"Phoenix Home Prices Attract 20-Somethings"

By Sheree R. Curry

AOL Real Estate

As Phoenix home prices hover around 50 percent less than their peak, twenty-something buyers are making a move, says an area real estate agent.

In October, homebuyers paid a median $128,722 for new and resale houses and condos that closed escrow in the Phoenix metro area; that's down 51.3 percent from the peak $264,100 median reached in June 2006. It was the fourth month in a row in which the median fell on a year-over-year basis.

The low price is making home prices more affordable for twenty-somethings and other first-time buyers, says Tanya Marchiol, owner and broker of Team Investments.
The November Arizona State University-Repeat Sales Index shows a year-over-year decrease in home prices for the third month in a row. The new dip follows a year of relative stability and may get worse, say its authors.

"Since the housing market is entering what historically has been the slowest time of the year for sales, it is likely that declines on a year-to-year basis will continue for at least the next several months," said report co-author Professor Karl Guntermann, the Fred E. Taylor Professor of Real Estate at the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University.

The new ASU report estimates a 6 percent drop in average house prices from October 2009 to October 2010. This follows a 4 percent decline from September 2009 to September 2010 and a 2 percent decline from August to August. Before that, the market had not been in negative territory since March.

Foreclosures accounted for over half of the resale market, according to MDA DataQuick of San Diego, which tracks real estate trends nationally via public property records.

"The flow of foreclosures into the market is not likely to end soon, so the added demand associated with job creation and the eventual increase in people moving to the Phoenix area may minimize the downward pressure on house prices going into 2011," said Guntermann.

Foreclosure resales, defined as homes that had been foreclosed on in the prior 12 months, represented 53.2 percent of all homes that resold in September – the highest level since October last year, when it was 53.7 percent. The September figure was up from 49.7 percent in August but down from 56.5 percent in September 2009 and well below the peak level for foreclosure resales – 66.2 percent – in March 2009.

Investors, including many paying with cash, and first-time buyers continue to snap up many of the foreclosed properties on the market.

Marichol says that 20-year-olds are buying single-family homes out in Scottsdale for the price that age group was spending on small Phoenix condos five to 10 years ago.

First-time buyers remain a huge force in the market. In September, 41.9 percent of all Phoenix-area home purchase loans were low-down-payment, government-insured FHA mortgages, a popular choice for first-time buyers. That was up from 38.3 percent in August but down from 43.6 percent a year earlier.

Some first-timers, like other buyers, backed away from purchases after the expiration of the $8,000 tax credit, but they shouldn't have, explains Marchiol.

"Many first-time buyers who feel they are getting the short end of the stick because now they can't used the $8,000 tax credit are not realizing that since prices are lower now, they are better off now than they were eight or nine months ago.

"Homes cost less now than the amount of that deduction," explains Marichol. "Interest rates then were 5.25 percent and now they are around 4 percent. We try to do calls and educate buyers that, because even though there was this huge incentive, you are actually getting a better deal now than you were in January. Our biggest thing, really, is educating. People don't realize what is going on. We really are creating future millionaires if people buy now."

Pictured below are three of her listings of the kind that tend to appeal to young buyers these days. The four-bedroom homes priced between $125,000 to $140,000, range between 1,600 to 2,200 square feet. They are all built after 2000.

Building your Foreclosure Investment Team
Investors interested in taking advantage of the hundreds of foreclosures on the market often don’t realize the intensity of the competition for these properties. Novice investors and first-time homebuyers often walk away from their first foray into the foreclosure market stunned. Some never go back. But with the right team on your side, you too can become a savvy investor.

One of the more popular ways to purchase a foreclosure is at an auction, so before you even consider competing with other auction buyers, make sure you understand the process and are working with someone who can prevent you from making a rookie mistake.

Plenty of valuable properties are available at auctions for buyers who know their local market well and can immediately identify homes with potential and homes which are best avoided at all costs. Here at Team Investments, our group of experts has developed an auction action plan which can result in profitable investments.

