Why You Should Be Proud of Your Scars

In movies, scars are often the key to determine who the bad guy is.  Think Freddy Krueger in Nightmare on Elm Street or even "Scar" in the Lion King. In real life, even good guys can have scars and it's rare to meet an adult that doesn't have at least one scar.  I have scars on my chin, back, knees, hands, arms and even my chest. I sound like a crash test dummy, but I have been busy living.   I was embarrassed about my scars when I was a kid.  In fact, I wouldn't go swimming in the pool without a shirt since I thought people would get grossed out by the scar on my chest.

As an adult, my perspective on scars have changed.  I believe that you should be proud of your scars.  On a physical level, it may share your daring nature or some other aspect of your personality.  For me, I was riding a bike without training wheels when I wasn't ready at age 5.  That was an exhilarating 15 seconds before I hit a bump in the sidewalk and went flying head first over the handlebars a cut open my chin on the pavement.  Those six stitches were the first, but they definitely weren't the last. 

Scars show an experience in your life that is part of your unique story.  A scar is only a reminder of where you have been, it doesn't signify where you are now or where you are going.  We are all in charge of our future and changes are always happening.  We are faced with new wounds, which will later become new scars.  Plus, scars make for great conversation.

My New Mantra: "I've lived and I have the scars to prove it"

Wishing You Wealth 

Should I Stay or Should I Go – Orange County Real Estate Insights

Recently, I have had a lot of friends ask me if they should stay in their apartment or buy a new home.   

Here’s my 2 cents:

With property prices expected to increase modestly in 2014, the push to buy for some would be homeowners has waned.  Interest rates are still very very low. In fact, my parents had an 11% interest rate on their investment property [And that was the “Good” rate].  We are in a scenario where it is a matter of “when” and not “if” rates will increase.   Mortgage rates have been low due to the Federal Reserve pouring money into the financial system to spur the economy.  When a family refinances their loan to a lower rate, the end result is reduced payments and more money in their pocket.  In our consumer based economy, the money doesn’t stay there too long.  Extra funds are used to buy clothes, dinners, cars and other items.

When the rates increase, it has the opposite effect on spending because housing is a basic human need.  

Let’s take a quick look at how the payment would change if the rates increased from 4% to 5%.

Loan Amount	Interest Rate	Monthly Payment
$400,000	4%	$1,909
$400,000	5%	$2,147

The increase in payment is $238 per month and becomes even more pronounced as the property price increases. You may have a great price on your rent right now, but you are neither building equity nor benefiting from potential price appreciation.  If homeownership is something that you are committed to, it may be a great time to explore your options.

Although last year’s story was that there was a lack of inventory, Orange County inventory is up 2% (140 homes to a total of 5,403). 

The bottom line is that homeownership isn’t right for everybody, but for those committed to taking advantage of the current market could come out on top.

Wishing You Wealth!

Alex

Why ONE Goal Makes ALL the Difference

We live in a fast paced world, where distractions surround us at every turn.  I was recently in Las Vegas attending a conference and there were advertisements literally inside the men’s urinals.  They were not advertisements above the urinals, they were advertisements encased in plastic that were mounted inside the urinals…but I digress.

I personally have lived a distracted life and been a “jack of all trades, but master of none.” I have accumulated goals and divvied up my focus between them.   In 2014, my goal is one goal.  I know it sounds funny, but my goal is to find one goal.  It’s often difficult since many of us have so many different goals. But the bottom line is that you are going to be the most effective when all of your energy is built around one goal that is your consistent focus.  If you had 5 or more goals, your focus and your effectiveness will be spread out. In a perfect world, you would then reach all five goals.  But we all live in this world and not a perfect one.  If you have just one goal, then your attention and energy will be fully invested and your goal will be that much closer.

There’s many different classes of goals.  Yours may be related to your career, your physical body or even a hobby.  The key is to choose your goal and implement a time frame for it.   Shorter term goals tend to be less than a year. Intermediate tend to be 1-5 years and long term goals are greater than 5 years. Keep your focus on it and remind yourself with a sticky note on the fridge or better yet, make it the background screen on your cell phone that you are spending most of your time looking at, when you should be working on your goal already.

Wishing You Success!

Alex