Tomorrow morning I am off to Scottsdale Arizona to start my CCIM Commercial Real Estate Designation. This requires four separate classes of 5 day periods with classroom work 8-5 each day. You also get to read and work on 350 pages of work before you get to each class. I will be in new York for the second class in November, and will do the last two in February and April of 2008. Why would an almost 60 year old REALTOR who is in the top 1% of RE/MAX want to do this? The answer is simple. You cannot know enough. CCIM is like a college degree in the real estate business. If you have been intrusted with investors money, then the right decision need to be made. In doing the work for the first class next week, I am already excited about what I can bring you in the coming years. If you need anything next week please call Orjana at the office. I can return calls and emails at night since the class does not allow for this during the day. On a local note, we have been leasing property before we find an investor for them. I will be bringing new rental stats to the seminar in San Francisco next month and they will be better than July. Also, for those of you who bought in The East Village project, we have leases already that I will be receiving today. The condos are finished on the second floor, and the lofts will be ready by the end of the month. At that time we can start occupying. Stay tuned for more information and pictures of the finished units. Model units are now open. 

Well, I survived my first CCIM five day seminar. Scottsdale was 111 degrees the first day we got there. Fortunately, the Arizona Biltmore has great swimming pools. After reading 350 pages before I got there, endured five days of 8:30 to 5:30 of absorbing a semester of learning in five days, and taking a 3.5 hour test, I was ready for a break. However, every day since I got back Orjana, Charlene and I are talking about the education. I cannot underestimate the value to investors this education brings. Charlene and i are going back to Scottsdale in October to the second CCIM course and cooler weather. The third and fourth course will be done in February and April 2008. This will allow us to professionally present to you apartment complexes, mini-storage facilities, car washes, and retail and office condos at ICG meetings next year. I would also like you to know that this education is a comprehensive investment analysis for any type of property you purchase. I look forward to putting this to work for you. 

What an intense learning experience! CCIM has been described as a graduate level real estate course. After one week of 8:30AM to 6:00PM with studying in the evening, and then a four hour test on Friday, I can now say i only have to do this three more times. I have already booked Scottsdale. Arizona again in October for the second class. After the four courses then you prepare a resume, your production, and you put together a total pro forma presentation with full marketing on a subject commercial property, then you get to do one more test as a final exam. This and $12,000 gets you a CCIM designation. However, once you are through, then what looked like complex real estate transactions get broken down into definable terms, and numbers. What excites me is the ability to give investors, more comprehensive advice about what they are investing in. I know that cash flow and appreciation are important, but also analyzing reserves, reinvesting cash flows, totally understanding why wealth accumulation is more important than rate of return, and knowing how to differentiate investments for the real value, is what this is all about. I will be back in the office tomorrow, August 19th, to catch up on what needs to be done for you. Fortunately, I have Orjana Beck watching my back and your back. That is a real luxury.   

I just finished my first day of CCIM and I am about to head to day two. This is an intense learning experience, but also highly rewarding. It requires a commitment of time and money, but more importantly, if gives you a real estate investment knowledge, second to none. I have taken training before in investments, and I have programs that compute rate of return. What I am seeing here is much more sophisticated and detailed, and it gives a greater depth of understanding of how investments work. I know that many investors look to cash flow and appreciation as what might drive you to a decision whether to buy. Those are important, but I think I will be able to tell you a lot more about financing, tax implications, reinvestment of cash flows, and this is just the first day! Twenty days later, and a  ton of homework to go, so I will blog again about what we are learning this week. I already understand after one day why less than 1% of Realtors go through this training, but I want to be more educated for your benefit.