• The night before an auction, we obtain the list of properties available and work from 6:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. to review them. Often, that list has more than 700 homes to evaluate.
• We find every piece of information we can on each property, looking at the year it was built, the minimum bid (if any) and check the property against comparable local homes.
• In every case, we develop an estimate of the sales price versus the value of the property. The key to making a great investment rather than just a good investment is to never buy a property at above 60 cents on the dollar.
• After we cull the list, narrowing it down to perhaps 60 or so that we deem worthy of investigating further, we send a trusted contractor to visit each of our potential buys.
• The contractor checks first to see if the home is vacant or occupied by a tenant or occupied by an owner. If the owner currently occupies the home and would like to stay, we can sometimes negotiate an investment deal so that owners can stay and eventually buy the property back.
• Next, the contractor checks on the condition of the home, looking at the state of the swimming pool, kitchen appliances, whether the plumbing and electricity are working and coming up with an estimate of required remodeling dollars which we can then factor into our bid.
• By 8:30 a.m. we can put together all the gathered data into a spreadsheet for each home and then work with our on-site auction bidder to negotiate a winning deal.

While 2010 may be the year to add investment properties to your financial portfolio, it may pay to get some expert advice before jumping into the auction ring.

Create Your Dream Home and Put Money In Your Pocket

Phoenix, AZ - Everyone can relate to the constant search for the home they have created in their heads. Many of us can also relate to the effort and commitment it takes to finding that dream home. If I could offer a sound piece of advice it would be that a dream home is better created than located. The most important reason for this is the instant equity that’s added to your home once it’s enhanced to your liking.

Many of my clients are pleased at the idea of finding the home of their dreams, however once they inhabit their new home their desires become more detailed and they see things they would like changed or added. After making this observation, I continue to look for houses most suited to their needs, but also those that can be “transformed” into exactly what they want.

Increasing the value of your home is just as important as bargaining for a good selling price. At a time when homes are available at .60 on the dollar, value is a new discussion. Purchasing a home at the “right” price and upgrading it to your liking allows for an opportunity to gain a great deal on a house, as well as creating invaluable equity in the home. By initiating improvements to the home you are not only satisfying your appetite for your dream home but you are also creating a larger gap between the current value of your home and the balance of all financial obligations pertaining to the house. This created equity can be a nest egg that offers itself to other financial endeavors and instant money in the bank. As tempting as it may be to purchase a ready made home, there are advantages in purchasing a home that can be molded into your very own. In our current market labor and upgrades are extremely inexpensive.

It is important to make wise additions to the home. It can be said that all improvements add equity to your home, however, there are a few that are more advantageous than others. For instance, it will offer more value to your home to focus on the kitchen by upgrading the appliances or installing tile showers in the bathrooms rather than the addition of a pool or Jacuzzi. While the value of a luxury pool and Jacuzzi doesn’t offer much addition to equity, the outside venture of repainting or re-staining a porch or deck is beneficial. Another great equity builder would be to upgrade the bedroom closets. These ventures solidify an increase in equity, as well as your satisfaction with the purchase.

There is importance and great value in creating equity and constantly finding new ways to increase the equity in your home. Home improvements are one way of making your home work for you by gaining profit. Some other ways of building additional equity in your home would be a higher initial down payment, extra principle payments and shorter mortgage terms.

Simply put, the increasing of equity in your home is one of the easiest and most successful paths to wealth that is available. It’s almost too easy! The value of your home is rising due to your improvements. As you continue to lower your mortgage by making your payments your nest egg is growing. Almost instantly you have turned your dream home into an asset you can use for future purposeful activities that can afford you the pleasures of increasing your bank account.

Tanya Marchiol, the founder and president of TEAM Investments, has proven herself adept in the real estate and investment arena. Tanya teaches her clients how to generate, grow, and maintain wealth even during economic downturns. She offers tailored guidance based on 12 years of experience and the individual client’s needs. With a presence in all 50 states her ability to connect with and reach a wide range of individuals is evident in her client roster, from professional athletes to young professionals; from Phoenix to Atlanta.

www.evliving.com

“Be a Yacht not a Dingy”

Tanya Marchiol

TEAM Investments

John Templeton, a financial genius, said it best when he said, “Sell at the point of peak optimism buy at the point of max pessimism because the consensus is always wrong.”

