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Nov

30

Tip: Better, Faster, Cheaper

November 30, 2008 | Leave a Comment

Back when I was in the technology industry, we had a popular saying: “Better, Faster, Cheaper — Pick 2“…
Basically, the idea was that you could build something at higher quality, in less time, or for less money, but not all three of those. At best, you could could optimize for two of them, in […]

Nov

26

House #1: No Buyer

November 26, 2008 | Leave a Comment

We had our first offer on The Corn House this past weekend, but unfortunately, it didn’t work out. The potential buyer called my wife on Saturday to take a look at the house, and mentioned up-front that she wasn’t yet pre-qualified for a loan. Of course, we walked her through the house anyway, […]

Nov

24

Finding the Buyer First

November 24, 2008 | Leave a Comment

My wife’s tremendous marketing ability has led us to a potentially new business model that may help us grow our business. After selling The Yellow Stain House last week, we had at least one (and probably many more) real estate agents that were a bit bummed because they had clients that very much wanted […]

Nov

22

House #4: Final Analysis

November 22, 2008 | Leave a Comment

As of this afternoon, The Yellow Stain House is officially sold!
This project has been at times frustrating, at times fun, and has presented some very unique challenges. Specifically, one of the most difficult aspects of this project has been deciding what our exit strategy would be. We considered a major rehab and flip; […]

Nov

21

House #3: Week 8 Update

November 21, 2008 | 1 Comment

It’s been a while since I posted an update on The Second Chance House. This isn’t because there’s been nothing interesting going on with that rehab…just more to do with all the activity around the other projects…
Here is an update:

As you can see from the title of this post, we’re into week #8 of […]

Nov

20

Too Much Paperwork!

November 20, 2008 | Leave a Comment

As I mentioned yesterday, we got an offer on The Yellow Stain House that we accepted. This was the first written offer that my wife has ever gotten as a real estate agent, and when it came in, we were both a bit confused about next steps.
Certainly we wanted to counter-offer, but we […]

Nov

19

House #4: Under Contract

November 19, 2008 | 4 Comments

It’s official — The Yellow Stain House is now under contract to be sold!
We’ve gotten tremendous interest in this house over the past week, and it was only a matter of time before we got an acceptable offer. Today, not only did we get a very reasonable offer, but a second potential buyer who […]

Nov

18

Our First (Own) Offers

November 18, 2008 | 4 Comments

My wife, brother and I have been scouring the MLS the past few days looking for new properties; now that we’re down to a single rehab and have two properties on the market, it feels as if we have nothing to do! Things are getting boring, and we’re ready to acquire at least one […]

Nov

14

House #4: Wow!

November 14, 2008 | 2 Comments

After having The Corn House sit on the market for the past three weeks without anyone even looking at it, I’m completely amazed at the activity we’ve had at The Yellow Stain House in the past 24 hours. We had to remove it from the MLS for about two days due to some paperwork […]

Nov

13

House #4: Another Offer?

November 13, 2008 | Leave a Comment

I mentioned the other day that the first person to visit The Yellow Stain House was very interested in putting in an offer. She is still working through her financing, and as of yet, we haven’t received a formal offer; but her agent says that if the financing comes through, we will be getting […]

Nov

12

House #4: Why Not Rent?

November 12, 2008 | 9 Comments

I just received a comment on a previous post asking why I wouldn’t consider renting out The Yellow Stain House. This is a question I get often, and also one I’ve asked myself often. While in theory, renting this property makes a lot of sense (the numbers work well), there are a couple […]

Nov

11

House #4: Rehab. Offer?

November 11, 2008 | Leave a Comment

The Yellow Stain House has been on the market for three days now. The foundation has been repaired, as has been the main water line from the meter to the house (there was a rupture that would have cost as much to fix as to replace the whole thing). As the house is […]

Nov

10

House #3: Exterior Complete

November 10, 2008 | Leave a Comment

We’re already a little behind schedule on The Second Chance House, but we’re making steady progress. Inside, all the rough plumbing, HVAC, and electrical is complete, along with all the new framing that needed to completed for the floorplan redesign. Last week, we pass all rough inspections and our framing inspection, and this […]

Nov

8

Real Estate License!

November 8, 2008 | 2 Comments

My wife got her real estate license last week!
It took about 150 hours of study, a crash refresher course, and then two exams, but she did it, and with flying colors (whatever that means). In Georgia (and probably everywhere else), having your real estate license doesn’t mean anything until you find a real estate […]

Nov

5

House #4: Rehab Update

November 5, 2008 | 1 Comment

We closed on The Yellow Stain House this past Monday. In the past three days, we’ve accomplished a good bit:
- The foundation work was completed…while a good bit of the yard was dug up during the repair (they put anchors both against the interior foundation wall and outside the house), by the time they […]

Nov

5

Taking the Night Off

November 5, 2008 | 1 Comment

Instead of blogging this evening, I will be spending the night with my wife, enjoying the election coverage (well, maybe enjoying…we’ll see who’s winning), drinking wine, and planning our overdue honeymoon…

Nov

4

House #4: Finally Mine

November 4, 2008 | 3 Comments

Good News: I finally closed on The Yellow Stain House today!
While closing on this house is a good thing, it’s a reminder that things don’t always work out the way you plan, especially in this business. I’ve been learning that lesson repeatedly over the past couple weeks. Here are some of the […]

Nov

3

House #4: Final Plan

November 3, 2008 | Leave a Comment

I mentioned recently that The Yellow Stain House is quickly becoming the bane of my existence…and in just the past few days, things have only gotten more annoying…
I most recenly had decided to go the tradtional loan route, with the expectation that I’d likely rent this property for a year or two while working through […]