Buying out-of-state property We are selling a house right now, and it’s not a normal situation for us. It’s not a flip or a rental property. Instead, it’s the house my Grandmother owned until she passed in 2013. There are some people who are cool with buying and owning property all over the world and back. But that idea is scary to me. I like having properties I…
Steady wins the race During a recent walk with my kids, my first-born was showing out on his roller blades and my daughter was rolling around on a three-wheeled scooter. As we were walking and talking, the story of the tortoise and the hare got brought up. Now I don’t know about you, but when I think about that story I don’t see a book of Aesop’s Fables….
Controlled chaos Sometimes, things are just hectic. In the real estate world, however, I think you have to accept that things are constantly going to come up and alter your plans. You’ll have to succumb to the fact that you will be living a life of controlled chaos at work. Take this morning for instance. I got through with my workout and went to go see V…
Is this the new normal? I was talking with a buddy of mine this week about how to evaluate the returns on rental property using the financial calculator. I’d like to share with you what we did. Before we get started, if you haven’t had your morning cup of coffee, put me down and go get. This column is going to be numbers-heavy and will require an acute…
Why do we fall? Two people fell this week at the gym where I work out. They were both middle-aged women, and both falls were centered around some sort of running. As I reflected on what happened in each instance, I saw some very good learning lessons I’d like to share. But first, let me tell you about what happened. The first incident took place on the treadmill. …
Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should I was talking to an investor friend, recently, who was facing a conundrum. You see, he had become very specialized in one area of real estate. And the strategy he’d been using to buy on auction platforms, do minimum rehabs and resell was no longer working. Referencing the book by Spencer Johnson M.D., my friend said, “My cheese moved.” …
Comfort can kill you On a recent morning, I was heading back from a new acquire we have out in the Ranger area of Gordon County. The house is currently being rehabbed to get it rent ready. I was at the house after leaving the gym before 7 a.m. to drop off some materials for the guys. We got them unloaded, and I headed home to take…
Succession plan I think most parents want to leave an inheritance to give a better financial life to their children and grandchildren. But should that wealth transfer happen haphazardly? Or should there be some real forethought as far as how the inheritance should take place? What I’m talking about here is how you should be training your children and grandchildren to inherit the wealth in your estate and…
Robbing Peter to pay Paul We just had our first real hot days for this year, which means landlords are about to get calls about air conditioning not working properly. Now, there are some normal things that can happen when central units go from being “off” during springtime to “on” full blast in the Georgia heat, and these typical malfunctions can hinder a unit’s ability to cool. But…
Business and babies I’m running on fumes this morning. That’s to be expected with a newborn, but the last couple of days have been exhausting, especially for Ashley. Last night we got the baby down for the night at 11:30 p.m. by swaddling him on my chest. While I enjoyed the tenderness of those moments, it also meant I was going to need to sleep in a semi-upright…