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Monthly Archives: July 2019

Considering Solar?

Here’s the fancy solar installation truck. These guys are making money.

Lee and I thought long and hard about it, but we eventually decided it was worth the investment to add solar panels to both our house in Austin and the house at the Hermits’ Rest ranch. It’s been a long road, but we finally got them installed at the Bobcat Lair house in Austin yesterday.

The fact that we wanted it for two houses in two different counties was hard on poor Ralph, our sales consultant, but by gosh, he persisted and we have been able to move forward. He and Lee did a LOT of negotiating, philosophizing, and drinking whiskey (off the clock). I’ll miss Ralph. But then, the ranch isn’t done yet. If you’d like to read more of the story of how the installation went, I wrote it up in the Hermits’ Rest blog. Here, I’m just re-using a few of my photos.

Can We Have Some Facts, Please?

Guys thinking about putting up panels.

We haven’t thought of adding solar panels to any of the houses we renovated, and none of them so far have had them already installed, which got me to wondering whether having solar electric panels on a house increases or decreases your ultimate sale price. So, I looked into it. I’d like to point out before I get much further that most of the information I found was put out by solar vendors, so I am taking it with a grain of salt.

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Q&A: OPM and Effort

Argue for your limitations and you get to keep them.

Mindset plays a big role in business. What you can do is most limited by what you think you can do.

I try to answer your questions openly and honestly. This post originated with a reader question:

Is there a way to buy into the market of homes that are up for auction an or tax liens without using my own money and doing the remodel myself and having a real estate agent do the marketing for it?

There are really three—maybe four—questions expressed here:

  • Can I have a real estate agent do the marketing for me?
  • Can I buy a house at auction or from tax liens without using my own money?
  • Can I renovate a house using other people’s money if I don’t do the renovation work myself?
  • Can I renovate a house myself using other people’s money?

The answer to each of these questions individually is a resounding “Yes!” The answer when you start stacking them becomes increasingly less certain until it finally results in, “Well…maybe?” I don’t like to argue for limitations, but it depends on your reputation and how persuasive you can be. Luck does not play a big role in business. Continue reading →

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Where Do You Work Best? Why?

Many people work better with music playing.

Many of us in the real estate investment world do not work in traditional offices. A good number of us, from what I’ve observed, work in  wide variety of settings, depending on the day and what’s going on.

As for me, I have what many might think of as too many “offices.”

  • I have a very small cubicle in an open corporate office in Austin, where I work four days a week (and yeah, even our VP has a tiny cubicle, but he hides in a tiny “focus room” much of the day so he can do phone calls in private). This office has a high noise level much of the time, especially since there are one or two people in our area with loud phone voices and another who turns her ringer on to top volume, which ruins concentration. It does have a nice window.
  • I have an office in the basement of my Austin house, which I share with Anita. That office is very quiet, other than some weird air conditioning noise and a rare dog noise. I work there mornings and evenings, as well as some afternoons when the above office is too much for me. I can work so well there that I forget the time when I’m writing. No windows distract me.
  • Then there is the office at The Hermit Haus, which is a “real” office with a door and a fan for white noise. I also work well there. This one also has no windows.
  • AND I’ve got an office at the ranch house, which is a large and pleasant room with a window and a door, and even my own bathroom. I’d work better there if it weren’t for three dogs who want attention. This room even has a comfy reading area.
  • When traveling, I like to work in hotel lobbies. Secretly, I think I’m people watching.

This open office resembles where I work in Austin way too much.

I bring this up, because as I was perusing LinkedIn this morning (yep, I peruse it to see if anyone’s read my social media stuff), I ran across an article that talks about the effect of sound on productivity. This was just a short blurb that said the “coffee shop effect” may have something to it, that people work better with a certain level of background noise. Since this was just a short blurb, I went off and read the original article.by Otto van der Groen, the researcher who studied the effect of background noise on productivity.

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Business of the Month: We’re Making a Difference

Here are me, Mandi and Lee surrounded by Chamber members, including Judge Steve Young.

In a surprise turn of events, we found out that Hermits’ Rest Enterprises, our Cameron branch, was named Business of the Month by the Cameron, Texas Chamber of Commerce. It’s not up on their website yet, but when it is, you’ll find it here. I’ve always been impressed by the group in Cameron, because they make a big effort to support each other and to spread the word about hard-working businesses in the area. We were very happy to hear about the honor, and you know we were pleased, because we stood out in blazing heat for what seemed like forever to get our picture taken for the newsletter, website, and newspaper. Continue reading →

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Sold…again

Huh? Yeah. The buyers for the Washington house have backed out. Oh darn. The good news is that our backup buyers still want the place, and their offer is also very good. So, we’re back under contract.

Why do people back out?

In our experience it’s buyers who aren’t aware that a renovation doesn’t mean returning a house to brand-new condition. There are usually things in an older house that you just live with, or plan to fix later.

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