Category Archives: Uncategorized

Today’s Kansas City Star brings a couple of articles that drew my attention.  The first being that Pulte Homes is pulling out of Kansas City. 

What took so long?

Seriously.  Pulte was the only national builder in Kansas City.  Meanwhile comparable cities like St. Louis and Memphis are dominated by national builders.   I’m not sure why a culture of local builders has not only survived but thrived here, but it has. 

When you would walk into a Pulte home it was “different” from anything else out there.  That’s not necessarily bad.  But their marketing and incentives were very different.  Kinda flashy and direct.  It just never fit in with Kansas City.

Kansas City is different than any other city I’ve lived in or visited.  In many respects people here want to be like the big boy cities…but they don’t.  Kansas Citians want the national recognition without the headaches that come from being a “big” city. 

We’re just a little bit different.  And that’s okay.

NovaStar Financial had good news to report considering their circumstances.  NovaStar is our subprime lender that has found itself in the national spotlight for all the wrong reasons.  Watching them for the last year has been like watching a train wreck in slow motion.  But shares jumped yesterday because of the subprime freeze announcement and the fact that Wachovia Bank granted them dispensation to survive till a later date.

I still think it’s only a matter of time before they hit bankruptcy.  But that’s a whole other post. 

It’s late at night and out flight leaves in hours.  So I’ll keep this short…

I’ve spent 3 full days in Los Angeles now and I am more convinced than ever that Los Angeles area real estate investors should be moving at least part of their holdings out of town.  There is no question in my mind that Los Angeles is a fabulous place to live and work.  But the real estate values in relation to the rents just doesn’t justify the effort and or risk.

***

Doug and I spent 7 hours on the set of Boston Legal tonight.  The experience was fantastic and made better by the fact that we were very well cared for by two ladies that my contact knew.  They gave us the tour.  They let us sit in with the Directors and Producers while the balcony scene was being filmed.  We got to sit in on rehearsal for the restaurant scene. 

Then we got the best seats in the house for extras.  Our table is right next to Denny Crane (William Shatner) and Alan Shore (James Spader) and the new female character.  I don’t want to give away the dialogue but in real life I would have spit my wine half way across the restaurant when what was said was said. 

***

I’m on my way back to Kansas City in the morning.  I’m anxious to get back to work.  There are opportunities out there that need exploiting and I’m just the man to do it. 

I’m in Los Angeles.  I’m combining business of real estate investing with pleasure of sightseeing.   

1. I’m meeting with REI clients and prospective clients.
2. I’m going to the Kansas v USC basketball game today.
3. I’m going to be an “extra” on Boston Legal tomorrow.

With a trip like that my best friend since childhood decided to join me.  We booked the trip through Fun Jet as a package deal and got the basketball tickets and I set up my meetings and we were off! 

We are staying in West Hollywood.  It’s a very romantic place…if you are a guy looking for a guy.  Because the area is nearly devoid of girls!  As Doug and I walk down the street I can tell people think we are a cute couple.  But the worse part is, we ate out yesterday and the waiter brought Doug the check, not me! 

Anyway, after that experience I needed to get up to the Sunset Strip so we could go to the fabled Whiskey A Go Go.  Had a great time. 

But I thought you’d enjoy knowing I’ve been outed.  And I wasn’t even in.

I’m learning patience with each and every day.  Raising four kids, being married and working in the field of real estate investing will humble the average person.  Those three will teach you patience.  I’m not an eager student.  But I’m learning.

Right now I have a deal that was supposed to close last Wednesday.  Maybe it’ll close Monday.  Probably next Wednesday.  I’m a Type A personality.  I think 9:00 means 9:00.  Not around 9:25 or 9:29.  The whole transaction is out of my hands and control right now.  It’s in the underwriter’s hands.

And that’s the problem.  They are seemingly not worried about the property’s value or the qualification of the buyers.  No they are calling me and arguing with me about how KCRAR contracts are filled out.  About whether my signature is in the right place.  They are asking for secondary copies of the Covenants.  They are making crap up to justify their due diligence.  This lending environment sucks.  It encourages busy bodies to look busy.  🙂

But I’m handling it pretty well.  A few years ago I would have had to make another trip to Sprint to get my phone replaced…again.  Now I just mumble under my breath and figuratively bang my head on the wall. 

Here’s hoping that the underwriting department can finally devote 20 straight minutes to reviewing the file on it’s actual merits.  You know:

• The clients with the high 700’s credit score.
• The 20% down plus closing costs paid by the buyer.
• The fact that each property is being purchased at least 10% under market rates.
• The 100% occupancy.

You know, the silly little things.

As you can see BBQCapital now has a fresh new address.  Of course, change always comes with difficulty.  Most of the comments made it over and 99% of the posts.  But anything with a YouTube link, or the like, died on impact.   I don’t think most of the old photos made it, either. 

Please update your feedreaders and RSS to reflect this new WordPress address.  However, if you have www.bbqcapital.com as your current URL for me, then you should still be okay.

Bear with me as I work out the details.  Hopefully you’ll see some fresh new things as we move towards the New Year. 

From the blog SocketSite comes this nice little article. Read it and see where Kansas City stands. You’ll be pleasantly surprised.