BILL CHERRY'S GREATEST DALLAS PARK CITIES REAL ESTATE BLOG

HOW A LUXURY HOTEL MANAGER SPIFFS UP ROOMS --- YOU NEED TO KNOW THIS.

BILL CHERRY (William S. Cherry & No Co., Wealth Coach) — Wed, 15 May 2013 19:34:19 -0700

In 1983, investor William Sharman, Jr., took an old (1927) Houston flop house called the Auditorium Hotel, did major renovation to it and turned it into a luxury boutique hotel called the Lancaster.

And on the first floor, in addition to the lobby, he built a wonderful gourmet restaurant.

It's name was Charley’s 517.

He had a well-known 40-ish elegant black man, who frequently modeled for the fine clothing store, Sakowitz, as the manager andmaître d’hôtel.

The Lancaster complex was built across from the new Alley Theater and among all of the new theater arts buildings and the events that came to them.

Before he opened and accepted the first guest, the question that he had and the answer for which was extremely important was this:

Who do I hire to manage the hotel?

It has to be someone with not only excellent taste and who presents himself/herself beautifully, but who knows the hospitality industry backwards and forwards and upside down.

His choice was a good one.

Her name was Christa Buggy, and she met all of the requirements.

I thought you might be interested in knowing how Christa audited the room cleaning done by the housekeepers.

Here's how it went.

First, she lowered the top on the commode and then she sat on it with the bathroom door closed, and examined the bathroom from that prospective. She said it was those exact times and exact vantage point that women guests evaluated the cleanliness and appointments of the bathroom.

And then she got up, and raised the seat. She said to me, “Toilet seats have undersides, and frequently the tops are cleaned but the undersides are ignored. They become stained. They need to stay spotlessly clean or immediately replaced if they can’t be”

The bed got the next visit.

Next she would lie on top of the bed, try the lights, the TV and see if the clock showed the proper time, all the while looking at the walls and furniture to make sure it showed no signs of wear.

You get the picture.

This is what homeowners should do before and every day after their homes are put on the market.

And then there’s one more thing:

Door bell buttons are frequently cheap builder models, hang cockeyed, and the white button is filthy from never having been cleaned. Replace it. If the homeowner can’t bring themselves to do that, clean the one that’s there and adjust the way it hangs.

Take these tips from Christie Buggey.

It’s a good start for making certain your listings will be presented in their best light.

(Christa Buggey is currently the general manager of another famous boutique hotel, The Tremont House in Galveston's Historic Waterfront-Strand District)

WILLIAM S. CHERRY & NO COMPANY
America’s Wealth Coach
972 677-7028

The Final Piece of Bill's Trilogy: The Great Ed Levitt

BILL CHERRY (William S. Cherry & No Co., Wealth Coach) — Tue, 14 May 2013 06:36:57 -0700

Every writer – whether song or storyteller – seems to gravitate to producing a trilogy.

I’ve just realized that I’m joining them. Here this piece’s predecessors:

Piece 1 and Piece 2.

And now the final piece of Bill’s Trilogy.

About thirty years ago, we decided to develop a subdivision within a one hour flight radius of Houston. Houston was where our offices were.

The idea was so that we could come and go all within the same day.

Here was the plan.

The building of apartments and spec houses seemed to be slowing down in the Houston market, but it appeared they weren’t elsewhere in Texas. So we retained a market research firm, gave them our criteria, and they said we should build at Eagle Mountain Lake, a great sailing lake near Ft. Worth and near the new Dallas-Ft. Worth airport.

It’s a constant level lake and since it is also the water supply for the Ft. Worth area, is continually monitored for quality.

Our execution.

We hired a California architect, Barry Burkus, and within hardly any time we had utilities and streets in, and our amenities and sales office in, and we began building a new concept for the area, zero lot line homes.

As the models came close and closer to being finished, we realized that as many as a thousand families had visited the site, but none had bought.

And to quote a famous American, the call came from our sales manager who said, “Houston, we have a problem.”

