A lot has happened since my last post!

My last post talked about the completion of our rehab deal and how was got a super quick offer and we were supposed to be done and closed and done by the end of 2011.  Well, it didn’t quite turn out as planned!  Let me give you a (sort of ) brief summary.

After may bumps and issues, and two months waiting to close, the buyer could not get financing, so the deal fell through.  We had another offer come up, which also fell through.  Now we’re smack dab in the middle of winter, thankfully a mild one – so far, but as you know, sales are slow in the winter.  So, we’ve been aggressively promoting the house for that past couple weeks since the last deal fell through.  We have had a lot of showings and have had more Open Houses and such.  The house shows great and we’ve had a lot of interest.  Fingers crossed we will get an offer that will CLOSE soon.  We want to get paid and move onto our next house!  Wish us luck!!

In the meantime, there’s been a lot of drama going on.  I’ll save you all the details, but one major thing that occurred was the week we found out our buyer could not close, we also had a break-in at the rehab house and the copper was stolen.  So, that set us back a little but we are trying not to get discouraged.  The first rehab is the hardest, as everyone says, and we’ve learned so much that if we gave up now and did not do another rehab, that would be really be sad. Besides, I cannot leave Corporate America if I do nothing and just keep working 9-to-5, ya know?

So, to keep motivated, we keep looking at listings for our next project.  Also, my husband and I love watching rehab shows.  The new show Flipping Boston is pretty good and it’s great to see the ups and downs of rehabs in our own back yard. Plus, the show Rehab Addict is back on the air and I really like that one, too.  Heck, I even watch the Vanilla Ice Project!  Don’t hate…

On a side note, have you checked out the new Freedom Chasers Challenge?  It’s a great challenge offered by Shae Bynes on her new website, www.chasingyourfreedom.com.  It’s really awesome and is specifically designed for people like me looking to chase their dreams and leave Corporate America – for good!  She’s also giving away a Kindle Fire, which is awesome.  I’d love to win that prize!!

Here’s to a Happy and Prosperous 2012!  Happy Investing!

It’s been quite a while since I last posted.  It’s been a busy few months to say the least…busy with work, family and the usual commitments AND our first rehab!  I’ve barely had any free time and certainly no extra time to be blogging.

Let’s see if I can give a somewhat brief summary of what has happened with our rehab.  Like I’ve mentioned in the past, we’ve done rehabs in the past, with the homes we’ve lived in, but this is our first “official” rehab, with the intent of making this a real business.  So far, so good.  Not to say that there haven’t been stressful moments, but as rehabs go, it hasn’t been a nightmare.  Maybe that’s because we did so much research and due diligence before we bought the house, who knows?  And maybe it took so long to get this deal after many, many rejected offers because the other houses wouldn’t have been “right.”

Anyway, we started work on the house just after closing (late July) and have been pretty much been working on the house 7 days a week up until our Open House a few weeks ago.  The house we purchased is a 3 bed/1 bath home, 100 years old, so there was a lot of work to do.  We basically updated almost everything in the house – new kitchen, new bathroom, new windows, new flooring, new landscaping, etc.  We were going to install a 1/2 bath, but other unforseen repairs ate up the budget for the new bath.  My husband probably did about 90% of the work.  Since he worked construction for years prior to working in Corporate America, he’s pretty handy.  He even did a great job on things he’d never done before, like tile work.  We hired out jobs that we needed to and/or jobs that needed to be permitted, like electrical work and new windows.  Although we saved a ton of money having him do the work, it didn’t save us money where the timeline was concerned.  The project took longer than expected since he’s only one person and things took him longer to do.  However, now we know which projects he’ll tackle in the future and which ones we’ll hire out next time to save time.

At the Open House, we had 4 families view the house and 2 showings a couple days afterward.  Then, 4 days after the Open House, we got our first offer.  We negotiated back and forth and agreed on price and terms.  Since we’re pretty much getting our asking price, we cannot complain. So, if all goes well with our buyer and his financing, we’ll be closing by the end of the year.  Not too bad!  We’re keeping our fingers and toes crossed that it will go well.

