Real Investors Association
Kick Off Event
Safeco Field, Seattle

The event was emceed by the founding President of this new association, Rob Quello.

There were brief presentations by the grandson of the founder of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center and Diane Gallegos, associate director of the Seattle chapter of the Habitat for Humanity regarding a clear intention of the founders purpose to give back to the community both educationally and philanthropically.

The three primary real estate investors who spoke were Cherie Cooley a very sucessful rehabber from Portland, John Burley, one of the Robert Kiyosaki Rich Dad Advisors and real estate investor and of course, Greg Pinneo.

Cheri Cooley is a very savvy real estate investor out of the Portland area. She does about 50 houses

I first met Cheri having dinner with a bunch of attendees at Ron LeGrand's MOS in Las Vegas, Nevada on 2002.

Cheri is a very sharp and pleasant lady and has a lot to teach. It is clear from my interaction with her that she has developed a clear focus and a business model that really makes sense. She also loves doing what she does.

Unlike a lot of 'lease-option gurus' she cares about the people involved and she is a nice addition to the teachers serving the Seattle area.

John Burley was a kick - really a down to earth guy and a well trained speaker. He buys about 12 houses a month and does a lot of business using lease options.

John had a lot of energy and humor and it probably would have been a lot easier to listen to him if the crowd wasn't freezing. Safeco Field gets pretty cold in the evenings. (By the way while this event took place the Mariners won their away game.)

He breaks things down into simple components and is a very good communicator. This was my first opportunity to meet John and I think he would be a very good mentor for the beginner.

One thing that impressed me about John is that he genuiunely tries to give back. He quoted Zig Ziglar,

Then he followed up with these statistics. He has done over 15,000 written offers and has bought a lot of property.

But the figure that he is most proud of is that nearly 500 people have executed their options on his lease option deals. That is to say, he has almost reached the 500 mark for enabling people to actually own their own homes who would probably never owned a home otherwise.

For a lease option specialist, this is rare. Most lease option gurus take pride in the fact that many of their lease option tenants will never execute their options so they can sell the same house over and over again - keeping the option fee every time.

In fact they have constructed business models that actually are set up to maximize this fact.

I know personally that this is one of Greg Pinneo's 'pet peeves' about the lease option industry, because he told me that one time.

No doubt the character and quality of both Cheri Cooley and John Burley were primary reasons that Greg Pinneo invited them to this event - instead of other lease option experts.

The theme of giving back and creating commitment to your business and to improving yourself and the community were the primary themes at this 'kick off' event.

Greg is a giant both philosophically and as an investor. He is one of the few people I have ever met that is so talented at so many things and yet has no greater focus in life than building great relationships - family, friends, business and community.

Greg genuinely cares about people and I have learned a lot about myself from his influence, his teaching and his friendship. He is wise beyond his years and I am proud to be able to call him my friend.

Greg truly lives life to the fullest - every minute of every day.

We could all learn a lot by trying to emulate his passion for life and his joy in the experiencing of it.