If you were to read the paper or listen to the media you might be inclined to believe the negative consensus about the real estate market.  Don’t invest now, get out while you can……  However, THE CONSENSUS IS ALWAYS WRONG.  The savvy real estate investor is salivating at an opportunity to create life long wealth in a market that is over flowing with favorable conditions.

How do you recognize when to buy and when to sell your investments?  It is easy.  Most self created real estate millionaires buy when everyone is selling and sell when everyone buying.  To be a part of the next influx of wealthy real estate entrepreneurs it is time to buy.

There are several great “plays” right now.  Cash flow is king!  There are abundant opportunities to purchase cash flow properties.  Mobile home parks have been proven to be cash cows. In most cases they produce both cash flow and appreciation when they are bought out.  Apartment buildings are another source of great cash flow.  There is also tremendous opportunity in purchasing foreclosures and undervalued properties.  This will require due diligence and research.  Hire a seasoned professional to help you in this process.  Making an informed and educated decision will ensure successful investments enhancing your financial portfolio.

I think we're entering a great market. A bad one is when amateur investors become real estate experts and they bid up prices. They make housing expensive for homeowners, often adding little to no value to the property. They simply muddy the waters and make a valuable investment, a home, expensive. What I'm saying is: Now is the time to turn pro. Now is not the time to be an amateur. It's the amateurs who jump in when the market is hot. It's the professional who comes in when it's cooling down. Get the message?

I once had someone tell me, “A rising tide lifts all boats”.  It is an exceptionally on-target analogy for the past real estate market.  People were putting money anywhere in real estate and making a fortune, buying new, selling before it was completed, flipping,re-habbing, and so forth.  However, today it is imperative that you have a professional helping you make wise decisions on what to purchase and what your exit strategy will be.  In stead of being the dingy in the bay who is tossed to and fro with the waves, it is time to be the yacht in the middle of the ocean that is steady weather the tide goes in or comes out.

 

www.evliving.com

"Diversifying  Your Wealth"

Tanya Marchiol

TEAM Investments

We should all diversify our investments over different asset classes.  To be truly balanced we must have both traditional investing as well as real estate in our financial portfolios.  Real Estate is an excellent vehicle for diversification from your traditional stocks, bonds, and mutual funds and yet there are endless possibilities within the “Real Estate” category itself.  Buying Real Estate can be a secure and profitable investment if you take the time to research, get advice from experts, and know your risks and benefits.

During the recent bull market in 2004 and 2005 one could invest in any and all types of real estate holdings and create solid returns.  Today, Real Estate investing is much more personal and individualized.  It is imperative to set your priorities, establish your goals, and have an exit strategy

Owning real estate is a great way to diversify your portfolio, create tax benefits, and build wealth.  Property investing offers several special advantages.  Purchases can be highly leveraged, mortgages payments are generally tax deductible, and long term capital gains are a possibility for properties held over one year.

There are four main reasons to buy investment real estate: cash flow, appreciation, deprecation, and principal pay down.  Cash flow allows an investor generate monthly income and feel the immediate WIN.  Appreciation will create sustained wealth and returns over a longer period of time.   On the other hand we must also consider how to incorporate our assets to benefit our tax structure.  Depreciation is a reasonable allowance for the wear and tear of your real estate holdings. The final strategy is principal pay down. This allows one to create more equity and cash flow as the principal balanced is paid off.

At Team Investments we believe in education as well as production.  One of our most savvy investors named Justin Lucas who played in the National Football League over 6 years took the opportunity to create wealth during his playing years.  He balanced his financial portfolio with all aspects of real estate investing as well as securities.

NFL Money Game: Broke to Filthy Rich

Posted Apr 25th 2008 6:00PM by Quibian Salazar-Moreno
Filed under: Casually Obsessed

After the NFL Draft, a lot of 20-somethings found themselves instant millionaires. So for a kid who just last month was probably eating Ramen Noodles in a dorm room to possibly eating lobster and shrimp in September, how do they make the right decisions on what to do with their money so they don't end up broke at the end of their career?

