looking back on it.

You can still make these tasks fun, too. If you’re building homes for the needy, there’s a good chance some days will be rainy or cold, and morale might take a dip, but you could rally together to sing songs. Or you could have an emergency supply of hot chocolate with marshmallows.

But unlike a cushy office job, where you may not even understand how your work contributes anything of value, this difficult work comes with a strong sense of purpose that will make your days a lot easier to get through – no matter how bad the conditions might get.

You are not your job, and you don’t need as much money as you think. You can restart your life by dispensing with all the “stuff’ you don’t need and the relationships that are dragging you down. Living simply will help you open up to and relish a more meaningful life.

[caranfindel]

Fic: Every hand’s a winner and every hand’s a loser

A fix-it fic for 15.10, “The Heroes’ Journey,” because never have I seen an ep more in need of a fix-it.

---

They end up borrowing a 4X4 Jeep Cherokee from Donna. The Impala wasn't made for snowy roads, let alone frozen tundra, they don't have enough credit to rent a car (fucking Chuck), and Sam refuses to take a stolen car through an international checkpoint. Which is ridiculous. It's Canada, not the Soviet Union; no one's even going to look. But Dean's not gonna argue. Sam's kind of messed up right now. Has been, since he shot God, since he spent a day and a half under Chuck's loving ministrations, since Eileen left. Since Garth pronounced them no longer God's heroes. Obsessively researching Alaska, spewing random facts about Utqiagvik and tundra, to distract himself from the shitstorm they stumbled into.

(Barrow is now known as Utqiagvik. Thanks, Sam.)

The thing is. The thing is that "between Barrow and Kotzebue" sounded like they'd be driving down a road from one small village to another, looking for you'll know it when you see it. But on further review, there's about a hundred million acres of frozen tundra between Barrow and Kotzebue. And no roads. Even Mapquest cheerfully suggests you can't get there from here. And Dean's supposed to be the man with the plan, but he can't wrap his head around a hunt whose lore is limited to you'll know it when you see it. He's having problems with get to Alaska and start exploring a hundred million acres of frozen tundra. Maybe that's why Sam is furiously researching Alaska itself. Because he's got to research something.

(And no, Dean is not interested in yet another verse of Sam explaining that the entire state of Alaska is not frozen tundra, and much of the area they're looking at is actually transitional boreal forest, thank you very much.)

Anyway. Scraping up some cash sounds like a good first step. So that's why Dean's lurking in the shadows a block away from a pool hall in Bozeman, Montana, counting his meager winnings. Of course he didn't count it in the pool hall, or even in the parking lot. He's not stupid. You never count your money when you're sitting at the table. Words of wisdom are words of wisdom, even when they come from Kenny Rogers.

Hustling pool was easier when he was younger. A guy in his 20s saunters in, cocksure, too pretty for his own good? (And that's not ego talking, he's heard it often enough, seen it in the eyes of potential marks who murmured that they were sure we'd be able to come to an agreement when it looked like he might not have enough cash to cover a bet, and damn he loved taking their money.) Yeah, everybody wants to take that guy down, and Dean always gave an Oscar-worthy performance in that role. But when you're old enough to look like you might know what you're doing, and maybe looking so down on your luck that no one wants to win the little bit of cash you've got in your raggedy pocket… it's just harder, is all. Especially without his wingman, since Sam declared himself unfit for the job and went off to plunder a couple of local stores for supplies instead.

Dean did okay, though. Even after putting aside half for his stake the next night, he's got enough for a couple of tanks of gas and a night in a hotel. Maybe four or five tanks, if Sam agrees to sleep in the Jeep. It's cold, but they've got decent sleeping bags and a big vehicle. It wouldn't be the worst night they've spent in a car.

They've actually… spent a lot of bad nights in cars. And abandoned houses. And worse. It sparks something in the back of Dean's mind.

That train of thought is interrupted by the arrival of the borrowed Jeep. It's late — well, technically, early — but they need to put some miles between them and the scene of the crime. Maybe he can catch a catnap while Sam gets them out of town. Dean moves to get in the passenger seat, but Sam hops out. Doesn't even trust himself driving right now, for fuck's sake. He even keeps a hand hovering over the Jeep, in case he needs the support if he stumbles, and it makes Dean see red.

"How'd you do," Dean asks, when Sam settles into the passenger seat.

"Not bad. Nonperishables, hot packs, but mostly medical supplies. Got some antibiotics, pain meds, bandages, stuff for stitches and splints"

"Thought you were gonna get some camping supplies?"

"Had problems at the REI." Sam pulls out his laptop and hunches over it.

"What kind of problems?"

Pause. "It's no big deal. We'll stop at a different one."

"Sam."

Sam sighs. "I couldn't get in, all right? There were security cameras and the lock, and I just…" He trails off and buries himself in his laptop, clearly miserable. Dean could suggest, again, that the mom and pop outfit they saw on their way into town would be easier to break into, but he knows Sam prefers raiding big chains. We're saving the world, Dean would say. Doesn't mean we have to be dicks about it, Sam would always retort.

(Are they even saving the world, right now? Or just their own asses?)

After a few quiet minutes, Sam speaks. "Did you know Will Rogers and Wiley Post were killed about 11 miles outside of Utqiagvik, trying to land their plane?" Because obscure Alaskan trivia is easier to think about than, well, everything else.

"No, I didn't know that," Dean responds, "because I've never even heard of Wiley Post."

"Early aviator. Charles Lindbergh type. The Utqiagvik airport was renamed after them."

"Naming an airport after two people who died in a plane crash? That's messed up, man."

"Oklahoma also has two separate airports named after the two of them. I think Will Rogers would probably appreciate the irony."

Oklahoma. The last time Dean was in Oklahoma, he was fleeing Texhoma with an old friend's blood still caked under his fingernails. He doesn't want to think about fucking Oklahoma. Instead, he slides back to that earlier thought, the one that pinged something. The fact that they spent so much of their life sleeping in really shitty places. That they weren't worried about mortgages and utility payments not because they were above all that, but because they never had the opportunity. That they haven't, in fact, been leading the charmed heroes' life, free from sweating the small stuff, that Garth described.

