I received this email from my father. It seems that most the emails I get from family nowdays are jokes, political stuff or funny or inspiring videos.  I would love to get more personal emails, but as the years go by I realize this may never happen so I call to find out what’s up.  This message, however was worth repeating.

Anyway I got this email and though I never pass this stuff on to my list, I did find it very moving so I am posting it here as not to waste it’s sentiment. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Would you have made the same choice?

At a fundraising dinner for a school that serves children with learning disabilities, the father of one of the students delivered a speech that would never be forgotten by all who attended.

After extolling the school and its dedicated staff, he offered a question:

‘When not interfered with by outside influences, everything nature does, is done with perfection.

Yet my son, Shay, cannot learn things as other children do. He cannot understand things as other children do. Where is the natural order of things in my son?’ The audience was stilled by the query. The father continued.

‘I believe that when a child like Shay,who was mentally and physically disabled comes into the world,

An opportunity to realize true human nature presents itself, and it comes in the way other people treat that child.’

Then he told the following story:

Shay and I had walked past a park where some boys Shay knew were playing baseball. Shay asked, ‘Do you think they’ll let me play?’

I knew that most of the boys would not want someone like Shay on their team, but as a father I also understood that if my son were allowed to play, it would give him a much-needed sense of belonging and some confidence to be accepted by others in spite of his handicaps..

I approached one of the boys on the field and asked (not expecting much) if Shay could play. The boy looked around for guidance and said, ‘We’re losing by six runs and the game is in The eighth inning. I guess he can be on our team and we’ll try to put him in to bat in the ninth inning.’

Shay struggled over to the team’s bench and, with a broad smile, put on a team shirt. I watched with a small tear in my eye and warmth in my heart. The boys saw my joy at my son being accepted.

In the bottom of the eighth inning, Shay’s team scored a few runs but was still behind by three.

In the top of the ninth inning, Shay put on a glove and played in the right field. Even though no hits came his way, he was obviously ecstatic just to be in the game and on the field, grinning from ear to ear as I waved to him from the stands.

In the bottom of the ninth inning, Shay’s team scored again. Now, with two outs and the bases loaded, the potential winning run was on base and Shay was scheduled to be next at bat.

At this juncture, do they let Shay bat and give away their chance to win the game?

Surprisingly, Shay was given the bat.

Everyone knew that a hit was all but impossible because Shay didn’t even know how to hold the bat properly, much less connect with the ball.

However, as Shay stepped up to the plate, the pitcher, recognizing that the other team was putting winning aside for this moment in Shay’s life, moved in a few steps to lob the ball in softly so Shay could at least make contact.

The first pitch came and Shay swung clumsily and missed.

The pitcher again took a few steps forward to toss the ball softly towards Shay. As the pitch came in, Shay swung at the ball and hit a slow ground ball right back to the pitcher.

The game would now be over.

The pitcher picked up the soft grounder and could have easily thrown the ball to the first baseman.

Shay would have been out and that would have been the end of the game.

Instead, the pitcher threw the ball right over the first baseman’s head, out of reach of all team mates.

Everyone from the stands and both teams started yelling, ‘Shay, run to first! Run to first! 
Never in his life had Shay ever run that far, but he made it to first base.

He scampered down the baseline, wide-eyed and startled.

Everyone yelled, ‘Run to second, run to second!’

Catching his breath, Shay awkwardly ran towards second, gleaming and struggling to make it to the base.

By the time Shay rounded towards second base, the right fielder had the ball. The smallest guy on their team who now had his first chance to be the hero for his team.

He could have thrown the ball to the second-baseman for the tag, but he understood the pitcher’s intentions so he, too, intentionally threw the ball high and far over the third-baseman’s head.

Shay ran toward third base deliriously as the runners ahead of him circled the bases toward home.

All were screaming, ‘Shay, Shay, Shay, all the Way Shay’. 

Shay reached third base because the opposing shortstop ran to help him by turning him in the direction of third base, and shouted, ‘Run to third!  Shay, run to third!’

As Shay rounded third, the boys from both teams, and the spectators, were on their feet screaming, ‘Shay, run home! Run home!’

Shay ran to home, stepped on the plate, and was cheered as the hero who hit the grand slam and won the game for his team..