By then, we not only had about ten models completed and furnished, but we also had significant product under construction.

There was a fiasco in the making, and while someday I’ll tell you why and what we learned, for now we had to resolve our current problem.

Enter the savior: Ed Levitt.

There was a fellow in New York named Ed Levitt. He had been a trial lawyer. The story was that he had won so many of his cases that he became bored. There was not significant challenge. He heard about a liquor distributor whose business was apparently being eaten up by a new company.

Ed applied for a sale position as the company’s old team were leaving right and left. He knew in his heart that the reason they were leaving and the reason the company could soon go under was because they didn’t know how to sell.

If he could sell one jury after another to see things his way, even when his client was as guilty as “homemade sin,” he could sell liquor to liquor stores. That was what Ed surmised.

Within a year or so, Ed had brought old accounts back, and added new ones. The previous failing wholesaler was now producing the largest volume in New York City. Ed returned to boredom.

And that was when we found and called him and asked him if he thought he could sell out a subdivision that was in trouble.

He flew into DFW with his teeny and elegant wife. We met them and drove them to the subdivision.

Ed said in his booming cigarette-whiskey voice behind his bottle-lens cataract glasses, “Of course I can sell it. You have a sales staff problem, not a product problem.

Here’s my deal. You pay my wife and my living expenses while we’re here, and I’ll work solely on commission…no draw, no base, no nothing.

What a deal, so we shook hands on our agreement.

Now here’s what Ed did:

Ed had an incomparable memory. He could learn and remember names, where people worked, their children’s names and ages and what grades they were in in school.

While he appeared to be kibitzing, he was getting enough information from them to figure out what would have to happen for them to be able to buy one of our houses.

So every Sunday, Ed threw some sort of cockamamie party – School’s Out, Easter Will Be Here Soon, Ed's 71^st Birthday Party – whatever.

He’d had a caterer being in a swell lunch buffet, and a clown or magician or something else would be engaged to entertain the children.

Ed charged admission for the party.

To get admission to Ed’s Parties you had to sign a pledge that you had been to church before you came.

That was paradoxical because Ed was Jewish.

Back to the telling you what Ed did to sell homes.

The cars would swarm in, and Ed would go to work on those who came. He circulated quickly and knew their names and what they did for a living.

He’d take a couple to one of the models, and tell them about another family who were probably going to build their home – a different model – on, say, Lot 7. Lot 8 would be perfect for the couple he was with because their children, Eddie and Sissy were the same ages as the Jeanne and Sammy who were surely going to live next door, and that their parents, Melissa and Kevin were also Baptists and loved to play golf.

Ed would repeat the story to Melissa and Kevin, but this time telling them about Jeanne and Sammy and their parents.

The follow up and the urgency.

All though the week, Ed would keep in contact with the two couples, reinforcing the story, and inviting them out to sign the contract before it sold to someone else who was also interested.

“And by the way, the company has just given me the authority to give away a Sunfish sailboat to the next three who buy a home here,” he would add.

If the gift of the Sunfish sold the house, Ed paid for it out of his commission. He never asked us to reimburse any of his wildness.

Within a few months, Ed had sold out our inventory, and the subdivision was on its way to success.

So the question is, how can you adapt Willie's and Ed's methods to selling homes in your market?

WILLIAM S. CHERRY & NO COMPANY
America’s Wealth Coach
972 677-7028

The Willie Payne Method of Selling -- I Promised You This Last Friday

BILL CHERRY (William S. Cherry & No Co., Wealth Coach) — Mon, 13 May 2013 06:20:20 -0700

For many years I owned and managed two real estate companies in Texas, one in Galveston and the other in Houston.

<<==Willie Payne

Since both did very well in their markets, we often got requests from agents, both new and seasoned, to join our company.

When I opened my first office, I decided that, in the main and after the initial staffing, I wouldn’t contract with any agent who had worked for another company.

My main reason was that I wanted to make certain…as certain as I could…that those who worked with us didn’t come in with bad habits or insufficient knowledge.