Tanya Marchiol is the CEO and owner of Team Investments Inc. a real estate and consulting company that helps rookies and pro athletes early in their career take care of their money and learn how to make the right choices when it comes to investments and spending. Marchiol has worked with everyone from Jamarcus Russell to Donovan McNabb and has a couple if clients in this year's draft including projected top three pick, Glen Dorsey.

We caught up with Marchiol before she jetted to NYC for the NFL Draft to talk about what she does for the athletes, what kind of advice she gives for handling money, what athletes buy that make her cringe and her book about being prosperous.

So what exactly do you do for these NFL rookies?

Originally, what I started out with was strictly real estate, so for my rookies coming up, what I do is I go around the country, no matter where they go, no matter what team they're traded to or picked up by and find them their personal family home. That was truly the basis of Team Investments. It has since in the past ten years merged into so much more. Now what we do is really, the first thing we do is make sure our client's credit is really where it should be. A lot of times, it really is just the guys haven't established any credit. Because you're in college you don't know what you're doing and you may pay your electric bill or your phone bill, but you don't have a lot of bills so your credit really isn't established. So whether we're establishing or repairing, it doesn't matter, we really take credit and teach you how to leverage your money with your credit because obviously if you have good credit you can do so much more than if you don't. So that's the first thing we do. The second thing we do, we establish their corporations and we establish all of our corporations out of Delaware.

Corporations? What does this do?

What this does is three things: One it gives them complete anonymity in any assets that they have, whether it be a car, a house, it doesn't matter; everything is put under their LLC. Two, it gives them tax benefits. Now instead of just being paid on a W-2, they really are running their life like a business, all of their expenses, all of their dinners, all of their travel, all of their houses, all of their cars, everything that they do now goes into their LLC. This establishes running their life like a business and having the tax benefits. Then three, it really gives them more protection, because you have complete anonymity, let's say you have a house in California that you're not at but when you're in season and a postman comes up and slips on your driveway and tries to sue you. If your house is the only thing in that LLC, that's all they can sue for, they can't sue you personally. So it establishes protections, it establishes tax benefits and it establishes complete anonymity. So we really do that as well. Then we deal with their personal family homes and in their personal family homes, and it doesn't matter if you want a house for your mom, whether you want a house

in your hometown or whether you want a house where you're playing. A lot of times we don't push to buy where you play.

Yeah, because it's not guaranteed that they'll be playing there their whole career, right?

It kind of just depends. There a lot of guys, say like in the Bay Area, that might just sign a one-year deal and it's not beneficial for them to buy there because it's so expensive. One of the things is teaching them when to buy and when to rent. It's not always about buying a house; it's truly about being smart and leveraging your money. I always say rent if you have to rent but buy when it makes sense. So for my client Bryant Johnson, he just got traded from Arizona to San Francisco for a one-year deal for $2 million; it is not beneficial for him to buy a 1300 square foot house that's going to be $700,000 in the Bay Area. That's just stupid. So we helped him find a rental that made sense. So a lot of it is just relationship establishing; teaching them when to do certain things. Now really what I do, it's a lot more education than it is just real estate. A lot of what we do is teach the guys, "Hey, let's get you into a cash flow position." Where maybe you own an apartment building and that apartment building is bringing you $10,000 a month. So now you're living on your cash flow instead of on your game check. Then your game check can be given to your financial advisor and invested in for your long term gains because your short term gains are already happening with your real estate cash flow. So that, in kind of a nutshell is what we do at Team Investment Inc.

What mistakes do you see rookies make with their money?

Well, when you go from having nothing to having something, you don't realize that a million dollars is still not a lot of money. So you think you can do everything on that first contract, and really we have to slow the guys down a little bit and teach them, "Look you need to invest right so that in the long run you can do any and everything you want." Because it's just not about having money for you. It's about having money, I call it generational wealth, but having money for your kids' kids. It's about investing the money that you've made now, correctly, so that when you do get done playing, you can do whatever you want; whether it's to run a business or not, it doesn't matter, because you've invested properly. So I think [a key] is really teaching them to slow down, maybe not buy the four cars and the four houses and all the jewelry and give all your friends money and really think about, ok, I have a million dollars, which after taxes is $500,000. How do I manage this $500,000 properly so I can do the things I want to do in the long run?

