Real Estate Education

by ⋅ Leave a Comment

A semi-annoying ad followed me through Facebook for the last week or two. It had a picture of Christina from Flip or Flop on HGTV. After signing up for my real estate license classes earlier this week, I signed up to attend a free seminar. I knew that there would be a “catch” or that they would try to sell me something, but I thought I might learn something about flipping houses. So I went. And they did try to get me to sign up for their 3-day class for close to $2,000. They have a company called Success Path. The main benefits, in my opinion, for paying to do the 3-day class were 1) gaining knowledge about a wide range of real estate opportunities and 2) having access to their “preferred lenders” that allegedly will give you up to $500,000 per flip without a credit check.

As I continue to pay for my law degree (a.k.a my student loans), I see the value in spending a few bucks, instead of tens of thousands, on education in a new field. The travel agent class was super cheap; I got my TEFL certification with a Groupon; and I should be able to get my real estate license for less than $1,000. All of these are a minuscule investment compared to a total of eight years of college. And, I’m in the position that, even if I don’t ever make any money from these endeavors, the investment hasn’t hurt our bottom line.

There were quite a few people that signed up for the 3-day class (due to the deep-discount to sign up that day, as opposed to waiting), but there were also a lot of people that didn’t. I do feel that it was worth my time, even though it was basically an extended sales pitch, in that I learned some new things, including that: 1) REO’s (bank-owned properties) are generally great for flips; 2) they believe Central Ohio is in position for a big run-up in real estate prices in the next 3-5 years; 3) adding a rehab-estimate clause as a contingency in an offer is essential for a flip, and; 4) their system teaches never to flip a house unless you’ll clear at least 20% or $20,000, whichever is greater.

One of the factors they stressed, that I firmly believe in, is having Multiple Streams of Income (MSI’s). Part of the 3-day class is to teach basic principles of investing in rental properties. One of the disappointing parts of the seminar for me is that they never once mentioned taxes. While giving examples of the profit on flips, they never cautioned us about how much of it won’t actually make it into our pockets. I know I overly obsess about the issue of taxes, but it is a reality, and it can have a significant impact on the bottom line.

Can I claim that this was a life-altering experience? Absolutely not. But, maybe it was for someone else that attended the seminar. Maybe they are starting their own journey to financial independence.

Post-Hawaii Update

by ⋅ Leave a Comment

Where to start? Mr. PFL and I came home a day early from our vacation (we were supposed to be back Tuesday, but arrived home Monday night instead, cutting out one day in San Diego) and we (or at least I) am still feeling jet-lagged and off-schedule. The jet-lag and the ridiculousness of Hawaii roads are really the only negatives I have to report about the trip. Hawaii was as amazing as I had hoped.

Condo Update: So, just before we left, I signed a contract with a handyman service for our rental properties. The day before we got home, while we were hanging out with Mr. PFL’s college roommate in San Diego, the furnace broke, again. I advised the tenants to contact the handyman service; they did; he provided a temporary fix and emailed me for permission to get the new part (the same fan broke in the same way, again!); I told him not to since it was under warranty; and I got the invoice yesterday where they charged me $0 for the service call. Wow! We also now have a brand-new furnace as of yesterday for $2,500. I left the tenants a couple of bottles of wine and a thank you note; hopefully they will forget this ever happened and will live there forever…

Duplex Update: After a ridiculous amount of drama over the past couple of months, the duplex that we are selling on a land contract basis seems to have stabilized again. I nearly fainted when the purchaser actually showed up at my office with a money order like she promised. Hopefully she will get caught up over the next few months and everything will be okay. I also just received confirmation yesterday that my application to buy the vacant lot next door has been approved by the City. We will be getting it for the low, low price of $705 (yes, seven hundred and five dollars) plus $100 processing fee.

BD 6-Unit Update: Unfortunately, between the holidays, the weather, and all of the traveling we have done in the last six weeks, I haven’t cleaned and listed the empty unit yet. I also received an email from one of the other tenants a couple of days ago telling me that she will be moving out on the 26th. I was getting ready to evict her, anyway, because she was so behind in her rent, so this was actually a blessing and saves us both a lot of trouble. So, I’ll have two 2-bedrooms ready to list next week (I hope!). I also need to reach out to the two 1-bedroom units to see if they want to upgrade to a 2-bedroom, sign a new one-year lease, go month-to-month, or move-out. I had a lot better luck renting the 1-bedrooms, so I’m hoping one or both will consider upgrading.

TEFL Update: I haven’t done any courses since before the holidays. Mr. PFL is nearly done.

Travel Agency Update: Right around Christmas, I had a group planned. Then it fell through. Bummer. And a lot of work for nothing, except experience. I am working on a couple other projects now, though, and I should get some commissions from our trip to Hawaii (hotel, rental car).

Real-Job Update: Ugh. We still have them. As I told Mr. PFL when he was getting anxious to come home: I’m not looking forward to dealing with difficult people and therefore I don’t want to go home. It would be amazing to live in a world where nobody needed a lawyer; I’ll settle for living in a world where I don’t have to be a lawyer anymore.

