This does concern you This week, I met with a seller who had a beautiful, brick ranch in a very desirable subdivision in Calhoun. The house was in very good shape. It needed some updating since it still had original fixtures throughout the house as well as wallpaper from its construction era. The kitchen needed some love too, but it had nice hardwood floors, a great living space and…
Another statistic Have you heard it said that 8 out 10 small businesses fail within the first 18 months? I have, and I just thought it was true. As a matter of fact, I went looking for it the other day and was kind of surprised as to what I found. I found that statistic was stated in a Forbes article from 2013. But they gave no data…
To be, or not be free and clear I come from the Dave Ramsey school of thought when it comes to managing finances. I don’t like personal debt, and I prefer to pay cash for things. As a matter of fact, Ashley and I have never had a car payment during our marriage. We no longer have any student loan debt, and we only use our personal credit cards…
Swim, bike, run I recently participated in the Lake Lanier Island Sprint Triathlon … and it was awesome. If you are not familiar with a sprint triathlon, it’s a race that consists of a quarter-mile swim, a 13-mile bike ride and then a 5k run, which is 3.10 miles. This was my first one ever. And to say I was nervous was an understatement. We got…
I have lots of questions I’m going to be open and honest with you about something that’s been going through my head. It stems from a conversation Ashley and I were having before bed. As I was laying there, something dawned on me. I looked over at Ashley and said, “I have to be honest. Being a parent is not how I envisioned it.” She looked over…
Foreclosure Tidal Wave I watched a pretty cool TED talk on how tidal waves are formed recently, and I learned some really interesting stuff I would like to share with you. The first thing I learned was that the name of tidal wave is a little bit of a misnomer because they have nothing to do with the ocean tidal system. Then I learned about the term tsunami,…
If you don’t face your fears, then you don’t get to play with the kittens After a bumpy week, behaviorally speaking, with my eight-year-old, I could tell I needed to spend some one-on-one time with my boy. So, I took him to work with me. This time together is something I cherish because I get to show him how we make our living, and I have the opportunity to…
A lose-lose situation We try as real estate investors to create win-win situations when constructing our deals. This endeavor takes a lot of practice and a lot of training to accomplish. We spend countless hours reading books about negotiating and creative deal structuring, and we regularly attend seminars on the subject. We do this so we can be prepared to help as many people as possible solve their real…
Kill it, or keep it? I’ve written to you before about the story of the goose and the golden egg. Just to remind you, it’s about a poor farmer who discovered he had a goose that would lay a solid gold egg each day. The farmer would sell that egg and then live lavishly off the proceeds. Eventually, he became impatient with receiving only an egg a day and…
Sitting at the laundromat with my bank account drained So, I learned some very valuable lessons this week at the laundromat. First, laundromat has an “O” in it which is contrary to how I say it — “laundry mat.” Next, the machines there have come a long way since I was kid. They have timers on the washers now, which is awesome, and the dryers are very efficient. I…