"Sam?" he says. "Do you feel like we've been living a charmed life?"

"No." Sam huffs a humorless little laugh and keeps pecking at his keyboard. "I mean, I didn't, for obvious reasons. But compared to now? I guess."

"Okay, but listen. I think I was right when I said we were cursed. The reason we're having problems now? It's not because Chuck was giving us something we never earned and he decided to stop. Everything we do, Sam? We fucking earned that. Blood, sweat, and tears, man. We trained and studied and practiced and earned every skill we have."

Sam looks up now, brow furrowed. "You think?"

"I do. I mean, how long did you practice lock-picking? Because I remember you asking Dad to buy you different kinds of locks to practice on. I remember listening to you clicking away in the back seat for miles. You did that, Sam. Chuck didn't give it to you."

"Okay…"

"And tripping over your own feet? Do you really think you can only walk a straight line bec ause Chuck made it possible? He didn't make us special, Sam. We made us special. And he's trying to take that away from us."

Sam gasps. "Job. He's pulling a Job on us."

"Damn straight." Dean smacks the steering wheel. Chuck and his Biblical reboots. "And we are not gonna let him do that."

"But how do we stop it?"

That's the question, isn't it? Dean drives for a couple of miles, deep in thought. "I say we go to Alaska anyway," he decides. "Even if we didn't lose our own luck, this might be a way to pick up some extra mojo."

"But remember what Garth said. There's always a catch. You know he's right."

"So? If we decide it costs too much, we just don't play. We can do that."

"Can we?" Sam chuckles. "Because, historically, we're not actually very good at that."

"We are now. Starting right now, you and I are good at anything we want to be good at it. And Chuck can screw himself."

Dean spots the sign for the scenic turnoff just in time, jerking the wheel to the right. "You all right bedding down in the car tonight?"

"Not the worst place I've slept," Sam replies, smiling. No, it's not.

The bed of the Cherokee is long enough, with the back seat folded down, but it's pretty narrow. It's fine. Dean's going appreciate being pressed up against his furnace of a little brother tonight. He wriggles into his sleeping bag, turns his back to Sam, and says "Okay, geek boy. Put me to sleep. Tell me something about Kotzebue." He drifts off to the tune of sled dogs and average January temperatures.

---

The title is, of course, from "The Gambler" by Kenny Rogers.

[dxmedstudent]

All Grown Up...

"When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things."

- 1 Corinthians 13

I think about this quote sometimes, and I have mixed feelings about it. Because, inherently, I don’t think we need to put away childish things, at least, not in the sense of hobbies or interests. I get it, and I’m not about to argue with every Bible scholar about it, except to say the meaning is probably personal for everyone. But that said, life has a way of evolving. It’s funny, I was talking to an old uni friend about things like credit scores and whether we’ll ever get a mortgage the other day. The kinds of thing I’m pretty sre I never once discussed with her in like 8 years of being at university together (yup, some folks were stuck with me for two degrees! can you imagine?)  You spend years talking about all the silliest stuff, homework, uni friends and all sorts of hijinks, then one day you realise you both like to swot up on money savings expert.com for fun. Well, not fun, but because you don’t want to live in a shed forever. Like, don’t get me wrong, talking to uni friends is still silly and fun, but now there’s a lot more talk of houses and who’s getting married and work. It reminds me of when my school friends started getting married and talking about wine tasting classes. I mean. Wine tasting? It’s not that it’s surprising that grown ass women drink wine, it’s just that we’ve been friends since like 13 years old! We used to be the silliest, funniest smart girls that existed. Don’t get me wrong, we’re still hilarious, it’s just interesting how things have evolved. We aren’t quite the same as we used to be. And yet, as my 70 year old cancer patient was telling me, you always feel about 16 inside. I’m sure the fact that most of my medic friends are child-free is due to us being in medicine, if we’re honest. And even then, by my age even medics have started to settle down.  I still feel like the same silly teenager I was before, I just get paid and have a desire to live somewhere more sensible. It’s weird, because I don’t really remember growing up, yet here I am doing a responsible job, handling my own finances, thinking about buying a place and dating seriously like a grown-up. 15 year old me would recognise much of my life - the art and games and anime haven’t changed, natch. The DnD is a good addition. There are many great things I’ve picked up that I love, regardless of whether they are seen as ‘mature’ hobbies or not. But it’s weird to realise that you’ve also grown in many ways. I guess this is what my Guy was talking about when he talks about his friends, sometimes. They are great people - a wonderful, welcoming bunch of men and women with some of the most adorable kids. But he’‘s mentioned that sometimes hanging out with them just isn’t the same now that they’ve all got partners and their kids to look after. They hang out a lot, and it’s still awesome, but it’s different. And they (and my friends) aren’t the kind of couples to leave you out if you’re single, like I hear happens to some people. I genuinely don’t know why people do that. I don’t think my partnered friends ever made me feel less welcome when I was single - if anything they were more attentive to make sure I didn’t feel left out. But even so, I know that bittersweet feeling he was describing, because there are times when I too have felt that life has moved on, and I need to adapt to it. I’ve faced it at turning points in our lives - when everyone goes off to uni, when everyone starts working, when everyone settles down - points at which your lives all change in many ways. I’m still sad sometimes that I’ll never just be able to hang out and play games with some of my friends (because they’ve grown up and moved abroad) or just chill with other friends as easily as I once did. And I feel sad about the people who drifted, or the ones it didn’t work out with. And it’s OK to feel like things are changing a lot, or life looks pretty different to what it used to be. You can’t change how life has evolved, but it’s OK to acknowledge it.

I went out with a schoolfriend for dinner this evening. A bestie of my sister’s from primary school. I’ve known this tall, strapping dude since he was 5, and he’s effectively a little brother to me. We’ve spent countless hours playing games and talking about anime or pokemon or whatever. And he’s just gotten engaged, it’s so awesome because I got to hear all about his love, and their plans together, and the proposal and I’m so excited for them; he’s a wonderful kid and I hope they are so happy together.  But also, he’s like my little brother. Getting married.  Like, I had just never imagined we’d be sitting there talking about work and gushing about SOs like grownups. I mean yeah, we still talk about anime, I gave him some nice recs to watch with his fiancee.  And it’s nice - to share our hopes for the future, and catch up over the past, and be silly whilst occasionally navigating some grown up problems. After our catch up, it felt so fun being grown up. People have so many fears and expectations anout growing up or reaching 30. But if anything, there’s no sudden switch. You don’t magically become old and serious and lose all sense of fun. You’re still silly. It’s just you start to plan a bit further or make plans that are a bit more serious. But you don’t have to give up your past in order to have a future.