Do you give advice to athletes who want to start their own business or do something silly like launch a record label?

Absolutely we do. So much of that happens and you know, again, once you get to that point in your career where you can do anything you want, if you want to trick off $100,000, then that's on you. But when you're first starting out, it really is, "no you can't do that, and you really need to do certain things that are going to bring you in money to make you that money." So yes we definitely do. And the nice things about my relationships are I really create that friendship with the guys. Being a former professional athlete and knowing what they go through and being able to relate and establish that friendship, for me is crucial. So a lot of times they'll come to me for advice that they wouldn't go to their financial advisor for. Because they know I'm going to be nonjudgmental, they know I'm have my own; They know that I can look at their stuff and say, you know, you really shouldn't be doing this, you should be doing this. So I do a lot of consulting pro bono just because they're my friends.

With the introduction of real estate in your financial portfolio we help our clients create abundance through Prosperity Principals**.   There are four rules to living prosperously.  By taking your lazy assets and developing a plan to have your income create assets and your assets create income you will always be at the top of your financial game.

"GOT REAL ESTATE???????"

Tanya Marchiol

TEAM Investments

How would you like to make your professional athlete salary just by investing in real estate?

All of the hype that we have heard about the real estate bubble bursting is just that, “HYPE”.  The truth is there is no such thing as a national real estate market; therefore the concept of the real estate bubble cannot exist.  The real estate market is an ever changing systematic process that includes buyers and sellers.  The idea of a “bubble”, or an inflated market, encompassing a process cannot happen.  The ability to see and understand trends in the market is a whole different story.  Fluctuations and changes will occur very quickly and it is imperative that your real estate professional is ahead of the game.

Markets are so highly localized that there are significant differences even within metropolitan areas.  Big markets, such as Atlanta, Tampa, Las Vegas, San Antonio, and Phoenix, may slow, but big opportunities will always arise for savvy investors who seek them out.

The Phoenix area continues to reflect its temperatures, comfortably warm to HOT.

The days of crazy real estate markets are shifting, but that doesn’t mean you can’t still find a good investment.  Hot markets are being replaced by hot areas within a market, and as emerging cities continue to grow, so do the opportunities.  The surrounding Phoenix area is no exception.

Several years ago, no one would have thought the east side of Phoenix would be a lucrative housing market or even a place to call home.  Over the past few years, the cities of Gilbert, Chandler, Maricopa, Queen Creek and Awatukee have all emerged from barren desert to thriving cities and still growing.  Investors who took a chance on purchasing land and homes where there seemed to be nothing are now our latest millionaires.

Each of these new cities bring their own attraction and attributes to both the single family home owner as well as the investor.  Awatukee garners a much sought after school district and a lifestyle comparable to Scottsdale, only at a much more affordable price.

Residential construction as a whole exceeded expectations by a large margin in 2005 with Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale and surrounding areas ranking 2^nd in the nation with 63,570 permits.  This might suggest that supply of new housing is outpacing underlying demand and setting the stage for a correction.  With recent activities of rising mortgage rates, riskier mortgage lending, and an increased share of new home purchases, one has good reasons to raise legitimate concerns.  However, escalating home prices over the past few years doesn’t necessarily mean that there is an excess supply of homes.  Builder’s inventory has remained relatively low, especially if you do not count the number of permits on the books where construction has not yet begun.

Will a slowdown occur in both production and sales over the next year or so?  According to the National Home Builder’s Association, home production between 2005 and 2014 is expected to exceed any previous decade.  Housing trends going forward will most likely depend less on interest rates, than on changing demographic trends and utilization of existing housing stock.

The Phoenix area is no exception to the changing trends.  A year ago a house wouldn’t stay on the market longer than a few days before a bidding war would break out, clogging fax machines and selling well over the asking price.  Currently the average days on market has gone from 5 days to 33 days; however prices are still on the rise as homes have appreciated over 10% in the first half of 2006.

