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Wednesday, October 31, 2018
Why NIH needs evolution expertise–The amyloid beta case study
Sharon Begley has written a lovely article on Tanzi and Moir’s research on the antimicrobial properties of amyloid beta and the outrageous difficulty they have had getting NIH to fund their work. They noted that study after study has found no benefit from treatments that disrupt amyloid synthesis, and that there must be some reason why […]
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from The Evolution and Medicine Review https://ift.tt/2qlTirT
Alkaline Water Surges Despite Lack of Evidence
Alkaline water is pure BS - there is no plausibility to the claims of any health benefits, and what evidence we have is negative. Its popularity grows despite this.
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from Science-Based Medicine https://ift.tt/2qkEs4J
Tuesday, October 30, 2018
Monday, October 29, 2018
20 Mobile Apps Every Real Estate Investor Needs on Their Phone
You’ve probably heard trivia like this before:
“Your smartphone has more processing power than NASA did when it put men on the moon in 1969.”
That's a pretty incredible fact – isn't it?
Even more fascinating, is that mobile phones are starting to surpass many laptops on performance benchmarking tests.
All that processing power, combined with humanity’s combined knowledge available instantly with internet access, is sitting right in your pocket day in and day out.
And you probably use it for watching cat videos. (Don't worry: We all do.)
But what else can your smartphone do for you as a real estate investor?
How can it help give you an unfair advantage over all the other investors out there failing to use the gadget and its abundance of apps to advance your businesses and bottom line?
Here are twenty amazing apps that all real estate investors should consider — including several that aren’t real estate “apps” per se, but will help make you become a more nimble investor nonetheless.
1. Zillow
You can use Zillow to browse available listings, get a sense for home values, and see what neighborhood landlords are asking for rent. Investors such as yourself can even list properties for sale or rent directly from their mobile devices, snapping photos with their phone and typing out a description of the property.
The Zillow app is especially useful as you walk the streets of a neighborhood where you’re considering investing. You can check property details in real time and a get a great gut-level sense for neighborhood housing values and rents.
2. DocuSign
You can spend an arm and a leg on printer paper and ink and end up with stacks of file folders piled to the ceiling in a home office. Or, you can skip the home office entirely and just e-sign contracts, lease agreements, disclosures, and so on by using DocuSign.
DocuSign uses top-of-the-line digital security and encryption and lets you share and store documents instantly. As an especially nifty feature, the DocuSign app lets you photograph paper documents using your smartphone, and instantly e-sign them. With over 50 million users worldwide, DocuSign is the gold standard for digital signatures on the go.
3. Scanner Pro
The app detects borders in your photographed documents so it can remove the background in the image and provide clean, easy-to-read final versions you can share with the necessary stakeholders in your real estate investment transactions.
Once scanned and converted to a text-based PDF, documents can be emailed or shared through cloud services like Google Drive and Dropbox. The text recognition software even lets you copy and paste text from a photographed document.
This one is a favorite of Rich Carey from RichOnMoney.com. Pretty nifty, eh?
4. Property Fixer
The goal is simple: to offer a quick but accurate estimate of potential returns for flippers. Sometimes, you need to make a decision on whether to make an offer on a property quickly — and the Property Fixer app can help you run the numbers right on the spot as you walk through a prospective property.
Property Fixer is free to download, although it will encourage users to upgrade to a paid version with more bells and whistles.
5. DealCheck
The DealCheck app makes it easier than ever to run your calculations on the fly – whether on the road or behind your desk. The free version of this app is extremely useful, and there's also a pro upgrade that will give you some added functionality (like unlimited property photos, unlimited reports, MLS updates, an offer calculator and more). If you've been on the search for a calculator that is a lot more simple than a complicated spreadsheet, you need to see this app in action!
Note: If you sign up for a Pro plan, be sure to use promo code “RETIPSTER” at checkout and you'll get a 25% discount for the life of your subscription.
6. DealMachine
RELATED: DealMachine Review: So Simple, Even Your Kids Can Do It
7. Rentometer Express
RELATED: The Beginner's Guide to Buying Rental Properties (A Case Study)
8. Trello
9. Stitcher
I listen to podcasts while I work out, while I’m driving, while I fold laundry, while I go for long walks on the beach by myself. Instead of letting this time go to waste, why not further your real estate investing education? Or, perhaps you can learn about housing market movements, amenity trends, or new ideas for your investing strategy?
Stitcher is free and gives you access to countless podcasts (which, incidentally, includes the REtipster podcast!). Or, if you're an avid Apple fan/user, simply go to iTunes to check out numerous intriguing and eye-opening podcasts.