It’s been a bit of a challenge doing this rehab while I’m still working full time.  I am doing all the phone calls and legal/financial stuff for this rehab.   I like to say I’m the “brains” and my husband is the “brawn.”   Although I’ve helped with many of items at the house, stuff I can easily do like paint and other cosmetic items.  I don’t mind that sort of thing, but I’m sure tired of painting!

We have learned so much during this rehab.  I thought I’d share a list of our “lessons learned” for this project:

• Get a GREAT rehab/hard money/private lender – specifically one with lots of rehab experience.  We were lucky enough to find great, local lender and it’s been a huge reason why we think things went so well.  Our lender provided excellent tips, guidance and advice throughout.  I tend to ask a lot of questions and they were always there to assist, especially since this is all new to us. I cannot imagine getting through this deal without this help.
• Plan, make lists and plan some more!  I am a huge fan of making lists…lots of “punch lists” for the items that need to get done.  It’s a huge help in making sure you do everything you’re supposed to do, in the order that makes sense. 
• Ask for help! Not just from your lender, but from anyone that can assist – lenders, Real Estate Agents, contractors, etc.  You’ll find in most cases, people are happy to share their knowledge and help.  If they’re not willing to help you, then they’re usually not the type of people you want to work with.
• Get your “Team” in place.  This is something anyone in Real Estate Investing tells you – get great people on your Team, such as your lenders, Real Estate Agents, contractors, attorneys, title companies, etc.  We finally have assembled a great team of “go-to” people as a result of this rehab. This list of people will be a tremendous help for our next rehab and will save a ton of time during each phase of the project.
• Only work with people who respond and/or respond in a professional manner.  This is obvious, but I cannot stress this enough.  In the midst of each item we needed (e.g., contacting window installers, for example), I contacted several people looking for quotes on projects.  Through lots of trial and error, we found a great window contractor.   For each person/company we hired, we went with the people that responded quickly, promptly and professionally (either by phone or email).  It’s amazing in this economy, where contractors are especially hurting for work, that there are some that won’t call you back – ever – not even to say they’re too busy or don’t want to do the job.  Makes no sense to me…but I immediately cross these types of contractors off my list…if they cannot even call you back, or don’t show up to even give you a quote, do you think they’re ever going to do a good job for you? Probably not!
• Before you start the work, call your local building inspector/inspection department.  Each city and town has different rules for permits, so it’s best to call to see what permits you’ll need.   Also, if the contractor pulls a permit for you, make sure it’s posted where it can be seen and keep a copy for your records.
• Doing the work yourself doesn’t always save you money. If doing the work yourself extends out your timeline too long, you probably won’t be saving much money, especially if your holding costs are expensive per day/per month.   Sometimes it actually saves you money to pay the money to hire out the work and you can get the house listed for sale faster.
• Pick the right list price.  We had a goal of listing the house WAY under houses in the area, for a comparable home, to help get a quick sale.  We think that was a reason we had so much interest after listing the house.  We could have held out for 20k more than we did, but then if it didn’t sell fast, we would have had way too many holding costs, nevermind heating and shoveling snow at the house through the winter!!

That’s it for now.  Hope you all had a nice Thanksgiving!

Happy Investing!

After the bank accepted accepted our offer, we looked into some hard money lenders. We eneded up getting a hard money loan from a company that does local rehab loans.  We met with the lenders a few weeks ago and they viewed the property and really liked it.  They also gave us some great tips on rehabbing and suggestions for improvement, which was awesome.   They are good people and very easy to deal with, which also is a plus.

After the loan was secured, we had to get all of that last minute stuff done.  Since we offered to buy “as-is,” and the seller is a bank, we had to do a lot of the things a typical private seller is expected to do.  We had to install smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, get the water meter reading completed, etc.  But, as these things go, they went pretty well.

So, fingers crossed, the closing will go well on Monday and we can proceed to getting the repairs done ASAP.  My husband will do a lot of the work, however, our lenders had suggested having the work done by contractors, when the budget allows, to get it back on the market as soon as we can, and we will take their advice.  We already figured we would not do certain things (like replacement windows, countertops, etc.) since those are typically best done by a professional.

We plan to have the house back on the market at the end of August, but it will all depend on how things go.  If we can have it sold no later than the fall (and before we have to turn on the heat!) we would be thrilled.   Wish us luck!

