To Fed Or Not To Fed, Long Beach

Posted on October 31, 2007 by Nicolas

I will stray from the no-prediction principle of this blog but I agree with Seeking Alpha, I find it unlikely the Fed will cut rates again. You never know, I grant you but I don’t see a clear case for it.

Why? Exactly, why? Why should they? The stock market is doing OK. It’s not good but it isn’t bad. By now, I hope we understand that lowering rates does not effect us in real estate and the mortgage industry in the positive ways we anticipated. Case in point, last rate cut did not stop mortgage rate from going up.

So, with this in mind, I give you, Seeking Alpha.

The New Press Telegram, Long Beach

Posted on October 31, 2007 by Nicolas

I don’t know if you saw the knew section in the Press Telegram called Know? It’s not technically new because it replaces the word business but I like the direction.

It feels like the Press Telegram is searching for itself and where it stands in the community. I hear too many people saying negative things about the newspaper. At least now, we can say it’s moving forward and trying to change to meet the times.

The Know section addresses one crucial aspect of a local newspaper, important things we need to know as a community. I love it. This is why I read it, not to hear what’s going on elsewhere. This morning focused of emergency preparedness. Yes, the subject is heavy but it is part of our community.

So kudos, Press Telegram. I have criticized you a lot in the past, but this one good thing you are doing. You are taking one positive step in the right direction in my opinion.

Happy Halloween, Long Beach

Posted on October 31, 2007 by Nicolas

Happy Halloween Long Beach!

This is a great fun time and there is more than meets the eye here. Halloween actually takes its roots in old, ancient Celtic myth, it originated from the Pagan festival Samhain. Samhain is the Celtic New Year and marks the end of harvesting. It also marks the time when dark and light are equal in power. The Celts halved the year in half, one dark, one light. All Saint’s Day, the Catholic interpretation of Samhain is the time when souls visit the Earth. It is also a time when spirits can talk to us. It is a time of balance when light and darkness are even, a portal between both worlds are opened, if you wish.

There is much more than meets the eye on this day and night. It is the perfect time to relax and review what you have been doing. Much like any new moon is a great time to reflect on last month’s actions and project, this is the big yearly one. When both polarity energies are equal and balanced, it is a good time for reflection and project into the future.

It is of particular importance to me this year as I venture into what seems to have been a life time crescendo of professional experiences, I am opening my coaching practice. I have finally found my calling. I know everything I have done before had a thread, now I know what it was preparing me for. This will be my “special” prayer for this year. I am not quitting real estate. I love working with people too much.

Here is a good place to get the low down on Halloween, Wikipedia.org.

How To Detect A Stroke Early, Long Beach

Posted on October 30, 2007 by Nicolas

We are straying from real estate but without good health, there isn’t anything else really.

I have an ant who works in the E.R. who sent me a quick recap on how to detect a stroke and act quickly. Some people don’t die but end up in a helpless, hopeless condition instead.

Neurologists say that if they can get to a stroke victim within 3 hours they can completely reverse the effects, completely. The trick is getting a stroke recognized, diagnosed, and getting the patient medically cared for within 3 hours, which is tough.

RECOGNIZING A STROKE
Sometimes symptoms of a stroke are difficult to identify. Unfortunately, the lack of awareness spells disaster. The stroke victim may suffer severe brain damage when people nearby fail to recognize the symptoms of a stroke.

You can recognize a stroke by asking three simple questions:

S * Ask the individual to SMILE.
T * Ask the person to TALK to SPEAK A SIMPLE SENTENCE(Coherently) (i.e. It is sunny out today)
R * Ask him or her to RAISE BOTH ARMS.

NOTE: Another way to detect a stroke is this: Ask the person to ‘stick’ out their tongue. If the tongue is ‘crooked’, if it goes to one side or the other that is also an indication of a stroke. If he or she has trouble with ANY ONE of these tasks, call 911 immediately !! and describe the symptoms to the dispatcher.

So Then, What Is Coaching? Long Beach

Posted on October 30, 2007 by Nicolas

Yesterday we briefly touched on what isn’t coaching.

Coaching isn’t consulting, advising, training and teaching. Coaches do not impart their knowledge of what they think you should do.