[geniusvisionaryinc]

Genius Online Academy

Get Out of the Rat Race

               We’ve all worked jobs we hated. We were underpaid, underappreciated and bored out of our minds. We either quit these jobs or were fired for poor performance because we just gave up. Instead of taking that approach you need to consider every job an opportunity to learn something new that you can apply down the line to find success.When you give people the tools they need to come up with unordinary solutions, you are enhancing their lives for the long run. You need to take this approach. What if one of your terrible jobs had been one with no pay at all and you needed to come up with some ingenious ways of making money? I bet you could have found a diamond in that rough. This idea can also be used in your own company.Now, I don’t recommend going into the next meeting declaring that no one will receive pay anymore, but you can tell them that their potential raises, bonuses and other perks are now dependent on their creativity in ways to enhance business.Let’s talk about a great concept called financial literacy. This certainly isn’t something they taught you in school, but is still essential to know. So, what is financial literacy?The old school way teaches people to be good employees and not employers. This mindset will never make you wealthy. You need to focus on becoming a good employer. You also need to learn how to not only attain wealth, but sustain wealth for generations. This is what financial literacy is all about.So, how do you get out of the rat race and start working toward a wealthier future? You need to understand the difference between an asset and a liability. Take a look at your own life and you’ll probably find the following:Assets    Real Estate    Stocks    Bonds    Intellectual PropertyLiabilities    Mortgage    Consumer Loans    Credit CardsYou’ve probably been fooled into thinking things like your house, car and entertainment system are assets. They aren’t! Assets should be continuing to MAKE you money. When you continue to struggle, you are not building wealth. If you’re primary income is from wages and each time you make more money, you pay taxes-you’re not really creating wealth either, are you?So, if buying a house isn’t an asset (and, it’s not because you spend about 30 years of your life paying it off), then what is. Here are some of the best assets to attain and when you can start to actually see wealth being created because of it:Average time of holding on to an asset before selling it for a higher value:1 year    Stocks (Startups and small companies are good investments)    Bonds    Mutual funds7 years    Real estate    Notes (IOUs)    Royalties on intellectual property    Valuables that produce income or appreciateSo, here are the steps to getting out of the rat race and onto your journey of creating wealth:    Understand the difference between an asset and a liability.    Concentrate your efforts on buying income-earning assets.    Focus on keeping liabilities and expenses at a minimum.    Mind your own business.If you need help getting out of the poor mindset and into the wealthy one, try our GUIDED TOUR and work with one of our experienced business coaches today.https://geniusonlineacademy.com/guidedtourNext time we’ll talk about how to mind your own business to keep your eye on the prize.

[britesparc]

Weekend Top Ten #437

Top Ten Predictions for the Xbox Games Showcase

So I wasn’t going to do this. I had my “Games Month” in June; that was supposed to be me getting it out of my system whilst the various publishers and platform holders held their Not-E3 video livestreams. That was supposed to take the place of my usual semi-serious lists of E3 predictions; a variety of more generalised run-downs of Stuff To Do With Videogames rather than me saying “A New Perfect Dark” ten times.

But then Microsoft’s “Showcase” event turned out to be the back-end of July, the videos and livestreams kept on pouring in, and I found myself ever devouring more salacious rumours of what games were upcoming, especially for the Xbox Series X. I have even found myself reading – shudder – Reddit.

I know.

Anyway, from being a simple thought experiment of “I wonder what games will be out when the Series X launches?” through to me imagining a blow-by-blow runthrough of the July 23rd event, I guess you could say that I am excited despite my better judgement. I think my problem with videogaming as a hobby is that I retain my fanboy enthusiasm from when I was a ten-year-old eagerly awaiting the next issue of The One Amiga, frantically swapping all eleven disks of Monkey Island 2, but I’m a grown-ass man with a mortgage and two kids and I just don’t have the time. I love reading websites like Eurogamer, and going on forums and checking out Twitter threads and all that, devouring news and titbits about all manner of gaming ephemera, and I often think when do these people have the time?!

Now look, I know hobbies, if you commit to them, can be expensive in terms of money and time. I have friends who collect Transformers toys, and let me tell you, that shit ain’t cheap. But daisy-chaining triple-A RPGs together feels like a lifetime commitment. I’m still playing Mass Effect Andromeda and Titanfall 2. I’ve just started Breath of the Wild and I’m waiting to kick off The Witcher III once I complete something else. I operate about two to three years behind the curve, and with work and kids and other commitments I struggle to find space for the oodles of games I do have, especially because most of the time I just end up on Civilization VI again. And yet…

The lure of the new still excites me. I really want to play all those Sony games on a Sony console that I don’t even own. I’m fascinated by the divergent next-gen philosophies of the big three platform holders. I can’t wait to see what the games I already own will look like embiggened on a 4K TV thanks to a suitable next-gen console. And so I keep consuming this stuff, keep wanting to try the latest thing, keep wanting to be part of the narrative. I’m still excited.

Therefore I’ve decided, against my better judgement, to offer up a prediction list like I usually do at E3 time. This one is just focussed on the upcoming Xbox Showcase on July 23rd. I doubt I’ll do one for the two remaining big showcases in August – I believe both Sony and Microsoft are doing one apiece, where we might finally hear prices of these damn things – because I think by the end of the month all the big game news might finally be out there. Aside from guessing how far off £500 both machines land, I think we’ve probably heard all the major announcements. Maybe I’m wrong! I’m wrong quite a lot! But that’s part of the fun.

So here we go: ten things that probably aren’t going to be announced next Thursday!

