I Survived Real Estate 2023 | Part 2 #851

I SURVIVED REAL ESTATE 2023

The Norris Group’s annual award-winning event, I Survived Real Estate, held last October 27th at the Nixon Library in Yorba Linda. Our 16th annual black-tie gala benefits Make-A-Wish and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Since 2008, together we’ve raised well over $1,000,000 for charity!

The past two years have been like nothing we have seen in our real estate market history.  There are still so many unanswered questions about how the economy is going to change.  Pricing, The FED and Inflation is a lingering problem for working class America.

In this episode:
Bruce shares the most meaningful transaction in his career.
A retired Army veteran of six years shares his personal story and passions.
Bruce discusses the California real estate market, highlighting the importance of charts in making informed decisions.

Hope you enjoy!

The Norris Group originates and services loans in California and Florida under California DRE License 01219911, Florida Mortgage Lender License 1577, and NMLS License 1623669.  For more information on hard money lending, go www.thenorrisgroup.com and click the Hard Money tab.


Video Link

Radio Show

Transcript

Narrator: 0:00

This is The Norris Group's real estate investor radio show the award-winning show dedicated to thought leaders shaping the real estate industry and local experts revealing their insider tips to succeed in an ever -changing real estate market hosted by author, investor, and hard money lender, Bruce Norris.The Norris Group proudly presents our 16th annual award winning event I Survived Real Estate. Industry experts join Bruce Norris to discuss the evolving industry trends, real estate bubbles, inflation and opportunities are merging for real estate professionals. All proceeds from the event benefit Make-a-Wish and St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. We want to thank our Platinum Partners. Inland Empire Real Estate Investment Club, San Diego Creative Investors Association, White Feather Investments, Wilson Investment Properties, uDirect Ira Services, MVT Productions, and Realty411 Magazine.

Bruce Norris: 1:12

Just for fun a couple of months ago, we counted up the transactions that I've done in a career it was 6500 houses that we've touched, either bought and sold, or somebody that I taught the business to that we funded. I bring that up because tonight I'm going to share with you a transaction that was the most meaningful transaction in my whole career. Somebody that we taught called me up and said,'Would you like to buy a property in Riverside from me?' I've paid 90,000 for it, I'd like to get 100. I said, let's take a look at it. So I went to look at it. It was really termite it is probably the third worst termite house I'd ever seen. I said, let's get my Snyder's termite guy out there. Let's do a termite report. And then we'll make a decision. So we got that done. All right, was it as bad as I thought seven grand and I said, Let's make a deal. So I bought it for 100 grand, was really busy at the time didn't get to that house. Finally, we had a contract to do a complete repair estimate. And I just said, You know what I think I'll sell it as is. So when we listed it, we put the termite inspection attached to the listing and the repair estimate, sold the property. Thought I'd never hear about it again. A year later, I heard about it. I got a call. And the agent said the property buyer at the property on Sierra is really upset because he was told that there was a service person that killed themselves in the house. And she said, 'Did you know that' I said no. I didn't know that. And so I called up the guy that sold me the house. I said,'Did you know that there was a death on the property?' And he said yes. And I told you that in writing in the contract. And worst business day of my life. I went and found that contractor looked it up. Unbelievable. I literally started my car within 10 seconds I walked out of the building and I drove to the house. I'm going there for really one reason I want a fellow human being to know that a mistake was made. But it wasn't intentional. I didn't want him to linger with that feeling that somebody had intentionally screwed him. That was just unthinkable. Fortunately, he was there and I walked up to him. I said, Are you Gustavo? And he said, Yes. And I said, I'm Bruce Norris. He said your name sounds familiar. So I'm the guy that bought the house and sold it listed and sold it to you. And I just found out that there was a violent death on the property. But I also found out that I was told that in writing. So I understand you're upset. But I want you to understand that was not intentional. So if you're going to sue anybody, you sue me, you don't see the listing agent or the sales agent or the other owner. They couldn't have known because I was the only one that was supposed to know. He looked at me says 'I cannot believe you just said that. Let's go in and talk'. And it turns out he was in the service and he had seen that happened to other people. And he had contemplated that himself. And so it was really emotional for him and I'm holding him I just like and let me just buy the house from you. I'll just pay off your VA get the heck out of here and start again, man. He said 'you would do that?' I said of course I would do that. And so I mean, it was emotional for a little while and he said give me a couple of minutes so he was gone for five minutes. Longest five minutes of my business life. I had no idea what was happening. And Gustavo came back with two service medals, and told me a story of each. And you know what he does? He says, I'm gonna give you one of these, because what you did tonight was the gutsiest thing I've ever seen. Wow. I was, that was the most unbelievable story. And he said, You know, when I sit, he said, I want to keep my the house. He said I just wanted somebody to care. That's all we did. The next morning, I got an email from him. And I said, I used to wake up and my day was all you know, dark. And today I wake up and I have hope again. And his sister sends me an email and says, I heard about, Gustavo told me your story yesterday, and she says, I can tell you, in my opinion, you just saved his life. Now tonight, Judy, his daughter is here. And Gustavo has COVID. So, but I gave Judy the medal back. And tonight I wanted her to have it back. And in I didn't know I was going to get another medal. But her husband, Maxwell Nelson, where is the medal? Good grief. Have you ever had one too many pockets? That's, that's what's going on right now. I didn't lose it yet. I promise. I want Maxwell, Gustavo's son-in-law to come up for just a couple of minutes and talk to you about this subject of service people and and what they go through. And he's got a couple of charities that I've donated to, he's going to mention those, but I just want him to know that we care.