‘That day’, said the father softly with tears now rolling down his face, ‘the boys from both teams helped bring a piece of true love and humanity into this world’.

Shay didn’t make it to another summer. 

He died that winter, having never forgotten being the hero and making me so happy, and coming home and seeing his Mother tearfully embrace her little hero of the day!

May your day, be a Shay Day.

The Commercial Real Estate Professional Investors Group CREPIG.com, has become a great place to get Internet eyeballs on your deals. It is inevitable that two things may occur on CREPIG and many other places on the web. One is that a person with great integrity is working as an agent for someone that does not. I have found that many scams are perpetrated via very intelligent, but not necessarily savvy deal makers.

Lending Scams:

You should never pay an advance fee to secure a loan. Legitimate loans, like loans obtained through Lending Club, do not require an up-front payment. Here are tips from the Federal Trade Commission on how to avoid lending scams:

• Don’t pay for the promise of a loan. It’s illegal for companies doing business by phone in the U.S. to promise you a loan and ask you to pay for it before they deliver. Requiring advance fees for loans also is illegal in Canada

• Ignore any ad — or hang up on any caller — that guarantees a loan in exchange for a fee in advance. These are called Front Money Scams.

• Remember that legitimate lenders never guarantee or say that you will receive a loan before you apply, or before they have checked out your credit status or contacted your references, especially if you have bad credit or no credit record

• Don’t give your credit card, bank account, or Social Security number on the telephone, by fax, or via the Internet unless you are familiar with the company and know why the information is necessary

• Don’t make a payment to an individual for a loan; no legitimate lending organization would make such a request

• Don’t wire money or send money orders for a loan through Western Union or similar companies. You have little recourse if there’s a problem with a wire transaction. Legitimate lenders don’t pressure you to wire funds

• If you are not absolutely sure who you are dealing with, get the company’s number in the phone book or from directory assistance, and call it to make sure you’re dealing with the company you think you are. Some scam artists have pretended to be the Better Business Bureau or another legitimate organization

• Check out questionable ads by calling Project Phonebusters in Canada toll-free at 1-888-495-8501. If you live in the U.S. and think you’ve been a victim of an advance-fee loan scam, report it to the FTC online at www.ftc.gov or by phone, toll-free, at 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357)

Bulk REO Scams

I have been involved in several of these. Most of the people involved are seasoned and legitimate professionals that seem to be taken in by large sums of money paid as commission. In your usual day to day deals you are used to working with people you may know as legitimate and if you do not know them at least there is a procedure where you will be able to check with who and what you are dealing with.

Many of the professionals I have worked with in the bulk REO market seem to throw caution to the wind in order to get these mostly fake deals done.

If you are not a Real Estate Lawyer and you solicit million and billion dollar BULK REO deals on the internet, and are asking for proof of FUNDS etc. you are probably in violation of the LAW!

Make sure you find out who you are dealing with and beware of the realm of secrecy and have to move tactics that are so prevalent in these deals.

Find out and corroborate any past deals that have been done.

There are legitimate brick and mortar companies that handle bulk REO and you should seek them out if you are an investor in these commodities.

BG’s, PPP, MTN, LC and SBLC’s

These deals seem to be scams also. Bank Guarantees almost definitely are scams. You can search out the Internet for more information and you can check out the FBI site http://www.fbi.gov/majcases/fraud/fraudschemes.htm

Gold, Oil, Diamonds and other commodities

More of the same. I have worked many oil deals and know the ins and outs. Again most are scams.

I am sure I will get emails back about this information from those of you that claim to have legitimate sources of money, property or investment platforms. I will not argue the validity or your deal with you or anyone else. What I will say is that if your stuff is legit, then it should be easy to prove. I say if you have nothing to hide than you hide nothing.

I know of an FBI sting going on to catch a group for stealing upfront money investments and the people that were duped were all successful, seasoned and intelligent. The problem is that we all seem to lose our heads when large amounts of money are involved. Also when your life is falling down all around you and someone tells you they can get you millions without great credit or collateral be very leery.

The important point here is not to believe anything you hear or read. If you get a call from a trusted friend who says they are working with someone direct to a bank that has bulk REO’s and needs a buyer; great. Go to the bank and substaintiate the claim.

