If I had no sense of humor, I would long ago have committed suicide.

- Gandhi

“A battle is won or lost before it is ever fought.”

- Sun Tzu

If that’s not the quote exactly. It’s pretty darn close. Unfortunately, I don’t have much insight to go along with it either. I just feel like a battle with my ISP because of their terrible coverage for the past two weeks, which, oddly enough coincides with the time I dropped their tv package. Hmmm…..

“Should you find yourself in a chronically leaking boat, energy devoted to changing vessels is likely to be more productive than energy devoted to patching leaks.”

-Warren Buffett

Simply put, know when to jump ship and move on.

“A good decision is based on knowledge, not numbers.”

-Plato

This is a good one. It applies today as well as it did so long ago, and it can be interpreted in many ways.

As a whole, we tend to listen to the media, public figures, family, friends, and just about anyone that will give their opinion, more than we listen to ourselves. We all know the right decisions to make, and we have a tendency to let other people talk us out of them. Sometimes, we make mistakes, it’s part of life. Every wrong turn is one step closer to the right path. For instance, if anyone ever asks me “Are you sure you’re doing the right thing?” or “Don’t you think now is a bad time to do that?” I immediately know that it’s the correct course of action. Oddly enough, that logic has NEVER let me down. EVER.

The very existence of flame-throwers proves that some time, somewhere, someone said to themselves, You know, I want to set those people over there on fire, but I’m just not close enough to get the job done.

-George Carlin

George was one of those guys that you either loved or hated. He was one of the few that would take jabs at everything from government, to organized religion, to race and much more. As he entered his later years, he really became more of a social commentator which I enjoyed more than his earlier years.

I found a little gem a couple of days ago that I thought I would share. It’s a stick figure sketch of the basic reasons for the mortgage mess that companies are experiencing, with some humor added. *NOTE: This contains some adult language. If you are easily offended by strong language, please do not follow the link to the sketch.* Click Here to See it.

Here’s something to think about: How come you never see a headline like “Psychic Wins Lottery?”
Jay Leno

This is what I think about when I hear people in the media talk about the US housing and financial markets. They all act like they know exactly what’s going on, why it’s going on, and what you need to do about it. For every one of those, you have five saying to do the exact opposite. If they knew the right course of events, they would NOT be telling us about it, because they would be too busy drinking a pina coloda on the beach somewhere.

If you want to know what to do about anything, here it is:

• Learn from other people’s EXPERIENCE.
• Don’t take advice without a proven track record.
• Sometimes, the right thing to do is “go with your gut.”
• Don’t listen to family. A family member will talk you out of a great thing faster than anyone. Trust me.
• Take chances! Sometimes you’ll fail, but you’ll learn what doesn’t work, and that paves the path to what DOES work.
  • For instance, I graduated with a guy who decided to get in the “house flipping” business. He had no real estate experience whatsoever, but decided it was time to try. He lost money on his first flip, a failure. He persevered. He made $2,000 on the second flip. He persevered. He turned the corner on the third one and made about a $35,000 profit. Yes, he failed, but in failure, he learned the path to success. Now, armed with knowledge, he is actively seeking out more homes, and has some cash in the bank to boot.

I buy when other people are selling.
J. Paul Getty

According to Inman News, a leading real estate news provider, annual home price GROWTH has been seen in 31 STATES. Odd considering everyone is talking about the terrible housing market, huh?

The Real Estate market can never really be broken. Yes, home prices are down, but it’s all cyclical. For the smart home buyers and investors out there, this is a great opportunity! On average, a home DOUBLES in value every ten years (according to the National Association of Realtors). That’s a pretty good return on investment.