Seasoned Top Real Estate Agent VS The computers!!!! Who will you trust?

I want to tell you a Real Estate Story.....

What is really happening in the market? Consumers may not be getting a true picture of what is really happening.

People believe the market is HOT and properties are selling with multiple offers, over asking price and getting offers in just hours of being on the market. The reality is, we are in a very unstable, yet strong market.

I sell an average of 100 homes each year and just last month sold 13 properties! Not because the market is crazy... because that is a normal month. The reason many people think the market is crazy is because most real estate agents (about 80-90% of the them) sell 1-2 properties each month. So, think about your own job. If you only did what you do best 1-2 times per month vs 10-20 times every day, how great would you be? I talk to sellers every day, and I am surprised the common conversation other agents have with Sellers is "how much do you want to get? GREAT! this is a crazy market....and we can always come down if we need to". Selling a home every few days has given me and my clients a more realistic view of what is really happening.

There is a very specific strategy behind every property that goes up for sale. You want to position properly so you get the most equity possible. You want to price high enough that you don't leave money on the table, but you don't want to price so high, you miss the buyers that would look at your property.

Top real estate agents, like myself, that successfully get our clients top dollar understand the good 'ol Econ 101 rules of "Supply & Demand". When you understand where your particular style of home, amenities and neighborhood activity is, then and only then, can you come up with a strategy to beat the current market conditions.

Understanding the market does not come from a computer generated value... or an appraiser's opinion on the value you they give your home. Those do not show what the buyers are willing to do in your area and how they are buying in the current market conditions. In this day an age of technology and the so called "big boy" websites, Sellers are getting mixed information. Unfortunately all too many of them are underpricing or overpricing their property when they try to sell.

I am using this property as an example because it really helps understand how even a few thousand dollars off in value can mean a lot to someone. Real estate should not be a guessing game. There is enough hard data to make sure you price a property correctly for the market.

In the following examples it is amazing how the property values can be so different from each other. They are all big sites, yet prices are all across the board. There is a $17,457 difference between the lowest bid and the highest bid. that is 24% of the value of the property! Would you really trust any sources that were different by 1/4th of the total value of the property?

That difference is a LOT of money for someone that owns a $60-70k price. I will show the true "supply and demand" after you review the so called "best sites to see what my house is worth". The reality is this owner paid $72,600 in 2005. The reality after selling over 1,000 homes in the past 10 years in this down market, and selling over 1,500 homes prior to that since 1991, is that in the KC area, our values did not really drop (for this price range of home) from 2006 to today. That may vary in some areas and price ranges, but for the most part my extensive experience in selling and closing that many homes is that most properties will sell close to what they were bought for if a seller bought from 2006 to 2016. Now, today, the supply and demand is a little off for some areas, and seller's can capitalize and maybe sell for more. Also keep in mind if someone bought a short sale or foreclosure, they gained their equity the day they bought the property. I just helped a young home owner sell his first property and it was a foreclosure he bought for the $70k range, and we sold it in this competitive market for the $130k range with multiple offers... because there is absolutely NOTHING under $130k for sale in that area.

So what might this home really sell for in this market? If we look at the supply and demand, we can determine what the current competition is, and what the current buyers are really paying for properties like this.

Neighborhood activity for the past 6 months ranges from $24k to $103k. There are only 2 properties for sale, and 14 that have sold in the past 6 months. The lowest sale price was $35,000 yet, an agent has listed a property for $24,950. That is $10k lower than the lowest price in the past 6 months. That seller may have been able to make several thousand more with a better strategy. In fact, a few thousand dollars on a property in this price range is a BIG deal! Maybe they could have put $5k in this property and made $10k more... those are the things computers can't tell you.