But then I didn’t want to discourage anyone who I thought could become a winner.

Often I would suggest that they go see William L. “Willie” Payne whose Re/Max office specialized in the very expensive, elaborate resort homes on the west end of Galveston Island.

I told them all the same thing. "If he agrees to bring you in to his company, follow him on listing and sales calls. Take a small recorder along with you.

"Learn word for word what he says in his presentation, and then make those words your own."

Invariably, the person would say to me, “I don’t want to learn someone else’s sales talk, I want to do mine in my own words.”

And then I would quietly say, “But you don’t have any words.”

Willie’s first words were for the purpose of getting his prospects on a roll to agree with him.

“Isn’t the serenity of the beach and gulf magnificent today?” (“Yes”)

“You won’t have any trouble easing into this way of living, will you (ha, ha, ha)?” (“No.”)

And as they were driving along, Willie frequently interjected, “Tell me what you like about specific homes along the way…even down to paint color.”

By the time Willie pulled into the driveway, he knew a lot about his clients and what caused them to say, “Yes.”

On the way inside, he would begin telling them about how perfectly the home was oriented. “You see how the home was placed? Perfect! You’ll see the sunrise over the gulf from your bed every morning. Here, let me show you….”

Well, you get the picture. Willie was causing them to mentally move into the home – to accept it as their own.

But while his sales presentations sounded fresh and extemporaneous…and that’s as they should be…they were basically the same, in the same order, with the same words every time he demonstrated a home.

That’s because Willie had methodically tested and tested again until he found the best order, the best words and the best rhythm for delivering his presentations. Once he had done that, he never tinkered with the formula.

Year after year, Willie outsold all of his competition.

I make no bones about it. Willie's the best I ever knew...even better than I, and maybe even better than you!

Tomorrow I'll tell you about another great, Ed Levitt.

WILLIAM S. CHERRY & NO COMPANY
America’s Wealth Coach
972 677-7028

The Problem with the Doctor Title

BILL CHERRY (William S. Cherry & No Co., Wealth Coach) — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 11:39:10 -0800

<<== Maya Angelou (Marguerite Ann Johnson)

The public assumes anyone who uses the prefix title “doctor” before his name has formally and successfully completed the appropriate academic course study, and has been awarded a doctorate degree by an accredited university.

A growing problem is the huge number of Mickey Mouse honorary doctorate degrees that have been given to heavy hitting financial patrons of universities as well as those that have been granted by non-accredited colleges.

Many who receive those “degrees” immediately append the “doctor” title to their names, and do so with no disclosure that there is no appropriate educational achievement backing them.

<<== Rev. Mike Murdock

Perhaps it is time for schools to stop issuing these things, for the government to regulate how the recipients use them, and for the recipients to take it upon themselves to discontinue alluding to the public that they possess academic credentials that they don’t have.

<<== Rev. Billy Graham

Here are some examples that come to mind.

Poet Maya Angelou's birth name is Marguerite Ann Johnson. She has no college degrees and it is possible that she did not graduate from high school.

She has used her 40 or more honorary degrees to somehow bypass the standard university requirements to be a faculty member.

The Rev. Mike Murdock, a TV minister, graduated from high school and attended a little known bible college for one semester. His honorary doctorate was issued by a non-accredited college.

The Rev. Billy Graham has an undergraduate degree from an accredited university. His doctorate is honorary.

<<== Rev. Bill Winston

The Rev. Bill Winston, a TV minister, apparently did not attend nor graduate from college. His doctorate degree is honorary and awarded by a non-accredited college.

And then there are those who actually have accredited doctorates but they are not in course studies that are related to the profession in which they practice.

Two local examples in Dallas are financial advisers W. Neil Gallagher and Bill Clark. Paradoxically, Gallagher's advanced study was in ethics and critical reasoning. Clark says his was in psychology, but hia college doesn't have a doctoral program. His undergraduate degree from that college was in music. Even that, though, is vague.

Nevertheless, Bill Clark refers to himself as "Dr. Bill."