In many markets builders set buying and selling trends.  According to one of the largest home builders in America investors across the country will be pleasantly surprised after their fiscal year ends.  In order to deplete their inventory they have offered several incentive packages that keep buyers motivated.  That all will be coming to a halt after their fiscal year ends and housing price will again be on the rise. One of the builders we often work with is converting a condominium project in the Ahwatukee Foothills.  They are giving two years worth of incentives that include, rent, HOA fees, property management fees, and real estate taxes.  The incentive is worth $36,000 - $61,000 depending on the unit purchased.  This package was strictly put together for my investors to have a hassle, worry free product that can appreciate without the uncertainties.  The condos in this particular community have appreciated over $20,000 in the last four months.   These incentives are typical of what I seek for my investors in a market that some have recently questioned.  This is definitely a buyers dream.  “A strong economy will spark a housing market rebound after excess inventory from speculators is shaken out, perhaps very soon,” the chief executive of the nation’s largest luxury home builder said Thursday.

Despite this shift in sales, homes are still expected to appreciate around 17%-20% in the coming year.  However, this is a big contrast to homeowners and investors who were experiencing 40%-50% appreciation in 2005.

According to new proprietary research from Mintel Interantal Group in Chicago, despite a barrage of recent negative press, homeowners remain optimistic about housing prices over both the short term and long tem. Sixty four percent of homeowners expect housing prices in their area to increase in the next year, while only 7 percent expect them to decrease and 19 percent think they will stay about the same.  The data shows that consumers have a significantly positive set of expectations, indicating they have not been influenced by the enormous amount of negative press.

It is imperative for the savvy real estate investor to understand returns.  The average person is happy to receive a 3% return on a bank account, a 6-10% return from the stock market or elated to receive a 12% return on a promissory note.  However, people become very skeptical when discussing the real estate market.  Real estate across the boards is still a much stronger and safer investment than any other venture.

Most people do not have a clear direction or vision of what they want their life after sports to look like.  Though no official ceremony takes place, too many athletes have said “I do” to their current reality, making a lifetime commitment to something they do not know how to maintain when the unfortunate time comes to change directions and leave the playing field.  This is an opportunity for you to clarify and create a vision and step forward into creating new goals while you are playing in order to maintain the lifestyle when you are done.

With the introduction of real estate in your financial portfolio we help our clients create abundant wealth cycles.  By taking your lazy assets and developing a plan to have your income create assets and your assets create income you will always be at the top of your financial game. 

Tanya Marchiol of TEAM (Together Everyone Achieves More) Investments produces a well-needed service to professional athletes and other qualified customers. We’ve all heard the horror stories of those who go from smiling success to losing it all as quickly as they made it. She presents real estate opportunities and financial strategies that will prohibit such a disaster by offering proper education that has been cultivated through experience and a wealth of knowledge. Her clients range from Donovan McNabb to the 2007 number one pick in the NFL Draft, JaMarcus Russell–who has finally signed (9/11)with the Raiders. Tanya has a great personality and makes it her personal business to ensure athletes sustain career and lifelong wealth. As an outside hitter for the Indiana University Volley Ball team (’92-’94), she garnered a competitive spirit that she uses to her advantage daily in taking the business world by storm.

Michael Tillery: What was the original thought behind starting your business?

Tanya Marchiol: I worked with a couple of athletes when I initially chose to get into real estate and realized that nobody was educating them on how to invest in real estate and really create lasting life long wealth. Three or four years ago, you could throw money anywhere and make money. How do you do that in today’s market? How do you know when the cycles are coming and going in real estate? How do you know what to invest in and not to invest in so that you are always having your money make money?

I saw an opportunity because of the aforementioned lack of education.

MT: Besides obvious reasons of course, why is it important for professional athletes to sustain their wealth?