Similar properties to this particular property have really been selling between $52k-$56k. This shows what 4 actual buyers have paid and closed on in the neighborhood in the past 18 months. If you look at the entire area (city limits and school district), it tells a very different story. The 2 cheapest homes you can even buy in the entire area are $52k and $59,900 and the other 14 properties that are still for sale right now are mostly in the 70k-80k price range... so there is no way I would suggest pricing this property under $60k. If we do the right things to the property and it is an average home, we should be able to price this property at about $75,000 and we will get the same amount of showings if we priced in the $55k range. Part of our success strategy is showing our sellers where the buyers are actually looking at properties.

In this particular report, there are as many showings at 75k as there are at 55k. There are quite a few less showings in the other price ranges, AND there are only 2 homes even priced in the 55k range right now, so those properties are selling as fast as they hit the market, and their real estate agent may have been able to push the price a little to get more.

What many sellers do not understand is the value is not set by you (or your real estate agent). The value of your home is already determined by the active buyers that are currently looking for homes like yours. In fact, if they don't come look at your home, then you are not priced correctly. They drove by, or saw your home on a list either on their computer or from printouts they had. If you positioned your property incorrectly and overpriced it, what you really have done is help sell one of your competitors properties. You may not even think of the other houses as "competition" because you know your property is better. Right? Wrong! Once a buyer makes an offer on another property, you don't get them back. In fact, they probably only move once every 5-7 years, so that buyer is gone forever! You don't get a second chance. If you really want to get top dollar, you need a strategy that makes you more competitive than your current competition. That doesn't mean you have to sell for less, it just means you have to evaluate the current supply and see what the demand has been and come up with a strategy to get the most money possible.

The old real estate saying says there are 3 things that sell property. 1) Price 2) Condition and 3)Location

You can't change your location. Your value on that is already set. You can change the condition however many sellers are being advised to do massive upgrades to get their property sold. In most cases, they may spend $10k, $40k or more updating, and even though they may get more for their property before the upgrade, it is very seldom the amount they spent to do the upgrade. For example, someone spends $20k updating to granite in kitchen and other things. They may actually get $5k more for the house... maybe even get lucky and get $10k.. but they did not get $20k or $40k in most cases. So in essence, they left equity, real dollars on the table. In that same example, if they had priced their house $10k less than the price before they did the upgrades, they would have actually netted $10k more than spending $20k to get $10k higher sale price.

This is why we say, the agent you chose matters.

Look at some real numbers you may not have heard.

In the first six months of 2017 (which is supposed to be some crazy hot sellers market) look at these statistics.

EXPIRED: There were 244 properties that Expired, or did not sell in the first 6 months of the year. In fact, Looking at the full year of 2016, there were over 3,500 properties that tried to sell, and did not sell during their first 6 months on the market.

CANCELLED: There were 1,209 sellers that cancelled their listing agreement with the real estate agent they hired. That is over 100 sellers each month in the Greater KC area that did not get their property sold, and missed buyer opportunities and left equity on the table.

WITHDRAWN: There were 200 sellers that just took their house off the market in the first 6 months of 2017. Most probably took their house off the market because they were not getting showings, or they think they need to do more upgrades because they positioned themselves incorrectly in the market or got bad feedback for the condition of their property.

Selling your home and capitalizing on the current market conditions to maximize your equity and/or profit from the sale of your home is no easy task. It takes experience of selling thousands of homes to know how to truly "read the market" and interpret the market conditions to help our clients take advantage of the current supply and demand.

Contact me if you would like more information about how to interpret current market conditions for your property. bradkornrealtor@gmail.com or 816-224-KORN (5676).

Want $2,000 to $12,000 more (or even $25k-$50k for luxury properties) when you sell your property?

ATTENTION Home Owners:
Thinking of selling your property? WHY are you waiting?????

Here are the FACTs and
staggering statistics to YOUR pocket book:

Special message from Brad Korn: Please keep in mind this information is not available to just anyone and the interpretation of the following charts is not known by 95% of the realtors in the area. This is information we know because The Korn Team is selling 4x's more real estate than the average agent. Now you can take advantage of our experience and when you contact us, we will share with you our strategy to get our sellers the most money possible when they sell their homes.