Try listening to a real estate investing podcast the next time you have some household chores to do. The time will fly by faster, and, more importantly, you’ll learn something new while you’re at it.
10. Airbnb
RELATED: Yes, You Really Can Make 3x – 5x More From Your Rentals. Here's How…
11. BombBomb
RELATED: Have You Joined The Video Email Revolution?
12. Mortgage Calculator & Mortgage Rates by Zillow
This one is a favorite of Lucas Hall from Cozy.co.
13. Google Maps
14. DropBox
RELATED: How To Stay Organized (Tour My Paperless Dropbox Filing System)
15. BiggerPockets
RELATED: BiggerPockets: A World-Class Resources Every Investor Should Be Using
16. Slack
This one is a favorite of Steve Chou from MyWifeQuitHerJob.com.
17. Evernote
This one is a favorite of Tyler Sheff from CashFlowGuys.com.
18. Snapseed
19. RingCentral
As you can see, some of these apps are great for more than just real estate – they can be used for other types of business ventures (and even your personal life) as well. The majority of these apps are available on virtually every major mobile platform – so it doesn't matter which device you're using.
RELATED: Are You Using the Right Phone System for Your Real Estate Business?
20. Blinkist
RELATED: 20 Books That Changed My Life
The Pros of These Mobile Apps: Speed, Agility, Knowledge
As a real estate investor, your ability to compete with other investors in your market is often based on three factors: the speed with which you can move on deals, the agility with which you can react and adjust to changes, and your knowledge of investing and the market where you invest.
Mobile apps can help you with all three.
Use the apps above to be able to operate your real estate investing business on the move — whether you invest full-time or simply do the occasional flip on the side. These (and other) mobile apps for real estate investors help you stay connected with your partners and support personnel, with your market, and even with your properties themselves.
You have a supercomputer in your pocket, connected to an endless well of human knowledge. Take advantage of it.
What are your favorite mobile apps for real estate investors? How do they help you earn more as an investor? Share your favorite apps below!
The post 20 Mobile Apps Every Real Estate Investor Needs on Their Phone appeared first on REtipster.
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Is it time to break up the Washington Wizards?
After a recent loss to the young, upstart and far-less-talented Sacramento Kings, various Washington Wizards players made comments that caused those who follow the league to raise their eyebrows.
It’s not that it was out of the ordinary to hear about turmoil and turbulence begin to creep around the edges of a Wizards campaign. After all, that’s become sort of the norm over the past few seasons.
But this quickly? Two weeks into the season, and we’re already learning about players with agendas and gripes about shot selection in Washington’s locker room?
It wasn’t a fringe rotation player or a career backup opening up to the media about these things, either. No, rather, it was the two stars of the team who, five games into the year, already felt the need to pull back the curtain on the Wizards locker room and vent about their relative frustrations.
Here’s what All-Star Bradley Beal had to say following the loss to Sacramento (via USA Today Sports):
“John Wall and Bradley Beal called out their teammates for having their ‘own agendas’ after a 116-112 loss to the Sacramento Kings on Friday night. Washington dropped to 1-4 to start the season, with the pair of All-Star guards blasting the Wizards’ effort on the defensive end of the floor, where Washington is giving up 122.8 points a game, second-worst in the league. ‘Sometimes we have our own agendas on the floor, whether it’s complaining about shots, complaining about playing time, complaining about whatever it may be,” Beal said. “We’re worried about the wrong (expletive) and that’s not where our focus needs to be and it’s just going to continue to hurt us.'”
And here’s what his stud backcourt partner John Wall backed him up with:
“We got guys who’s worried about who’s getting shots, where the ball is going on the offensive end,’ Wall said. ‘We should never worry about that. No matter if we’re missing or making shots, we got to be able to compete on the other end, and if you can’t do it on both ends of the floor, you don’t need to be playing.'”
Yikes.
It’s not like they’re wrong, either. Through six games, Washington has the sixth-lowest pass rate and ninth-lowest assist rate in the NBA. They also have the tenth-most isolation opportunities league-wide at this early point in the season.
Surely after that sort of public reaming, the Wizards collectively got together, aired out their issues and responded with a brilliant bounce-back performance in their next contest… right?
Unfortunately not.
The Wizards followed that up by giving up 136 points(!) to the Los Angeles Clippers, in what was a 32-point loss that dropped them to 1-5 on the young season.
Sports Illustrated’s Ben Golliver put it best when he tweeted:
We’re barely two weeks into 2018-19, and the Wizards are already back in a familiar place: teetering on total disarray.
