Man - when I was blogging before Brazil, I was working at home - this made “my time” for hunting for investment deals, blogging and reading about investing, and what investors were up to very easy.
After working a full day, I come home and nap! I have no idea how people work and have kids - that seems so crazy - but I am so tired after a really full day. I am really looking forward to the kiddie days ahead (in about 4-5 years) but have to be set up financially first via investment properties.
So, as of today it has been 1 week since I put the offer in on my lovely, perfect little 2 family that needs all kinds of work and a good scrub down. I don’t want to call the agent yet and look too interested, I will give him another week, but I am chomping at the bit! I want this house, and I am pretty confident with our offer that we will get it. But still. Grrrrr, the waiting 
The offer was contingent on financing - CT has an awesome program where you can have the closing costs and down payment wrapped into the mortgage with a very low, 30 year mortgage rate (lower rates than normal mortgages). The target for these mortgages is first time home buyers (only) with low to moderate income - which with just me working and B in school, we are! I submitted a pre-approval letter with the offer and am not worried about getting this mortgage.
The other contingency was that the house was vacated before closing - as nice as the people are who are living there, no one has done upkeep on the house in a good 10-15 years, it needs to be scrubbed the eff down and all kinds of fun weekend projects await me I am really happy about the idea of doing the work myself the first time around, because it will give me a good base to go from, I will better understand the process in the future and I just love, in general, being competent.
Finally, the offer requested that my 1/2 of the commission (with the other half going to the selling agent) gets applied to the sale price. The selling agent wasn’t too thrilled about this, and started to grill me about where I was an agent. I am very much a non-agent like agent. But man, do I love having access to the MLS!
More than anything, I love to watch what is coming on and off the market, and what is selling for what, where. The property management firm I work for also does a ton of comparative analysis of rental units in the area, so working there, in addition to being fun, is a crash course on the rental market.
Fun fact: when your target rental community is college affiliates, the vacancy rate drops to 2% - which is crazy awesome. I will continue running my numbers at 5% because the last thing I want to do is get burned on the first few deals - but how exciting!
Okay, for real, for real - my goal is to spend 1 hour each day working on real estate stuff, specifically devoted to online activity. But it may be after a nap 
The offer for the lovely little beat up 2 family went in on Tuesday - my heart was beating so fast and I was so light headed!! Then I called the agent to make sure he got it and he responded, “Oh yeah, I’ll get it to the owner today or tomorrow to approve, and then send it on to the bank once the owner approves it” - he was clearly not as excited as I was and am, but that’s aiight.
I AM SO EXCITED.
The offer we put in was a fair offer, considering the condition of the house, but the banks may have other opinons on the offer. The current owner purchased the house in 1999 for about 40K. Then, a few years ago, he took out 300K in mortgages on the house. It is currently listed for 160K but is in all kinds of beat up shape.
What’s crazy is that the money the owner took out is totally gone - I’ve met a few “investors” at this point who use this as their main way of doing business, but it is just so wrong on so many different levels. Just cause you can screw someone (the bank, in this case) doesn’t mean that you do.
I am really hoping we hear back from the bank sooner rather than later, especially as it will be 60 days to close with a mortgage. But, on the flip side, that will also give the owner plently of time to evict the 12 people living in the house at this point, who have amassed a rather startling massive collection of beer bottles. In our state, you get money back for each bottle and money is money, right? So, that will give the owner plenty of time to get rid of the party house of tenants and cart away all the beer bottles. Also, the washing machines.
Which, a normal person may want to keep as part of the real estate transaction. Except these washing machines are piled up 3 high and 10 deep in a garage. Additionally, there are 3 oil tanks in the basement that are out of use - so actually, I could really go to the bank with all the scrap metal if it is all left behind, and hey, the beer bottles too!
Sweet dreams!
I became a real estate agent with the idea that it would make things easier - and it has, some things. For example, accessing the MLS, leasing properties.
An unexpected aspect is that it has complicated the offer I’m in the middle of making. Since I’m an agent, I get half (roughly) the percentage that the listing agent receives from selling the property. I also have to keep my broker in the loop, in case they want to cash in on my offer.
Soooooooo, I spoke with my sister, who is also a RE agent. She suggested making the offer, but whatever percentage I would earn, reduce from the sale price. I like this idea, but I also want to make the deal as easy as possible to accept for the bank.
Thankfully, my broker is not interested in cashing in, which is particularly awesome because we are not a real estate company, really - just a property management company with real estate agents running around.
So, the fine details need to be ironed out, and then finally, finally, the offer goes out.
Then we pray
Tonight’s post, is honestly, pretty hard to write. B and I had an awesome time with Jerry last night, but we may have had a few too many rounds - that being said, it was awesome to discuss plans with Jerry and learn about what direction he would like to head in next.
Also - meeting him I am reminded of the quote that the teachers come into your life as you are ready for them. Jerry is “living the dream” - he travels around the world on the income from his properties, has properties all around the world, and can pretty much do whatever he likes. But he is still restless and a little lonely.
The lesson that I really appreciate learning from him now, before we get to where he is in terms of cash flowing income, is to always have plans. I am looking forward to the first few weeks, months, year of being all set from rental income - but after that? It seems like people are much happier with life when they have a purpose, and for me it will be important to continue to develop those passions and interest with time.
Man, like anything, you stop doing something and it is hard to get back into it!
My goal for this week is to post today (heehee) tomorrow and Friday - and then back on the daily update to keep myself accountable to this process - and to getting it done!
So, not long after I started my new job, I was a little restless, so after getting home from work B and I went for a bike ride at a local state park. We took a trail that we normally don’t, and B was ahead of me. I saw that he had hopped off his bike and was chatting with someone (he is super friendly) - I withheld my groan - as he can talk for hours, with anyone! I met up with him, and an Irish man who he was speaking with, Jerry.
