TW: fire damaged home. Over the past couple of weeks, we had the opportunity to assess two fire damaged houses. Since these were the first burnt houses we had calls about, we didn’t really know what to expect in terms of salvageability and making an offer. And, apparently, we are not alone. I just came across this thread today in one of my Facebook real estate investor groups and there is obviously a range of opinions: What follows is a look at one of the houses and a little of what I learned along the way about assessing fire damaged houses. Deal or No Deal? We got a call from an individua ..read more

TL;DR: Developing a system to be more productive in the long run really kills your productivity in the short run. And, no offense taken if you TL;DR this. You probably have more productive things to be doing with your time, after all. This post isn’t as entertaining as my last one. I mean, I can’t be hilarious and entertaining ALL the time, you know? And in my very first post, I promised to record the ups and downs of our real estate journey. So, you knew what you were getting into … Take some responsibility! Over the past few weeks, we have really gotten into the weeds working to take care of ..read more

Sometimes, things just work out that you really don’t expect. The deal described in this post is one. Spoiler: we did a deal on this house this week and it is definitely a highlight of our investing journey so far simply because of a few obstacles and, well … look at it! It’s a little intimidating. Patience, patience, patience. This deal was a long time in the making. We drove by this house back in AUGUST 2020 and noted it in our DealMachine app, discussed in this post. We started mailers and this is what the owner, we’ll call her Marcia, received: Just noticed our logo is cut off in the previ ..read more

One of the keys to being a successful real estate investor is finding deals! So, what makes a property a “deal?” That depends on what your end goal is … Do you want to create passive income through rental properties (“buy and hold” real estate)? Do you want to flip houses (buy, renovate/upgrade, and then resell)? Do you want to be an expert at finding deals and then earn a fee by assigning the contracts to other investors (“wholesaling”)? Do you want to own commercial properties and rent them out to businesses? What about having short-term rentals, like an AirBnB? So. Many. Options! It can be ..read more

They say real estate is a “people business.” So … what’s an introvert to do? I’m just going to jump right in: I consider myself to be a socially-awkward individual. I’m not saying this as a slight towards myself, but more of a recognition of this feature of my personality. I’ve been this way for a long time — and I guarantee it was well before I recognized this quality in myself. Which, I guess it makes sense. How do you know if YOU are the weird one in the group, right? But, at age 43, I would say that I have embraced it. Is “embracing” the right word? Maybe “managing” is more accurate. Look ..read more

Ok, so that was total click bait. Well, I guess not TOTAL since it is technically true! I mentioned briefly in my previous post that we added a quadplex to our portfolio. Before that, we had one property that we are currently renovating to keep as a rental. So, that’s where the numbers really made quintupling pretty easy. ? On 09/30/2020, a form was submitted on our website by Brian (name has been changed). We called Brian the next day to find out more information on the property. Mike was the one who made the call and he and Brian hit it off right away. Brian is from out West and works as a s ..read more

Today … was super busy. Not a complaint, just a fact! I’m so tired right now that the following is probably going to lack some flair, but this is just what today was — exhausting. I’m going to give you a run through of what our day today looked like with the following highlights: 9-10am I (Anne) had a webinar meeting this morning for the NOAA water quality project that I am coordinating. I may have mentioned this before, but I was in charge of this project while working at the Navarre Beach Marine Science Station last school year when I was still teaching. Due to COVID-19 and the school closur ..read more

If you’ve been on real estate websites, forums, and listening to podcasts recently, you hear more and more about doing real estate investing virtually. But, is it really possible to do a deal without ever even meeting the seller or going to the closing table? Read on! In October, we received a form submitted from a lead that had visited our website. We will call this lead “Kevin.” Here is the information that Kevin provided us that popped into our inbox: This is what is known in the biz as HOT LEAD. Let me explain. First, when people go to our website, they are invited to submit a form for a ..read more

Why would anybody sell their home at a discount? It’s a reasonable question. Can you think of any reasons? The best way I have heard this concept explained was in relation to car sales. Have you ever traded in a car? It’s the same concept. Could you get more for the car if you sold it independently? Likely, yes, considerably more. Then, why don’t more people do that?! One main reason is convenience. It’s a lot easier to trade it in at a dealership than have to go through the hassle of trying to sell it on your own. I mean, who wants to advertise it and then meet up with strangers — much less ..read more

So, where are we now with Property #1? All of the demolition has been completed (by Mike and our friend Matt) and some new windows have been installed. So, we are ready to get moving with this renovation! We have been trying to assemble our contracting team to begin work on the long-awaited renovation. We were … somewhat successful. Like I mentioned in my last post, contractors are difficult to come by. Our plan has always been to hire a general contractor (GC). That way, we have one point-person that oversees the entire project — from permitting to floor installation. However, we have had tro ..read more