After their third troubling loss in a row, the Wizards now sit 27th league-wide in net rating (-9.6), ahead of two teams who have been rebuilding for what feels like an eternity at this point (the Orlando Magic and Phoenix Suns), and a third who lost the greatest player of his generation in free agency, and just fired their head coach (the Cleveland Cavaliers). What’s more, Washington is 23rd in offensive rating (104.9) and 26th in defensive rating (114.5).
The question is, where do they go from here?
It’s not like much help is on the way. Things are bad now; how are they going to be when Dwight Howard returns in the next few weeks and starts demanding looks on offense? Granted, at the very least, the enigmatic big man should make the Wizards less of a sieve defensively. But Washington desperately needs help on the point-scoring side of things too, and Howard likely won’t provide much of a boost there, if at all. If anything, by clogging up driving lanes and commandeering the offense on certain possessions to post up (ineffectively, at that), he might make things even more muddled on that end.
Truth be told, after years of underachieving and a general sense of awkwardness surrounding the team on a nightly basis, despite their still-impressive levels of individual talent, we may be approaching midnight on this grand Wizards experiment. Put simply: It might be time for Washington’s front office to come to terms with the fact that they don’t have the right blend of personalities in the locker room, and no matter what periphery pieces they add to the mix, it’ll never be enough to make a discernible difference.
It’s not even a matter of whether the Wizards are good enough from a talent perspective (even if they are, they never perform at a consistent level anyway), it’s moreso that the locker room seems to be broken and, even worse, it doesn’t appear to be fixable. That was the case when Randy Wittman was still around and hasn’t changed with Scott Brooks – who couldn’t be a more player-friendly coach – at the helm. And even if Brooks becomes the fall guy for this poor-fitting group, it almost surely won’t change with the next guy, either.
That’s not to stir up fake drama by saying Wall and Beal don’t like each other, or that Otto Porter doesn’t get along with his teammates, or that Kelly Oubre wants out, or whatever else. But when it comes to actually playing basketball together, the fit simply isn’t right amongst these guys. There’s too much talk about what they should be doing on the court after the fact, and never during games, when things are actually going south.
Whether it be the lack of a leader on the floor, an unwillingness to step on each other’s toes or not wanting to have tough conversations behind the scenes, these Wizards have never been able to figure out how to make things work, and we’re already in Year-3 of Beal and Wall both being bonafide stars. There hasn’t even been progress made on improving the team’s on-floor relations, and they appear to be getting worse as opposed to better.
According to research done by HoopsHype, taking into account the salary situation of every team at the end of each season since 2000-01, the Wizards have the fourth fewest wins per every billion dollars spent in total salary. Additionally, looking forward, Washington also already owes the third-most money in salaries for 2020-21.
How much longer will team owner Ted Leonsis continue to spend and spend on what’s proven to be an annual disappointment?
And once midnight finally does strike and the plug is pulled, what will be the first domino to fall?
Despite their huge contracts, Wall and Beal are still Washington’s two best assets. We saw just last year how another highly paid All-Star, Blake Griffin, got dealt despite the money left on his deal. The Wizards wouldn’t have all that hard of a time getting teams to bite if either gets put on the trading block.
The team’s third-highest paid guy, Porter, may not be as easy to move. Even though he’s an elite role player, capable of defending multiple positions while providing excellent three-point touch, $81.7 million over the next three years is still a ton of money to pay someone who, at best, can only be the third-best player on a contender.
Although there are other moves the Wizards could make to initiate a rebuild, only splitting up the backcourt and finding a taker for Porter would really be pressing the reset button. And unless Washington is satisfied with constant dysfunctional mediocrity, it’s probably the path they should seriously start considering.
You can follow Frank Urbina on Twitter @FrankUrbina_.
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Sunday, October 28, 2018
Antivaccine propaganda from Dr. W. Gifford-Jones in The Toronto Sun
On Saturday, The Toronto Sun published a syndicated column by a pseudonymous Canadian doctor, Dr. W. Gifford-Jones. The column was packed with antivaccine misinformation and pseudoscience. Apparently due to complaints, the article was taken down sometime Sunday, but is still available on the websites of several other Canadian newspapers, its misinformation still there to frighten parents out of vaccinating.
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Saturday, October 27, 2018
Pat Riley offered young Tracy McGrady max deal in most extravagant way
Tracy McGrady left the Toronto Raptors to sign with the Orlando Magic in 2000. But McGrady also had a ridiculous offer from the Miami Heat.