In a crazy world of coincidences, it turns out that Jerry had come from Ireland 20 years ago or so and had moved to the town next to the one that I grew up in. He loved Brazil, and had a son there and went back as often as possible. He invests in real estate and owns 18 units plus commercial spaces. And, he happens to own the house next door to the one that B and I fell in love with a year ago, and is BFF with the lady who owns it, and just happens to know that she is staving off foreclosure.
Right.
So, we wrote the lady a letter, asking to speak with her (B did, because he is much nicer than me!) - she called B and started yelling at him, right as he was sitting down for an interview. He couldn’t speak with her and she had called from a restricted number. We wrote her another note. She never called back.
Then, we went to look at a house down the street from her’s, and Jerry’s. We liked it, it needs work, but we like it. We asked Jerry about it, who had happened to have bid for it 12 years ago when it was in foreclosure. He knows the house well and was really excited about us looking at it. We brought him with us to check it out, since he knows hella more than we do.
He liked it, we liked it, and yesterday, I got approved for a mortgage! Yay!
Tonight, we are meeting with Jerry to debate the next steps. A cash offer? A mortgage offer? A double offer - as in a cash offer for 1 price and a different price for a mortgage offer? Rehabs ideas, all kinds of things.
All very exciting, and hopefully we can get this all locked up sooner rather than later, so we have Jerry as our neighbor!
Hi! Missed you!
Brazil was amazing - an incredible experience that I will always treasure.
We are back in the States, B is enjoying settling back into school and I took a position with a local property management firm - which was both a scary decision and wonderful at the exact same time.
On the one hand, I wasn’t sure about a new 9-5 - but I really do love the people and the community outside of B’s law school. Additionally, I am learning a ton about a lot I didn’t know about in property management, so that is also pretty awesome.
Things are shaping up and I am working on getting settled back into the USA way of life and also repositioning where I want to go, what do I want to accomplish, how do I want to get there.
I don’t have answers yet, but this summer has proved to be enlightening on many different levels. More than anything, and I know it sounds soooo cliche, but I am just so, so grateful to live here, to have been born here, and to have the opportunities that so, so, so many people can never even imagine.
It’s good to be back, it has been too long!
xoxo
We are heading out tomorrow, home to see family for a long weekend, then off to Brazil early next week.
Before I left, some milestones that I was delighted to get done. I officially received my RE license! So I submitted all the other paperwork (MLS application, Realtor application) along with about $600 in fees. Not a cheap license!
That all went out yesterday, so by the time I get to Brazil, I should have my MLS number and can start to get acquainted with the system…exciting - I am excited to go to Brazil, and to get back!
We are planning on being away until early August, so for the next few months, I’ll post updates from lovely Brazil.
Ciao!
B and I are heading out for Brazil in little less than a week. I interviewed for a property manager position this past week with a local firm — I really hope I get it. For me, it will provide 2 purposes.
1. Get me out of the house!
2. Provide income so when I work on renovated homes to flip them, and disasters arise, I am not wiped out.
I would start in August - once we get back from Brazil, and will find out in a few weeks if I got it - they are interviewing one other person (and talk about an interview! I was interviewed by everyone in the office for over 3 hours - hardcore!).
I was just talking with B about feeling adrift - I would imagine that it happens to everyone. You have a life-goal chart, but which is the next step, is it right? How do you know? I was reading the Henry Ford bio, and he had no idea if his car invention was correct, if it would work, if people would buy it. But he worked for Edison, and met him one day, and Edison slammed his fist on the table and told Ford that this car would revolutionize the world.
At this point, I have met most of the people I need to know in the RE field, I got my license, signed up with a broker, and completed all my paperwork.
I guess the crazy thing is that by leaving for Brazil, which will be amazing and fun and wonderful, I am putting a lot on hold - and I really just want to take the next step! I guess I have to remember that this will all still be here when I get back (and, really, things with the mortgage market will really hit the fan in 2011 which is awesome) and to just enjoy this adventure.
Writing out the direction always helps, as well as reminding myself that I am on the right path.
To entertain you, check out Dr. Horrible’s Blog – if you have seen this forever ago, forgive me. I can’t help but be incredibly entertained by it every time I watch it.
Today: get RE agent docs signed by my broker, Steve. I put together a starting site for the property owner’s association up here last night, so that is off the list. I reached out to the Fair Rent Board to get onto the Board (hopefully) today and left a voice mail. I am pretty psyched about being on it - if I can get on. We shall see.
Off to the gym (Brazilian bikini’s are coming up soon)
Soooooo — Saturday night post, I know, random.
I went to schedule the state exam on Friday and was told that they only had an opening today - or next Friday. So I buckled down and read the entire state book between Friday and today when I took the exam.
After finishing the exam (which I needed a 70% on - don’t laugh!) I went back through it to review and counted up the questions I was positive of and those that I may have gotten right. I counted 20 def yes, and 10 maybes. I closed my eyes and said, “Please, please, please” - and opened them to a passing score!!! Sadly, the test does not tell you how many you got right/wrong, just if you passed. I really would have loved to have known what I got right/wrong.
Anyway - passed! Yay! A goal accomplished that was put into motion in October. Whew. Finally.
On another note, since I was in hard core study mode last night, I took a break with B to watch X-men cartoons to prep for seeing the movie. That night, wonderful, strange dreams of X-men being real estate agents. Weird, but also really funny.
Tonight, we had a big dinner celebrating Latinos in public service (B is Cuban) - it was awesome, and so fun to celebrate the passing of the exam with close friends.
Tomorrow: sleeping in.
Monday: taking over the world. Until then, play on playa.
