Nov

30

Make That a Boatload of Money AND a Boatload of Time

November 30, 2007 | 1 Comment

Gearing myself up for making a serious run at House #2 in the next few weeks, as far as putting in many, many hours over there. I’m going to be in Las Vegas December 12th-19th for another poker reporting gig, and I’m hoping to have all the work I plan on doing personally finished by […]

Nov

29

If I Only Had a Boatload of Money

November 29, 2007 | 1 Comment

The buyers had House #1 inspected yesterday and requested only a few small repairs, didn’t ask for a price reduction, so things thankfully seem to be on track there.
I finally, finally should have electricity at House #2 now, as the electrical work was done yesterday, passed by the city inspection department, and I submitted the […]

Nov

27

Things I Am Thankful for: Sweet, Sweet Progress on House #2

November 27, 2007 | 1 Comment

Plenty of updates to share, as I’ve been on a dead run since last week and finally have time to catch my breath and post some updates, now that I’m back at the office at the day job. (Heh.)
Things are still a go with House #1, and we’re still shooting for a closing date of Dec. 11th. […]

Nov

21

House #1: Pending

November 21, 2007 | 1 Comment

Well, that was fast. After a quick conference with the wife and thinking it over during lunch, we countered the offer we got this morining for House #1 at $86,000 (with the same $2,500 in closing costs that they included in their offer, so essentially we countered their offer of $81,500 with $83,500) and they […]

Nov

21

Lo and Behold, an Offer

November 21, 2007 | 2 Comments

We’d pretty much resigned ourselves to renting House #1 and had signed the paperwork for our realtor to list it for sale as well as for rent late last week, so when I saw our agent’s number on my cell phone, I assumed he had a potential tenant lined up. Surprise surprise, he was calling […]

Nov

20

I Is Tired

November 20, 2007 | 6 Comments

Many thanks for the comments on my last contractor rant, and I can tend to be self-absorbed and view situations like that solely from my vantage point. I’ve been on the other side of that equation before (mostly as a house painter) and it’s definitely just as frustrating dealing with flaky clients or people who […]

Nov

16

A Sure Fire Business Plan Guaranteed to Make You Millions

November 16, 2007 | 4 Comments

Step 1: Offer a service that people need, which they cannot complete themselves either due to lack of skill, motivation, or licensing (plumbing, electrical work, construction, etc.) Pick a market where you can charge a hefty premium for your services (plumbing, electrical work, construction, etc.)
Step 2: When they call you, answer the phone. When you […]

Nov

15

Spending Money is Fun; Dealing With Building Permits Isn’t Fun

November 15, 2007 | Leave a Comment

Despite the radio silence here, I’ve still been plugging along on the real estate front. I’ve been knocking out what I can at House #2, but had been a bit on hold as far as the timing of certain jobs, needing to sort out and finish A before beginning on B, then C, etc.
It took […]

Nov

6

Not Dead

November 6, 2007 | 2 Comments

Sorry for the lack of updates of late, but I was off on another poker reporting gig from October 24th-November 3rd, and have been pretty insanely busy of late in general.
Still plugging away on House #2. Still can’t get any contractors lined up. It’s reaching the fairly ridiculous stage, as far as finding someone willing to frame […]