Coaching is much more subtle and precise than having one person telling you what they think you should do. Here is one simple question, who knows you better than anyone else? You, of course. Why would you have someone who doesn’t know you 100%, have shared 100% of your experiences tell you what to do in any given situation? Because, yes, everyone is different and who better than yourself know what you truly want.

This is, perhaps the gist of coaching. This is most likely, what makes a truly great coach. A great coach only knows one thing, ask, ask, and ask. Coupled with serious listening and genuine care for others, you are capable of helping someone to a place where they discover what they truly want on their own.

So then, why not talk to friends? Friends also want what’s best for you, and sometime they already know what is best for you, right? That’s something to be careful with. As great as my friends are, I listen to them but don’t automatically take their advice. However my coach let’s me get to my dreams, explore them and together we work on methods on how to reach them.

The difference between the two is that friends sometimes get emotionally invested in their ideas of what your results should look like whereas a coach lets you define your goals, helps you prioritize them and together work on a structure to reach them. A coach is a professional, impartial party that you can use to brainstorm. How subtle and how empowering. Now you are in control. Now, no one is telling you what to do!

And I though I was coaching before. I have a very clear understanding of what coaching is and isn’t. It is so much more subtle than anything else I have ever done in the past. It is much more fulfilling also.

Thank you Jennifer and Cindi, and Donna.

Japanese Buddhist Temple For Sale in Japan, Long Beach

Posted on October 29, 2007 by Nicolas

Once in while you get a truly fascinating story. In this case, a friend of ours who lived with us in Japan emailed me this story.

To all of you fortunate and cultural real estate investors, a Japanese Buddhist temple is on the market in the city of Katsuyama, Japan. At 21 million Euros or over $30,000,000, the temple hasn’t paid its taxes in ten years. The city hopes to recoup from the sale. At 34,000 sq meters or 111,500 sq ft, there is plenty to do with tow beautiful Pagodas, one sculpted with 9 dragons, a Japanese garden, an auditorium, and other buildings.

Hum… if I had money, I tell you what I’d do, I’g go downtown buy a Japanese temple, ‘cuz I’m crazy about Japanese Temples! For those of you who don’t remember that last lyrics, it was taken from Mercury Blues.

Now back to reality.

So What Is Coaching, Long Beach

Posted on October 29, 2007 by Nicolas

Funny where life leads you. One minute you are doing this and then you are irresistibly attracted to something else. I’m not leaving real estate, I love it too much but I am certainly incorporating Coaching into it.

I spent last week in Denver working on my first level in coaching through a school called Coach University. Yeah, you probably thought a coach university existed, right? I was surrounded with like minded wonderful people. It was a life revealing experience. It was a tough time, a learning time, I feel full, exhausted both mentally and emotionally but with a wealth of experience, tools and techniques.

Over the next few days or weeks I will talk more about as I make sense of the onslaught.

One burning question I had all this time is: What is coaching after all?

Great question, thanks for asking. The first thing that comes to mind is, it is NOT coaching in the sports sense. Indeed, far from it. It also is NOT consulting. A coach simply doesn’t deliver a solution per se, and an adviser tells you what to do.

Coaching is by far the most subtle profession I experienced to date. It is challenging, fulfilling both for the coachee and the coach. Anyway, more to come on that later, after I go see my own coach to help sort my own thoughts.

Flying Back Into Long Beach

Posted on October 28, 2007 by Nicolas

I was flying back from Denver when we noticed the plume of smoke over the mountain range.

It was an eye opener in a sort of way. The contrast from the harsh brown desert to the brown orange cloud layer that hung over most LA, Long Beach and further south was obvious. The plumes of smoke rising through the horizon made me wonder if anyone could breath or see down there. It looked as if I was looking through a light hazy brown filter.

When I got into Virginia’s car, the first thing that struck me was the smell of went burnt wood. You are all probably used to it, but my nose if fresh off Denver’s high altitude.

Strange it is that both my favorite cities, Nice, south of France and Long Beach have common problem with wild fires. In both places, it’s the same story about who would start fires like that. And lastly, it seems both places finally came to the same wise conclusions that it is high time to bring back flocks of animals to keep vegetation under control.

And I hope by tomorrow I can synthesize and articulate my week preparing the final steps of my first Coaching level. I am graduating from my level one. Next, my Bachelor and finally my Master. It’s exciting and at the same time so, so exhausting.