TM: Being an athlete myself, I felt a lull after the game. As athletes, we are conditioned to be competitive. After the games stop, where do you go? You have to make sure your money is properly invested. One of the things that I saw in my guys is that they were handing their money over to a financial advisor–which is great. I think that financial advisors definitely play a role in making sure they maintain their wealth. However, they aren’t teaching the athletes what to do with their money; they are just doing it for them.

If you hand someone a fish they eat for a day, but if you teach them to fish, they eat for a lifetime.

I wanted to create that type of scenario. Being in real estate, I realized that it’s one way to create everlasting wealth.

MT: You were out there in Phoenix doing your thing and obviously were successful before the advent of taking on professional athletes as clients. What made you realize that athletes retaining your services were a viable commodity?

TM: I was an athlete. My brother actually played in the NFL. My father played in the NFL. I’ve seen my brother make more money than he would have ever made by just being an average player in the NFL.

Whether you’re average, above average or a superstar, it doesn’t matter because athletes are getting large sums of money all at once. No one is telling them that it’s only for a short period. They have to make it last. I’ve several friends that played three or four years and have regular jobs. It was such a difficult transition. I wanted to give players an opportunity to not ever know what a regular job is.

MT: Tanya, I see that you are also into creating new business ventures.

TM: I’m writing a book entitled The Prosperity Principles (due out November or December of this year). It’s important that each of us–whether famous or not–to run our life with prosperity in mind. That means everlasting abundance. If I’m abundant in everything I do–my finances, my happiness, my health–then I’m living a pretty good life.

I have a few keys to The Prosperity Principles. One is making wise decisions. Of course, I’m going to teach you to make wise decisions with your money and that success will attach itself to other areas of your life.

Two is running your life like a business. No matter if it’s me, you Michael or Donovan McNabb, you need to have your entity structured to have the most tax benefits for your situation. Everything you do should be a write off. There’s a tax system for the rich and one for the poor. The poor system is that you make money, you pay taxes and you spend what’s left over. On the other side, you make money, you spend whatever you spend and then pay taxes on what you have left over. I want to teach people to play the game the way Donald Trump and Bill Gates play. That just isn’t a lifestyle for the exorbitantly wealthy–it needs to be for each one of us.

MT: Is it just high-end clients or could anyone retain your services?

TM: Anyone and everyone. I’m working with Doug Mortman (producer and head of NFL Sirius Radio). It’s his first venture. Like you or I, he’s not at a crazy Donovan McNabb wealth level. How do I get him there? You take baby steps. We’re buying an apartment complex and then a mobile home park. It’s really a profit.

It’s not just for athletes or the wealthy, it’s for everyone.

MT: You spoke earlier about your family having an athletic background and also having business acumen. What has that experience taught you?

TM: My family owns about 52 clubs. I see how my uncle manages people at his club. My brother sells life insurance to the big wire houses. He has been my A #1 mentor as far as business goes. I see how he creates. One of the biggest things in business is problem solving. I’ve seen the right way and the wrong way. I always want to be around people better than me that can teach me how to do it the right way.

MT: What type of professional athlete are you looking for? What are the criteria?

TM: Anyone out there that is willing to understand how to make money with their money. We don’t live in the day where parents used to say that money grows on trees, but we need to change that mindset. Money does flow easily into our life. Prosperity can be a part of our every day life. We need to tell ourselves every day that we are going to be prosperous and then money will flow easily into our life. Wealth can be created.

I don’t live in a box. Anyone that is willing to take a step out of the norm, and understand how to invest in a different way–I’ll work with.

MT: Who are some of your clients besides Donovan McNabb–whom you’ve mentioned? I’m an Eagles fan. He had better do something this year.

TM: (Tanya laughs) Donovan is great. I handle a lot of his personal business–his houses, his land. I work hand in hand with him and his wife.

JaMarcus Russell. I just did his personal family home in Oakland.

Turk McBride (2007 Kansas City draft choice and featured on HBO’s Hard Knocks). We actually are doing quite a bit together. I did his personal family home. We are now working on a mobile home park in Florida. He really wants some passive income, which is great.

I’m working with Jarvis Moss. I’ve worked with Javon Walker, Bo Outlaw and many others.

MT: You seem like a very busy person. I see you are involved in a lot of charity work. Why the need?

