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…
Paying on-time is not a favor We experienced an anomaly this month. We had three different tenants who experienced difficulties paying on time, and they all had different circumstances. The first tenant actually did get his payment in on time. Truthfully, he was early. But the difficulty stemmed from the fact that his personal bank account had been closed down due to fraudulent activity, and the rent…
Is now the time to buy? We did something very interesting the other day. We bought a bus. Now, it’s not a school bus. It’s a public, transit-type bus. The reason we were looking for one was because we plan to travel a lot more around the U.S. making the most out of the 18 summers we have left with our kids. As I have told you before, we…
Real estate investing is a team sport I will never forget the last week of December in 2021. That week was a massive departure from the norm for me. It started on Sabbath morning when I awoke to back pain. You see, I hurt my back in the gym the week before Thanksgiving. I was doing an exercise called pendulum squats when I felt something move in my back….
Structuring deals Learning how to creatively structure deals is something that has been essential for my and Ashley’s success in real estate investing. The main reason for that fact is that we didn’t have access to funds when we started. So, we had to figure out how to buy houses with very little cash and without going to a bank. And that skill has allowed us to make some…
Getting into the business I often get asked a question around this time of the year. I’m not sure why it normally happens as the new year approaches, but maybe it has to do with people evaluating the previous 12 months and setting goals for the year to come. The questions is in reference to real estate investing, and it usually goes like this: “What do I…
Trailer differences I’ve had a lot of calls this week about mobile homes. Mostly, the conversations centered around the differences between trailers and stick-built homes in rehabs. So, I’d like to highlight a few of the major differences you need to be aware of should you decide to purchase a mobile home. To me, mobile homes are very interesting. I used to watch this show called “How It’s…
Face to face Monday morning was super busy for me. You see, we had a closing where we were purchasing a double wide on it’s on land, and I needed to prepare closing docs, get a cashier’s check for that closing and also attend to my normal Monday morning commitments. Due to labor shortages, my bank’s local branch had its lobby closed. As such, I had to…
Writ of possession I meet with a tired landlord recently at a property where they’d just finished the eviction process. And this person said multiple times during our meeting that they never wanted to be a landlord ever again. The reason for this was the tenants owed the landlord quit a bit of money. Months prior to the eviction, one of the tenants had moved out. Because of…
Friends, family and business I was talking to a landlord recently who had been put through the wringer by her tenants. You see, she had bought a freshly remodeled, four bedroom, 2 1/2 bath, 2,000-square-foot home and paid retail price for it. Now, this landlord was not a hedge fund, and she was not a high roller looking to put lazy money to work. She was just…