Around the 46-minute mark of a podcast appearance with Bill Simmons, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst told a remarkable story about how the Heat offered McGrady his contract nearly 20 years ago (via The Ringer):
“They bring him down on a private jet and they bring him to Alonzo Mourning‘s house on the same day. And they have drinks and they hang out and you know Zo was, like, one of the coolest guys in the league. He still is one of the coolest guys in the league. They’re chilling at Zo’s house and all of a sudden, this speedboat pulls up. And Zo says, ‘Hey Tracy, let’s go for a ride.’ They get into the speedboat. They hit go and the speedboat goes 80 miles an hour across Biscayne Bay, zapping by the arena, downtown Miami, beautiful. It pulls in to Pat Riley‘s house down the cove. And Riley’s standing there holding the max contract offer.”
Windhorst said those within the organization believe that this was the second-best pitch the Miami Heat ever gave, with the No. 1 slot going to the presentation that they gave to Gordon Hayward last year before he signed with the Boston Celtics.
McGrady went on to make seven consecutive All-Star appearances after that summer. When he signed with the Magic, he was likely convinced because he was joined by another marquee free agent in Grant Hill.
But he was presumably under the impression NBA star Tim Duncan was going to sign with Orlando as well, which nearly happened before a change of heart.
It’s possible that he was never seriously interested in playing for the Heat, who were going to acquire him via sign-and-trade due to salary cap reasons, as evidenced by this report from that offseason (via Sun-Sentinel):
“According to one Eastern Conference general manager close to the discussions, the Heat did have two separate sign-and-trade deals on the table to land McGrady, but both fell through for various reasons. The deciding factor, however, came down to McGrady wanting to sign with Orlando, his hometown team, all along. It’s widely suspected that McGrady was only using Miami as a bargaining chip, leaving Riley and the Heat empty-handed after a day’s worth of trade talks.”
The article suggested that Orlando was only willing to offer McGrady a max deal once they learned of Miami’s interest. If he had signed with the Heat, he would have been a fascinating player to flank alongside a very strong core.
McGrady in the backcourt could have been lethal next to Tim Hardaway. They also had Anthony Mason and Bruce Bowen on the wing. Miami then pivoted to Eddie Jones as another scoring option, although the team wasn’t dominant because Mourning was hurt for most of the season.
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Friday, October 26, 2018
DeMarcus Cousins ejected from Warriors-Knicks while in street clothes
Golden State Warriors big DeMarcus Cousins is no stranger to ejections. However, his ejection from Friday’s game was one of his strangest yet.
Cousins, who signed as a free agent with the NBA champs in the offseason, was thrown out of the game by referee Scott Foster.
Nothing unusual there, expect the big man isn’t dressing for games while he rehabs from an Achilles’ tendon injury suffered last season when he was on the New Orleans Pelicans.
Mike Breen was on the call and said Cousins got into a heated argument with Foster — who had enough and told him to exit.
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A Review of Flipping The Script: Parents Fight Back
Jeff Witzeman has released a new documentary on cancer, Flipping the Script: Parents Fight Back. It is terrible and dangerous.
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Phi Scissors by Hay Denmark
Such pretty scissors! A carbon gold plated handle will dress up any cutting chore while two different sizes will ensure that the blade fits the job. What, like someone is going to spot ugly scissors on your desktop? Of course not. It would ruin all those artistic instagram shots of your workspace (and disappoint your fans).
Dimensions:
Small/ L 19 cm
Large/ L 23 cm
Materials: Carbon Gold plated
Updated price and link; originally posted Mar 17, 2015.
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Thursday, October 25, 2018
Which NBA players are currently on a max contract?
Back in the early ’80s, current Hall-of-Famer and NBA executive Magic Johnson signed a contract considered so valuable that it was unheard of at the time. The deal that the leader of the Showtime era Los Angeles Lakers received? It was set to run for 25 years, was worth $25 million and he even got the promise of an ownership stake in the team for signing it.
Obviously the latter part of the contract is no longer allowed by the NBA, but just think about its financial terms and how absurd the max contracts of today are in comparison. Back then, a deal with an annual average value of $1 million was seen as a lot. For example, Larry Bird’s first contract with the Boston Celtics was for five years and $3.3 million.
These days, player contracts have gotten just a bit more expensive for owners.
To begin with, under the current Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), there are various different types of max contracts.
Some are max extensions coming off rookie scale deals, which are capped at 25 percent of the max (30 percent if the player meets certain prerequisites). There are also max deals for players with just under 10 years of experience known as the Designated Player Exception, where those who qualify can earn 35 percent of the max.
And even besides those two types, there are countless other ways for teams to work out max contracts with free agents.
