Time is money more than money
When I was first exposed to real estate investing, I was working for an investor down in Atlanta on his rehab crew. The guy’s name was Andy, and he had two of my friends and me doing everything on his rehabs that didn’t require a license, along with some stuff that probably should have. It was great for me. I was getting to see firsthand what a real estate investor does on a flip. And then, I learned the difference between a flip rehab and what was needed to get a rental property up and running.
I’m very grateful for the knowledge that I gained through the time spent working for Andy. He taught me about rehabs, but he also challenged my brain on the way money works. You see, Andy spoke about money differently than anyone I had ever heard. He acted like money was nothing more than a material to use on his projects.
Coming from a meager background, this was a very foreign concept to me. I could understand that thought process with two-by-fours and paint, but to apply that same rule to money sounded strange. You see where I came from, money was something that ruled over you — not the other way around. But here, Andy was the one in charge when it came to money. That observation was intriguing and perplexing at the same time.
Andy would say things that I didn’t understand. I remember him saying with some regularity, “Time is money more than money.” And for the longest time, I had no idea what he meant by that statement.
Now, I know that he was saying time is the most valuable currency we have. And how we choose to trade our time is something that should take some real consideration.
That’s not so hard to consider on things like a rental rehab we just had. The house was being turned over after a tenant had left and needed minor things like paint on the decks, pressure washing and its gutters cleaned. We painted the inside, ditched the carpet and put LVP throughout the whole house.
Now, while I was looking for painters, I got some competitive bids. There were two companies that were very close on price but days off on start time and completion. One company was a little higher, say $500, but they could start the Monday I needed them and guaranteed completion by that Wednesday.
We chose to go with the higher bid. And here’s why: “Time is money more than money.”
They were more for the painting, but because they were efficient, our floor man was able to get in the same week and get the job done. That means we have only a little bit of punch out and cleaning to do next week, and we can get this house on the market to rent for August.
Had we waited on the cheaper guys, we would have missed our Aug. deadline, meaning we would not have had someone in until Sept. 1. Not only would this have lost us another month’s rent, but we would have incurred an entire month’s worth of holding costs. This includes grass cutting, insurance, water and electrical during the hottest part of the year where we have to keep it cool so that prospective renters will know how great a house it is.
Having it rented by Aug. 1, means the new renter will pay for all that in September.
So, you can see how going with the more efficient company saved us money there, but what about the time aspect?
We are expecting our fourth baby. And according to everything thus far, the due date is Sept. 20. In the past, Ashley has had our babys two weeks early. So, that timeline would have her giving birth right at beginning of September. Getting this house rented and getting things ready at home during the same time period would have made things chaotic.
But we got some news this week that changes things even more. As it turns out, Ashley has been measuring two to three weeks farther along than we anticipated. To begin with, our midwife dismissed it saying that each baby is different. But this week, she started questioning our due date. Now, we may be having an August baby.
Had we gone with the cheaper-priced painters, we would have saved money, but lost the most valuable thing we have available: time. And as it turns out, my time is going to be needed in a different venture other than our real estate business.
So, we spent a little bit more money to gain some precious time to get things ready for baby Samuel. And that’s one way where time is money more than money.
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.