Halo Infinite opens the show – and is playable: we know that Halo Infinite will debut some campaign gameplay. As more-or-less a known quantity (even if we don’t know exactly what it’ll look like or how it’ll play), kicking things off with Xbox’s biggest star makes sense and won’t deflate any surprises. What I think might happen, though, is the announcement of some kind of multiplayer demo or closed beta, maybe only for Game Pass subscribers or something. They’ve done it before with Halo, so it’d be nice to get a chance to play one of the year’s biggest games early.  

Hellblade 2 in-engine trailer: Senua’s Saga looks amazing so far, with a phenomenal launch trailer that displayed vast landscapes, intense detail, and some truly awesome facial animation. There’s a lot of speculation that, whilst the trailer was apparently in-engine and running in realtime, it was a fancy cut-scene with “hero assets”. I might have missed a memo somewhere, but I don’t think Hellblade 2 has been confirmed as a “launch window” title; as such, I think it will end up a Series X exclusive (as in, not appearing on Xbox One) and be out Christmas 2021. As such we won’t see a considerable gameplay chunk as with Halo, but we will see some proper in-engine footage – not a cutscene – running on Series X hardware.

Fable IV is out next year: is it an open secret at this point that Playground Games is making a Fable game? I guess maybe they’re not. Maybe there’s not even a new Fable at all. But I think there is, and I think Playground are making it, and I think we’ll see it next week. I guess it probably won’t be coming too soon; maybe Christmas 2021? So I think there’ll be a launch trailer of some kind – hopefully a Hellblade-style in-engine one rather than a rendered movie – but it’ll be a pretty big to-do to close out the show (unless there’s some other surprise “…and one more thing”).

Minecraft ray-tracing: we’ve seen it before, and I’m not sure how much time it’ll take up in the run of things, but I think Microsoft will confirm that there will be a ray-tracing graphics update for Minecraft on Series X. It’ll be part of some other line-wide update, of course – maybe the fabled “Super Duper Graphics” update that was cancelled once before – but Series X owners (or PC owners with the right hardware) will get lots of lovely rays to trace.

Gears Tactics on Xbox this Christmas: the Coalition said their piece about Gears 5 on Series X this week, so I don’t expect them to have a huge presence on Thursday (Gears 6 presumably being too far off), but I think we’ll get a trailer for the excellent Gears Tactics running on Xbox, and confirmation of a Christmas release for one of my favourite PC games of 2020.

Cyberpunk 2077 on Series X: all the footage we’ve seen of Cyberpunk thus far has been – I do believe – running on high-end PCs. CD Projekt Red should have a presence on Thursday, and I think they’ll debut footage – actual proper gameplay – of Cyberpunk running on a Series X. I think we’ll also see further evidence of a cosy relationship with Microsoft, as they announce something – maybe exclusive DLC – as well as just maybe some Cyberpunk-themed Series X hardware. I also think they’ll announce a Series X update for The Witcher III: Wild Hunt.

Big Double Fine blowout: Microsoft’s purchase of Double Fine really excited me, because I’ve been a big Tim Schafer fan for decades. Aside from Psychonauts 2, we don’t know a great deal about what they’re up to. So I think we’ll see a lot of Psychonauts, as well as confirmation of a Christmas release. We’ll also get confirmation of classic LucasArts remasters – Day of the Tentacle, Full Throttle, and Grim Fandango – as well as something else. I’m not sure what. A remaster of the first Psychonauts? Brütal Legend 2? Scurvy Scallywags Series X? what I don’t think it’ll be, however, is any kind of Banjo Kazooie game, because I don’t really think Microsoft bought them to work on existing IP. I think we’ll see something new.

Third-party shenanigans: aside from Cyberpunk, I think we’ll get at least one other extended third-party trailer. Maybe Destiny 2, given the first game’s apparent preference for PlayStation? Maybe one of those military shooters everybody likes but me? Splinter Cell, which is becoming the perennial white elephant during Ubisoft presentations (and obviously has prior as an OG Xbox exclusive)? Or maybe we’ll see something like the announcement of Red Dead Redemption 2 as a Smart Delivery title. That would be pretty cool.

Japanese presence: I’m not sure what exactly, but I think Microsoft will make moves to entice the Japanese market. Perhaps it’ll be like the early days of the Xbox 360, when they published the likes of Blue Dragon. Maybe we’ll see a Western release of some venerated Japanese franchise. Or maybe some other sequel or reboot. Maybe it’ll even be the rumoured announcement of some kind of exclusive partnership with Sega? Who knows? Regardless I think we’ll see evidence of Microsoft making more of an effort in Japan; I think this will be part of a strategy to encourage Japanese gamers to subscribe to Game Pass/xCloud rather than buy more consoles.

One last thing: there’ll be a surprise. Everyone’s predicting everything, but I still think there’ll be a surprise. After the dust settles, good old Phil Spencer (t-shirt prediction: Viva Pinata) will leave us with a little something… a tease, a subtle tease, maybe even just a logo or character reveal. It could be a returning franchise, it could be The Initiative’s debut game, but I’d wager it’s something unexpected, something we’ve never heard anything about. It’s something that’s a long way off, but it’ll have a style or a hook or a brand that instantly makes everyone excited, and will bring the curtain down. Microsoft has largely done a good job establishing itself as a solid platform the last three or four years, but it’s sorely been lacking in mic-drop moments as hardware news is teased and studio acquisitions have taken time to bed in. So whether it’s Joanna Dark, a Mech, Banjo, or something I can’t fathom, we’ll leave on a high.

There we go: ten relatively reasonable, moderately level-headed predictions. I don’t think there’s anything too crazy there. I’ve not gone all-in on a huge Perfect Dark blowout, or Viva Pinata returning, or Microsoft buying Sega or Warner Bros or whatever else could be dreamed up. I’m sure there’s other stuff too; probably some gameplay from previously-announced titles like The Medium or (hopefully) Scorn, that really show off Series X capabilities; no doubt a montage or two, probably of some ID@Xbox games; Forza Motorsport 8, I guess, and I’d wager some info on Flight Simulator on Xbox. I do hope they make the whole presentation look nice though; Sony’s one, where they finally revealed the PS5 hardware, was excellent, with just enough talking-head developer stuff and those lovely idents that served to whet the appetite and tease the eventual look of the machine. We know there’ll be no new hardware or discussion about evolving services, so really all we’ve got to look forward to are games, games, games, which makes a nice change from the reveal of the Xbox One all those moons ago.

