By Bruce Kellogg
Who is Bruce Norris?
Bruce is a longtime real estate investor, builder, “hard money” lender, and real estate educator with over 35 years of experience. His history includes over 2,000 real estate transactions as buyer, seller, builder, or money lender.
He was married at 17, and had two children by age 18. He has lived on food stamps, and was fired from five consecutive jobs before entering his present business. He started by flipping houses, and he opened The Norris Group in 1997 as a “hard money” lender.
What Has He Done?
Renowned for his ability to forecast long-term real estate trends and timing, the release of The California Comeback report in 1997 gained him much notoriety. The accuracy of the extensive report led many California investors to financial freedom. His January 2006 release, The California Crash, was an in-depth look into the California market correction and the statistics behind Bruce’s predictions.
Bruce speaks and debates nationally, and has been a guest speaker at the Mortgage Bankers Association, REOMAC, Inman, HousingWire, California Association of Realtors, California Builders Industry Association, California Mortgage Association, the Real Estate Research Council, and several local and national investment clubs, associations, and service clubs. Bruce has met with local and national government officials, including FHA and Fannie Mae, to discuss market solutions and insights.
Bruce has contributed articles to many real estate magazines and newsletters, including The Business Press, Scotsman Guide, Creative Real Estate Magazine, The Orange County Register, RealtyTrac’s Foreclosure Newsletter, AOA Magazine, and The Daily Commerce. He has also been featured in: The Wall Street Journal, Fox Business News, Nightline ABC, The New York Times, Time Magazine, Good Morning America, The Los Angeles Times, Fortune, Mortgage Banker Magazine, Money Magazine, Reuters, The Associated Press, The Tribune, and numerous others.
What is Bruce Doing Now?
Bruce is also the host of the award-winning series, I Survived Real Estate. The events bring together leaders from numerous real estate sectors to discuss legal regulations, stimulus-related issues, and solutions to the current market. The events have also helped raise over $860,000 for charity since they began in 2008.
Bruce hosts the award-winning Norris Group Real Estate Radio Show and Podcast, where he interviews real estate industry leaders, authors, government officials, local experts, and economists. Guests have included representatives from the FBI, the MBA, Freddie Mac, the Appraisal Institute, HUD, Fannie Mae, PropertyRadar, Auction.com, PIMCO, PMI Group, REDC, the National Auctioneers Association, and the Center for Responsible Lending, as well as Peter Schiff of Euro-Pacific Capital, and John Maudlin, to name a few. There are almost 600 shows and 250 hours of free education in the real estate radio archives.
Bruce currently serves on the Executive Board for the Real Estate Research Council of Southern California. He was awarded Educator of the Year by Think Realty in 2018.
What About the Norris Group?
Besides making “hard money” loans in California and Florida, The Norris Group educates investors. Their training is unique in that they created the Quadrant System, which takes a lot of their market timing research and layers buying and selling strategies to the market. Their learning management system has over 60 hours of content, but an investor won’t use all of it at one time. In addition, they consider the investor’s skillset and personality, and can do one-on-one strategy sessions that consider who the person is, where the market is, and how they will most likely best succeed in the business. The Norris Group recommends exploring their free content, like their radio show and weekly real estate news videos, and then explore their VIP Subscription.
What About Bruce’s Market Predictions
Bruce is worried that markets have become hot in California. Affordability numbers suggest we could still experience price increases in many areas of California. We have never had “full employment” and a great economy while experiencing a decline. However, Bruce is concerned about a number of issues including interest rates, and in some markets how hot prices have become. His long-term and short-term outlooks for California differ. He wants investors to really think about protecting themselves in the next few years, and avoid buying into the hype.
The Norris Group in Florida
Bruce has been investing in Florida since Hurricane Andrew. Over 20 years, he and the Norris Group have built houses, done “flips”, and acquired rentals, along with establishing a “hard money” lending business. Bruce exchanged some California properties into new construction rentals over the last four years and expects to see many California investors diversify by using Internal Revenue Code (IRC) Section 1031 to exchange into Florida properties.
The Norris Group offers readers to visit their website, www:TheNorrisGroup, to take advantage of the free items available there.