If you need to get the information on any bank or financial institution, their asset managers and / or lost mitigation etc… Try Lane Guide. It has all the most recent information and I have used it to connect to banks directly. Use it… Call them… Confirm.

Please do not come back to me to check out your particular deal. I will not. It is up to you to do the due diligence.

Respectfully,
JW Najarian
http://crepig.ning.com

The Commercial Real Estate Professional Investors Group allows CRE investors and professionals the ability to promote their project, product, services, deals, funding options or requirements to other investors and professionals.  CREPIG is also a great place to find CRE resouces and network with others.

I get calls and emails all day long asking me to promote an event or deal and I would love to, but I only have so many hours in my day and the site was set up to allow you to do it on your own.  There is plenty of help and it is actually pretty easy if you take a minute to check it out.

CREPIG’s Promotion Forum provides a place to enter anything you need to enter.  You can upload files, insert pictures or videos and us HTML tags to make your stuff zing…  This section updates the CREPIG Twitter page with thousands of followers.  It also updates my Facebook page and over 5000 CRE investors and professionals over on LinkedIn.

So in the future don’t call me.  Take advantage of the ability to make yourself know to around 8000 investors and professionals by joining the site and posting your stuff.

JW Najarian
www.CREPIG.com

I am not kidding!  If you have ever tried to put together a network marketing business you know how tough it can be.

First MLM or network marketing is really one of the easiest and least expensive methods of starting your own business.  You refer to others a product or service and you get paid for the referring sale!  You not only get paid for the referring sale, but you get paid for every sale after that for that client.  You also get paid for every sale that is made by anyone your new member brings in and every new member they bring in and on and on.  Very nice.

OK so what is the hard part or downside?  You have to get people to join you and train them.  MLM works on the idea of duplicating and leveraging your efforts, by teaching the person you bring in to do what you have just done.  Anotherwords.. you bring in a few people and you teach your member to bring in a few people and they teach their people to bring in a few people.  This all sounds very easy on first glance, but if you have ever worked an MLM business you find out quickly that this can be harder than it sounds.

You get a lot of NO’s and it is hard for many to approach their friends and family with opportunities.  They all know you and all the other stuff you got into that didn’t work.  They may not be as excited as you about the potential.  OK so maybe you will just tell other people and when you are successful your family and friends will have to listen to you.  OK time to make that cold call or introduce your opportunity to a stranger….  Wow the phone can become a 10 ton weight.  Strangers think you are strange as you try to oversell your product and you get tongue tied when they ask some tough questions.  You love your product and believe in the opportunity, but every time you try to explain it to someone, they either don’t get it or you feel like you came off too preachy on insincere.  Face it, if someone from an MLM company comes into a room, it can clear the room rather quicly as everyone knows that a hello from you will lead to an overexcited sales pitch. It can be a daunting ritual.

Many believe they can learn to sell and spend tons of money on sales courses, NLP, mirroring and objection handling techniques.  9 out of 10 people suck or hate selling so this is not so great either for them or for their downlines they are trying to teach.  Their downlines don’t want to sell and many times they have been lured to the opportunity with promises that they will not have to sell, but just share the opportunity.

OK so now you learn how to listen to your prospect and find out what they want and deliver it. You find out that it is easier to talk to someone about your product or opportunity once you truly take the time to get to know them.  OK now you are starting to get the hang of this.  Problem is you have now lost 90% of your downline to attrition and you have to start from scratch.  Many will not make it this far and too many give up before they learn how to share.

What is the answer?  How would you like to completely automate the process?  I am not just talking about buying or building a landing page and sending your link to thousands of people on a list to get 1% of 1% return on the list. Noooo I am talking about hiring someone to work your list for you.  Yes, you find someone that is good at sharing and give them your list.  They do all the heavy lifting and you just go find more people to add to the list.  How about the same person that works your list for you has fully opted-in lists for sale…  OK now you don’t even have to build the list!  Now this could work.