Now is the time to get MORE for your property and get a HIGHER sale price, about 2% higher to be exact. On a $200k home, that is an extra $4,000 that could just not be there. In fact, you will see that this is really more like $12,000 if you do the smart thing, and call the Korn Team who has sold over 2,500 homes over the past 25 years and continues to sell an average of 100 properties each year averaging 98.8% of our list price on Korn Team listings sold. Look at our statistics for sales between the months of November - March at www.kornteam.com/holidays

Here are the current 4th Quarter numbers and what they mean to you as a home owner thinking of selling anytime in the next 6 months to 1 year. Now may be the absolute best time for you to consider selling. You will get more equity from your home AND trade up to a larger home with the lower interest rates.

Interesting statistic: If the interest rate goes up 1% and you are buying a 180k home, you would pay $10,000 more for that home (and the sad thing is it is all interest).

4th Quarter Statistics: provided by the Kansas City Regional Association of Realtors.


 
For Kansas city home owners, the pending sales are up over 13% which means more buyers where making offers on properties in the current market and if you compare that to the actual CLOSED sales, that were only up about 3% there are 3x's MORE buyers writing offers on properties right now. If you thought things slow down over the winter months... you may have missed out on an opportunity for more buyers than ANY other quarter (by the way, this market will continue from January through March. Check out www.kornteam.com/holidays where the Korn Team sold over 280+ properties during the months of November thru March and averaged 98.8% of list price. More easily said, the Korn Team can get you almost 1% higher sale price over all other months throughout the year, and that is 3-4% higher sale prices over the market average.



The current ACTIVE, for sale inventory is DOWN over 27%. Again... LOOK at what this means to you if you are waiting till Spring to sell your home. The number of homes for sale is DOWN 27%, the Pending Sales are UP 13% and when you see the final numbers... you may want to pick up the phone and call The Korn Team right now!!! If you wait till Spring, you could be missing out on $4k-$12k IN YOUR POCKET when you use the Korn Team to help you take advantage of the current market conditions and put together a strategy that will get you the more money than you should be able to get. Remember: it cost you nothing to meet with us, and it could cost you a LOT if you don't! Our strategy meeting is free. We can give you a no cost, no obligation, Brokers price opinion and strategy plan to beat the market.

Another recap: When Supply is LOW and demand is HIGH... that is the perfect time to sell. If you see in the green box, according to the KCRAR reports, Seller activity is going to go up because of the low supply. If you wait until more sellers come on the market, the supply will go up, and if the demand stays where it is, the buyers will have more choices. Simple economics show that when supply is UP and demand is DOWN, or lower now because more properties are for sale now,  the buyers have more choices and will make slightly lower offers AND you will have to seriously consider, or they will go buy their next favorite property.




Here are the numbers that should matter to you, the home owner thinking of selling in the next 6 months to 1 year: Sale prices have gone up 6% and the sellers in Oct-Dec are getting 1% HIGHER sale prices. You will NOT see this after April or May. You have a JUMP On the market right now to  
    #1) Get MORE money when you sell.
    #2) Get MORE house when you buy.

There has never been a time when you can SELL HIGH and BUY LOW. Economics does not allow the 2 to co-exist. Well, right now in the current market conditions, you can sell as high as you are going to, at least until April or May. By June all the summer sellers will be hitting the market driving the supply UP and giving buyers WAY MORE choices. AND....until April or May, because the current inventory is the lowest it has been, and pending sales are way up, AND the list price to sale price ratio is 1% higher AND the interest rates can still be in the 4% range... you are in the best, closest market we will ever see for a Sell Highest you can in this market, and Buy Lower than we have ever seen in any other market. This is the closest market condition where both are existing together.

visit www.kornteam.com for more information about us
call (816) 224-KORN (5676) to schedule a one on one, no cost, no obligation price opinion for your property in the current market conditions.