At the moment, technically, there are 32 players set to earn max money in 2018-19. Here they are, listed by the team who’s paying them that money (note: they won’t all be getting that money from the teams they’re currently playing for):
- Stephen Curry, Golden State: $37,457,154
- Chris Paul, Houston: $35,654,150
- LeBron James, LA Lakers: $35,654,150
- Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City: $35,350,000
- Blake Griffin, Detroit: $31,873,932
- Gordon Hayward, Boston: $31,214,295
- Paul George, Oklahoma City: $30,560,700
- Mike Conley, Memphis: $30,521,115
- James Harden, Houston: $30,421,854
- Kevin Durant, Golden State: $30,000,000
- Paul Millsap, Denver: $29,230,769
- Al Horford, Boston: $28,928,710
- Damian Lillard, Portland: $27,977,689
- Chris Bosh, Miami: $26,837,720
- Jrue Holiday, New Orleans: $26,131,111
- CJ McCollum, Portland: $25,759,766
- Carmelo Anthony, Atlanta: $25,534,253
- Nikola Jokic, Denver: $25,467,250
- Andrew Wiggins, Minnesota: $25,467,520
- Anthony Davis, New Orleans: $25,434,263
- Bradley Beal, Washington: $25,434,262
- Andre Drummond, Detroit: $25,434,262
- Joel Embiid, Philadelphia: $25,250,000
- Hassan Whiteside, Miami: $24,434,262
- Kevin Love, Cleveland: $24,119,025
- Marc Gasol, Memphis: $24,119,025
- Chandler Parsons, Memphis: $24,107,258
- Harrison Barnes, Dallas: $24,107,258
- Kawhi Leonard, Toronto: $23,114,066
- Kyrie Irving, Boston: $20,099,189
- Jimmy Butler, Minnesota: $19,841,627
- John Wall, Washington: $19,169,800
Although Anthony is currently earning the minimum with the Rockets, he’s still getting paid his max salary for 2018-19 by the Hawks. And Bosh, despite not being medically cleared to play basketball for the Heat or any other team, is still being paid his max salary for this upcoming season by Miami thanks to a CBA rule that allowed the Heat to officially get his money off their salary cap (due to an injury that multiple doctors agree is career-ending) while still letting the player get paid.
What’s more, two players from the 2015 draft are still on their rookie-scale deals in 2018-19 but have already signed max extensions that are set to kick in the following season, in 2019-20. They are Karl-Anthony Towns (five-year, $158.1 million extension) and Devin Booker (likewise, a five-year, $158.1 million extension).
There are other players, such as Kyle Lowry, DeMar DeRozan and Giannis Antetokounmpo, who, despite making a pretty penny this upcoming league year, just missed the cut for what qualifies as the max. And there are others from the 2016 rookie class who are just a year away signing max extensions.
As such, the number of players earning max deals will certainly fluctuate over the coming seasons. But for now, it’s just the previously listed 32 who are earning the coveted amount in 2018-19.
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Secondary market prices for Clippers tickets drop 29% for 2018-19 season
With any luck, what the Los Angeles Clippers lack in big names, they’ll more than make up for in depth. The Clippers said goodbye to Chris Paul and Blake Griffin, a big blow to putting up big names in lights, but look further — the Clippers have nearly a dozen players that can (and many that have) start on other NBA teams. That’s the beginning of a serious rebuild.
Fans aren’t quite ready to put their faith into the latest iteration of the Clippers — or maybe they’re spending their money to see LeBron James in a Lakers uniform. Either way, Clippers tickets are down down 29% against last season. Clippers tickets are the second cheapest since 2011, when TicketIQ.com began tracking data. The most expensive ticket of the decade was $221 2011-12, when the Clippers finished second in the Pacific Division, and the cheapest was $123 the following season, when they went on to win the division.
At $137, the cost of a Clippers ticket is currently the 18th most expensive in the NBA, down from an average of $194 and a No. 10 ranking last season. For a fan, that dip represents the opportunity to get a good seat at an NBA game for a great price. The most expensive ticket in the NBA is $463 for the Golden State Warriors.
Clippers season tickets are available through the team website, and season-ticket holders get access to exclusive team events and priority access to postseason tickets. Single-game tickets are available for most games through the Clippers primary market partner AXS, while the team directs fans to VividSeats for resale tickets. In addition, secondary ticket marketplace TicketIQ.com has seats available for all games, many with the company’s Low Price Guarantee.
Of the top five most expensive Clippers game this season, four involve either the Lakers or Warriors. The fifth priciest game is March 11 vs. the Boston Celtics, for which the current average is $217.
Fans have driven the price of the other four games up over $300. The most expensive, according to TicketIQ.com, is January 31 against the Lakers, which is averaging $376. The April 5 Lakers game isn’t too far behind, with a current average asking price of $364. Fans can snag seats at either game on TicketIQ.com in Loge 111 on the floor at midcourt for between $569-$1,301, depending on what row for the first game or for as little as $90 in Upper Concourse 332, Row 11 for the April game.