So how is it possible to rationalize to those who earned their doctorates by successfully completing the appropriate course study at an accredited university, that it is OK for those who didn't to water down the value of the real doctors' accomplishments?

Perhaps those considering using the services provided by those who use the doctor prefix should see what the person's verifiable credentials are before engaging their representation.

BILL CHERRY, REALTORS

Dallas - Park Cities

Since 1964

214 503-8563

Reverse Mortgages -- A Sub-Prime-Like Tragedy for the Elderly?

BILL CHERRY (William S. Cherry & No Co., Wealth Coach) — Fri, 03 May 2013 12:39:39 -0700

Reverse Mortgages - Are they the Sub-Prime-Like Tragedy
for the Elderly?

One thing is certain…

Companies and people in the lending business never give up.

It's why strict banking regulations are as important now as the world found out they were during the Great Depression.

Nevertheless, over time those post-Great Depression regulations have been relaxed, some by interpretation, others by changes.

Many, including me, think we are on the way to a new set of financial tragedies.

The sub-prime loans…

Have ripped to shreds the financial present and future of thousands of young Americans.

The scars will remain with them for a lifetime.

For many it will be the same as the stories that are still told about a family that lost everything in 1929. They will be told by subsequent generations.

But America has moved on…

And now while we --- especially those who are retired -- are scrambling to save ourselves, the money lenders are preying on the elderly through the magic the lenders promise will come to them from a reverse mortgage.

There are no serious attempts to make certain those borrowers fully understand the dynamics that can and will accrue to them and their family if they make such a loan. Most find it akin to winning the lottery.

And there is apparently no penalty to a lender…

Who makes such a loan to a person, say, riddled with dementia, often times being represented by one of their grown children through power of attorney.

So who often benefits from the Reverse Mortgage..?

Well frequently the cash proceeds from the reverse mortgage find their way into the hands of that person's children, who then piddle it away on a new car or to bail out their own credit card abuses.

Or maybe the elderly person makes generous gifts to his church or other charity.

When the time comes for the borrower to use the money for his own subsistence…

There's little or none left. The children, the church and the charity aren't expected to reverse their participation in the transaction.

The elderly person is alone…

And finally, frequently the borrower finds his health doesn't allow him to remain in his house until his death. Maybe it was only a year or so.

What to do…?

Now he has to move, say to assisted living quarters, and the house has to be rented.

But in most cases, his control of the house is only through a "life estate." Can he, in fact, legally rent it, or must it sit there vacant until his death?

Probably not…

In retrospect, it becomes evident that a far better idea would have been to sell the house rather than borrow against it.

Reverse mortgages are, unfortunately, the sub-prime tragedy for the elderly. If this product is to remain a legal loan form, then it needs to be strictly regulated.

We have a Q&A booklet I wrote that fully discusses how Reverse Mortgages work, as well as the good that they can being and the evil, too.

Email or call me for a free, no-obligation copy.

WILLIAM S. CHERRY & NO COMPANY
America’s Wealth Coach

972-677-7028

A Honus Wagner Is Worth a Lot of Money: More Than Gold?

BILL CHERRY (William S. Cherry & No Co., Wealth Coach) — Sun, 05 May 2013 04:30:32 -0700

Gold has been considered a precious investment for thousands of years, even though it’s really not particularly scarce. There always seems to be more in the ground. All one has to do is find it.

Baseball cards are different.

They were invented in 1909 by the American Tobacco Co. American Tobacco came up with a series of about 500 individual cards, and they randomly put a copy of one in each package of cigarettes that they manufactured.

The marketing gimmick was an instant hit.

One of those cards honored a short stop for the Pittsburg Pirates, Honus Wagner. For reasons unknown, it has become the most valuable of all baseball cards ever issued. Even more valuable than those of Babe Ruth and Mickey Mantle.

One of the ten or so remaining Wagner cards recently sold for $2,100,000. That’s the highest price a baseball card has ever brought.

In the main, people buy baseball cards because of the desire to own them.

