Recession Obsession!

Every where you look people are obsessed with this so called recession. It took them forever to declare that we were in one. Now everyone wants to be the first to say that we are on our way back out. However if you speak too soon, and without the proper amount of facts, the animal that is our stock markets will jump up and bite you if they do not agree. Just as they did on Monday.

However while I regularly meet with business owners, I always ask them how their business is going. Invariably most of them are telling me that business is great. Now that does not apply to all fields. My friends in the real estate game and fellow mortgage brokers have had better times. As tough as it may seem to be here, those in the west are feeling the pinch more than we were.

While we all have been tightening our pocket books it looks like things have been improving. We are well on our way to a recovery based on the recent MLS data. (see below) Almost every market in Canada has posted gains except for 4 western city’s.

Some people are suffering and some are not, but their is still hope. If you are looking for a way to improve your current situation as soon as possible, please do not hesitate to contact my office. We will analyze your current situation and develop a plan to help you get to where you want to go. As always I look forward to hearing from you.
Cheers,
Pat
p.s- You can find me on Twitter,Linkedin, Facebookand friendfeed.
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Average MLS resale price for local markets

City June 2008 June 2009
Halifax $235,312 $240,093
Saint John, NB $170,199 $172,731
Montréal $269,257 $275,578
Ottawa $298,336 $307,793
Toronto $395,918 $403,918
Hamilton/Burlington $287,249 $297,117
Winnipeg $206,327 $212,542
Saskatoon $310,386 $276,867
Calgary $418,866 $392,601
Edmonton $341,376 $328,285
Vancouver $611,613 $575,949
Victoria $476,639 $476,686

Source: Canadian Real Estate Association

Do It Now!

It’s an attitude as well as a work ethic. Some would rather put off till tomorrow what they do not want to do today. Funny thing is that these same people are the ones with next to nothing in savings, buried in debt and living pay check to pay check. The one’s who do it now are much better off. They are typically high achievers with no holds barred attitude. They know what they want and they go for it with laser beam like focus. Which one would you rather be?

Actually it is a lot easier that you would think. The best way to approach it is to prioritize your day, then start at the top and work your way through. If you find yourself getting sidetracked, don’t beat yourself up remember your only human. ( Dog’s reading this need not apply!) Have a list, better yet pictures of your goals around where you work. They will help snap you back when you get off track. Take action as if you knew you would never fail. Fact is you have a far great chance by doing than by thinking about it and not doing it at all!

As I am a Cape Bretoner, they would say at home ” Get off your arse and do something”! We only come this way once, how about making it a memorable journey. I don’t know anyone who gets paid for thinking about doing something.  Take baby steps if you have to, but at the very least take some action. You will find that everything becomes easier, and achieving your goals will happen quicker.

If one of your goals involves improving your current financial state, then take some action now and contact my office right away. We will take an in depth analysis of your current situation and help you develop a plan to eliminate all your debts as quickly as possible. I look forward to hearing from you.

Cheers,

Pat

p.s- You can find me on Twitter,Linkedin, Facebookand friendfeed.
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Forecast

After spending the beautiful weekend with my wife and kids playing at the pool and seeing adults wearing much less than they should, it’s back to work tomorrow. I am using forecast in this instance not to describe the weather, which was wonderful, but to talk about a forecast in the sense of a prediction. Not a wild prediction like Y.E Yang beating Tiger Woods at the PGA (few saw that coming), but something with a little more certainty like your own financial future.

Those of us in sales are familiar with forecast in the sense of a sales forecast. Working strictly on commission you have to keep your pipeline full to ensure that your income stays consistent and predictable. Can you forecast your financial future for the next 30, 60, 90 days? Most of us should be able to do that, but what about for the next 3, 5 or 10 years? Where do you want to be? Do you have a plan or are you just living day by day and from paycheck to paycheck?  If there is no plan then it’s very likely you won’t get ahead in your life.  Now is the time to get off the sidelines and take charge and be the designer of your own fate.

They say that once people reach 65, most are either dead broke or dead. To me that does not sound that appealing! All the more reason to come up with a plan, and the sooner the better. This is not something that you have to do on your own either. Use the resources that are available to you, like my friend Steven Cox a Certified Financial Planner who can help you build a road map to build true long term wealth. Also feel free to contact my office where I can help you review your current situation and come up with a plan to eliminate all your debts as quickly as possible.

Remember at the end of the day, if you fail to plan, then you plan to fail. Take the time now to design a prosperous future.