Okay, so my absolute crazy just-for-me wish? Well, things are getting thin on the ground now, as the big things I always want from Microsoft – Fable, Crackdown, Perfect Dark – have either happened or are strongly rumoured. Viva Pinata is next on that list, but beyond that? How does Black and White Infinite sound? That’s right, baby, next on my list – Lionhead rebooted!

[bethandryanwaller]

COVID-19 and Guelph’s real estate market. Where do buyers and sellers stand?

Beth and Ryan Waller are real estate writers for GuelphToday, our city’s main online news resource.

--------------

Within two weeks, the world has changed dramatically. We’re now in the face of massive closures and shutdowns, cancelled sports seasons, stock market declines and fistfights in the aisles of Costco over toilet paper. COVID-19, or the Coronavirus, has impacted everyone internationally in one way or another. But does the trickle-down of this global virus eventually impact the Guelph housing market?

Yes, it does.

But exactly how, is anyone’s guess.

There are several scenarios that could play out in the Guelph real estate market in the coming weeks and months. With Coronavirus panic and uncertainty in the market, both buyers and sellers need to wade through facts and figures to determine whether now is a good time to buy or sell.

In March alone, the Big Five banks have made a 1 per cent cut in the prime rate, which is the key benchmark that underpins variable-rate mortgages and lines of credit. The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions, the federal banking regulator, also had plans to recalculate and reduce the qualifying rate on mortgages but has now put this plan on hold.

It could get more aggressive in the market

There’s no question that the Southern Ontario real estate market is in short supply of homes for sale. The Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) reports that the average price of a home has increased by almost 17 per cent or $130,000 in February alone.

In January, 60 per cent of homes sold at or above the listing price in Guelph. In February, that number increased to 63 per cent. As of March 13, 68 per cent have sold at or above the list price this month.

It’s equally hot in Guelph.

Sellers are taking the record-high sales prices from the GTA and putting their money to work in Guelph where real estate is relatively cheaper. At the same time, there are fewer sellers putting their homes on the market in Guelph for a variety of reasons.

But what if those sellers decide it’s not urgent to sell and decide to wait until the Coronavirus is behind us? Fewer homes on the market with the same number of buyers could cause an even worse housing frenzy.

Local realtors, Beth and Ryan Waller predict that the higher-end home segment in Guelph of $750,000-plus will gain market share from the other segments. In February alone, this segment represented 17 per cent of home sales versus 11 per cent in February 2019. Homebuyers in this segment that are considering selling this year may want to do so during the spring rush.

Or, the market may be flooded with supply and there are fewer buyers

An alternative scenario could be that sellers believe we are in for a recession and race to get their houses on the market in anticipation of falling prices. After all, the Guelph market has had quite a run and it’s always good to sell at the high.

At the same time, buyers may be deciding that going out in public for open houses and viewings could expose them to the Coronavirus and may decide to put their home search on hold for a few weeks. If there ends up being an increased supply and less demand, prices will rapidly decline and the competitiveness of today’s market will take a breather making it easier for buyers to get into their dream home.

If there ends up being an increased supply and less demand, prices will rapidly decline and the competitiveness of today’s market will take a breather making it easier for buyers to get into their dream home.

Or it may be business as usual

It’s quite likely that we’ll see a combination of both of these scenarios as we move into the spring market - the traditional strong period for buying and selling homes. There will be increased sellers and continued demand from out of town and local buyers. And as a result, the market will probably tread along at a more balanced, more reasonable pace than we’ve seen in the past few months.

One of the most important things to consider is the guidance of a local REALTOR® who follows the market closely. If you’re selling, a marketing plan is necessary to maximize your sale price in today’s market. If you’re buying, you should have insight into neighbourhood trends, potential buying strategies and strong negotiators working for you.

Beth and Ryan Waller are Guelph REALTORS®. You can reach them at info@bethandryan.ca or visit them at https://www.bethandryan.ca

[cryptosharks1]