That’s not what they do when they buy gold. When they buy gold, they are speculating that it will protect that part of their wealth from devaluation.

There is a limited supply of individual baseball cards. Not the same for gold.

There is nothing that makes one bar of pure gold any different from another bar of pure gold that is of the same weight.

The state of the economy, the fear of the devaluation of the dollar, and all of the other things that cause the price of gold to fluctuate only marginally affects the value of baseball cards, and other noted collectables for that matter.

Gold is not an investment. It is a speculation.

Baseball cards are investments. Stay focused on investments, not speculations.

WILLIAM S. CHERRY & NO COMPANY
America’s Wealth Coach

972 677-7028

Was I the Original Green Builder?

BILL CHERRY (William S. Cherry & No Co., Wealth Coach) — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 10:39:24 -0700

7655 South Brasewood
Houston

Years ago the electricity for a lot of south Texas was provided by a company known as Houston Light and Power Company.

We picked a site full of trees, figured out how to build a series of stucco, compatible townhomes without removing one tree, and then used what products were available at the time to make them energy efficient.

The architect was Houston's The Steinberg Design Collaborative’s Arthur Steinberg who has since gone to heaven. The firm, founded by Arthur in 1957, continues today under the leadership of his son, Sanford.

And we all worked hours and hours trying our best to meet our company’s president, Alan Rudy’s, innovative expectations. We must have succeeded.

The project won a lot of fine awards, and Houston Lighting and Power was so interested in the outcome that they ran this and many other similar ads in Texas newspapers, including this one that was in the Houston Chronicle.

That’s I at about 40 years old – say, 30 years ago.

Being forward thinking rather than following the crowd is very important in business and personal life.

Working with a Wealth Coach who knows and understands the real estate marketing business, and what it's like to earn his living through commission, is a forward thinking idea.

You should be using it. Call me. It'll bring you great progress.

On the web

William S. Cherry & No Company
America's Wealth Coach
Dallas

972 677-7028

Let's See....Should It Be a Stager or Jowles the Gardener?

BILL CHERRY (William S. Cherry & No Co., Wealth Coach) — Wed, 01 May 2013 19:11:29 -0700

When Patty and I moved to Dallas about eight years ago, I came to the city convinced that home interior staging was an important component in marketing a house.

But I also found that very often it comes with problems. Some who claim to be stagers aren’t. They’re decorators or interior designers masquerading as stagers.

Simply put, stagers and interior designers aren’t of the same discipline...

And as far as I can tell, most decorators and interior designers have trouble buying into the idea that often the main reason for retaining a stager is to rework the design of the last decorator.

Realtors will unanamously agree that staging’s purpose is to show clients the home in its best light, and it’s best light has to be that which the prospect can visualize in his mind, actually comfortably living in that home.

Designers and decorators, on the other hand, have as their purpose building interior space-art that reflects the specific personalities and lifestyles of the owners.

But often something else is more important...

Frankly, I have come to the conclusion that stagers, decorators, designers and a fresh paint job on the inside still must take a backseat to a good and fresh professional landscape design and installation.

Buying a house is still all about curb appeal. If a prospect falls in love with the curb appeal, they will do their best to justify overlooking all of the frailties of the interior.

Here's where curb appeal won the race...

This came home to roost recently when I saw an average looking Dallas home sell the first day it was on the market for at least 20% more than it was worth. What sold the house wasn’t the interior. It was the landscaping.

The sellers have a popular landscaping business in Dallas.

So here's my advice...

If your selling client has limited funds to use for preparing his home for sale, I believe it’s best to spend it on the outside, but in either case, always using a well thought of professional.

WILLIAM S. CHERRY & NO COMPANY
America’s Wealth Coach

972 677-7028

How about Baring Your Soul? -- Enquiring Minds Want to Know.

BILL CHERRY (William S. Cherry & No Co., Wealth Coach) — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 11:57:28 -0700

4/30/13 Update: So far about 100 real estate sales people have viewed this post, yet none have said that they invest in real estate.