Cheers,

Pat

p.s- You can find me on Twitter,Linkedin, Facebookand friendfeed.
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One Hundred percent!

According to Wikipedia it means mathematically the entirety or all of something. Lot of people know it and say it but how many of us actually give 100%. By this I mean day in day out on a consistent basis. If this was the case, we would not be complaining that we need to loose 20 lbs, make more money or have a better relationship. However we live in a day and age where people are actually proud about how lazy they are, and go out of their way to do as little as possible. I admit that there are several things where I know I could do better, given the time and the effort. I even recently heard an advertisement of someone boasting about how they work about 15 minutes of solid work each day.

If you notice I did not say it meant perfection. What you should get from this is that you should give your all, every ounce of it. No trying, just doing as Yoda would say. Get prepared for your life to change for the better in every area. You finances, your health, your relationship will all improve by you giving 100%, instead of the normal half assed effort. I am not singling out anyone in particular. We are all guilty of that.

Take this as an example: As much as I am a fiercely proud Canadian, I must commend my neighbors to the south. When it comes to the big events the American’s really pull out all the stops and leave nothing on the table. Take the Olympic’s for example, typically in most major events the American’s are the one’s on top or the one’s to beat. They find a way to really step it up and give their 100%.

Now that you have gotten this far, you may be wondering how does this apply to the topics frequently discussed on this site. Well it comes down to this, I promise to give you a 100% effort to help you secure the financing required by you personally or for your business. If you want references, any of the people who have given testimonials on this site would be willing to vouch for me. As always feel free to contact me if you have any questions. I look forward to working with you.
Cheers,
Pat

Wake Up call!

I don’t mean the telephone call you receive to get you out of bed when you are staying at a hotel. What I am taking about here is the proverbial wake up call that snaps you to attention to the current state of your life. It could be that your suddenly realize that you are 42 years old, 50lbs over weight, in a job that you hate, and have 150K in debts and no actual savings. Your time of living a zombie like existence is now over and you have to do something drastic to change your life, and you need to do it now! By drastic, I don’t mean taking a swan dive off the nearest high structure.

You have succeed in realizing that what you are currently doing is not working, and you experiencing enough pain that you need to make a change right now. As bad as that may sound this is great news. You have reached a point where you are now able and willing to do something about your life. You should first take stock about what you can and can’t change as some things are beyond your control. Other than your age, height and genetics everything else is open to undergoing some massive changes.

For the purposes of this article let’s focus on finances. If you are open to it, we can show you how to eliminate your debts as quickly as possible so you can be in a position to actually build some net worth. It is easier than you would think and it is possible with the money that you are currently making today. Please feel free to give my office a call as soon as possible so can schedule a time to get you heading in the right direction.

Cheers,
Pat

p.s- You can find me on Twitter,Linkedin, Facebookand friendfeed.
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For Love or Money?

In other words, are you in your current profession for love or money? Think about that for a minute because it makes a big difference, in the quality of the job that you are doing and the quality of the life you could live. Don’t get me wrong you could learn to love a job that paid you well, but it is much harder to love a job that did not allow you make ends meet. It is proven that if you love your job, you are much happier overall. Joseph Campbell said ” Follow your bliss”. From this I take, do something that you are passionate about. However it must allow you make ends meet or it will not be that blissful for very long.

You may have no plans to leave your current employment and hang up your own shingle, but you would like to know how you could do better doing what you are already doing. Now just because your current job may not be glamorous or exciting does not mean that there are not elements about it that you could be passionate about. Find something to love about doing what you currently do, and pretty soon people will notice. You may be promoted, make more sales, receive praise from superiors or clients, anything is possible.

As important as love it, so is money, in-fact I have heard that it is right up there in importance with Oxygen. So if you think that you may need assistance in getting you pointed in the right direction, please feel free to contact my office. I would be honored to help you.

Cheers,
Pat

p.s- You can find me on Twitter,Linkedin, Facebookand friendfeed.
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Desperate Times!

Call for desperate measures. What if a tragic event happened in your life (like death of a spouse, loss of employment or divorce) how would you handle it? Are you prepared for it financially. Would you have enough money? Would you have to borrow from the bank, friends or family, or have to liquidate assets. Something tells me that you would just find a way. It’s because in those moments of great need we develop a very strong sense of urgency. If you needed 5K by Friday to fly to Germany to be with a loved one who was terminally ill then you would just find a way to make it happen. Then why are we lacking this same sense of urgency in the running of our everyday lives? If it is not important, then why are we doing it?