Life-Plan Update: I want to have a small coffee farm near Kona on the Big Island, Hawaii. I know this sounds totally insane, but it is actually a practical possibility. Mr. PFL and I have been doing some research since we got back, and it just might work. I’ll share more about this soon.

For now, I need to get to work on some lawyering and travel planning.

Let me just leave you with this picture of sea turtles. Aloha!

 

Forward Progress Update 11/21/14

by ⋅ Leave a Comment

Mr. PFL and I toured one of the units in the 5-unit apartment building after work yesterday. I still love the location, but there are some major drawbacks, and major dollar signs, attached to this property. The biggest problem is the lack of off-street parking. There really isn’t a solution for this issue, unless we would also be able to buy one of the vacant lots across the street and turn it into a parking lot, and that is unlikely to be a realistic option. The units would also need, to attract the type of tenants I’d like, a complete makeover inside. The units are almost twice as big as the ones we worked on earlier this year, so I must admit to being overwhelmed by the time and energy it would take to get them ready. The kitchens are also extremely small (oven and fridge can’t be open at the same time), so removing a wall might be necessary to make them even usable. The positives, though, are that I still believe in the area, the bedrooms and main floor are large, there is a big backyard that could be fenced to give each unit private outdoor space (they are townhouse/row-house style with private entrances), there seems to be newer plumbing and mechanicals, and it is currently fully leased, so any major projects could wait a few months. Mr. PFL and I will discuss and make a decision sometime soon. If we do make an offer, it will be substantially less than the list price of $149,000. I’d say there is a minimum of at least $50,000 worth of updates that are immediately apparent (new windows, gutter issues, new kitchens/appliances, new bathrooms, etc.) and I’d expect to list the units at about $750-$850.

I’m currently waiting for a call so I can run across the street to the Condo and have the new washing machine installed. After Mr. PFL and I were unable to remember the origin of the washing machine (our best theory is that it came from Mr. PFL’s apartment prior to buying the condo in 2002), I found a Black Friday deal for a new machine online. I also did some research about why the dryer door keeps popping open and discovered that the door latch gets worn out. I am going to attempt to replace the door latch with the replacement part that cost less than $12, including delivery (thank you, YouTube, for all your help!). Unfortunately, within the last 24 hours, the tenants have also reported an issue with getting enough hot water and that the furnace isn’t kicking out enough heat. Apparently we are in the midst of the 5% of property ownership that is difficult right now; 95% of the time it is easy, in my opinion.

If the washing machine ever comes today, I have a lunch meeting planned with potential travel agent clients that do group travel. I went to a training on Wednesday night that had a representative from the hotel that they indicated they’d like to stay at for one of their trips, so I’m feeling confident that I should be able to get them organized. I also finalized some details for my very first travel clients who are leaving for their trip soon.

I almost forgot that I’m planning to put up new blinds in one of the bedrooms at the Condo. It currently has broken, dirty mini-blinds from 1997. Woohoo! Just got a call from the delivery guy. Time to head out for some repairs!

Entrepreneurship

by ⋅ 2 Comments

I imagine most sane people aren’t trying to run three small businesses at once, and adding blogging and learning to teach English as a Second Language on top of it. I am, though. I have my law firm, my travel agency, and our rental property business. At least that marathon is over and I can walk almost normally again. I have been sleeping extremely well this week, too, mostly due to exhaustion.

Entrepreneurship is a blessing and a curse. It is liberating to have total control over my work-product, but that requires that I produce. I also have the ability to schedule any time off that I want, but I can’t expect to make any money (PTO=fantasy) if I’m not working and I also need to be available or have someone ready to cover for me. While I can also technically set any hours that I want, demands are always placed on my time and schedule by clients and the court. Working on the rental properties can quickly kill an entire weekend. There really aren’t any true “days off.” It is impossible to “leave it at the office” when the office primarily resides in my computer and my brain, which are both always with me. Besides Uncle Sam, I don’t need to share any of my profits, although he might take more than his fair share.

After being in control for so long, it is going to be difficult to find someone I trust to manage the rental property business when we move on. The rental property business is the linchpin to our ability to be paycheck-free, so the importance of this decision cannot be overstated. I’m getting used to the idea that I won’t be a full-time lawyer for much longer and I’m glad. I’m hopeful that I’ll be able to sell my practice to some young, aspiring attorney. The stress of dealing with everyone else’s problems isn’t something that I will miss. I also won’t miss clients deciding not to pay their legal bills - you wouldn’t believe me if I told you how often this happens.

I’d like to devote more time to building my travel agency business. I simply don’t know where to fit it in right now. Work continually ebbs and flows, ebbs and flows, so I’m confident that the time will materialize soon. At least I’m following my own best advice about starting a new business and keeping my overhead low (write that down - it is a good one). Right now, though, I better get back to work. I think I’ll start with the pile on the left…

Big Week

by ⋅ Leave a Comment

My first and only marathon is on Sunday. I have under-anticipated how distracting this would be for the week. It started this past Sunday when I saw the course arrows painted on a couple roads while I was out running errands. Since then, I’ve pretty much had a nervous stomach. The weather should be good for running on Sunday; it just can’t get here soon enough.

