Striving to create a better life for everyone by sustainably solving real estate problems

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Monthly Archives: July 2018

Play

Don't forget to play. Here's a picture of Carlton playing.

Play is one of the most important factors in a healthy life. I think we’d all agree a healthy life is a better life.
Carlton certainly would.

I recently created a bunch of slides to keep me motivated and positive. They rotate through my desktop background image. The most important one appears to the right.

Many people with day jobs fantasize about owning their own company. Being their own boss. A friend once told me, “It would be great. You can make your own hours! No boss to tell you what to do.”

Let me tell you: that’s not how it works.  Continue reading →

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When? Okay. But WHEN?

Here is the open door to the downstairs bedroom, and the closed closet door! YAY!

“When will Rattlesnake be finished?!!”

It’s the common question I get, and the answer is “very soon.” We have hit some snags, and we have hit some bumps in the construction process (not any fault or blame to be laid, just part of the process) and we are now moving forward.

Cabinetry update

The fancy cabinets have changed. A lot! My Dad is going to build the cabinets with me. It will be a project that will put a piece of him in the house that I plan to buy and live in for the rest of my life. He even has some shelving that was Mom’s that can be used. How perfect is that? My Dad and I have done many projects together. Some have been this kind, some have been automotive. I have the little hands, so if it is a tight space, he just tells me what to do. I have felt every happy emotion you can feel since I talked to Dad about building the cabinets. So that is now handled. Next is the floors. Ugh.

What to do about them there floors?

Continue reading →

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What Is an Opportunity?

Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work. Wikia provided Wendy's image. I built the slide.

Wendy knows that all opportunities
involve some kind of work.
Wendy Source: Wikia

I came across a great quote attributed to Thomas Edison. “Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.” It got me thinking about all the opportunities we provide and the kinds of work they require to see to fruition.

Opportunities in this business do require work—some more than others.

But there’s more than one kind of work. Here, in no particular order, are a few of the opportunities we provide to help everyone achieve a better life.

Real Estate Problems
Sometimes a house is just a burden for the owners. They can’t afford the payments. They need to move quickly for a job opportunity. Deferred maintenance has built up to the point where they can’t deal with it. They inherited the house, but they live in another county or another state and just can’t take the time to deal with it.
The reasons why people need to sell a house or endless. We can help them by buying the house and closing on their schedule.
Have I mentioned that many of the houses we buy and renovate are eyesores? Our process improves the whole neighborhood by cleaning up rundown houses, picking up garbage, or just freshening the paint and landscaping.
Exposed shower valve in a 1960s bathroom.

What do you see here? Is this a problem or an opportunity? Hint: You can’t have without the other.

Market Research and Development
It takes a lot of time to find and secure a deal. Some of our associates learn a market by driving around and looking at houses (driving for dollars). They then sell us the list of prospects they compile.
Others specialize in getting houses under contract. They then sell us the contract wholesale.
And, of course, Realtors® help us buy and sell houses, earning a nice commission.
Physical Labor
Renovating a house requires a variety of skilled and unskilled labor. It provides work for electricians, plumbers, framers, landscapers, and cleaners.
White Collar Work
You don’t think about lawyers and accountants needing work, but they do. We have a full-time bookkeeper, a CPA who reviews our books and prepares our tax returns, and real estate lawyers who consult with us on every project. Then there is the clerical staff who work for each of these professions and at the title companies that close the purchase and sale transactions.
Loans
We often have to buy houses faster than a bank or mortgage company can make a funding decision. When we don’t have the liquidity to close the project on our own, we rely on private lenders with whom we have an established relationship. We help them put their money to work earning a much higher return than they would earn from a bank. Of course, there’s more risk than with most banks, but we believe the reward is much greater than the risk.
We also lend money on good projects when we run low on projects for ourselves.

You can see how every project we take on has the ability to help lots of people achieve a better life. We really do improve people’s lives by solving real estate problems.

If you’d like to talk to us about how we might be able to help you better your life with one of these opportunities, please drop us an email or call 512-807-8777.

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We Need a New Elevator Speech

A cute white puppy.

I don’t care what you do unless you first convince me why I should—quickly. Are there treats involved? Remember, I’m a puppy and I have a short attention span.

Here’s another example of why we need to Start with Why.

At Rotary this week, we spent a lot of time talking about how we don’t do a very good job of explaining why anyone would want to be a Rotary member. If members even know why, they tend to focus on some of the things that Rotary International does, not why it does them. That doesn’t necessarily encourage folks to visit or join.

Our district governor said we need a new elevator speech. An elevator speech is a short description of your organization, short enough you can deliver it between floors in an elevator. What he suggested was something like this:

Rotary is 1.2 million people working together to make the world a better place to live.

See why I like Rotary? #mindset

When you push the button, are you ready with YOUR elevator speech?

I realized Hermit Haus also needs a better elevator speech. Like too many businesses, we focus on what we do, trying to cram as much as possible into a few words. But if we focus on why we do what we do, we don’t need so many words, and we make a more effective argument. Here’s what I came up with, just before the DG gave his suggested Rotary elevator speech.

We strive to make a better life for everyone by sustainably solving real estate problems.

Let us know what you think about ours, and share yours if you have one!

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Why Would I Sell?

When you decide to sell or continue holding an investment property, there aren’t any right or wrong decisions—only consequences. It’s important to be mindful of those consequences and make the right decision for the information you have at the time. Then live with the consequences without regrets.

So you have a nice rental property with multiple income streams. Why would you want to sell it?

A lot of reasons may influence your decision.

A Better Life for Everyone
Several of our tenants have fallen in love with their rental and asked us to sell it to them. They get a house they know and love. If they have traditional financing, we get a chunk of cash to reinvest. If we owner-finance, we get a much smaller chunk of cash, but we continue to have passive income without the expenses of renting.

Continue reading →

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