*****

And while at various times I’ve owned both residential and commercial real estate that I leased, none of it stayed with me more than a few years before I decided I had a reason to sell it.

So here’s my question. If you’re an ActiveRainer, you’re somehow connected with the real estate business. In fact, it’s likely that you are an agent or a broker.

I’d like to know if you invest in real estate – real estate that’s other than your home or a second home.

I’ll bet most agents and brokers, regardless of their accumulated time in the real estate business, have no significant investments of their own in rental property.

Which side are you on and why?

WILLIAM S. CHERRY & NO COMPANY
America’s Wealth Coach

972 677-7028

SImple Formula For Accompishing Annual Income Goal

BILL CHERRY (William S. Cherry & No Co., Wealth Coach) — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 08:56:47 -0700

I recently offered to provide a rather simple plan for time management and a formula for reaching a specific commission income each year. Click

Its most important component and benefit is that it demands that the salesperson face the realities of what he or she has to do to succeed.

If you’re willing to sign on and stay focused...

On your goal and what you have to do to reach it, your chances of success dramatically rise.

If you aren’t, then you need to ditch real estate sales as a livelihood and move into a salaried position.

Here’s the simple formula...

Modify it as you see fit.

The first thing you want to do is to take sales price points in the market you serve and figure out the commission you net on each. It is best to assume “the worse”: all sales will be co-op sales.

Here’s an example for a market that's primarily made up of homes from $150,000 to $300,000 :

$150,000 Co-op sale $2,250

$250,000 Co-op Sale $3,750

$300,000 Co-op Sale $4,500

And so forth.

Here's what comes next...

Figure out how many in each category you plan to list or sell to reach your end of the year goal. Say your goal is $250,000. In this example, you’ll need 111 $150,000 homes; 67 $250,000 homes; 56 $300,000 homes, and so forth.

Now you divide each of the products by 12 to see how many you will need to sell each month. You’ll need to sell about 9 $150,000 homes, about 6 $250,000 homes, and about 5 $300,000 homes.

Obviously in reality your actual sales experience will be a mix.

Next you have to devise a realistic plan...

A plan of components that are necessary to be in place in order for you to be most likely able to achieve those goals.

Here are some to consider...

· Direct mail via a quantified direct mail list of names with addresses of those who own homes in the correct price ranges, in neighborhoods that have the most frequent turnover, etc. Plan to send no less than seven mail pieces to each.

· Call 5 friends or prior clients each day, and after visiting with them about this and that, ask them who they know who is considering selling, downsizing, recently got a promotion. Get permission to use their name when you contact those referrals

· Make a direct, eye-to-eye contact with every For Sale by Owner who is in your farm area, and do it regularly. Bring a small gift and a list of five comparable homes that have sold nearby.

· Ask your minister who in the congregation may soon need to move to a retirement home, apartment or somewhere else to live near relatives, then go see them.

· Make certain you are a member of civic and church organizations, are a regular participating attendee and that you continually pass out your cards to them, write personal notes to them about this or that, etc., and ask them who they know who might need your services.

The telephone problem...

My daddy ran the national sales force of about 5,000 agents for a major life insurance company for many years. He used to say that he wished he could fix the office telephones where they would not accept prospect calls.

His point was that it would empirically show the agents that there was no chance they would make sales by waiting for someone to call and ask to speak to a salesperson. The agents were totally responsible for drumming up their prospects.

You are, too.

Don't depend on phone time...

Phone time and all of its many euphemistic names that connote opportunity for a salesperson to get calls for listings and sales is a highly overrated method of generating personal sales.

Those opportunities all but disappeared when listing agents began putting riders on yard signs that had their personal, direct phone number.

Today, it’s up to you.

Now how about your savings...

Is that plan in place and working satisfactorily? If not, call me now.

William S. Cherry and No Company
America’s Wealth Coach
972 677-7028

Do You Depend on the Luck of the Draw?