Bitcoin, Cryptocurrency, Finance & Global News – March 22nd 2020

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT

Hi guys. Thanks for tuning in to tell episode of nuggets news. Well another truly amazing week we’ve got so much macro news and crypto news to get through. A lot of that is intertwined these days so I do encourage you to watch the full video. We welcome a couple of thousand new subscribers. Thanks so much for following us we’re trying to give you the most up to date information we’ve got literally thousands of people contacting us through all our channels wanting to know how to learn about gold and silver Bitcoin crypto currency what is going on in the economy. So we’ve got all these free resources on our Web site guys. So said friends and family they’re all your favorite videos. This video we encourage you to share all that content. That’s why we’ve been busy making it all for you for the past few years for these types of situations particularly a big thank you to our members like all businesses we are relying on you for our revenue and I employ 13 people now and I know I need that money coming in to keep them employed to keep giving you guys the best content. So huge thank you. 58 new members in our premium area read that welcome post guys stick by the rules it’s all functioning really well for the most up to date information you know to the minute type updates from everything around the world and I can’t thank you guys enough for the way that’s all running at the moment. Let’s get into the local news first where Prime Minister Scott Morrison has just gone live. He’s unveiled a far bigger stimulus package. I’m all for anything that gets money in the hands of people that are losing their jobs. We just need to make sure that people can get by. And I know a lot of people are still saying he says well you know how do I keep my business going and this time the other big guys. The reality is businesses are going to close. It’s going to be bad. This is what I’ve been talking about. A lot of people have never had a rainy day and we need to acknowledge that you know let’s support people. Let’s make sure there’s food on the table. They don’t have to pay their rent their mortgage their power bills. We need to just you know do everything we can to get by until this all passes and it will pass so I’m not getting into all the details of that package. We’re going to go through all the different countries and what they’ve done so I’ll let you guys read the details of those specifics but I certainly think there’s been no mistruths pushed by the media. So look at these stats again from today from Core Logic and all the real estate industry telling us that house prices are still going up by the day. I mean who on earth believes this stuff and we know that it’s all connected particularly in Australia where we need to protect house prices from going down. That’s very hard to do when people start losing their jobs and have a lot of investment properties because it’s all connected now. Our banks the most exposed in the world in terms of their mortgage books. So yes the government are going to do everything they can to rescue the banks. We’ve seen all these excuses around the world now encouraging people not to take out cash or you know telling you the reasons why you can’t even spend your own cash. So look these things are to be expected. If you’ve been following the channel we’ve been saying this is going to happen and it’s just happened probably faster than we thought because of these recent catalysts. So earlier this week a lot of super funds including Australia’s largest Super Fund sent out emails to clients basically saying you know markets go up and down you have to really ask yourself if it’s if it’s a work taking these unnecessary risks and trading your super assets. So a bit of a typo there that tells you that that was rushed and panicked and telling people not to sell. Markets are since down another 15 per cent and I know a lot of people with their super fund are hurting at the moment. I certainly feel for you guys the RBA coming out and they’re going to have to print this money and buy our bonds. The next step is obviously corporate bonds and then stocks you know mortgage backed securities in other countries. It is just insane the level of stimulus that we’re seeing at the moment. And obviously bitcoin and go to the two things they can’t print. We’ll get to that in just a second but all this leads to the collapse of the Aussie dollar down to 55 cents you can’t quite see that behind me there sorry. That’s. This is one of the side effects of our economy that I’ve been warning about since we made our documentary over a year ago. And this pushes up yields. So when the government is now issuing debt because governments are going to run up huge huge debts and they’re issuing these bonds trying to get people to give them money but people aren’t going to give them money when they know the economy’s in trouble and this is when interest rates rise and that’s when central banks might be forced to raise interest rates. And that is just the nightmare scenario having to raise interest rates. Well everyone’s got all this debt. This situation is really messy and that’s why everyone is looking to escape into these perceived safe haven. So look good timing over in Italy where some of those banks are opening up bitcoin trading. One point two million you’re in lockdown. So these are the options the on ramps that we’ve been talking about that are now really global for people to escape the crumbling financial system. I did a detailed video on that all the different options you have to get into US dollars gold silver Bitcoin stable coins the counterparty risks of each of those so watch that video share it with friends and family if you haven’t already. FCX have got two gold stable coins a T and Pax G is the other one over there and they’ve also recently added Aussie dollars as an on ramp so you can connect your bank account and it’s a very quick way to get into US dollars or stable coins and then you can withdraw those and keep them on your hobby wallet or your ledger as well as other tutorials I’ve done recently on how to hedge if you’ve got your gold and silver holdings or bitcoin holdings as well there’s ways to hedge with the other products. All right. So what are you that managing your own money. Very happy right about now and we’re hearing all these stories about super funds and the delays. We’ve had a record amount of people start to manage their own so finding super funds so I’m gonna get Mike on this week because there’s a lot of questions now about can we withdraw from our super fund another thing that the government announced today. So hopefully we can address all those questions really clearly. One thing I will mention with that announcement from the government is that if people are withdrawing that ten thousand dollars or more from their super you remember the stock market is down it’s probably gonna keep going down. So all that money that you’re drawing now could be more down the road. Now some people don’t believe we’re going to have retirement funds in decades from now but that can start more of a ceiling because traders and investors are going to say Well everyone’s going to be selling to take many of their super. I’m going to front run that selling. And so that can I just think it’s coming together. There’s nothing that is going to make markets go higher anytime soon until this all passes. So that’s the financial side of things in terms of the health care side of things. I thought our government were going to announce more measures on Friday. They’ve come out again today and extended things encouraging people not to do non-essential travel. But it’s still not really enforcing any of this. It’s up to you as the individual just like no one’s going to save you from the world of finance. No one’s going to make you healthy and no one is going to protect you and look after you guys you have to take that responsibility yourself and a lot of you guys know that you’ve been following the channel you prepared for everything that’s happening now. So yes schools still aren’t closed. There’s talk as I’m recording of New South Wales and Victoria looking to implement that in the next 48 hours as soon as one state does it they’re probably all going to follow. But yeah I’m certainly surprised I’m giving everything that’s happening firstly on Friday. It was one cruise ship. Now it’s five separate cruises that have all had confirmed cases those people are scattered throughout Australia. We haven’t really seen that spike yet but if this doesn’t scale nothing will. This is a beach on easily 12 days ago. This is absolutely reminiscent of what we’re seeing in Australia down here in Tassie. I spoke to friends. They went for a walk this morning. All the restaurants are packed all the bars are packed. No one is taking this seriously yet and no one is taking it seriously. In Italy twelve days ago just have a look at where they are now. These excuses that we’re hearing it’s only all people 54 percent of New York City’s cases are between 18 and 49 year olds. So it is not just affecting all people at all. We’ve now