It will be a bit cheaper to see the defending NBA champion Warriors, with average ticket prices at $356 on January 18 and $324 on November 12. Of course, if the Warriors are hot and the Clippers competitive, those prices could easily rise. On the primary market, seats for the November 12 Golden State Warriors game start at $100 while TicketIQ.com has floor seats available starting at $497.
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When is the NBA trade deadline?
Once a year, basketball aficionados await what’s undoubtedly one of the most exciting days of every league campaign. No, it’s not the opening night of the season we’re talking about. Nor are we referring to the Christmas Day games or the start of the playoffs.
What we’re talking about is the NBA trade deadline.
Eagerly checking HoopsHype and Twitter on that exciting day has become an annual tradition for those who follow the NBA closely, and once the transactions start rolling, workplace productivity grinds to a halt.
Due to somewhat recent tweaks made to the 2017 NBA Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), the trade deadline is actually earlier now than it’s previously ever been.
Now, the NBA trade deadline is exactly 10 days before the All-Star Game, meaning it will always fall on a Thursday. What’s more, the exact cutoff time for trades is at 3 pm EST. Sometimes, deals appear to come through after that hour, but that’s only because trades can be agreed upon right before the deadline without being officially announced. The announcements may then come after 3 pm EST, but rest assured, the trade came before the deadline.
In exact terms, because we know the dates and locations of the next three All-Star Games, we also know the dates of the next three trade deadlines. They fall as follows:
- 2018-19 NBA Trade Deadline: Feb. 7, 2019
- 2019-20 NBA Trade Deadline: Feb. 6, 2020
- 2020-21 NBA Trade Deadline: Feb. 4, 2021
After that, the exact dates of future trade deadline are currently unknown, but it can be accurately surmised that they’ll fall in early February.
Originally, according to the most recent CBA, the trade deadline was supposed to be on the 17th Thursday of every season, which came after the All-Star break.
However, a press release in the summer of 2017 announced the change to the earlier date:
“In addition, the Board of Governors approved moving the trade deadline from the Thursday after the NBA All-Star Game to the Thursday 10 days before the All-Star Game. With the new placement of the trade deadline, teams will be able to settle their rosters before the All-Star break and avoid the disruptions that result from players joining new teams just as practices and games are beginning to resume following the All-Star break.”
Officially, the reason for moving the trade deadline so far before the All-Star Game was so that players who got dealt could use the break to settle into their new cities, and so teams could have their rosters already settled heading into the second part of every league year.
However, another important factor for the change was the now-infamous 2017 DeMarcus Cousins trade, which saw the talented-but-enigmatic big man get dealt from the Sacramento Kings, the team who drafted him, to the New Orleans Pelicans. A trade of that magnitude was newsworthy enough, but couple it with the fact that it occurred during the 2017 All-Star Game, in which Cousins was participating (he ended up playing fewer than three minutes that night), and the league had to step in to avoid such brutal awkwardness from ever happening again.
Now, we have our early February trade deadline for the foreseeable future.
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Should Real Estate Investors Get Their Realtor’s License?
A 6% commission on a $200,000 property looks like a juicy expense to cut out when you’re flipping houses.
After all, your listing agent did little more than take a few photos! And you have to shell out $12,000?!
And doesn't being a Realtor bestow countless blessings and advantages upon you as a real estate investor?
The thought crosses nearly every new real estate investor’s mind:
“Should I get my Realtor’s license to get direct MLS access and save money on agent fees?”
But the answer isn’t quite that simple. Here are the pros and cons of getting your Realtor’s license as an investor and how to decide if it’s a good fit for you.
Pro: You Can Save (Some) Money on Realtor Fees
When you go to sell a flipped house or a rental property, yes, you can list your own property for sale without the aid of a certified Realtor.
This, in turn, will help you save some money, but not as much as you may assume initially.
Let’s assume a 6% Realtor fee. First, half of that fee will likely to go to the buyer’s agent, leaving 3% for the listing agent (you, if you get your license and list your own properties).
Yes, you will still need to pay the buyer’s agent — even if you list your own properties. (That's simply how modern real estate works.)
Nor is the buyer’s agent commission the only cost you’ll incur. As a licensed real estate agent, you will need to work underneath a broker. That broker will take some of your listing agent fees.
How much? That depends. Brokers can take up to half of their Realtors’ commissions.
Or, they may charge a “desk fee” – a flat monthly fee simply for having you on staff and providing you essential resources to help you list and sell properties (e.g. leads, software, print collateral, etc.).
Or, a broker may charge both a flat fee and a percentage of their agents’ fees. And in some states, Realtors are required to be a member of the local Realtor association. (Spoiler alert: It's not free.)