BILL CHERRY (William S. Cherry & No Co., Wealth Coach) — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 14:49:56 -0700

Most real estate people I know…

In fact, let’s change that to read, “Most self-employed people I know”…have no firm earnings' goals, and worse, they would have no firm and measurable plan to reach a goal, even if they had one.

Consequently, most of how things happen for them is the result of the luck of the draw. And frankly, that’s a totally idiotic and Pollyanna approach.

What about listings...?

Most real estate sales person cannot survive without having sufficient listings. It’s the only way the agent can have the potential of every other licensed agent in his area working for him.

In fact, there are many agents who do nothing but list. They rarely act as buyers’ agents. But in contrast to those who are only buyers’ agents, they can make a great living.

What likely happens if all you do is sell?

It’s fair to say that most agents who don’t develop a “listing business” and, therefore, put most of the marbles in trying to make sales, eventually fail and leave the business.

Sales people need to have a plan made up of logical components, and they need to work those components in order to assure they will reach or succeed their gross income goal.

I'm going to give you a plan that works.

For those who don’t have one in place, in tomorrow’s post I’ll give you one that is rather simple, but it works every time.

Now how about your wealth accumulation?

Meanwhile, how are your long term savings going these days? Will you be financially secure when you are no longer able to work? If you’re like most, the answer is, “Probably not.”

It most certainly doesn't have to be that way.

William S. Cherry & No Company
America’s Wealth Coach
972 677-7028

Lessons Learned from Past Experience Rarely Last for Long

BILL CHERRY (William S. Cherry & No Co., Wealth Coach) — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 03:41:30 -0700

It’s always interesting to those who have lived through this or that, when those who haven’t ignore the lessons learned from the past.

If you don’t recall this one, you’ve surely heard about it.

Beginning in 1877 American Bell Telephone Co., later known as American Telephone and Telegraph Co. (AT&T), provide the majority of the transmission lines and local and long distance telephone service throughout the U.S. and Canada.

The company's fees, although somewhat regulated, climbed and climbed, then climbed some more.

And phone equipment was leased by the phone company to its customers. They were not allowed to own their own telephones and hook them up to the phone company's service.

The public finally said, "Enough!"

So under pressure, in the mid-1980s the U.S. Justice Department mandated that the phone company was a monopoly and violated anti-trust laws. It was ordered to break up into smaller, independent companies.

After the Great Depression of 1929 interstate banks – those with branches in more than one state – were also designated as monopolies and violators of anti-trust laws.

And that happened when it was very obvious that the lending practices of the huge interstate banks had led the cause of the Great Depression of 1929.

But by the 1980s things, in a series of mini-steps, began to revert back to the old interstate banking system.

This was accomplished by the formation of holding companies that then bought smaller, regional independent banks and then merging them into larger banks.

That was nothing more than a legal neuance: A company that wasn't itself a bank could own stock -- all of the stock -- in all of the banks that it wanted to. That's why, for an example, Wells Fargo-Texas, Wells Fargo-California, etc. cropped up.

Next came the Reigle-Neal Interstate Banking and Branching Efficiency Act. It allowed banks which met capitalization requirements to acquire banks in any other state after October 1, 1996.

There you have it: full circle.

And these cancerous steps resulted in the onset of the total return of the US’s nationwide interstate banking system. A similar system to the one that had caused Americans so much pain in the 1930s.

One of the first things that resulted from the return of interstate banking was the end of those interstate banks having to abide by the restrictive individual state usury laws when making loans.

Rates on consumer loans skyrocketed, in some states as much as doubling from what they were before. Individual loan defaults and bankruptcies erupted, and continue.

The US has ended up much where it was before the Great Depression of 1929.

Banking in the US is once again controlled by monopolies.

Because they are so big losing clients accounts is not as consequential to them as it is to local, home-owned banks.

They do as they please. Regulations favor the banks, not their customers or the public as a whole.

And that’s the same behavior and circumstance that caused the public to demand that the Bell System’s franchise be broken up into separate, independent companies.

