Financial Freedom One House At A Time
Our first occupied sit-out We recently had to do one of the most uncomfortable things I feel like a person has to do as a landlord. It’s called a sit-out. If you don’t know what that is, a sit-out is the culmination of the dispossessory proceedings. It’s where the landlord has to go in and physically remove all of someone’s personal possessions from the interior of their property…
The anonymity of a land trust When people are getting started in real estate investing, they often assume they need to form an entity like an LLC or an S Corp first thing. The two main reasons for this are to protect their assets from lawsuit and to take advantage of certain tax breaks. In my opinion, due to formation and maintenance costs, neither of these entities are…
I am, I change Today, I would like to revisit a topic that I’ve written about before. It resurfaced recently. Once upon a time I invited you into a night ritual that I had with my then 3-year-old daughter. She’s now 6. The ritual went like this: I’d lay her on my chest while we sang songs and prayed. Before I’d lay her down, I’d ask…
A servant’s heart Today I want to dote on one of my people. She’s a delight to be around and is as positive and upbeat as someone can be. Chances are, if you’re from Gordon County, you probably already recognize her smiling face. Her name is Marybeth Dismuke. Marybeth came to work with us in April of 2018. Every morning since, when I’ve come walking into the office,…
Do outbuildings go with a property? We had something happen for the first time this month that had to do with an outbuilding located at a property we had recently purchased. It was a great learning lesson, and I’d like to share it with you. The sellers of this house where in distress. They had been relocated for work and had listed their house, but they hadn’t sold it…
Lease option vs. lease purchase I got a call from an investor recently needing some help with structuring a deal. He was in the process of buying a property and wanted to do “one of those lease option, lease purchase things” as his exit strategy. As we talked, I realized just how easy it is to get those two terms confused and how freely people use them synonymously….
The money is in the meter drop How would you like to make $10,000? Now, before you blurt out an answer, I’d like for you to consider a story that my good friend and mentor Gary Harper tells about a cabby he encountered. The title of his story is “The money is in the meter drop.” And it goes like this: Gary was in the big…
Pistols and pit bulls Ashley and I were presenting at a Real Estate Investor Association (REIA) recently, where the topic was talking to sellers. During the presentation, we made mention that Ashley goes door knocking without me. This led to the normal safety questions from the crowd, which almost always includes, “Aren’t you afraid someone is going to pull a gun on you?” That night, that question came from…
A reason why agents forget about investors Ashley and I saw something last month and again this month that we haven’t seen in a long time. While out door knocking on the pre-foreclosures, we saw realtor signs in front of some of the houses being foreclosed on. This happened a lot after the crash. Sellers would try to list their properties to get out from under a mortgage…
Transactional versus relationship-based deals Real estate deals can be lumped into two basic categories. They are known as transaction-based and relationship-based. Transaction-based deals are the ones where you really don’t meet anyone in person. You buy these properties in places like auction sites, the MLS and foreclosure auctions. This deal type is attractive because, for the most part, you can buy them from the comfort of your home…