From the category archives:

Making Offers

Thinking About Rentals

January 13, 2009

As I mentioned in my 2009 Goals, it’s time to diversify our business model a bit and start accumulating some property to build longer-term cash-flow and to reap the benefits of future appreciation when the markets turn. We’re certainly not giving up flipping houses — we just love the idea of a alternate exit strategy […]

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House #5: The DIY House

December 17, 2008

It’s been a while since we’ve bought a house…but not for a lack of trying. Since my wife got her real estate license last month, we have put offers on 8 houses, but weren’t able to reach a compromise with any of the sellers. Last week, we put an offer on #9, and after some […]

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Update for 12/12/2008

December 12, 2008

A quick update before the weekend… House #1: The Corn House The Corn House is still on the market — 50 days and counting. While I’m not too terribly surprised (like I’ve mentioned before, it was my first purchase and I’ve learned a lot since then), it’s a little disappointing to have such a nice […]

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No Good Deed…

December 5, 2008

As the cynics among us often say, “No good deed goes unpunished.” Based on today’s events, I’m starting to believe it… I mentioned previously about the elderly woman we’re trying to help out who really needs a move-in ready house for under $100K. These types of properties aren’t too easy to come-by in this area […]

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Things Are Slowing Down

December 4, 2008

As you might have noticed, I haven’t blogged much in the past week. Aside from taking a long-weekend vacation for Thanksgiving, there really hasn’t been too much to write about the past week or two. This is the first holiday season that I’ve been investing, so I don’t know if it’s coincidence or seasonal, but […]

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Our First (Own) Offers

November 18, 2008

My wife, brother and I have been scouring the MLS the past few days looking for new properties; now that we’re down to a single rehab and have two properties on the market, it feels as if we have nothing to do! Things are getting boring, and we’re ready to acquire at least one more […]

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The Crack House

October 25, 2008

I mentioned in a previous post about an offer I made on a house with a major foundation issue that may even need to be knocked down. The offer I put on this property was extremely low, but considering the seller (a bank) has had two previous buyers back out when they evaluated the problem, […]

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Update for 10/22/2008

October 22, 2008

Now that I’m down to rehabbing a single house for the first time in over a month (The Bulge House sale just closed and The Corn House is now on the market), things feel very slow. I’ve decided to use much of the past two days to look at new houses on the market, focus […]

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House #4: One More Try

October 10, 2008

It looks like the bank came to their senses, and are willing to drop the price of The Yellow Stain House considerably. Not quite the $20K that I originally asked for, but they’re willing to reduce the price by $14K. This price reduction would cover the extra costs undercovered during the inspection: the foundation issue, […]

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House #4: No Go

October 7, 2008

Well, it looks like House #4 is eluding me on all fronts… First, The Yellow Stain House is a no-go, as the bank rejected my revised offer, and claimed that my new offer wasn’t anywhere close to what they would accept. While I would have likely upped my offer a couple thousand more dollars, between […]

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