If you are getting excited you should be because it just gets better and better.  Humanity Unites Brilliance (HUB) is a new ground floor MLM opportunity.  This is a good thing as the positive buzz about new MLM companies usually skyrockets growth.  HUB is new and is based on the concept of using the MLM engine to sustain the giving process.  What does this mean?  HUB sells business, personal and spiritual empowerment products for some of the worlds most influential growth and self help leaders and offers them via the network marketing model of distribution.  You can buy and sell products that help empower people and that will make you feel good as you are offering products that help people.  These products help people and you make money selling and referring them, but this is not all.  HUB uses 40% of the proceeds to help feed, educate, get fresh water to and give micro loans to thousands of the poverty stricken around the world.  HUB gave a whooping 1.2M in sustainable aid out this last year.

HUB is truly a new paradigm in global giving.  So you help the world, empower others and make money doing it.  Not too shabby.

What about the automatic part?  A company called GPN has now made available their years of expertise and tools to help you build your build your organization larger than you could ever do on your own.  GPN will handle prospecting, Product Presentations, Sales Closing and Business Management.  GPN has taken HUB and built a truly “Out-of-the-Box” ready to go business solution for those that want to build a residual income and help the world move from survival, to empowerment, to sustained abundance.  GPN uses Nurture Marketing to speak to prospects and does not cold call pitch them with aggressive sales techniques.

I believe HUB and this program can change your life.  It is worth the effort to check it out.  I invite you to take a look at what has been put together to make it possible to eliminate poverty and make you successful in network marketing and in your life.

Go to http://bit.ly/gpnhub and check it out.  Whether you decide to join this program you should learn what Humanity Unites Brilliance is all about as they are dedicated working to change the world.

JW Najarian
www.Jw.hubhub.org

JW Najarian
CREPIG Founder

Come Hear What
You’ve Been Missing. . .

Much of the recent bad economic news has been attributed to troubles in the real estate and credit markets. While these problems are serious, the more fundamental
problem is the lack of information about what exactly creates a vibrant and thriving economy.

The formulation of an effective plan starts with the essential question:  What is required to create and sustain wealth?

In today’s economy, sale prices are wavering, initial return percentages are decreasing, and lease rates – at best – are staying put. All because of a lack of confidence in the market which effectively paralyzes many investment property owners in the marketplace today.

There are options available for Investment property owners:

Come and join us in discussing topics such as:

1. How to sell your highly appreciated assets (including real estate)
   without paying any tax.
2. Tax deferred or tax exclusion strategies to shore up your cash flow.
3. Tax free repositioning or rebalancing of real estate portfolios
4. Property Insurance: Perils and Risks that can cost you.

Come learn from experts who live and work in your marketplace – We understand the challenges and opportunities that currently face YOU today.

Wednesday June 17, 2009 11am—2pm
Registration begins at 11am – Lunch served at 11:30am

Woodland Hills Country Club
21150 Dumetz Road
Woodland Hills, California 91364

Featured Speakers

Highlighted Sponsor:
Mr. Stuart Lorch

Northridge Insurance Agency
Chatsworth & Thousand Oaks, CA
818.349.5200

RUI Financial Services
Woodland Hills, CA
818.883.8304

Exeter 1031 Exchange Services
San Diego, CA
619.615.4210

ICON Wealth & Legacy Partners
Sherman Oaks, CA
818.981.7184

Please reply RSVP to AmiLynne Carroll
(818.883.8304)
or via email amilynne@ruifinancial.com

As recently as 3 or 4 months ago I sent everyone on my list an invitation to join Affluence.org. I want to apologize for that action. I have had many send me remove me letters about this site resending the invitation over and over. I was also not accepted as a member, but that did not stop them from resending the requests to my friends.

They first wanted my tax data to prove the amount of money I said I made. No Way Jose….. They did promise that if I got 5 people to join I would be accepted. This seems bogus as you now may be talking to someone of non affluence that happened to get some other affluent people to join? Things that make you go Hmmmm?

I did get over 5 to join, but did not get accepted. I would guess that the other 6 refused to send their tax info in as well. I am looking for a way to delete my profile. I have tried to contact the company, but the Contact Us button does not work….

I do not recommend this site and ask that everyone who got an invitation from me please forgive me.

Kindest Regards,
JW Najarian
twitter.com/jwnajarian

85 degrees with a cool breeze from offshore. I am sitting in my cabana looking out towards Molakini where the tourists love to go on day boats to snorkel. I am at the top pool so I have to go down 3 or 4 water slides and swim accross several pools to get to the in the water bar… Very nice. Yes I can order drinks to my cabana, but what fun is that.