Happy Investing!

Sorry it’s been so long since I’ve posted!   Things have been unbelievably busy here since the early part of this year.  To give you the super-short version:  I’ve been involved in a major project at work since January (it goes through September), we’ve had a lot of family issues/health issues with relatives (it’s time consuming being an elder caregiver) and also I’ve been super busy being a mom, of course (it’s the best job ever)!

So, I’ll cut to the chase when it comes to REI.  In the midst of all the stuff going on in my life, we still have been looking at properties…keeping our options open for rehab, wholesale and rental deals.  After looking at tons and tons of houses, consistently since last summer, we finally got an offer on an REO accepted this week!  Woohoo!   I don’t want to give all the details yet, since to me and my husband, the deal is not sealed until we sign papers at the closing and can get to work on the house.  It’s a great house that needs (relatively) little work, and most of the work, my husband and I can do ourselves.  I am trying to figure out the financing now.  It stinks because hard money is so expensive and it’s certainly going to cost a ton to get the loan.  If I had a private lender in my back pocket, that would help, but I haven’t had any time to be seeking out private lenders lately.

I added the subtitle of “Don’t Ever Give Up” because I can tell you that many times over the past year, I’ve wanted to give up.   After you look at so many houses, put in offers, see so many crappy houses, deal with flaky homeowners, etc., it can really get discouraging.  Plus, with all the stuff going on in my personal life, it’s really easy to justify to just throw in the towel and just forget it all and keep working my “regular” job.  But, my desire and drive to get out of Corporate America never leaves my mind, so I felt we had to keep persevering.  Persistence is key, my friends. 

That’s all for now.  I hope I will have more good news to share on my next post.

Happy Investing!

Hope everyone is doing well.  Just wanted to check in and give you an update on things.

As many of you know, I’ve been a member of the Diva Money Club (DMC) since December and it’s been awesome.  I’m always learning something new regarding internet marketing or Real Estate Investing (REI). I saw this post recently about promoting affiliate products that was awesome.  It reminded me that you don’t need to create your own products to make money online. Check it out here: Making Money with Affiliate Marketing.

On the REI front, things have been quite challenging these days with an extremely heavy workload at my 9-to-5 and other family responsibilities, but I’m still trying to fit it all in.   I haven’t had much free time at all to look at properties, except for searching for homes online.  But, I’ll be jumping back in soon.  My daughter is even looking forward to us sending out our next inherited properties mailing.  She asked me when we are going to “stuff and “send out all those envelopes.”  She’s too cute.

Also, although the real estate market is still pretty slow around here, houses are still being snapped up if they are at the right price, which usually means under $100k.  There are tons of houses on the market around here (REOs and from private sellers) that have been on the market months or even years but it’s because they’re overpriced.  I still cannot believe that especially the banks won’t lower their houses enough to sell. Why would they want to keep their houses on the books for a year or more?

Happy Mother’s Day and Happy Investing!

Sorry it’s been so long since my last post.  I have been incredibly busy at work.  I had a major deadline due last Friday.  I was working countless hours to meet that deadline so I was a bit out of the REI biz lately.  (I know you folks still working in Corporate America can relate!)  I also have had lots of family obligations of late, including having an awesome birthday party for my daughter yesterday.  The responsibilities never end!

Anyway, back to REI stuff.  I have been keeping up to date on the REO listings around.  We haven’t looked at any properties in a couple weeks, but we plan to get back to that soon.  Coincidentally, while I’ve been really busy, our Realtor was also sick, so the timing worked out anyway.  She’s better now, thankfully!   I also bought another inherited mailing list so I will be sending out letters shortly.  I may do postcards, not sure… the letter response rate (with hand-written envelopes) is so good, I hate to deviate from that plan.  Also, I’m going to re-mail (again) to some of the people on last year’s list.  I checked to see if they’ve listed their house for sale in the last year. If they have not,  I’ll re-mail to those folks on the old list as well.

