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Monthly Archives: November 2018

What’s the Difference Between Distress and Motivation?

This whole village is for sale in New Zealand!

If you have almost $2-million available, have friends in New Zealand, and love the views as much as I do, this village may be the right investment for you. Check out the listing on OneAgency. They have lots more exciting pix.

You know we’re always looking for our next redevelopment opportunity. We’ve talked about distressed properties and the opportunities they present if you can look past their challenges. I’ve also talked about how the numbers have to make sense and we buy only a small percentage of the distressed properties we look at.

Why is that?

A distressed property is only one indication of what may be a motivated seller. The level of seller motivation rather than the level of property distress is the real driver of what makes a property we can buy.

Some of the things that may motivate an owner to sell include:

  • Physical distress arising from deferred maintenance or the inability to pay for needed repairs
  • Lack of interest in an inherited property or a second home the seller just doesn’t want to deal with
  • Landlord fatigue that comes from not understanding how to manage rental properties and tenants or when the landlord moves away
  • Financial distress arising form health problems, job loss, or financial mismanagement

In any of those cases we can help the seller overcome a (hopefully) temporary problem by buying their property and taking on the headaches they can’t or don’t want to deal with.

One of the challenges in our business is understanding the difference between distress and motivation. This article is one of the best example examples of how to tell the difference between distress and motivation. Here are a few salient facts if you don’t want to read the original article: Continue reading →

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Is the Telephone Dead?

Robocalls outnumber real ones.

This is the inbound call log of my private cell phone. Only two of the visible calls were legit. Everything else was a robocall spoofing a legitimate phone number. Only one was blocked. None of the others were marked as telemarketers or scams.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve almost given up on using the telephone for any reason—business or personal. You probably know why. Robocalls and other scams.

I get more crap calls than real ones—sometimes as many as 30 to 1. It’s a real problem that the ability to spoof phone numbers has only made worse. I even get robocalls from myself. I don’t engage in robocalls; my Caller ID identifies some of them I receive as coming from a number registered to me.

To me, spoofing other phone numbers is a form of identity theft. The thieves are trying to use someone else’s credibility to get you to listen to their scams.

First Orion, a company that lobbies for “transparency in communication,” predicts than half of all calls made by next year will be scams.

Why Do They Use Those Robocallers?

By using robocalls, the scammers encounter virtually no expense. Everyone has a computer, and the software to make the calls and spoof legitimate users is freely available. If even one of the 5.1-billion—Yes! 5.1-Billion—robocalls made last month results in a successful scam, the frauds making the calls are profitable, and that’s all that matters to these sociopaths.

I’m using strong language here. I stand by it. “There are virtually no legitimate marketers trying to reach you to sell you something using a prerecorded call,” Lois Greisman, director of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Marketing Practices Division told CNN. I agree.

The Problem Is Costly, but Is a Solution Even Possible?

Continue reading →

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Architectural Fact Finding Tour

Yes, some greenery would help this big rectangle.

Yesterday was a big step forward in The Hermit Haus journey. Our architect, Ken Smith (who did the design on the Bobcat house and the Villa Park casita, among other projects) came up to Cameron to take a look at the old church.

It made me feel a lot better when he didn’t act overwhelmed, just excited, about the possibilities and what we need to have done.

First, Ken and I looked at the exterior and discussed what could give the place some curb appeal. He liked my painting ideas and had some good thoughts on what to do with the front of the building to make it more inviting. He thinks plants will help a lot, and that they will disguise the fact that we may not put in ALL the possible basement windows.

Accessibility Issues

That is one unattractive coveered entrance. We hope to make it look better, and balance it with a wheelchair ramp on the other side.

We were all completely on the same page when it came to accessibility; he just assumed that was important, and we just assumed he’d factor that in. The good thing is that we think making the building have easy access might even improve its looks.

The first thing we looked at was the font entrance. On one side there’s the covered entrance to the basement (our future office entrance), but there’s nothing to balance it on the other side. He came up with the idea to put a wheelchair ramp on that side, which would visually balance the facade and help with ADA compliance (and we could get rid of the unsightly chair lift).