I actually worked on some CREPIG stuff today between trips to the beach. BTW you can get out of the pool and you are about 100 or so feet to the ocean… Nice.

We were here in July and it was so clear and nice. This time it is a bit breezier and more hazy, but still can’t beat it.

The flight on Delta was great. The plane was clean and the service was first class… Oh yes we flew first class. I watched Yes Man and some other movie with Adam Sandler about kids stories. I love the message of Yes Man as it talks about saying yes to life and it’s possibilities without fear. OK you will have fear, but you don’tet it stop you.

I am going to swim to the bar. I will be back soon.

JW

I am leaving for the beautiful island of Maui to stay at the Grand Wailea for a few days.  I have business with some real estate and my network marketing business.  If you are in Maui and want to meet send me a message or call my office.

I was looking for a water proof watch and found a water proof camera too.

First I just lost over 35 pounds, as last time I went I was overweight and didn’t want to take off my shirt nor was I able to do too much physical stuff. I am looking and feeling better. My plan is to loose another 20 which will put me around 165. I did get up to 225 Argh!

I will fill you in on the details at another time.  For the curious I was using the Kevin Trudeau diet and loved it.

OK what does this all have to do with a camera and watch?  Patience my ADHD friend….  Last time I was in Maui I kept the swimming down, but decided to do some snorkling and my water proof watch took on water and died!  I had just got another expensive WP watch fixed for water damage so I had taken a less expensive watch with me.  I was looking at the Timex Explorer which takes a licking and keeps ticking, but my wife will not let me where a geek watch.

Well I plan to do much more swimming this time, with my new lighter weight body….

THE WATCH

I believe I have found the answer and have picked up the Citizen WR 300 Eco-Drive watch.  This watch looks great, works great and at 300M is pretty much a dive watch for relaxed diving.  I already love Eco-Drive watches as I have many automatics and battery type watches that need constant attention.

The Eco Drive needs a bit of sun here and there… Big Whoop.

THE CAMERA

I also found the newest ultimate snorkling and swim toy…. The Olympus Stylus-550WP WaterProof Digital Camera. Good for diving to around 10ft for up to 1 hour… Whoa….

This camera rocks for so many more reasons then it is waterproof. 10MP, 1600ASA, Panorama, many movie and picture modes including candlelight. It has a 2.5″ screen which is essential for a camera as far as I am concerned. I hate the small screen jobs. It also has memory on board so you don’t have to get a SD card, but don’t be crazy… Get the biggest card you can find.

Here is the official Olympus Page info:

Dive in with the camera that goes anywhere. The waterproof, sporty STYLUS-550WP is one camera you won’t need to handle with care. It’s built to survive whatever you can dish out – the pool, the game, or even the beach. If you are the type that is always on the go, this camera can keep up.

WATERPROOF (10ft.).
A revolutionary system of waterproof seals and gaskets keeps water out so you can take pictures as deep as 10 feet underwater.

INTELLIGENT AUTO.
Automatically identifies the scene you’re shooting — portrait, landscape, night portrait, macro, or sport — and adjusts the settings to optimize results.

FACE DETECTION.
Tracks up to twelve faces and automatically focuses and optimizes exposures for sharp, brilliant portrait pictures.

DIGITAL IMAGE STABILIZATION.
With high ISO sensitivity and faster shutter speeds you can freeze the action to capture sharp, blur-free images even if you or your subject is moving.

PERFECT FIX.
Nobody gets the perfect shot all the time, but now you can correct shooting mistakes instantly with the touch of a button. Use Perfect Fix to lighten up shadows and remove red-eye so a less-than-perfect shot can still turn out perfect!

It does have a special underwater setting that will make underwater pics nice. Most UW shots are always very blue..

I also picked up the optional silicon skin which makes it very cool…

I will blog and Twitter from the Beach….

JW
www.jwnajarian.com

I have been laboring over what to do with Twitter and was just about to chuck in the towel when my friend Gary returned my call about his new website http://www.GaryWGoldstein.com.  Not to change the subject, but if you are looking for new stuff on business and personal development and how to gain success in the real world you need to check out Gary.

