Bob Nelson – Gauging Your Financial Situation

Let’s talk about gauging your financial situation.

Featuring:
Bob Nelson, Eugene real estate investment broker
Marcia Edwards, Eugene residential real estate broker

Marcia Edwards: One of my favorite sayings is it’s a brand new day. And I love that about America. I love that about the opportunities out there, and I love it about the annual rhythm of the seasons. We’ve got a new year coming on, we’ve got new opportunities.

Bob Nelson: And with that you have an obligation to yourself and to your family to evaluate your position. Where are you in at this point in life? Yes, mentally, physically, I’m talking financially. Take a look at your financial position, gauge your net worth. What is your net worth? For some of you have never calculated it. It’s an interesting surprise for a number of people. If you really haven’t prepared a net worth balance sheet, you’ll be surprised at how much you are effectively worth.

Marcia Edwards: And then it’s a reference point for you to take each of those items and go and understand the latitude and the opportunity of each asset that you have on that list. You’ve got to make sure that you do understand your real estate. If it’s something that you can liquidate, something you can offset to a more accurate investment for your current needs. Got to take a look at each of these investments, like your IRA make sure it’s acting as it should and needs to, to get you the optimum return.

Bob Nelson: Exactly. And as I do these things… and you’ve got to use that point. With real estate we don’t buy and sell it daily. We can’t look it up on the TV show with a streamer at the bottom as to what my stock is worth this moment in time. It’s a situation where I may own something for five years and if I don’t pay attention to value, then I’m not paying attention to equity. Value minus debt that I owe against that asset equals equity. If I’m not paying attention to my equity, I’m not paying attention to my buying power.

Marcia Edwards: And if you’re not looking at buying power, you’re not optimizing your opportunities. Especially in a market like this where available funds are there in financing and lending right now. The FICO scores are great. People are getting their recovery and credit from any full pause during the recession. Things are good right now. It’s a great time to see what you need to shift.

Bob Nelson: And as you do that make sure that you write all of this down. If you have never prepared a financial statement, you can get one from your bank. You can also look one up on the net. And they’ve got a number of templates that are simple financial statements. Also, look at an income statement. How much do you earn each year? How much do you spend each year? How much is left that could be contributed towards investing and creating a passive investment income.

Join Eugene, Oregon, real estate experts: Bob Nelson, Real Estate Investment Broker with Pacwest Real Estate Investments, and Marcia Edwards, Residential Real Estate Broker with Windermere Real Estate, daily at 5:30pm on KPNW for the “Real Estate Today” radio show.