Wouldn’t it just make us more effective and productive people? Success at all costs attitude! You have met those people and aren’t they fun to be around.

I remember watching a documentary a few years ago about a experimental cancer treatment. The physician running the trial told the patients (who had stage 4 cancer and had tried every conceivable treatment) to follow a very specific diet and cut out certain things like chocolate, coffee and alcohol. Some of the patients were making very good results, however a few were discovered upon follow up to not to have given it an honest try. If you were faced with certain death, wouldn’t you want to pull out all the stops. I lost my mother to breast cancer a few years ago and right up to the final 2 weeks, she fought with all her might.

Just think of how different your life could be if you adopted a sense of urgency and applied it on a daily basis. The world would be your oyster as they say and anything would be possible. Ask yourself when you wake up each day this question ” What would you like to see happen? Then start your day with the expectation of achieving your goal. You will be surprised at just how quickly your whole world changes. If you would like to make some drastic changes to your finances, please feel free to give my office a call.

Cheers,

Pat

p.s- You can find me on Twitter,Linkedin, Facebookand friendfeed.
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Take this job and shove it!

So that is what you are thinking, but you don’t have the guts to say it or lack the exit plan to leave just yet. So what do you do? What are you passionate about? Can you get paid to do it? Do you have other people who you support? Will they be negatively affected by the decision?  Once you (and your spouse or significant other) are satisfied with the outcome of these questions, sit down and develop a plan. As optimistic as you feel, you must develop a worst-case scenario.

Now what does this have to do with financing? Well I help entrepreneurs out all the time. A lot of information is vital when it comes time to finance your project. Funding sources want to know if it is a new venture, franchise, proven concept, developing market, manufactured product, professional service or a home based business. There are plenty of loan programs available from both private and institutional sources.

If you need help in securing financing for your dream project, please give my office a call so we can see how we can help get you closer to telling your current boss to take this job and shove it.

Cheers,

Pat

p.s- You can find me on Twitter,Linkedin, Facebookand friendfeed.
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Shhh, it's Private!

Private lenders that is. Why they are important, when to use one and who they are:

Private lenders are important because they provide a source of capital to investors or homeowners when they would not other wise be able to access funds. This saves people from foreclosure, allows business owners access to important working capital or the ability to purchase the property they wanted.

Timing is everything, and when it comes to using private lenders, it may come down to the fact that you do not qualify for a loan by any other means.  It could also mean that you may need the loan very quickly and do not have the time to go through a long drawn out bank process.

These lenders go by many names, some of the most common or at least the ones that I can print here are like the lenders of last resort, bridge lenders, hard money lenders or angel investors. They can be your cousin Roger, your Uncle Carl or Basil your friend from High School. However most often they are seasoned business owners with access to cash to lend.

Just because they have money does not mean they will lend out on any project. They desire a set rate of return and always have a risk tolerance that they are willing to follow. Once you meet their guidelines, you will find that they fund very quickly and allow you to repair your credit, fund your project or purchase the property you wanted. Last but not least, remember they are not long term lenders, plan on being with them no longer than 12-18 months. Every successful application will have an early exit strategy. They want to know how they are going to be paid out so they can fund the next project.

If you have a project that would benefit from a loan from a private lender, please feel free to contact my office. Remember the interest rates will be inline with the risk to the lender, and that means currently 12% (vs 4-6% for bank money) or more, and expect to pay a lender’s fee on top of that of up to 10% ( or up to 6% for insured bank loans).

Cheers,

Pat

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Put a few notches in the win column!

We have all had those times where we think that nothing is going our way. I was having one of those days and one of my good friends sent me this:

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you’re trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest, if you must, but don’t you quit.

Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As every one of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about,
When he might have won had he stuck it out;
Don’t give up though the pace seems slow–
You may succeed with another blow.

Often the goal is nearer than,
It seems to a faint and faltering man,
Often the struggler has given up,
When he might have captured the victor’s cup,
And he learned too late when the night slipped down,
How close he was to the golden crown.

Success is failure turned inside out–
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems so far,
So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit–
It’s when things seem worst that you must not quit.

– Author unknown

So to summarize that, persist until you succeed. If your goal is to get in better shape, then decide to do something about it by starting a health & fitness program, If you want to improve your relationship(s), then work on improving “you” and if you want to improve your finances, then pick up the phone and contact my office and we would love to see how we could improve your situation.

Cheers,

Pat

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