got cases of babies as young as seven months old and and children that are getting this so please guys you have to realize the severity of what’s going on at the moment. I’ll just press refresh here. There’s a couple of Web sites giving us up to date information on the Australian statistics. But this is just growing continually. You know 20 percent a day exponentially we haven’t even slowed it yet mathematically we are still on track to you know to hit the number that is going to overwhelm our hospitals unless we slow this down. So we’re not quite as bad as Italy and Iran. We’re somewhere in the middle here. We are certainly not down here near Singapore and we’re not flattening the curve like the government is is telling us that they you know they’re really happy with the job they’ve done so look a couple of positives here. Kofi to help dot com today you. This is a website built by one of our friends. It lists all the freebies and the help how you can help other people charities check that out in the time of need we’ve got to come together and help each other globally. Let’s just refresh that. Three hundred eight thousand now at time of recording the deaths ratio has actually gone up a little bit recently. Again we don’t know how accurate this is in terms of total that are going undiagnosed and not tested recovery takes a little bit longer. Two or three weeks you’re in hospital in a lot of cases. So we get the deaths before we get the recoveries. That’s all to go through the system but the wiring thing here is that even on the exponential scale we’re now accelerating higher again in across Europe across Australia across the US. All right let’s go to China another 50 percent plunge after 44 percent last month. So these auto sales a lot of industries are down 90 percent. There’s talk that China’s factories and people going back to work. Now we don’t know if they just try to push out those stats or if that is the truth. I certainly don’t believe the numbers we’ve seen some photos from hospitals with new cases in China. So they’re saying I’ve got zero new cases I’m not sure if I believe that Secretary I’m a nutrition. Now the same guy who said that cash is not used for money laundering now says that won’t cause a recession in the US so I’m not sure what he’s looking at. But if you have a look at some of these State of the restaurant industry statistics Australia hasn’t been hard hit yet because we’re a week or two behind the rest of the world. But globally restaurants are down 98 percent Canada is down 100 percent. The friends that I talk to that own restaurants and businesses having to fire staff this week there’s just no nice way to put it guys this is the reality we face where we have to lock down and if we do that for a month that gives us the greatest chance to pull through the other side. Five hundred thousand jobless claims in Canada. I certainly think some of these estimates about unemployment and GDP are going to be around 10 per cent loss. And this is kind of the slack that governments are gradually picking up in terms of the stimulus that they’re putting out. Trump looking to give every American a thousand dollars. We’ve now got similar things in all the different countries. Yeah. I think you have to do it. Some people get to complain about government debt. That’s another issue altogether. They were already running huge deficits but we’ve got to make sure that people have food on the table in the US. Some of my friends are telling me that the swearing over there about how the system is you know treating different patients with different health care and insurance and some of the backlogs for just getting those admissions and claims and whatnot it’s another headache altogether. So if you know more about that let me know down in the comments below about how that’s going to work once those U.S. hospitals start to get busy and people losing their jobs. New Jersey the latest one to shut down. I think the total is now around 100 million in terms of Americans that are in lockdown. National Guards deployed because people aren’t taking it seriously. Similar over to the UK in Europe now where British police are giving people powers to detain suspected cases of people that quarantine themselves. And this is where the totalitarian invasion of privacy is beginning now. There’s all sorts of conspiracy theories going around but the big tech giants being asked to hand over all that data once they do that there’s no going back. I guess that’s what what worries me. So yeah they’re asking the big tech giants to hand over all these tracking data so they know where you are every time even if you turn your location data off and your phone off. Edward Snowden has told us that you know these new smartphones. That’s why you can’t take the battery out because they’re always triangulating your signal to the different cell towers. Now tying that together with how you can maintain your privacy with a VPN a P2P VPN office offering free services so it’s lovely to see all these communities looking out for each other. In this time of need so orchard this is actually a cool little project that I’m going to talk about more in future. Great stuff there at the brave browser. If you don’t use these already to block all the ads and to block all the data it’s free to use download brave browser but are they really taking on the big tech giants with all these privacy issues at the moment. Bank of England have canceled all their stress tests. Look all these stress tests don’t plan for these sort of situations so you know it’s all a bit of a walk in the park and they take these boxes and tell the public how strong the banks are. Well look look at them now they’re all getting bailed out. You know a week into a bear market Britain 2000 sorry. Twenty five thousand dollars to the local businesses there AC base got out their bazooka in terms of QE and other stimulus. The stock market has hit record highs in the VIX closing at 82. So that’s perceived volatility from the stock market. They’re saying that markets could currently what they’re pricing in is that it could go 82 percent lower. Now that rarely actually eventuates but that’s just the level of fee at the moment in the S&P 500 in the volatility index. The Lehman playbook continues So the Fed have unveiled another bailout this time for the money market funds. The Fed is going to have to bail out everyone the engineers of the 2009 bailout say that this has to be bigger than the GFC bailout. These numbers are off the charts. Outflows absolutely everybody is getting out of ETF bond funds. The stock market investment grade bonds people are just running for the exits and trying to go into US dollars. And there’s simply not enough dollars in the world at the moment that’s why the Fed is having to expand their credit and bail out all the different countries including Australia at the moment distressed debt has doubled in the U.S. in two weeks half a trillion dollars now. So this is that spike that they’re talking about the interview with Marika to star will be out this week. He’s the commodities expert and a lot of these junk bonds that have been issued by the U.S. oil frack is shale producers. They can’t pay that. They don’t have any revenue and positive cash flow they’re going to default on all this debt and that can stop the next wave down in the stock market. So Boeing is just one example of a company that repurchased over 100 billion dollars in stock and now they’ve had their debt downgraded to sorry 4.5 trillion dollars worth of buybacks have occurred. And this is what’s pushed up stock prices and now all these U.S. execs are demanding that taxpayer funded bailouts of shareholders after they’ve spent all that money buying back shares and making themselves rich. The Fed extending its currency exchange program to all those central banks around the world. I just mentioned that confirmed these theories and these rumors that were going around earlier in the week that the Fed are now bailing out hedge funds. Absolutely crazy stuff and a lot of people still completely unaware this is happening. Insiders were dumping their stock. So this is Kelly Loeffler who came out and denied that she said all her investment fund manager. So really stock so the day after they were briefed about how things were how bad things are getting in China and how it was going to affect other countries and come to the U.S. these you know the elites that were in this meeting room dumping millions of dollars of shares in things like hotels and airline companies and whatnot. So wait to see if that goes to criminal charges. But man I mean these people are just so corrupt. So the record number of CEOs left they saw this coming. Two hundred nineteen CEOs left in January after we already had record amounts in the months leading after that. So the reach that are paying themselves a hundred 200 or 300 times the salary of the average worker they’ve got so much money they’ve gone to their private islands or their bunker or whatnot and they’ve got out privatized the profits and then published the public put stumbling my words he guys publicized the losses. So get the government to bail you out. Taxpayers. So so frustrating