As a general rule, the more training, marketing, and other support that brokers provide, the more money they’ll charge their agents — something that's well within their right.
The point is thisL If you get your Realtor’s license, you will be able to save a decent chunk of money on listing fees … but it may only be a fraction of the total commission charged.
Pro: You Can Gain Direct Access to Your Local MLS
This pro comes with fewer qualifications.
Having direct access to the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) is a genuine boon. You’ll be the first to know when new deals hit the market and have access to more, detailed information at your fingertips about listed properties.
Granted, this advantage is not as vast as it was 20 years ago. Today, websites like Zillow, Trulia, and Redfin offer every Tom, Dick, and Harry access to view publicly listed properties for sale.
Having said that, these sites don’t show the same depth of information, and, oftentimes, direct MLS access displays new listings faster.
Pro: “Earn While You Learn” the Real Estate Industry
Ready to quit your job and dive headfirst into the real estate industry, but worried that your income as a real estate investor will be too inconsistent to pay your monthly bills?
Becoming a real estate agent can help supplement your income while you learn the business.
Your first flip may take you six months (or longer!) before you actually see the paycheck. It takes time to find a good deal, get it under contract and financed, settled, renovated, marketed it for sale, and settled for a second time.
And we all know that building rental income is not an overnight phenomenon. It’s effective, but it takes time to stack up streams of consistent rental income.
If you know that the real estate industry is your calling and want to quit your current day job pronto, the commissions you earn as a Realtor can help sustain you while you polish your skills as a real estate investor.
Con: Getting Licensed Takes a Fair Amount of Work
Scoring a gig as a Realtor takes more than just showing up at a brokerage and saying, “Hire me.”
You have to, you know, actually get licensed.
That involves taking a lengthy course, followed by passing at least two exams (one based on federal laws, the other on your state’s housing laws). Most states also require ongoing education requirements.
This raises a separate point: The courses don’t teach you a single piece of practical real estate knowledge. They only teach you about legal compliance — something every agent worth their salt needs to know backward and forward.
In other words, they don’t prepare you one bit for the nuts and bolts of working in the modern real estate industry. No marketing strategies or negotiating tactics are taught — just the tedium of complying with Fair Housing laws.
The actual skills you’ll need in the real estate business you’ll need to learn on the job.
Con: You Need to Be Hired (and, Ideally, Trained)
We’ve already touched several times on how Realtors need to work under a licensed broker.
That means you need to find a broker willing to hire you when you have no experience — not the easiest task.
If you’re only interested in becoming a real estate agent for the side benefits (like direct access to the MLS) and don’t actually want to do much work as a Realtor, getting hired may pose a challenge. After all, how many brokers want to hire agents who won’t produce any clients or revenue?
Then, there’s the training we mentioned above. Don’t expect any practical training from your course or exams – practical skills come from your broker and senior agents who can mentor you (sometimes for a price).
And brokers who provide quality training expect quality results (a.k.a. lots of closed deals).
Con: You Need to Disclose Your License as an Investor
Think you’re going to become some kind of stealth real estate investing ninja, scoring deals without anyone knowing your secret Realtor superpowers?
It doesn’t work like that. Legally, you have to disclose to sellers that you have your Realtor’s license.
That means every seller will know that you’re a pro and that your offer probably isn’t for full market value.
Likewise, when you list your own property, you’ll need to disclose that you’re both the seller and the listing agent.
The Verdict: Should Your Get Your Realtor’s License as an Investor?
There are good reasons to get licensed and master the skills of both a Realtor and an investor.
In addition to the advantages outlined above, a greater understanding of the marketing and selling side of the business will help you score better deals as a flipper.
If you’re genuinely interested in building a real estate agent business, then yes, absolutely get your Realtor’s license. Start with a brokerage deeply committed to training and developing new agents, so that you can learn on the job as quickly as possible. Even if that means paying half your commission to your broker.
As you grow in skill and develop a wider client base, you can negotiate with your broker for a better commission split. Or you can simply move to a brokerage with a better compensation package.
Earn money, soak up knowledge, maximize the advantages offered in being a combination Realtor-investor.
But if you only want to save money on listing fees? Forget it – getting licensed is just not worth the hassle.
The post Should Real Estate Investors Get Their Realtor’s License? appeared first on REtipster.
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Wednesday, October 24, 2018
FTC settles deceptive advertising claims against amniotic stem cell clinics
An FTC settlement may kill "amniotic stem cell" treatments, but a plethora of other stem cell clinics flourish without regulatory oversight.