And it’s the same behavior, circumstance and bad results that caused the public to demand that interstate banks be broken up after the Great Depression of 1929.

The question is will the public demand, and will the government react accordingly, to reversing the laws and regulations that brought back interstate banking?

William S. Cherry & No Company
America’s Wealth Coach
972 677-7028

Here's a Savings Plan You Should Be Able to Do.

BILL CHERRY (William S. Cherry & No Co., Wealth Coach) — Sun, 21 Apr 2013 20:05:27 -0700

This is an interesting weekly savings plan that lasts for one year.

When it ends, you've got a lot.

You deposit $10.00 during week 1; $20.00 during week 2; $30 during week 3; and so forth.

Each week you add $10.00 to the amount you saved the previous week, until the last week when you save $520.00.

Without doing anything more than putting the money under your mattress, at the end of the year you have accumulated $13,790.00

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13789.00

William S. Cherry & No Company
America’s Wealth Coach
972 677-7028

Reexamining the Savings Plan I Suggested.

BILL CHERRY (William S. Cherry & No Co., Wealth Coach) — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 05:26:48 -0700

The other day I wrote a piece and posted it here on ActiveRain that provided a plan for accumulating and saving $13,790.00 within 52 weeks.

And it required no risk, and it was accomplished without the supposition of capital gains or compound interest.

Perhaps you saw it. A bunch did. (Link)

Here’s the recap of how it works.

You deposit $10.00 during week 1; $20.00 during week 2; $30 during week 3; and so forth.

So, each week you're adding $10.00 to the amount you saved the previous week, until the last week when you save $520.00.

Without doing anything more than putting the money under your mattress, at the end of the year you have accumulated $13,790.00

The standard criticism.

I’ve been teaching this principal for years, and it always prompts the same criticism. “I don’t make enough money to save the big bucks required in the last weeks.”

Whoa! They’ve missed it.

What interests me in that comment is that the students immediately believe they have to follow the specific plan, i.e. $10 the first week, $20 the second, etc.

That’s not true. You can save it in any increments you want. You can sock it away anytime you want during the 52 weeks. Skip weekly payments anytime you want.

You can save only a buck in week 3 as long as somewhere along the way, you put in the $29 you shorted week 3's deposit.

Your goal is to have accumulated in savings $13,790.00 in 52 weeks; it’s not to be bound by the method of doing it that I proposed.

In conclusion.

Setting goals, then figuring out a doable way of accomplishing those goals, and then being able to measure progress along the way is paramount to attaining success at anything.

If you choose to run your life without goals, the scary reality is that you're letting your life flap in the wind...flap in the wind because it has no formula and no direction to reach success.

William S. Cherry and No Company
America’s Wealth Coach
972 677-7028

The Elevator Speech. Don't Leave Home Without It.

BILL CHERRY (William S. Cherry & No Co., Wealth Coach) — Sat, 20 Apr 2013 05:56:25 -0700

Beginning at least 15 years ago, a fellow named Dan Kennedy began writing what turned out to be a number of books on how to succeed in business.

Each one's title had some variation of this one:

No B.S. Business Success the Ultimate No Holds Barred Kick Butt Take No Prisoners Tough & Spirited Guide.

Yes, that’s actually the book’s whole 18 word title.

You can find used copies of these things, here and there, for about five bucks each, and the thought, philosophy and lessons he teaches are worth many times more than that.

Here’s one. "The Elevator Speech."

Everyone needs to develop, write and learn his own Elevator Speech. It’s a perfected and perfectly worded few second paragraph that you recite when someone asks, “What do you do?”

And it ends with a call to action and a logical reason for handing the person your business card.

How it'll benefit you.

The idea is for the Elevator Speech to be so perfectly worded that the person you’re delivering it to will remember you, your speech, and want to keep your business card for current or future reference.

Remember, your Elevator Speech is supposed to be no longer than, say, twenty-five words...something you can deliver and complete in an elevator ride.

I wrote and learned mine years ago. Have you?

William S. Cherry & No Company
Wealth Coach
973 677-7028

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