Living Like You're Rich

"The biggest barrier to becoming rich is living like you're rich before you are."
--Knight Kiplinger

Contingency Dilemmas

I recently read an article by M. Anthony Carr in the Realty Times (6/30) that had some great ideas for sellers who face tough contingencies--one in particular was buyers placing their offer contingent on them selling their old place. To help overcome this, the author reminds the reader that in real estate, everything is negotiable. In the "Other Terms" section of the contract, the author suggests sellers to:
-Ask the buyer to sell his property at a specified price (one based on a comparative market analysis done by your realtor) .
-Ask the buyer to lower his price every week by a set amount until it gets a contract.

According to the author, the number one contingency is a home inspection. Rather than fear the inspection, Carr suggests the seller conduct his own "tough" inspection, fixing problems before the buyer finds them. A friend of mine recently found this to be true. A home inspection found that his fire alarm was bad. Rather than pay a few bucks to fix it, he had to use a licensed electrician to fix it (costing him some $70!).

10 Leadership Principles

USAA Magazine this spring listed Kelly Perdew's 10 leadership rules from his new book, "Take Command: 10 Leadership Principles I learned in the Military and Put to Work for Donald Trump" (p. 15). I thought they were worthy of repeating:

1. Integrity: Take the harder right over the easier wrong.
2. Duty: Do what you're supposed to do, when you're supposed to do it.
3. Passion: Be passionate about what you do, or do what you're passionate about.
4. Impeccability: If it's worth doing, it's worth doing right.
5. Teamwork: Teamwork: There is no "I" in TEAM.
6. Selfless Services: Give back.
7. Planning: Fail to plan, plan to fail.
8. Loyalty: Up, down, and across your organization.
9. Perseverance: It's not the size of the dog in the fight; it's the size of the fight in the dog.
10. Flexibility: The person with the most varied responses wins.

They aren't the most unique ideas out there (what are, after all?) but they seem like good advice for anyone.