Real Estate Fliers in Chinese, Russian, Hindi...

Living in a time where "the world is flat", styles & trends of Business have shifted tremendously. We are able to do deals electronically and across the world. I Just got back 2 weeks ago from Hawaii for the "Global Summit", an AREAA conference focused on International Investors and Global Real Estate. This is a very hot topic on the streets, along with how HOT the market is right now. I just read an article provided by Core Logic, that home prices have had the biggest gain in March, the highest it's been since March 2006! Whether your Nationality is not America, or your family's been here for generations, the major influx of foreign money investing in America can't be ignored, especially from Asia where I run across a lot. And they will continue to do so, for better education for their kids, and for a "safe place" to park their money.

At Ticor Title (FNF company), we are innovative and ahead of the game. We have a whole division in our company just focused on Multi-Cultural Marketing. I wanted to share with you a few Informative Fliers, Brochures, Powerpoint Presentations for you to share with your clients. Many may not speak English and I know how difficult it can be to explain some of these things with language barriers (trust me, I've tried in Mandarin!). Some may even come from countries where Title Insurance/Mortgage are non-existent. Can you imagine!? Perhaps that is a good reason they like having their money in the U.S.

These marketing packets would be great to include in your Business marketing mail-outs and Listing presentations. Some Popular topics are: Key Real Estate Terms, Journey to Homeownership, Understanding Mortgage and Title & Escrow. We have languages translated into Chinese, Spanish, Hindi, Korean, Russian, just to name a few. Rest assure, we are in the process of translating to even more languages (feel free to put in your request!!) Find them at http://jackiueng.ticorsales.com/multicultural_marketing.aspx

"Surround yourself around people who lift you higher." -Oprah

This is a great article I found which has been the message of popular life coaches Jim Rohn & Tony Robbins. It's similar to the message of "The Secret" and Vision Boarding. And it works. I have modified the people I surround myself around which has helped improve aspects in my life, and I'm ALWAYS looking to do better. Whether I'm striving for Career Advancement, financial success, improving my fitness goals, thinking better, getting connected more spiritually or eating better, it always helps when you surround yourself around someone that's done it before you.

Why Successful People Leave Their Loser Friends Behind

We all want to be amazing. We all want to be successful, happy, and regarded as important figures in our fields. I am sure that you’ve heard all of the keys to success before: planning, hard work, perseverance, etc.

But today we are going to look at the one factor that will likely make or break your success: the people you surround yourself with.

“You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” – Jim Rohn

Want to be Amazing? Surround Yourself with Amazing People

The Make or Break List

A good friend of mine once told me of a man he knows who brought himself up from rags to riches.  Living paycheck to paycheck was a luxury for this man, and he decided that he was tired of being trapped by his own life. The poor man looked around at his friends, and noticed that one of them – who wasn’t particularly smart or more talented – had become quite wealthy. He asked this man how he accrued this wealth, how he was able to become a millionaire. The wealthy man’s response was simple: “keep the right company.”

The man took that advice to heart. He quickly noticed that all of the other friends he had hated hard work and had no desire to improve themselves. So he sought out new friends, he went around to conventions and seminars to connect with people who had made something of themselves. After he had completely replaced the people in his network, he decided to make a list. This list was simple. It had a column for people who would improve his life, and a column for people who would drag him down.

If someone could improve his life, he spent as much time around them as possible. If someone could drag him down, he never spent more than five minutes around them. After following his “make or break” list, the man was able to become a millionaire within three years.

No One does it Alone

The five-minute rule may be a little extreme, but there is an important lesson to learn from it: if you surround yourself with positive people who build you up, the sky is the limit.

There is an ideal in our society of the “self-made” man – a man who is able to find success through his own efforts. Now, don’t get me wrong, success does require an immense amount of determination and personal grit. However, success also depends on the ability to connect with people who have already made it.

There was once a man named Ernest Hemingway. If you aren’t familiar with Ernest Hemingway, he was one of the greatest American writers of all time. Even a great writer like Hemingway didn’t succeed on his own. He worked at a newspaper where his boss – a writer named Sherwood Anderson – helped him get his first novel published. Hemingway then connected with other no-name writers like F. Scott Fitzgerald, Virginia Woolf, and James Joyce.

This community of great writers helped to influence his style, success, and drove him to write every single day and become one of the greatest authors of his generation.

Hemingway is a testament to the fact that innate talent alone does not equal success. It’s hard to keep up a strict schedule to perfect your craft or improve yourself if you don’t have people around you with similar interests. Your network – your five key people – will determine the way you think, the way you act, and the way you approach your life goals.