That still leaves the basement with no access, but Ken shared that prices for individual mini-elevators have come WAY down, so we will plan to have space for one of those. And when he adds the new bathrooms on the upper level, they will be compliant, so we won’t have to re-do the configuration of the downstairs bathroom.

Lee and Ken discuss plans.

The Windows

Ken agreed that the lower level looks like a cave and that opening up some of the windows would be good. As visions of dollar signs flashed through Lee’s head, we quickly came to consensus that maybe not ALL the windows need to be opened up. Perhaps one per office, and a couple on the other side. Ken thinks landscaping will help make the fact that the building is no longer 100% symmetrical not so bad.

The Offices

The agreement is that we want three offices and a conference room. Lee and Ken both want the office area reconfigured to cover up the support poles. I worry a bit that it will make the downstairs area appear too small, but have faith that Ken will come up with something that will work. He also wants to work a bit on the kitchen, so the support pole in there is incorporated in the room. Kitchen access will need to be slightly changed, anyway, if they make the offices larger. I can’t wait to see what the design is!

Llee and Ken peer at the very large batismal area where we hope to put tthe HVAC stuff.

Other Stuff

We also looked upstairs at the baptismal area and the back part, where we want to put HVAC and two more bathrooms. The good news is that the plumbing is easy to get to, because of the baptismal needing access. We also need a spot for an audio-visual person to work when there are events, so that has to get figured in, too.

We did find one area that would have to b eaddresses, and that was in the rear storage area where the water heater and other infrastructure lives. The door you see in the top photo seems to have leaked in there. A water barrier is needed, and the door needs to be investigated. Ken suggested an awning would help.

Ken seemed happy with the project, which he said is like a blank slate. He also liked how square and symmetrical it is. That does make a lot of things easier!

A littlle bad news. This moldy old storage area has to be adressed.

What’s Next?

The team from VentureFour Architects will come up to Cameron after Thanksgiving and measure the heck out of the space, inside and out. It will take at least four hours plus the commute time, but that’s not all bad, because that will give Ken a chance to eat at the Dutchtown Cafe again.

Then we will start paying and Ken will start designing! Yay! Now we just have to get that asbestos inspection done.

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New Roof Up, Old Wall Down

Ray and his team working on the new roof

The neighbors at the Parkwood house must be relieved to see it looking better and better every day.

Our contractor, Ray, sent us some great pictures of the roof they put on the house. I know what it sounds like: “Bang, bang, bang!” We hear that sound everywhere in the weeks following hail storms in the greater Austin area.

The roof is a nice gray that will blend with the trees.

The roof really is a nice color, and it’s made the house already look better.

And the Walls

Besides that, work continues inside. The wall that was not actually completely finished has been removed, and now the living room is open to the kitchen. That will help with light and create a more spacious appearance.

It’s already open concept (not sure what was up with the words on the photo.)

And the Junk

Believe it or not, there have been four dumpsters’ worth of debris removed from around the house. That was a lot of work!

It’s weird being abe to see the back yard, because other things become clear. One of those things is the fence. It’s in really bad shape, like the junk was holding it up. So, Carol has had to add fence repair to the budget. Sigh.

One of the four dumpsters that got filled with debris.

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Progress and Lack Thereof

There will be less and less of this stuff as more gets hauled off.

Progress in Round Rock

Carol tells us that the Parkwood project is moving forward. Many more loads of debris have been removed, and a new roof is up! That’s real progress. We are waiting for the next rain (seems inevitable lately) to make sure the roof holds up, then Ray and his team will put in the new skylights to brighten up the main living area.

Do you see any asbestos up there?

A Screeching Halt to The Hermit Haus

Lee got a phone call from a very nice person from the City of Cameron letting him know that there is a required asbestos inspection that must be done before renovations to commercial buildings can occur.

Whoops! Well, of course we want to do that for the safety of all, so we have stopped work until the inspection can happen. Lee’s put in a call to the recommended inspector, so we are hoping this is a short delay.

The ceiling tiles we’ve taken down are all too new to have asbestos in them, but we’re not sure about the other ceiling or walls. Floors are tile and carpet, so our fingers are crossed that nothing is lurking under them.

I guess we’ll see!

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