to watch these happen and I hope this brings about change. You know the bank of Japan have been buying up trillions of dollars worth of yen of stock markets. They own all the ETF. And a lot of shares they own all the government bonds and I’ve lost money doing so. So if this doesn’t bring about radical change in our financial system I just don’t know what does. We need a new system and obviously hopefully a lot of the decentralized world those ledges that cut out people in the middle and bring about transparency and trust was what would get a 10 to couple of positives to finish on the FDA have authorized these new 45 minute rapid point of care tests. We’re getting stories that people of you know in one case people have died waiting for test results to come back. There’s more tests and newer tests being designed in manufactured in Australia. Hopefully these things are still a few weeks away. But look all the smartest minds are out there trying to work on solutions. High hopes for a treatment. We’ve seen some positive results in a few of these other HIV drugs. I spoke about that in yesterday’s video a little bit say look these trials are going to take weeks as well. Anti malaria drugs. There’s a few others that have shown benefits for me. What I recommend you do. I’m going to do a whole whiteboard video about this but it’s just getting your immune system as healthy as you can help. You know he’s eating healthy trying to de stress I know that’s tough at times like these with meditation or going for a walk or just tuning out at nighttime you know you vitamin C.. Personally I love eating you know that the spicy foods getting you chilli garlic Asian food really healthy style diet. Guys get your immune system ready to fight off anything that he catches a lot of jobs are going to come out of this as well as a lot of job losses so people are going to all be wanting to get hired at Amazon Coles and Woolworths are putting on people. I think we tend to see huge demand for extra health care workers. Maybe we can do some fast tracking you know one month basic nursing course. Something like not just all hands on deck society coming together almost like a wartime effort until we until we beat this. For those of you that are wanting to trade this just remind you of how risky and how volatile markets are. But if you do want to short the stock market don’t use any leverage or anything like that. It is possible to still make money but I think for most people now it’s about hedging whether that your currency risk your portfolio your crypto holdings or whatever you want to be hedging and protecting your capital. So we’ve got that hundred dollars free bitcoin sign up for those that are interested in trading these guys off of that virtual account. And if all you want to do is practice trading in these sort of conditions you know that is going to be a lifelong skillful when we have that you know the next market cycle whether it’s 10 or 20 years from now. So look even a practice account is good for learning while you’re at home. Let’s get into the crypto news where bonds and with Xerox have announced a 50 million dollar block chain fund in India. These guys are doing great stuff. They’ve got a token that’s been performing extremely well again of late. So once crypto markets turn around I think exchange tokens are ones that are going to do well. Ripple have cemented their Asian presence with more partnerships in Thailand with fintech Company D money their car down in the headlines again. Charles Hoskinson did go live and say this wasn’t a big deal. This was an old partner. Nothing to worry about and it’s not going to affect the launch of their may net which has been months and years in the making now. So hopefully Shelly does come out soon. The Teslas Foundation has settled a lawsuit for 25 million and saying that they’re sick of paying all these legal fees. We know how much lawyers love to charge and in the crypto world we’ve got steam in the community. They’re actually hard for the network and they’re relaunching hive as they’re calling it they’re after everything that’s been going on with Justin sun trying to buy out the network. So great to see a decentralized community coming together there storage decentralized cloud storage is in computing. I’m very bullish on these type of projects. They’re tardy grade upgrades now live. This is a perfect example all the theorem being able to have these censorship resistant file storage so Chinese journalists are sharing reports on a theorem because if they tried to share them on the Internet they can get censored and blocked and shut down. So this is the decentralized World in Action that Micah has had its issues this week. The system didn’t function as it should because the theorem got clogged during that huge sell off. So they had to issue some more make it tokens and that is the way the system was designed to function. That was the emergency backstop those auctions have all finished now. There were plenty of buyers in the make a token and that one has bounced back really well in terms of price after a lot of people were fearful that was the end for the project. With all these issues happening in the world of day at the moment insurance has never been more important. So Delphi digital did a great research piece on all the best insurance projects in the world of five. And um I’ve spoken out nexus meet you had them on the channel open. I’m going to have those guys on as well. Ether risky is another one you can’t see behind me there are some very cool little projects there. So I read that report from Delphi digital. HTC are getting right behind Kibo and a lot of these smartphone companies are really integrating with crypto wallets and what not so great to safety for public awareness. The theory and baseline protocol is now open source on github. So this is the the protocol for building private systems for corporates and businesses to use the fear in public chain while still keeping the data that they need to private. Using this protocol layer on top of the theory in public chain open browser have enabled Apple Pay debit card crypto purchases in the U.S. So as if they didn’t have enough on ramps already it’s more these developing countries which is really the rapid expansion of getting the millions or billions of people into the crypto world that I’m excited about. But Coinbase Coinbase has said that traffic broke records and so huge volumes during the recent market collapse. So these are very similar to the stories that I’ve been hearing. Like I spoke about at the start of this video the website traffic was it was through the roof. We’ve had thousands of people and hundreds by Go Silver and bitcoin for the first time because with everything happening as ro says here Heyman I’ve been talking every day at the moment because it’s kind of you know you need to branch out with so much happening around the world. But in some ways it’s exciting for the bitcoins and the people that have been expecting this and bunkering down living within their means and saving getting into your goals you Silver’s getting out of shares and if you’ve been prepared hopefully there’s a lot of good that can come from from the bad at the moment when people lose their jobs. Hopefully the new system when the dust settle it’s going to create a better job and a better quality of life for a lot of these people. That’s what I hope can come out of all of this. I certainly think that decentralized system is going to play a huge role in all that. So just quickly looking at the charts here. Bitcoin has had a pretty decent bounce this week. We’ve got to be careful that this is just a bear flag when we see a huge sharp sell off like this. But you know my thoughts that that liquidation on Pete makes actually push prices a lot lower than they maybe otherwise would have gone if we didn’t have that cascade where they had to shut the systems down and other exchanges were getting dragged lower. So there’s plenty of healthy buying like gold and silver have not been immune from this either. It’s ridiculous to see the price of silver under 12 dollars when you can’t get physical silver at basically all bullion dealers around the world. So that is going to break in the coming weeks when people actually buy those futures contracts and they demand delivery at the 12 dollar price. So the paper market is going to break and it’s going to come back to the real world price and demand for silver. The same with gold. You’ve got your digital options. I’ve done videos on that guys hang in there. I just can’t explain how bullish I am with the governments and central banks around the world printing trillions of dollars. What this means for these finite currencies that can’t be printed longer term so hang in there. We’re all in this together. Head over to our website to check out our resources. Join up to our community if you want to join the discussion and stay up to date with everything that’s happening. Thank you for supporting the channel more than ever guys place mass that like button subscribe. You haven’t already shown these videos around and I’ll talk to you again soon. Cheers.

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