Three Essential People

A mentor once told me that no matter how many close people you have in your network, if you want to be truly great, you must have three essential people in your life at all times: 

1. A person who is older and more successful than you to learn from
2. A person who is equal to you to exchange ideas with
3. A person below you to coach and keep you energized

A great figure of history who embodied this principle was Aristotle. Aristotle was one of the greatest minds to ever grace this beautiful Earth, but this was only so because he was constantly challenging himself and working to refine his talents. He exchanged ideas with other Greek philosophers in the “Academy,” learned from his mentor Plato, and taught a young boy named Alexander…who would later become “Alexander the Great.”

Every great person was, is, or will be successful because of the company he or she keeps. They will make an impact because of a successful network of driven peers who provide both inspiration and healthy competition.

If you want to be remarkable, you must constantly challenge yourself and surround yourself with remarkable people. So think about what your goals are, and take a look around you. Do you need to write a “make or break” list? Do you have the kind of people who are going to lead you to live the life of your dreams?

“Don’t join an easy crowd. Go where the expectations and the demands to perform and achieve are high.” – Jim Rohn

Strive to be better. Strive to be more. Strive to be amazing.

Article By Brenton Weyi. Brenton is a writer and social entrepreneur with an expertise in creating social movements through business and encouraging inspiration through writing. His company, Groupe Weyi, works with villagers in Central Africa to create lasting change through fair trade of resources. He also has a website for personal development and storytelling called Orastories.

Hunger for Success

From my Daily Kabbalah Email Subscription I thought I'd Share:

It doesn’t take much to see that talent and innate ability have little to do with success in this world. Some of the greatest writers never make it to the bestseller list, while some of the most talented singers continue to go unsung. One athlete born with incredible skills might never make it to the pros.

The difference between those who enjoy success in their field and the rest of us is: Desire.

Ask yourself these questions: How hungry are you to improve? How big is your appetite for more? What are you willing to do to make your dreams come true? …How badly do you want it?
If you look at anyone you admire who is at the top of their game—the best of the best, and the legends that time will not forget—they all have one thing in common: They were willing to do whatever it takes.

The ancient kabbalists were like this, too. Their lives were lived for a purpose. They knew that revealing our soul’s potential is what reveals pure bliss.

We’re all starving for success but instead of doing the work it takes to make things happen in our lives, we find ways to fill the emptiness. It’s easier to spend an hour watching TV than it is to study. It’s easier to sleep in an extra few minutes instead of going to the gym or meditating in the mornings. It’s easier to go out with friends than to dedicate our evening to getting the project done.

Nothing worth doing is ever easy—but ask anyone who has tasted success and they will tell you, the hard work is always worth it.

Instead of filling the emptiness, stay hungry.

When you stay hungry, nothing can stop you from revealing your best …Nothing.

AREAA's Noodle Town "Little Osaka"

Today is the launch of AREAA's show "Noodle Town". On the first episode, I introduce Jim Park to Sawtelle Blvd, the only Asian district in all of West LA. That's convenient for me as I live in Westwood and between the 10 fwy and LA traffic, it's not ideal for me to travel to San Gabriel or even Downtown LA whenever I am craving some good ramen, korean bbq or shaved ice.

We start off at Tsujita-LA, the most popular Ramen joint, with a fatty delicious pork broth they brew for over 60 hours. There's an art in savoring this bowl of noodles which you'll see. Next up, we visit Bar Hayama, a higher-end sushi restaurant & bar with a gorgeous large fire pit in the outdoor patio, and a cozy indoor seating where we had some Sake-bombs (who knows if that's even traditionally Japanese!). No visit to an Asian town can conclude without dessert, so we visited Blockheads for some Taiwanese Shaved ice. To our surprise, the winner of Foodtruck LA "Seoul Sausage" had just opened up next to us with the owner giving a little insight on why he chose Sawtelle to open his store!

Along the way in our gluttonous excursion, we stumbled across a few nurseries that was hard to miss. We met a lady who shared with us the story of how her father owned the nursery & botanical gardens back in the 1930's. Shortly after, during the Japanese-American internment camps, the US took away their land but many Japanese-Americans were able to claim it back after. I can imagine how important it is for this lady to hold on to this generational gem.

Enjoy "Little Osaka"!

AREAA's New Show "Noodle Town"

The Asian Real Estate Association of America (AREAA.org) & I have been in collaboration for the past few months filming for their new show "Noodle Town", a show all about Food, Culture & Neighborhood. The subject is right up my alley as I love Food & Traveling, but there is also a Historical & Cultural aspect to it. AREAA's Chair Jim Park & I are visiting Asian districts in major cities to learn about the recent history of immigrants that have bought real estate there, businesses that have prospered, and a sense of "coming home" for those visiting.

