As I write this, I am sitting in the Destin area of Florida in a town called Miramar Beach, and today has been the best day of our vacation.
That being said, getting here wasn’t easy.
The last workday before left was beyond full. I left the house at 7 a.m. to make my first stop at the Calhoun Home Depot to pick up a large order for a flip we have going. It consisted of the flooring we use, vanity cabinets, and the rest of the fixtures needed for the interior finishing work my guys would do while I was gone.
Cowboy Steve got my trailer loaded, and I headed to the next stop — the carpet store.
I needed to pick out carpet and vinyl for that same project. They were running a little low on inventory, and my normal sales guy was still out from having had knee surgery. But we found a plush, neutral frieze carpet, just not at my normal price.
I still needed to visit four properties in three counties by the day’s end, and I simply didn’t have enough time to shop around for a better price. So we just went with it.
Next, I went to go see Russ over at Gordon Building Supply. He and Eric run the desk over there, and I really like them. Not only are they good to be around, but they also provide great customer service. They often go above and beyond to make sure I’m taken care of.
Russ got my trim order ready and had me on my way in plenty of time to get to my staff meeting at 9 a.m.
During the meeting, we went over what needed to be done over the next week while I was gone. We finished up with prayer and headed out before 10 a.m.
Lucas, one of my workers, and I took the Home Depot delivery to the flip project.
After that, we stopped by our storage building to pick up a water heater. Next we visited Habitat for Humanity to see Lana and Bud for some flooring for a rental in Dalton, and then we headed to my house to pick up a tool from the shop.
On the way there, however, we got a call from the seller of a property we just had purchased in Adairsville. He was calling to say they were through moving out and were ready to settle up.
This took precedence over anything else.
You see, the seller was already supposed to be out. They had gotten a little overwhelmed with the move and hadn’t finished on time.
We anticipated this and used a tactic to incentivize them to perform. We held back part of their proceeds from the sale and then charged them a fee from that money for every day they were late.
In the end however, even though they went two days over, we didn’t penalize them. We found out the spouse was a veteran and to say “thank you” for her service, we gave them the full amount back.
Lucas and I made it up to Dalton, came back to Calhoun and then again to Adairsville before the sun went down. We got everything done so Ashley, the kids and I could head to the beach.
While we’ve been here, I’ve been thinking about vacation pay. You see in my adult life, I have never worked anywhere that offered paid time off. That’s mainly because I’ve been working for myself since college.
But as I was sitting by the waves thinking about what to write, it dawned on me I do have paid time off.
It comes from our rental income.
You hear investors talk about how great mailbox money is. They’re referring to the rent checks they get mailed each month. But how good is a rent check sitting in your mailbox in Georgia if you are by the beach in Florida?
Because of this issue, we decided to move away from paper checks and start drafting rents from our tenants via ACH. This means that no matter where we are, with a few clicks of a button our rents will be moved directly into our account.
Instead of mailbox money, since it’s all digital, I’ve been calling it in-box money. And having it will give you paid time off no matter where you are.
Joe and Ashley English buy houses and mobile homes in Northwest Georgia. For more information or to ask a question, go to www.cashflowwithjoe.com or call Joe at 678-986-6813.