Thursday, February 19, 2015

Las Vegas Casino Resort Hotels For Sale!

If you have been following my blog, you undoubtedly have seen several postings about Las Vegas Resort Properties that may/may not be available in the Las Vegas Metropolitan area.

Since the Buyer MUST compensate me for my endeavors, I must ask that the authorized signatory for your company be the one to sign a Non-Circumvent, Confidentiality and Commission Agreement.

A telephone call to me telling me how much of a good guy/gal you are simply won't work.

So, as of today, there are three potential Resort Casino Hotels which could be acquired.  They range from --- well, let's just say for the sake of lowest common denominator without giving out  more information than is needed at this time -- it will run you more than $250 Million and they go up from there.

All offers to acquire any of these Resort Casino Hotel Properties will require that you disclose yourself fully; All persons that will be holding 5% or more ownership interests will be required to disclose their complete personal and financial capability; you will be subject to Nevada Gaming Control Board preliminary background check -- and this will also be done by the Resort Owner and it is absolutely necessary you be vetted.  The reason is that they do NOT want to become involved in anyone who may/may not be shady characters.  You do NOT have to be stellar!  You just MUST be honest.

And, they obviously do not want to be barraged by unqualified persons who are only simply looking for proprietary information.  This will NOT be given until/unless you have passed muster of the current Owner's vetting process.

Lastly, IF you even think you may NOT be Nevada Gaming Control Board Approved, then please do NOT waste my time.  You do NOT have to be squeakily clean, however, in terms of criminal activity or other illegal marks on your record, it is best you disclose everything.

Contacting David Howes is easy -- either by: davidATdavidhowesDOTnet OR call him at: 70 25 01 93 88 AND Follow David on Twitter: @DavidAHowes

Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Never help family with real estate! - Mike Sitren

Twenty something years ago, Mike Sitren was the very first real estate broker I ever worked for.  He was a very short, stout man who was in his 60's.  I soon learned that Mike was well liked by his clients; and NOT liked at all by other real estate brokers.  And, he seemed proud of that.

You see, Mike was always telling me to tell your clients the truth.  And, he was insistent on that. And, I always understood his reason why: When you lie to a client, you disrespect them, he once said.

"It is truly NOT that hard to be honest in real estate.  Most clients already know enough about real estate to get themselves into trouble," he would say.  "Our job as a client's broker is to show them the way to a successful -- hopefully -- profitable sale.  And, the profit was to the client with the broker receiving a fee for rendering service."

I always thought that was the way to go.

Anyway, a few years ago, my very own Mother was selling the last parcel of land that she and my Dad owned on Cape Cod.  My Mom never, ever called me to even ask for my advice prior to putting the property on the market.  (This probably turned out for the best.)  Anyway, she listed with a person she was friends with because he was a "new" real estate agent and she wanted to help him get his business started.  As it turned out, he was very, very inexperienced.

And, I did NOT find out about the sale until one day, while talking to my Mom on the telephone, she started complaining about "how" the transaction was going.  The Buyer wanted a second 30 day extension; and the Buyer wanted a sales price reduction, The Buyer refused to do the "round table close." (Massachusetts for some stupid reason believes only attorney's are capable of closing a real estate transaction.)

Anyway, the Buyer was holding up closing.  I asked my Mom, "Why didn't you just take the deposit as non-refundable and have them put another deposit into escrow to do an extension?"

She replied that she didn't know she could do that.  She said, "It was the Buyer's money."
Then, I asked, "Why are you telling me this now?"
Her answer, "I thought you could help."
I replied, "I could have IF you had included me from the beginning."
I told her it was too late for me to get involved. I would be interfering in another broker's transaction.

I proceeded to tell her to have her "new" agent send the Buyer -- who by now was disclosed to be another RE broker, who was trying to flip the property on my Mom -- a notice that escrow was being canceled and the Buyer's deposit was being forfeited to the Seller.

My Mom said, "She couldn't do that.  She would be in a law suit she couldn't afford."
I said, "Unfortunately, that is exactly what you have to do.  Otherwise, the Buyer/Broker would be "stealing" the equity in your property."

She relented, and the agent sent the notice, The Buyer closed within a few days.

Later, she said, while talking, that, that "trick" worked.  I reminded her that picking the right broker/agent was key to a successful real estate sale.

She asked me "How did you know the Buyer was trying to re-sell the property, I reminded my Mom, that I have been a working Real Estate Broker for 20 years.  You learn "things" as you go along."

Anyway, I knew Mike Sitren was right about helping family -- even IF it is your Mom.  She would have fought me all along and IF it wasn't a successful transaction, I would still be getting the blame to this day.

NOW, when it came time to help my "Know It All Younger Broker"....  I will spare you.

Contacting David Howes is easy -- either by: davidATdavidhowesDOTnet OR call him at: 70 25 01 93 88 AND Follow David on Twitter: @DavidAHowes

Monday, February 9, 2015

Should you invest in Commercial Real Estate or BitCoin?

Since I agree with Warren Buffet: "I don't invest in things I don't understand," I will just say the link to the CNBC article (alleging) that Bit Coin may be a Poncy scheme truly scares me.

I fully understand Commercial Real Estate.  On the other hand, I do NOT understand Bit Coin at all. So, am I surprised to read an article about a Bit Coin exchange company in Hong Kong that might  (possibly) be a Poncy scheme?  The answer is: NO!

Now, Bit Coin might be a real, honest to god currency that I just do NOT understand.  But, I can tell you, I fully understand commercial real estate.  There is Land, Building(s), Easements, and egress access to and from the Land.  And, you have the ability to actually go and stand on the Land parcel in question.  IF NOT fully developed, you could reach down and pick up the dirt that makes up the land.

Bit Coin not so much.  What, where is the value to it?

Anyway, I placed the link below so you may have to copy and paste in your browser to read the story.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/102410095

Between the two, I will take CRE every day over Bit Coin for return on investment.

Contacting David Howes is easy -- either by: davidATdavidhowesDOTnet OR call him at: 70 25 01 93 88 AND Follow David on Twitter: @DavidAHowes