I’ve also been working on our other websites to make some additional income.  I still make the most extra cash with Google Adsense, believe it or not.  I am not going to look a gift horse in the mouth!  We are also still selling on eBay and doing fairly well with that.  My husband has been continuing to get us some good deals on Craigslist and sometimes with a little elbow grease (or none, in some cases), re-sell the items on eBay for a profit.

During all this, and the stress at work, I had a conversation with someone I work with recently.  I was telling her that I would be thrilled to be laid off and move on to do something new.   She looked at me like I was crazy.   She is of the opinion, like many others I work with, that in this economy, you should never want to be laid off.  But, I don’t see it that way.  I know it’s hard out there to find a job, trust me, because my husband was laid off for the first time ever, so I truly know what it is like first-hand.  However, I have so many years with the company, so I would get a hefty severance package (about a year’s salary).  That’s nothing to sneeze at.  That financial cushion would afford me the time I need to really work the REI stuff in the way I really should.  But, those opinions are part of the reason I keep my desire to leave my 9-to-5 life behind this year to myself.  I get tired of the judgment, albeit well-meaning, from others who think I’d be crazy to leave my job!  Wait ’til they get a load of me when I give my notice! LOL!

Happy Investing!

We looked at a few houses today.  Two were really dumpy (they were newly listed HUD houses).  The first one was right in front of the train tracks and needs a full rehab.  I don’t think this house would even be attractive to wholesale it to a rehabber, unless you got it WAY under asking price.   The second one was a 4 family with an awful layout inside and also needs a full rehab.  You should have seen the 1960s appliances!   It was overpriced and I also don’t think it would be attractive to a rehabber or landlord unless you could get it dirt cheap, and HUD typically doesn’t drastically reduce prices (or accept lowball offers) in the first few weeks.  The third house was promising - a short sale in excellent condition that we could use as rental.  We may put in an offer, but want to crunch some numbers first.  And we want to view a couple more properties this week.

One major issue is that even in this slow market, most houses are not cheap around here.  The first house we looked at was under $100k, but that’s not the norm.  Even if a house is a dump, it’s not cheap.  I am envious of investors in other markets when I hear they can pick up a fairly decent rehab deal or rental house for $20k!!   So, we also want to look at some half duplex/condos to use as rentals, because those are cheap and could cash flow a ton of money every month.   But, I’m a little nervous about that since I know duplexes and condos can be a hard to resell.  Do any of you purchase duplexes/condos as rentals?  If so, how is it working for you?

I did ask our Realtor today what houses were selling lately, since the market was SO slow when there was 2-3 feet of snow on the ground this winter.  She said that the houses under $200k (in good condition) are selling fairly well, if priced right, primarily to first time home buyers.  That’s good to know, at least some houses are selling!

On the non-REI front, I have been working on our websites to monetize them and join affiliate programs.  I took a break from doing that when I was sick but will get back to doing that this week.  We also have been selling stuff on eBay again.  That’s been a good extra source of income.  My husband has also been buying some stuff on Craigslist and reselling it on eBay. (Coincidentally, Shae Bynes did a podcast about this very topic this week – check it out here.)  Kinda like wholesaling houses, but on a smaller scale!  That’s been going well so far.  We gotta keep as many irons in the fire as possible.  We are “hustling” as my husband said earlier today.

Happy Investing!

February has been quite a hectic month.  My main obstacle has been my “real” job.  My full time gig has been keeping me very busy, too busy for my liking, actually.  It’s been preventing me from looking at properties.  But, I am scheduling some appointments to see some REOs next week.

Even so, this month I still tried to get some things accomplished. Even though we’ve had poor weather and FEET of snow still outside, I tried to at least be productive in other ways, such as building content for my other websites and learning tons of REI/passive income stuff at DivaMoneyClub.com.   Two of my main goals for the month were to set up a new business entity for all of my online ventures and sign up for affiliate programs.  I’ve completed both.  In fact, I’ll be signing up for more affiliate programs, but I’m waiting to hear back for approval on some. 

I also want to get back into my REI mailings.  I plan on buying a fresh mailing list soon, but I may do another follow-up mailing to the inherited mailings I did in the summer/fall last year.  I was fortunate to get a fairly good response rate, but most of the deals were not deals at all.  Either the homes were overpriced, complete tear downs or already listed with a Realtor.  One house that I was trying to negotiate is still on the market and has been since early in 2010.  I would have purchased it for way under asking, but they are still standing firm at their (overinflated) price, and the property has since been listed with a new Realtor.  Oh well, I guess people don’t mind waiting years to sell. 