I grew up in Hacienda Heights, California, in the San Gabriel Valley (most people have never heard of it until I refer to Diamond Bar), which is known to be the new "China Town". I still come home weekly for authentic Chinese, Taiwanese cuisines and it is much like the street food we find in Asia. Although I was born in America, I can see how these ethnic towns are important to my parents' & grandparents' generations and others who have immigrated here due to language barriers and such. Besides restaurants, there are historical landmarks, temples/churches, community centers, markets, etc.

There is no better time for us to film this show with the recent influx of International Asian Investors buying Real Estate in the United States and helping our economy. I can assure you there will be a lot more Noodle Joints popping up in the next few years. Here is a sneak preview to "Noodle Town":

Lean In

The latest book I'm reading is "Lean In", by Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook who is also a dedicated mother and wife. The term "Lean In" refers to women leaning-in/stepping-in/getting involved more in conversations in the workplace & in the world. It's about sitting at the table with men, raising our hands and speaking up. It's difficult to fathom that just 50 years ago, women were not allowed to run in marathons, were limited to careers of nurses & teachers, and encouraged to attend university for an M.R.S. (find a husband by 21).

Today, so much progress has been made and I am appreciative of all the feminists that made this revolution possible. But unfortunately, statistics don't show as many women sitting in Congress, Fortune 500 companies as we'd think. There are women who prefer to be dedicated full-time mothers and wives, which is totally admirable. This is a book to help encourage those women in the workplace who do want to advance but have found themselves in a rut doing so whether they are already successful and wanting more or the struggling women in lower-pay jobs.

Prior to the publishing day, there was a lot of controversy all over the media and articles about the message she was sending to women. While there are many external reasons beyond our control on why women are not getting paid as much as men such as sexism & stereotypes, referring to children clothing see saw at the store "Pretty Like Mommy" for girls and "Smart like Daddy" for boys. However, there are many internal issues and set-backs that we have laid on ourselves. She calls this the "chicken & egg syndrome". There is no point figuring out which came first, but instead to work on what we can control, the "internal voices & thoughts".

In "Lean In", she discusses many of these internal battles we face, because of our upbringings and experiences growing up. Some of the controversy & heated discussions root from a lot of these "inner battles" we face without even realizing it. Instead of reading this book first and taking advice from someone who is successful in business and in family life, critics have voiced too quickly, making excuses, putting up a defense with their guards up. Many have pointed to her as "too privileged" to tell working-class/single-mother women what to do. In another article I read, a journalist makes a good point, "Warren Buffet can tell us how to deal with our money, why can't a Billionaire female tell us how to make it in the work force?" And look, this is coming from me, who many can consider "a minority" - being Asian and being a female, I have not let it stop me from climbing to VP by the age of 27. The more we focus on being the "victim", the "minority", the less results will happen. Remember, "Attitude determines Altitude!"

In the world of Real Estate, I am impressed by how so many successful Residential Real Estate Agents are women. They have the natural ability to relate to homebuyers on the biggest investment of their lives. They have the natural creativity to help design and envision their clients homes. But unfortunately once you leave the realm of Residential Real estate, we once again see that huge gap between the number of successful men versus women, in Commercial Real Estate, Lending, Bank executives and Stock Brokerages. One thing I am impressed by though, is that the few women who are on top, are #1. They have found the balance between being a power woman and working like a man.

I have thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. I encourage all women, working and at home to read this book and also men, so they can learn to encourage their partners to rise up!

New-home sales continue upward swing

New-home sales continue upward swing

28.9 percent annual jump makes for best January in 5 years

BY INMAN NEWS, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2013. Inman News®

New home sold image via Shutterstock.

Sales of new single-family homes rose 28.9 percent on an annual basis in January to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 437,000, the U.S. Census Bureau reported today.

That represents a 15.6 percent increase from December, and was the fastest pace of new-home sales for a January since 2008, blogger Bill McBride pointed out on Calculated Risk.

It was, however, the ninth weakest January in records going back to 1973, McBride noted. Nearly three times as many new homes sold in January 2005. 

The median sales price of new homes sold in January was $226,400, up 2.1 percent from a year ago, but down 9.4 percent from December.

The Census Bureau estimated that 150,000 new homes were on the market at the end of December, representing a 4.1-month supply. Less than six months' supply is considered normal, McBride said.

Source: Calculated Risk blog.

- See more at: http://www.inman.com/news/2013/02/26/new-home-sales-continue-upward-swing#sthash.bot6fRTL.dpuf