Frustrated Seller: NO Notice for Showings... and Agent left lights on

I had a client that is selling 2 properties with us right now. One is vacant and the other has a renter in the property. He has been really frustrated with the past couple showings.

 

I wanted to share with you my response to him commenting on an agent that gave no notice for a showing and another agent that showed his vacant property and left all the lights on, and the door open.

 

Here was my response to the seller after we made some changes in our listing instructions to do our best to get agents to be more mindful and responsible:

 

*****************************************************

I do apologize for the inconveniences you are experiencing, and selling and buying real estate should be FUN! The thing to really keep in mind is that there is really no common sense "etiquette" taught in most (if all) real estate schools AND most agents only sell one house every month or two... so they never really get great or experienced at selling real estate. Then on top of all that, Buyers only buy a house once every 10 years, and they are just excited about seeing homes and they call ALL the time adding more houses to a list of homes to see, and they especially don't think about whether or not their request was enough time for the seller to prepare.

What you want to know as a seller is that when the buyer throws on a "last minute" showing or even if the agent does... they are probably looking at a bunch of other homes. Every showing that can't be accommodated will 70% of the time just be 'passed over' because they probably have 5-8 other homes they are going to see.

Whether they give you notice or not... you can lose them as a potential buyer. The last minute looker has probably considered your property as a possibility because they weren't finding what they really wanted, and when we can't get the showing through when THEY want to go through, they will talk themselves out of seeing it.

As for agents leaving lights on and doors unlocked... believe me, I GET that is so frustrating and for our industry as a whole, I am embarrassed that someone could go into another persons home, and not treat it like their own, or respect the fact that they are in a strangers home. AGAIN, the reality is, we want every agent to show to every buyer whenever they can get the to look even if they don't give us notice (for the reasons above). AND along with that comes making the property available to agents that sell 4-10 homes per year. In fact, the National Association of Realtors sends out stats that show the average Realtor sells 4-6 homes per year. That is truly not enough sales to understand the level of professionalism full time Realtors would LOVE to see in our industry.

So, my advice to every one of our clients is in order to make sure you get the most money and most equity for your property and to make absolutely sure you sell as fast as possible is to accommodate every showings no matter what. When you do have to cancel or change a showing, even for all the reasons above, just say to yourself "Even if this is the buyer that will buy my house right now, and pay the most money for my house, I don't want to sell my house today". I know this is a little harsh, but 24 years and over 2500 sales... it is the best advice I can give every client.

********************************************

 

The Korn Team has sold over 2500 properties over the past 24 years and we bring ALL the advice and professionalism to our clients to best take advantage of the current market conditions for their market. We are glad to help you understand HOW to beat the market and HOW to get the most equity possible when you are selling a home.

Investing in Real Estate Could Be
(even in these market conditions)
a GREAT wealth building tool.

 

Here are some strategies that are shared in the book "HOLD" written by Gary Keller

The Power of Leverage

Leverage is using other people's money (banks, mortgage companies, and owner financiers) to make money. Leverage multiplies your profit.

The Power of Leverage in real estate investments: Equity Build up

1. At the time a property is purchased you are at Market Value - little equity, little investment (20% down) and a lot of debt.
2. After some time, your Equity begins to grow. Your investment is still the same at time of purchase, and your debt is going down.
3. The equity begins to build while the debt is going down
4. eventually, when you have paid off the mortgage, your market value has gone up, your debt is gone, and all you have left is equity in a property that is worth more than it was when you bought it, and your investment never changed.

Contact The Korn Team if you would like to see the graphic of what this looks like. Remember, it is about doing it RIGHT!

• Buy it RIGHT!
• Pay it down
• Pay it off

Click Here to Find Your Propportunity (property opportunity) Now

Why is building wealth with real estate right for you?