TM: I’ve been blessed. This is truly my calling so I feel the need to give back. I give back to those less fortunate and also to those who want to be educated. To can’t get better than giving back to kids. Teaching kids at a young age about money, instead of just handing them things, makes them understand the meaning of the dollar. It’s worth it to them because you then grow up with a different mindset.

MT: What types of work are you involved in currently?

TM: Big Brothers Big Sisters. I just started doing a couple of small things with United Way. I’ve worked with the Arizona Cardinals charities. I work a lot with my NFL guy’s charities and I donate to Stedman-Hawkins Foundation as well. I blew out my knee and Dr. Stedman put me back together and ever since then I’ve always donated to their charity events.

MT: How has being a successful outside hitter at Indiana University translated to running a successful business?

TM: Sports in any way, shape or form always relates to business. I went from being a star athlete in high school–all state and held records–to going into college where everyone is good. I had to work hard to get up the ladder. I wasn’t the best, but I definitely was the hardest worker. If practice went two hours, I went two and a half. It definitely carried over to business. If you want to achieve something, put in some hard work and you’ll see a nice return. Whether it is the competitiveness, hard work or things not always being fair, I learned that real estate is my new sport.

MT: Talk about the National Republican Congressional Committee Business Advisory Board award you received as Business Woman of the Year that was presented by President Bush. Damn that was a mouthful.

TM: (Tanya chuckles) You know, that was a huge honor to me. I’m not heavy into politics, but I definitely do support certain values. For me to receive that honor was…One of the reasons why they chose me was because I presented problems and solutions. We need to live more independently as opposed to living off the government so much. How I propose to do that is by educating people more instead of holding them back by just handing them things. If we hand them something, then let’s educate them in another area. I’ve never been involved in anything like that, so to get to go to the White House and be in that area was a huge honor.

MT: You’ve definitely carved a niche working with professional athletes. What separates you from others in a similar position?

TM: Number one, I’ve been there. My experience precedes me. The attitude that athletes are just unaware of what they are going to do after sports. I’ve been there. I can relate to those who have played for 5-10 years and never want to work again. I understand living in an area of “What now?” God puts experiences in our life so that we can relate to others. I can relate to the players and they can relate to me. I grew up in an athletic world and if you haven’t you have to understand that there is a different mentality in a sense that a lot of guys don’t want to learn right away. It might be a situation where I’ll be friends with someone for 3 years and they never do any investing. Then they’ll ask me out of the blue about what I do. It’s relationship building and very patient business. Things don’t always happen over night.

MT: Are you familiar with former NFL defensive back Ryan McNeil?

TM: I’m not.

MT: He does something similar, but outside of real estate.

TM: Educating?

MT: Yes.

TM: I don’t look at other realtors or others doing what I’m doing as competition. I think if we all come together and see a bigger picture, then we’ll reach a greater amount of people. I would love to talk to him and talk about the possibility of working together.

MT: Do you set personal goals? Where exactly do you see yourself down the line?

TM: I put in eighteen-hour days. I do what I have to do, but I only want to do this for another seven years. My goal is to create an empire that I can run and put other people in places where I am today. I don’t want this to stop. I want it to continue. If it’s gone, then what good was it? I want to give time back to kids and my family–or if I have kids at that time, my kids. I want this to be self-sufficient. I’ve always thought that I would be good at leading leaders, so let me go out and teach leaders how to get it done better. I want to do speaking, helping and giving back why my staff does the one on one stuff.

MT: What type of people are you looking to put in place?

TM: I have a great staff now. I’ve been through good and bad. You always learn from your mistakes. You have to have people that are willing to give. When you give, you get. If you are in this strictly for financial gain, you’ll never be good at it. What I really look for–when I hire, when I interview or if I’m looking for teammates to work with me–are the personal goals of others. Educating is huge and if you can’t teach, you’ll never be good at what I do.

You also have to be a problem solver. You can’t get flustered in the fourth quarter with two minutes left. That’s when you have to pull it together and come up with a proper solution. There’s always a problem and you have to have the ability to get through it.