How did things go for you this month?

Happy Investing!

A few months back, I won a contest over at Shae Bynes’ blog, and was lucky enough to win a copy of her course, Financial Freedom GPS.  I read and listened to the course and did my homework, which helped me determine “my number” which is how much I need each month to pay my expenses.

To build upon what I learned from Financial Freedom GPS, I knew I needed to invest in myself in order to reach my goals.  So, back in December, I joined the Diva Money Club (DMC).  I figured, if I joined a coaching/mentoring/support program, it would force me to take action, right?  So far, my experience at DMC has been awesome.  There is a great community of Divas there (and guys, we call them Divos).   I even found an accountability partner there!   There is a forum where you can get all of your questions answered and there are tons of training modules, with many new modules being added all the time.  The forum alone has been hugely helpful.  Any question you have about real estate investing, passive income or internet marketing is answered there!  Never mind the training modules, which are fantasic!  Believe me, even if you know about real estate investing or internet marketing, you’ll still learn so much in every module.

So, who are these Divas that started Diva Money Club?  Well, they’re pretty powerful and influential in the real estate investing and internet marketing niches:

• Susan Lassiter-Lyons from TheInvestorInsights.com.   She has a ton of experience in real estate investing (Bulk REOs, private money, etc.) and she’s also an internet marketing Diva!  
• Steph Davis from FlipThisWholesaler.net.  Her blog about real estate wholesaling is the best – very informative and funny, too!  If you want to learn how to wholesale REOs (bank owned houses), you must read her blog!
• Shae Bynes from GoodFaithInvesting.com.  Her blog talks all about real estate investing as well as online marketing.   As I mentioned, her Financial Freedom GPS course is a must-have if you’re looking to leave your job.  She did it, and you can, too!
• Julie Broad from RevNYou.com.  Her “award winning” blog is great for learning about buy and hold real estate and also finding motivated sellers. I learn a ton every time I visit to her site.

So, if you’re interested in joining me over at Diva Money Club and leaving the rat race for good, check it out.   I hope you found my review helpful.   Take a look at the free training videos, which are top-notch.  Let me know what you think!

Happy Investing!

I thought I’d give an update of my REI efforts of late.   As the title of this post says, “Life” sure gets in the way.

My job has been incredibly busy, especially since January.   I don’t just work 9-to-5, I need to work as long as it takes to get the job done.  Every day there is a crisis, it seems.  I have been involved in one high level project after an other.  I’ve had appointments to look at houses on days I work from home and I’ve had to cancel due to meetings or other commitments (or due to snow!).  It’s really hard to get my REI stuff done.  But, I do try to take one small action each day.  Whether it’s writing for my blog, looking at REO listings or the MLS, looking into my mailing lists, listening to an REI webinar or podcast, I try to do something every day, no matter how small.  I learned that from my friends over at divamoneyclub.com.  I gotta celebrate the small victories and taking action.

I don’t really know how to solve this problem of having no time, except to just leave my job.  All of my family commitments are non-negotiable, I gotta be there for that stuff, but the job, it’s gotta go!  I am planning to do it this year anyway, but financially, I am not quite ready to walk away.  Nonetheless, I am still striving toward that goal of being “unemployable” this year and gosh darn it, I’m gonna do it!!

I am doing other passive income type stuff, too, mainly so I can build up some cash so I can leave my job.  I’m in the process of monetizing my blogs and sites and working on creating other means of income.  My husband and I are also back to selling on eBay, so that helps out a bit. 

Every day I always make the joke that “I could get so much done if I didn’t have this job” and I feel it’s so true.  But, I know plenty of other people work full time and do REI and other things on the side, so I know I can, too!   For the few people that know I have these “side gigs,” they always ask “How do you have time for all this other stuff?”  That’s when I do feel a bit better and say to myself  “Yeah, I am doing things to reach my goals!”  Sometimes I think the saying is true: “If you need something to get done, give it to a busy person.”

Happy Investing!