Looking ahead

Last year at this time we took possession of this house. The front of the house looked great. Might even ask why we were ending up with this house. Then you opened the door and walked in. A tenant had totally trashed the house. The owner was in a nursing home. He had gotten estimates of the cost to fix the house and just wanted rid of it.

There was a long ramp on the back of the house 

We removed it and put in a landing with stairs.

Also had to regrade the back yard as it had places where it needed 2 foot of soil added to make the water drain away from the house.

Our next project was this house. When we purchased the house there were several code violation notices stuck on the back door.

Now the house is in code and looks like someone cares.

Our next project was a brick house. The front steps were broken concrete. I don't have a picture but they were a hazard.

Steps repaired, new windows, roof and trim painted made a big difference.

Then we moved on to this lovely number. The entire inside had to be redone. The assessors office actually sent an adjuster who lowered the value of the house in March. He told me he would be back next year to re-evaluate. 

I have a feeling he is going to raise the assessed value and the Real Estate taxes for 2020.

Ah yes the Blue house. The city inspector and code violation officer were really wanting this house cleaned up.

I believe they should be good with it now. It passed an inspection last Saturday.

Last house we fixed in the past 12 months. The house didn't look too bad from a distance, but the siding was about to disintegrate. 

Finished it this week. From September first to September first we fixed 6 houses. 

OK I am cheating a little because we still need to re-shingle this house next week.

 

For the first time in 12 months my saws are in storage. I cleaned out the garage on the last house on Friday.

Got out the shop vac and cleaned the floor of my pickup.

Took everything out from behind the seat except the tools I keep in the truck so I can make repairs. It is a strange feeling to have less than a week's work on my calendar. There were times this year I thought we would not get everything done before winter set in again.

Summer is over in my book. I know it actually lasts till late September but it is perceptions that count. Fall and winter is when we buy houses. No one wants to move in winter weather. Owners whose houses did not sell during the Spring and Summer now have a tough decision to make. Do they sell to people who make low cash offers or hang on till next year. 

We will see how the next 30 days play out but I am thinking we might be insulting a few people with low offers and still end up with a house or 2 or 3 or 4 or more.

I think Sharon is hoping we don't end up with any. She wants our living room carpet removed and an oak floor put in. I am sure that will happen this winter, but that is less than a week of work and there are 52 weeks till next September 1.

So we are seriously starting to hunt for houses to buy. We just missed a deal this week. Someone beat us by a day on a couple of houses. I am registered to bid on a house at auction next week. The auction company demands $2500 before you can bid. At least they return the money if you don't win the auction.

I started spending some time at my desk this week running estimates, cost analysis, ROI, and cash flows. If I find anything that looks interesting, I will set up a time to walk through the house. Then all repairs are estimated in an excel spreadsheet which flows to a ROI sheet. If it looks like we have a possibility, I will send all the numbers to Micah and he will rerun the numbers with tax projections analysis, Book projection analysis, cash used by the business, leveraged and non-leveraged ROI. There is a lot of background work before an offer is made and many times there is no purchase so it feels like it was all a waste of time. 

But it really is not a waste of time. You have to know what your goals are before you take the first step. You have to do the background work so you know if you can meet your goals. You have to have a plan to succeed.

Having caught up with work it is time to look ahead, to plan for the next 12 months. 

If I am willing to put this much time into financial planning, I also need to put some time into life planning. I know some people who are living for the pleasures of today. They are young and think some of the decisions they are making now will not harm them long term. Well, that is a foolish assumption. Never sell your future for the pleasures of today. Plan for eternity don't just live for today. Make peace with God, realize sinners need salvation and then you can enjoy life forever. Sit down and figure out what the cost will be if you do not plan your future now. Separation from God forever is a high cost to pay for having what is perceived as a "good time" now.