Based on a few requests and comments, I went ahead and set up a forum here, to aid in the interactive discussion of assorted things a bit. I’m a big fan of WordPress and the blog format, but it does make discussion a bit difficult at time, and tends to bury potentially useful stuff deep in the archives. The forum is very much an empty ghost town, for all the obvious reasons, but hopefully it’ll pick up some steam moving forward.
Prompted by a recent comment from another brave soul entering the world of flipping, I thought I’d babble a bit about my background. Not because I’m vain like that, but because I think a lot of people get scared off from real estate investing/flipping because they feel like they’re somehow unqualified, or that they can’t afford to pay contractors and are unable to do the work themselves, etc.
In the end, all I really think it takes is stubbornness, a little forethought, and the willingness to work hard. While I’m reasonably handy with a fair number of tools, Bob Vila I ain’t. I have a MFA in Creative Writing and my day job and side business is very much in the world of computers and Web content, and about as far away from hammers and nails as you can get.
I did, though, work many summers as a house painter, and worked for a few years after grad school doing general repair/rehab work, mostly painting, landscaping, and laying tile. But, honestly, I’m very far from some sort of whiz-bang, jack-of-all-trades fix-it guy. My usual process is to screw something up, kick myself for not planning things out better, do it again and screw up less, grumble some more, then finally get it right.
Most home repair jobs, though, take stubborness more than anything, and a little research beforehand. When you get down to it, refinishing hardwood floors isn’t difficult; it’s just hard, dusty work. Laying tile isn’t difficult, if you’re patient. Painting isn’t hard work (except for ceilings) if you take your time. Toilets aren’t filled with complicated parts and are easy to fix, if you’re willing to root around in there and figure it out.
While it’s not very sexy to hold up “stubbornness” as your most redeeming quality as an investor/flipper/whatever, I’m pretty convinced that that single trait will probably get you farther than pretty much anything else you can insert there, short of “fabulously wealthy.”
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