Maxwell Nelson: 7:18

Wow. Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. If you can't guess by now, I'm not a public speaker in the slightest. However, Thank you. As Bruce said, Gustavo, You know him as Tony, is my wife's father only known him for a few years. We have our disagreements, as most people deal with their father-in-law. But we share one thing in common and it's that we care about our service members. Again, my name is Maxwell Nelson. I'm an Army veteran of six years. I know I don't look it. I served three years at first armored division, and three years with the 82nd airborne division as a cavalry Scout, as well as a paratrooper. They go hand in hand. I was medically retired, as the staffs are from the 82nd airborne on April 24 of this year. Again, just over six years I was retired due to worsening injuries. I'm so sorry. No, no worsening injuries related to deployment and support NATO last year when Russia invaded Ukraine as well as subsequent anxiety and depression that followed. Married to you already know her in the green dress over there. My beautiful wife Judy, who I love more than anything. Together we have two dogs and three cats. I love fast cars. I love nice watches. I love writing. I love music. I like cold beer. Now you know a little bit about me. After getting back to civilian life, I found a passion a calling, if you will. Many of you may be aware of the fact that upwards of 22 veterans killed themselves every day, 22. And recent studies show there could be more. This is extremely close to home for me. I've lost numerous brothers and sisters this year alone. But there are two that hit me harder. They hit so close to home. Sorry. One was my buddy, Sergeant Chandler Doug Adams, great guy, just type of person that you'd walk around the squadron footprint and he'd asked you how you're doing. Just believe it or not. I was the scary NCO. I was the guy that yelled at people. And he still came out to me to ask me how I was doing. Second one was a soldier that I took in. When I was on my way out the door, they say, just getting out of the army. His name was Corporal Logan, also doc. Waldman, great kid. He was supposed to teach me how to play chess, never got around to it. And everyday for the rest of my life, I will wear this black bracelet. With his information on it, and on the inside, it says I'm going to teach you how to play chess hard. Many people don't realize but since 911. Military suicide rates are four times higher than deaths that occurred during military combat operations. But he thinks about the war, but they don't think about the war here. In 2021, the USO reported that 7,057 service members were killed in combat. So a lot that also is compared to 30,177 active duty and veterans who have taken their own lives in the same 20 year period. Active duty members and their families already sacrificed so much. Sacrificed so much for our freedom and our country. They go through so much, just on a day to day basis. The staggering statistic underscores the urgent need for action and intervention. I've made it my mission to raise awareness of this issue. And I've gone as far as switching my college major from business to political science in the hopes that maybe someday in the future, I can change something because I'm sick of seeing my brothers and sisters die. I'm currently reaching out to many already have submitted a formal inquiry to the Armed Forces oversight committee in Washington DC through my congressman. And we received a response from my old brigade commander not going the way that we want but I'm trying to put an end to this and get my brothers and my sisters, my fellow service members the help that they so desperately need. Too many are suffering from this and we don't talk about it enough. I've made it my mission. I would implore you to find out more about this issue on your own and find a way to help because there are ways to help. It is only by raising awareness that we can begin to remove the stigma of seeking help with mental health something that I personally went through. Something that people so desperately need to organizations I'm supporting our recent for heroes anthranilate comms tragedy, or sorry, I missed that up. Through tragedy comes light. It would be really weird goes the other way around. I know that Joey and Bruce will let you know how you can learn more or help if you're so inclined to do so. God bless you all. God bless our service members. Thank you for your time.

Joey Romero: 15:08

All right now, in the tradition of I Survived Real Estate, Bruce Norris and his market update.