If you are looking for financial security, retirement plans, pay for college for kids, travel fund, giving to others in need or if you want to leave a legacy to your friends, family and those who know you....real estate can be one of the best sources of wealth building in America...even in the roughest economies we have had. In fact, real estate might be the safest investment in any of the past economies we have ever seen.

Did you know:

• 58% of people have not determined their retirement needs?
• 15% of people are earning $50,000-plus in retirement?
• 17.5% of people 65 or older are delaying retirement?
• The median household income is only $50,000 per year

What does all this mean? If someone needs $80,000 a year today to maintain a lifestyle, and that person plans to retire in 15 years, and we know inflation will continue to increase on an average of 3% per year....that person would need $120,000 a year when they retire.

Other scary statistics about retirement plans:

• 87% of Americans rely on Social Security for some source of retirement
• 53% of Americans rely on income from assets for retirement
• 42% of Americans rely on public or private pensions for retirement
• 26% of Americans rely on earnings for retirement

Click Here to Find Your Propportunity (property opportunity) Now

interview with Brad Korn, The Korn Team, Keller Williams:
What advice would you give to individuals trying to sell an older home in this market?
 

Before you spend a lot of money, we need to truly evaluate the “return on investment” in any money being spent just to sell. An older home can look and compete if the seller first does some easy things without spending money. The main thing is to STAGE the house. When The Korn Team says “stage” we mean pack up everything! Well, really our general rule of thumb is no more than 1-2 things on every wall, shelf, flat surface, etc. AND there are 2 rules that go along with that. #1- no personal or family photos anywhere. #2) nothing sitting out that reminds the buyer they are in someone’s home. Buyers are uncomfortable ‘snooping’ through a total strangers’ home. Put the daily things you need, coffee pots, toasters, toothbrushes in the cabinet. Heck, just pack everything up that you don’t need for the next 30-60 days and put the daily needs in the cabinets. You are moving, right?

Don't just trust anyone with your equity. National Board of Realtors track that the average agent only sells 4-6 properties per year. Unfortunately, many Realtors don't sell enough houses each month to truly help home owners take advantage of a market or give you the real true advice you need to hear. The Korn Team has average around 100 sales per year for the past 7 years. We know what it takes to get the most equity out of a market. You can get a free, no obligation evaluation by contacting us at (816) 224-KORN (56756) or visit our website at www.kornteam.com. We can schedule a convenient time to meet and evaluate how your home will compete in today's market.

interview with Brad Korn, The Korn Team, Keller Williams:
How do you feel being the nicest home in the neighborhood affects the ability for the home to sell?

My normal response in a market like this is that “you do not want to be the castle in the neighborhood” and therefore if someone ‘TRULY’ has the nicest house in the neighborhood, they need to realize that is not going to help them. The only way this can help is if they were the only house for sale…or there is very low inventory AND everyone currently on the market is way overpriced. Remember, it is truly about Suppy & Demand…NOT 3 most-like comparable sales. Let me explain. If you have 12 homes for sale, and use the 3 highest sales as comps…we can justify why someone would price higher, but what about the true read on the market that there are 9 more sales lower.

We help a seller with the nicest home in the neighborhood realize that they are going to get just a little bit more than the other homes if they have incredible updates, however, hopefully they have some enjoyment value from living in an incredible house.

If you feel your home is one of the nicest homes in a neighborhood, be sure you contact The Korn Team at (816) 224-KORN (5676 or visit our website and reach us at www.kornteam.com. We can help you determine if you can put more equity in your pocket. Do not list with anyone else until you have met with us. Our meeting is not a sales pitch..it is an evaluation of your currrent situation and we help over 100 home owners and home buyers get the most out of these market conditions every year.

Will Sell Your House for FREE!!!

We just had a call from a potential client that has an upper bracket home to sell. Since we met and discussed the marketing program The Korn Team uses to get homes sold, the owner received some enticing offers from other Realtors. We showed the homeowner how we are getting more exposure to our clients properties which means more people see our clients homes AND because more people see our homes, our clients are reaping the benefits of 3-4% more equity than our competitors in the same marketplace.