Why Gary? You ask?  Gary W. Goldstein is the co-producer of one of the world’s best known mega movie hits “Pretty Woman”.  He also produced other movies like “The Mothman Prophecies“, “Under Seige” and many others.  He came to Hollywood without knowing anything about the movie business and in his work he explains how he broke in and how you can use the lessons he learned to create success in your own life.  Gary has been one of my mentors for the last couple of years and I have to say that his stories and relevant ways of dealing with life and what it can throw at you; have helped me immensely.

I know it sounds like I veered off my Twitter story completely, but it all comes full circle.  You see I called Gary to comment on his new website which is really shaping up nicely.  We joked about some of the funny comments he had recently made on Twitter and I recounted my dilemma that I could not figure this bugger out.

Twitter to me was useless and ridiculous.  Everyone twitting into thin air.  It looks like everyone is writing, but no one is reading so who gives a crap?

Well I can only guess that Gary shook his head, since we were on the phone I couldn’t see him.  Gary then proceeded to take me down the Twitter tunnel with the promise of light at the end.

He started explaining search.twitter.com and re-tweets, auto-follow / un-follow, tweet later, Bit.ly, Twitpic and many other programs that boost the power and usability of Twitter.  Dare I say I started seeing some light!  This whole Twitter mess started to have some meaning after all.

I can’t say that I am out of the tunnel by any means, but I am, at least in it and moving forward.

My question to you is can you help me get the rest of the way through?  How can I use Twitter to meet more people, not just add names to my list?  How can I use Twitter to promote my membership site http://www.crepig.com?  How can I use Twitter to promote my network marketing business http://www.aPrioriBeauty.com/fic/jw?

I would like to thank Gary once again, as he is always a great friend, mentor, ally and champion of my causes.

www.jwnajarian.com

Listening to CNBC, why do I continue to listen and watch this nonsense?  They are forever trying to find the indicator that the market is turning around.  As the market fell and fell they were all good news on a turn around and then when the inevitable happened they finally said OK we might have a problem as the market is at all time lows and dumping 700 points a day!  Only to go back to their rosy outlook the very next day on some news that housing sales may be up 1%.  First remember that governments tend to cook the books and change indices in growth and employment figures that don’t paint the picture they want to paint so you can’t trust the numbers.  Which ones? Who knows?  The stock market numbers for the life of me make no sense so why is anyone speculating on growth based on those numbers?

I used to write a newsletter.  You don’t see much come from me anymore on commercial real estate, because I got tired of reporting bad news.  One year ago I predicted, without having to know too much, that the commercial markets would go by the way of the residential markets as many of those loans were also securitized.  Commercial always lags residential by around 2 years so it was just a matter of time and we are seeing commercial numbers get progressively worse, like the 2008 CMBS delinquency figures which continue to rise according to Fitch Ratings and Fitch expects more large delinquencies in 2009 (http://nreionline.com/finance/news/fitch_expects_loan_delinquencies_0121/).  I keep hearing reports that it can’t be getting worse because someone, somewhere just completed a mega commercial deal.  I remember buying stock in a phone company, no names, but it rhymes with MCI, and I road that falling knife all the way to the floor.  Buying ever more stock at the new reduced rates because how can MCI go down any more for gosh sakes!?  Also, as I have said many times before, all real estate is based on location not global figures so there could be some very lucrative deals being struck as the rest of the world continues to fall and falter.

International Real Estate Investor’s Institutional Outlook reported in the March 9^th issue (http://nreionline.com/finance/news/stunned_losses_institution_0309/ ) that institutional investors were seeing their investment portfolios drop by 31% in 2008.  Where will the numbers go in 2009 with rising un-employment and inflation figures?  Well the article says that the investing news is actually good as these investors will move to real estate.  What?  The poll they took stated that more investors would leave the equity markets to place their money on real estate.  On what news?  On what numbers is there a basis for this general move to real estate? 

I will make another prediction…. The bottom is not here yet!  Unless you know your market or have money to sit on you should wait to buy as the market goes up not as it is falling.  This is simply investment 101.  By the way, when the market does start to make a steady rise sometime between 2010 and 2012 it will move very slowly and steadily up globally so appreciation will not be at the staggering rates of the recent past. 

I know picking between 2010 and 2012 makes me right no matter what, so just to make you feel better or not I believe steady growth may not occur till 2012.

JW Najarian
www.jwnajarian.com

www.crepig.com