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Jabari Young on new-look Spurs, DeMar DeRozan's adjustment, when Gregg Popovich will retire and more
On this episode of The HoopsHype Podcast, Alex Kennedy is joined by Jabari Young of The Athletic. They discuss Jabari’s move to The Athletic, the new-look San Antonio Spurs, what it’s like not having any of the Big Three (Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker) around, DeMar DeRozan‘s adjustment, how much longer Gregg Popovich will coach, who has stepped up as a leader and more. Time-stamps are below!
1:40: Jabari discusses his transition from the San Antonio Express-News to The Athletic and shares his initial impressions of The Athletic.
6:30: How has Jabari’s coverage changed now that he’s writing for a digital outlet as opposed to working as a newspaper beat writer?
14:45: The San Antonio Spurs are notoriously guarded when it comes to the media – from the front office to Pop to the players. How difficult is to cover that franchise day-to-day?
22:10: Jabari was at the first game of this Spurs new era without any of the Big Three of Duncan, Ginobili or Parker. He discusses the vibe and how the players are dealing with it.
25:35: How has DeMar DeRozan adjusted to San Antonio after being traded in the offseason and how does he fit with this team?
30:30: Jabari covered the Spurs-Timberwolves shootaround and game, so he shares his observations from that day and discusses the dynamic between Jimmy Butler and his teammates on and off the court.
34:35: Jabari talks about the Kawhi Leonard situation, why he wanted out and how the Spurs handled the entire saga.
42:45: How much longer will Gregg Popovich coach this team? What’s the plan and does Pop have a successor in mind?
54:05: Looking at this year’s Spurs team, what is their ceiling? If all goes right, how good can they be?
56:50: Even though Duncan and Ginobili are retired and don’t have an official title with the Spurs, they are around the team quite a bit. Jabari shares their role and how they are helping players (but also how it doesn’t quite have the same impact when they aren’t on the team).
1:01:05: With so many new players, which players have emerged as leaders for the Spurs this year? (Jabari calls out LaMarcus Aldridge for not stepping up and embracing more of a leadership role).
This episode is sponsored by Robinhood, an investment app where you can buy and sell stocks, ETFs, options and cryptos. For a free stock, sign up at hoopshype.robinhood.com!
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Secondary market prices for Nets tickets jump 16% for 2018-19 season
After three seasons of failing to reach the playoffs, the Brooklyn Nets look to be at a turning point. The team has added a slew of young players and is standing on the cusp of a season that could result in not only making the playoffs, but also setting the stage for future success. Fans are buying into the Nets long-term plan, and prices for 2018-19 Brooklyn Nets tickets are up nearly 16% over last season, catapulting the Nets into the No. 6 spot in terms of ticket average on the secondary market, according to data from secondary ticket marketplace TicketIQ.com. The Golden State Warriors are ranked No. 1, with a $463 average asking price.
Good health and a breakout player will be critical to the Nets’ 2018-19 success, but either way, the team will go into the 2019 offseason with plenty of cap room, and a shot at building on the foundation they’ve put into place over the last several seasons. Brooklyn has added Shabazz Napier in addition to a couple of European prospects through the draft, while unloading Jeremy Lin, Timofey Mozgov and Jahlil Okafor. The moves set the Nets up to potentially be competitive this year and have lots to spend ahead of the 2019-20 season.
The average asking price on the secondary market is $212, making it the most expensive since TicketIQ.com began tracking data in 2011. The 2013-14 season, a year after the Nets moved to Brooklyn, and broke a five-year playoff drought, was the most expensive, at $229.
Nets season tickets are available through the team, and can be purchased in full- and half-season packages. In addition, there are several ticket packages that include food and access to other Barclays Center events. Single-game tickets are available through primary market partner Ticketmaster, though some games, including the October 19 home opener against the cross-town rival New York Knicks and the October 28 Golden State Warriors game, are already sold out. TicketIQ.com has secondary market tickets available for all games, including the home opener. Available tickets for that game include seats in Section Lower 23, Row 18 for $306 or seats high above the action in Section 231, Row 13 for $105. Both sets of tickets come with the company’s Low Price Guarantee.
As is a trend across the NBA, the two most expensive games this season have little do with the Nets product on the floor — fans can’t seem to wait to see LeBron James in a Lakers uniform. The new LeBron Lakers make their first visit to Brooklyn on December 18, and the average asking price for tickets is $371. The next most expensive game is October 28, when the defending NBA champion Warriors visit the Nets. The current average asking price for that game is $331.
A chance just to be in the building when LeBron comes to town won’t be cheap either. A seat on the way up in the corner of Barclays Center in Section 230, Row 13 starts at $112.
The next three most expensive are $305 March 30 vs. Atlantic Division rival Boston, $269 January 14 vs. the Celtics, and $247 January 25 vs. the cross-town rival New York Knicks.
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