You see, 90% of all agents truly do not spend any more money than they have to to get more exposure to a property. National Association of Realtors states that the average agent is selling 4-6 properties each year. That is only one sale every 2 months. There just is not enough margin in Real Estate to make a decent living AND have money to spend on marketing. Now, the reality is that most full time agents might be selling 12-20 homes each year. If half of those are buyers, that means they are helping only 6-10 sellers sell their home each year. Again, that is only 1 sale every couple months. It is truly hard to get the experience and become the BEST if you are only doing something once or twice a month.

As a home owner, your equity can disappear quickly...and it disappears by the THOUSANDS!!! Contracts don't get negotiated for a couple hundred here, couple hundred there...it is a Thousand here AND a Thousand there...

So, what was the enticing offer?
After talking, this homeowner mentioned that a Realtor from their church had offered to sell their home for FREE! Wow, really, free is awesome....if the Realtor will get the house sold, and get them the most money. I asked, my soon to be new seller client, who was the agent? Let's see if they have sold a lot of properties. The home owner did mention that this was a pretty successful agent and had seen their stuff around quite a bit, and knew them from church or school (can't remember which they said). I had heard of the agent before so I they have probably been selling real estate for a little while. When I pulled up the sales from the Multiple Listing service, we found that in the past 14 months, this realtor had only sold FOUR homes (that were listings). "Is that really who you want helping you sell your upper bracket home?", I asked.

When a home owner is hiring someone to sell their property, you think you would want someone that sells a LOT of homes. Not just homes (because that could be a lot of buyers), but homes they were marketing to sell. I even went back over the past 26 months and this agent sold 7 listings (14 total sales including buyers). That is a home every 2 months. The Korn Team in that same time frame had sold and closed 100 properties (not counting the buyers we have helped buy homes) and averaged between 97%-98% of our clients' asking price. That was just the signs we put in yards and marketed to sell. FREE sounded great, however, when you think about it...who really can market your property to get you top dollar and do it for free? If anything, you will be leaving equity on the table because all the marketing that needs to be done can get done for free. It costs money to make money.

In today's market (and truly, even in great markets) we have watched home owners sell homes fast in hot markets and we have seen homes sit on the market with no activity....Our homes get shown because our marketing definitely gets our listings in front of more potential buyers. We get our properties sold faster and for more money because we find buyers other typical agents may miss. Brad always says, "if you get more eyeballs on the property, you will get more for the proeperty and sell it for the most the market will bear."

Don't take ANY chances with your equity. There hasn't been much in the past few years, and every thousands of dollars in equity you have in your property is yours to get. You just have to have someone that is not afraid to spend money and focus on marketing that will get you the most exposure possible for your property. It costs nothing to meet with The Korn Team and it might make you THOUSANDS!

Take your interview process very seriously. There are so many things you need to be aware of when considering marketing your home or property.

You can see how the Korn Team markets properties at http://www.kornteam.com/ and click on featured properties. We take over 100-150 photos of our listings. We use wide angle lens and photo software to show our properties off. We have virutual tours, best positioning for print media, upgraded websites on the real estate sites that matter and we have 24/7 marketing for our clients where buyers can get information about the property. More exposure means more equity. Call The Korn Team today for your free, no obligation market evaluation. You can find us online or call directly at 816-224-KORN (5676)

The Korn Team
http://www.kornteam.com/
(816) 224-KORN (5676)

Now is the time
Mortgage Interest rates are at ALL TIME low's
and they will not be there forever.