Bruce Norris: 15:17

We have... now we're going to talk about boring real estate charts. All right. You know, about 15 years into a real estate career had an interesting day. I bought a car for air and graduated high school, paid 15, seven for it, same day, Bought a three bedroom house in Riverside for 13/3 . And I thought, Okay, I've been doing this 15 years, I have no idea why that happened. And I've been through a few cycles got burned by one. So I thought, you know, I gotta figure out, maybe somebody else has figured that out. Let's go there first. So I went to the library, and I got microfilm and I read every article for 25 years that was written about real estate timing, from 1970 to 1995. I read every written article, no one had predicted anything accurate, especially for a long term. So I said, I don't know if it's possible. But I'm gonna see if I can figure it out. So for the next 18 months, all I did was go into libraries and any place that I could find data that I didn't have, and I would write down by the hand, each line. Like if I found affordability, I would write it all down, which is interesting, by the way, because I've heard some really good experts, you know, give their opinion on things. And they say something interesting, well, why had they get the awards for the like an annual thing and said, Well, I really don't, you know, I don't deserve that. But the only credit because I have staff that does that. And I thought, wow, you know, what would be missing for me is that I have to do it myself. And the reason I have to do it myself is because as I write down this one pile of data, it rhymes with every other chart I did that with. So I know that it interacts with other things. It doesn't stand alone, no one could hand you a chart and have that happen. So the other thing is when I do these reports, you know, I'm trying to figure out where to put Bruce Norris's dough. There's not a pure motive than that, you know. And so that's what started to happen in 97, we wrote a report called California Comeback. And we wrote that right at the tail end of a downturn. People, we're so glad that somebody wrote something positive. Did they believe a word of it? No. But they were happy you showed up because it was the first time in six years real estate had a smile on its face. So people liked it. And then then that happened. And then it kept happening. So when not only did a double or tripled. So I guess you could say I got a wrong when the right direction anyway, but it kept on going. And I thought, wait a minute, there was a barrier there that I thought that was going to stop and didn't stop. So I started thinking about, maybe we've overdone it didn't know how you could do that. But about in front of an audience of about this size. I interviewed a lender in 2006. and I said stated income loans. Where does the stated income number come from? She said, Oh, we just make it up. And there was, it was really silent for like 20 seconds. I thought it was a half hour interview is a one question and review. It's all I needed to know. Because I just realized, okay, you just said you commit loan fraud on every loan, and you don't care if you say that in public. Now I understand why this is getting crazy, and how bad it's going to be. And so I looked at that chart and said, Okay, we'll write this one California Crash. Now, here's the difference. When you write a crash report before it happens, and everybody's having the time of their life in real estate, you have a very unpopular year. Because I would speak in front of the agents and the lenders and the investors and everybody's kicking butt and taking home big checks, and you're out of your mind. It's never going to end and so that's why I like charts. Charts did not allow me to make emotional decisions. It makes me look at a process that's repetitive. And so it crashed. And this was a significant crash, if you didn't miss it, it took you out. If you caught it and got out of the way it made you a fortune. That's how important it was to get this one right. And so the price crashed and went down and it stayed there and stayed there and stayed there and what I think it was about 2011, 2012 I looked at and went well. We have just stayed here for a long time. I'm wondering maybe California is no no longer going to separate its price from the nation. We're just going to be normal like, you know, Ohio or something. And so I really did a study that was looking for the negative and trying to figure out if maybe this is over. And it came out that this was the title of the next report all in or fold. So I had gone through the fold, thought process, and I realized the best thing to do is go all in. And so in 2012, we told our investors go all in we created an eight year program that would take them to 2020 with their rentals and created a lot of people that made a lot of millions of dollars. So it was a pretty cool thing. So always trying to figure out what's next again, where to put Bruce Norris' money. So 2012 It goes on a straight line, and about 2019 There's signs that we're slowing, and in 2020 The Coronavirus hits. And all of that brown line. Probably shouldn't have happened. But it did. So now we have to deal with that. So you know, like what's next? So I think this is 2022 We wrote this report called Uncharted Territory. It's really a tongue in cheek thing. Uncharted, you know, we're told we're dealing with with charts. But it's the question is, are we about to have a price crash? And the math of it is, yeah, a really, really bad one. But is there something that might get in the way called charts that we've never seen before? And the answer is probably yes. So you guys can still be happy you came, you know, I heard the air going out of the room when I said that other thing.

Narrator: 21:42

See ISurvivedRealEstate.com for event details, information on all our generous sponsors and to connect with our speakers. We'd also like to thank our Gold Sponsors, Chase Leland Photography, Fair Trade Real Estate, Inland Valley Association of Realtors, Keystone CPA, Leivas Tax Wealth Management, NorCal REIA, NSDREI, Pasadena FIBI, PropertyRadar, The Outspoken Investor Tony Alvarez, White House Catering, Windermere Tower Realty, Rick and Leanne Rossiter. ISurvivedRealEstate.com for event details, in For more information on hard money, loans and upcoming events with the Norris group, check out the Norris group.com. For more information on hard money, loans and upcoming events with The Norris Group, check out thenorrisgroup.com. For information on passive investing with trust deeds, visit tngtrustdeeds.com.

Aaron Norris: 22:52

The Norris Group originates and services loans in California and Florida under California DRE License 01219911, Florida Mortgage Lender License 1577, and NMLS License 1623669. For more information on hard money lending, go www.thenorrisgroup.com and click the Hard Money tab.