What were the interest rates in the 1980's? Did you know they were actually around 13% when I got into Real Estate 20 Years ago? today the average rate on a thirty year mortgage is as low as 4.36% as of August 2010. That is lower than mortgage rates have ben in the past 50 years. Home mortgage interest rates for the same time last year were averaging 5.19%. Did you know that is a difference of $90 per month on a $200k home with 10% down. Also, when that rate drops from 5.19% to 4.36% that is a savings of $32,460 over the life of the loan. If you would like to find out how you could save almost $100/month in your mortgage payment and put another $32k towards your retirement, contact us at http://www.kornteam.com/ either by phone, email or text and we will send you a free copy of our ebook explaining why NOW is the best time to buy real estate and move into your next home. (816) 224-KORN (5676)

Brad Korn's Recap of the
Dave Ramsey Town Hall Meeting.. HOPE

HOPE, Town Hall Meeting with Dave Ramsey
6,000 locations did Live Webcast
We want to help spread the message Dave wants to share with the whole world!!!!

The American Economy has been doing great. When things are going great…we can get a little “sloppy”. When things are going good…any idiot can make it. He made comment, even a Turkey can fly in a tornado!”

Doesn’t understand why some were melting down and freaking out about the market, and other of his friends didn’t. Some had just let fear in.

Some Economist think the government is going to need to get involved to bail this out. Dave doesn’t know what “book” they are reading because he isn’t reading the same book. He really doesn’t think the government getting involved is the answer. He went back into history and went over the 1930’s when Roosevelt was in office. John Mainard Cains. He is the one that suggested the Gov’t has to bail out. By 1944 the recession is over and the next boom is in place, and the success was based on that idea. This is what economist have been taught. The Gov’t spending got credit for what the War actually did.

Milton Freedman began to challenge these ideas and prove the Govt’ spending model was wrong. Dave Ramsey is doing that again tonight.

Dave is a believer in Capitalism. However, some take advantage of that. Business’s need to have moral restraint. Those in business are called to serve our customers…not milk them like a cow. We need a moral in our business system that value their employees and values their customers.

When he has employee come in and ask for bigger base…he says, no… you need to go get more sales. When someone gets rich, it doesn’t leave others less. In fact, our economy is set up where everyone can have as big of a piece as they want. However, it is up to you. That is how Capitalism really works.

He talked about how we need to reintroduce the word “NO”. You can’t have that corvette…you are too young and inexperienced, you get the 80 chevette!. No… I am not going to do business with you or anyone like you. I refuse to be ripped off and taken advantage of anymore. We need to quite going crazy and say NO.

He did say that many Christians sit around and pray that things will get better. The reality is that you can pray WHILE you are working! It is up to us to take care of “us”.

He took questions from calls, emails, text message, twitter and talk about the economic situation. David Asner was the MC for the evening.

-Dan from NY. Is this our generations great depression. What are diff from now and then.
Dave: the people from the great depression were changed and got smart with their money. Grandpa pulls a nail out, straightens it out and puts it in a can to use later. How many of us have a grandpa that did that, and how many of us do that? In great depression unemployment was 25 percent and REAL breadlines. Stock market lost 97% of value. Today we have only lost a little more than 50% of value. Great depression had inflation of 11%...today, we don’t have inflation. It is non-existent right now. This isn’t near as bad as the 70’s or 80’s tough economy.

We have to stop the “freaking out” the fear is driving all this hysteria

-What options do we have for investing (401k’s, mutual bonds, looking bad, etc)

I know wisdom says long term is good…but the fear is making us question everything. Were there is not vision, the people will perish. Patience during a recession is a major thing. When you live your life, thank god its Friday or oh no its Monday. When you invest and try to time the market…when you live in a panic, you will always buy at the wrong time, and sell at the wrong time.
Home depot
Mcdonalds
Coke
Microsoft
Dell
Walmart
Will they all be perfect…no. but as a group, those will be worth more 15 years from today.

Dave is continuing to invest in stock market and continuing to invest in Real Estate. It is like you are at K-Mart and the blue light is on!!!!

-bought in May ’07. When can he expect value to rebound back to its old value.
Dave – of course he doesn’t know. His opinion is that Housing will probably bring us out of this recession. At 4 3/8th interest rate. This is an ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS time to buy…and they are all ON SALE! (40-42min into town hall meeting)

The Dam is buiding. There are a bunch of buyers that havn’t bought, and they are all going to flood the market at once, that that is going to pull us out of this economy. 35 counties represent 50% of the foreclosures. It is in isolated areas? Of course the foreclosures are up…but not anywhere near Panic mode…. But the fear is causing everyone to hold back.

When existing inventory sells off, and new construction starts, the existing home prices will come back up close to the new construction. It cost just as much to build a new home today as it did a year ago. BUT….don’t buy a house if you are broke! You must have your reserve of 3-6 months in place.

-audience member, single mom, quit job, went back to school and getting ready to put son through school.
Who to trust and where should I put my money?
52% of single moms live below poverty line.
Do the baby steps.
1) get 1k cash in bank as fast as you can
2)get your debt paid off
3) finish emergency fund,
Now laid groundwork to start your investing. That’s retirement. Stock Growth mutual fund.
Use your instincts on who to trust. If you talk to financial advisor and feel you are being sold…get up and leave. They should be teaching you, coaching you, if you are learning. (48-50 min into program)
Made prediction that 10 yrs from today she will be killing it.

-Chris from Youtube. Had question about his bank. How does he know his money is safe.
Dave doesn’t do business with big banks. They have not soul. With a small banks you can go into the bank and put your hands around someones neck (kidding of course). He does not want to be a digit….he wants to talk to a person that cares.

-Jazz in Text messages. With all the $$$ going into circulation…what do we do with our savings?
Dave says – congress is out of control. If they don’t get it under control and quit flooding the market it is making it worth less, causing inflation. If they don’t, will it break it? No… I don’t think the gov’t, in our time will fix it…let alone, break it.
Invest in things that go up when inflation goes up. Real Estate is a great example… Housing goes up rapidly. Back in the 70’s houses were going up 1% a month. 110k house worth 110k in one month. In two months, it went to 121k. With that type of investment you have a hedge fund against inflation. You are riding the wave up.
Pay for it, don’t bet on inflation to bail you out…that is the definition of bankrupt. (52-54 min into program)

-had question about wether or not to buy gold.
Dave says Gold is the snuggie of investments. If it’s sold on midnight cable and if you buy it, it will make you look stupid. From 1833 to 2001, Gold is averaged 1.5% per year. From 01- today it averaged 15%. Gave example of Dot Com got over 100% but next year was zero.
People think Gold is going to be the medium of exchange. Gold hasn’t been used in a failed economy since the Roman empire. Katrina in New Orleans with it’s failed economy, gold didn’t become the exchange. But a bottle of water, a tarp were worth a lot. Goods and Services are what become valuable.

-should I start a businesss in this economy? (this caller was starting a tile company)
Dave said the buiding may be a tough thing to get started in, but be smart. Most extremely business’s were started in bad times. Look at Bill Gates, He started Microsoft right around a depression. David who started Hobby Lobby and started in garage in ’72 (’73-’74 were the worst recession). They are doing so well now, he looked at all employees and everyone making less than $10 an hour was bumped up to $10. While this recession was going on, there sales have gone up 5%...he knows he needs to take care of his employees.
-Chick Filet…was brought to market in ’46 right around the World WarMichael Dell started Dell in his Dorm room just following recession

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I hope you liked this information. We are proud to be selected by Dave Ramsey as a preferred Real Estate Team for the Kansas City area. You can see our ELP status on his website at www.daveramsey.com . We are proud to be associated with Dave and truly run our business as he discussed in the Town Hall Meeting. We are here to educate you on the Real Esate opportunity...not just get another sale.

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Brad Korn
The Korn Team
www.kornteam.com
brad@kornteam.com
(816) 224-KORN (5676)