Last night, I finalized my first real sale as a travel agent. My client already gave me a shout-out on Facebook this morning. I’m excited for my client and for myself. I hope this will turn into some leads and new clients. I still have so much to learn, though, and I still need business cards! I also need to get access to many websites and booking engines, which is time-consuming, but necessary.

Mr. PFL also generated his first blog post yesterday, which is pretty exciting. I know he’s been working hard and has so much information that he wants to share.

Finally, I’d like to get started on my TEFL training since I have a light court schedule this week. Guess I better pick something and get to work.

 

Another Day at Disney

by ⋅ Leave a Comment

The travel agent conference has been invaluable so far. I’ve learned about many different travel products, some sales techniques, travel insurance, and networked with fellow agents. I also met and personally talked to Joanie Ogg and Bob Becker. Reading Joanie Ogg’s book (which is legendary in the industry), that she wrote along with her husband, Tom Ogg, helped me make the decision to jump into this venture. I sat at a table with Joanie at the beach dinner last night and chatted with her about numerous topics. She’s actually christening a new ship next week in Europe. When asked about working with her husband, she had only positive things to say. As Mr. PFL and I move into this new stage, we will be working together a lot more than we used to. I’m sure it will take us some time to find the right balance, and it is encouraging to see that it is possible.

After an amazingly long day yesterday, I headed into Downtown Disney with a new travel agent friend. I haven’t been to Disney World since I was 17 and came with our school band. That was the first time I flew, too. Downtown Disney was packed at ten last night. Disney has started a massive new construction project to reinvent Downtown Disney, so it was a little cumbersome to get around. Mr. PFL was super jealous when I texted him the Lego pond monster.

 

Unfortunately, my table didn’t win a free Viking Cruise this morning, but I did learn about the product. I’m off to more training, and get to finish the day watching Disney’s Fantasmic show. I’m so glad I’m here!

Cruise Ship Inspection Day

by ⋅ Leave a Comment

Good Evening from The Magic Kingdom in Orlando! After a 5:21 a.m. wake-up call, I’ve had a productive day. I billed over three hours for my law practice, mostly from reading documents and emailing. This afternoon, I solved another furnace-related problem with a simple email. My tenant emailed to report her heat wasn’t coming on. This was my response: “My only advice for today is to make sure it is clicked over to ‘heat’ and you may want to check the circuit breaker in the basement.” Amazingly, clicking the thermostat to “heat” worked. 😉 Self-managing this issue also probably saved us around $100; a previous property management company we used would charge over $100 to turn on a pilot light, but never actually fixed anything so that the pilot light wouldn’t go out anymore.

From noon until eight, I traveled with other TPI agents to a ship inspection of the Norwegian Breakaway. The ship is in mid-cruise and was docked at Port Canaveral for the day. We toured a couple of staterooms, all of the common areas, and were treated to a three-course dinner with wine. I met several other agents with varying levels of experience. Most of the agents were older than me (probably at least 90% from my unscientific observation) and most were women (probably 80%). Every single agent I talked to had nothing but praise for TPI. I’m excited to meet more people and learn tomorrow. But first, I need to get some sleep. And hopefully get up to jog in the morning re: the marathon on the 19th.

 

My Home-Based Travel Agency

by ⋅ Leave a Comment

This Spring, in the midst of finishing renovations on the 6-unit apartment building and taking care of my law practice, I decided to start a home-based travel agency. The week or so around Mr. PFL’s 41st birthday at the beginning of March pushed me to do some research. I knew Mr. PFL was serious about moving away from the 9-5 when he lowered his 401(k) contribution amount from the max allowed. We made this decision after a long discussion about the need for non-retirement income to last until he turns 59 1/2 and we can tap into our retirement accounts without incurring early withdrawal penalties. While being a lawyer is technically a job I could do anywhere, as long as I become licensed in a jurisdiction, it isn’t an inherently mobile occupation.

Becoming a travel agent was a logical step for me, but I didn’t know if it was really possible. Whenever I’d hypothetically ask what my retirement job should be, travel agent topped the list. I am addicted to travel and I love an itinerary. Before I met Mr. PFL, I had traveled to nine countries and studied abroad twice (summers only). Mr. PFL had also traveled, especially for work, to several foreign destinations. We actually both got our first passports in the same year (1998). Since meeting Mr. PFL just over nine years ago, we have traveled to seven countries together (including the USA) and have visited 29 states, including Ohio, where we live. Planning travel is a favorite hobby, even though it has it challenges, some of which I’ve discussed before.

I had never done any research about becoming a travel agent, so I took to Google to gather some information. I quickly stumbled across this article that provided a brief history of travel agencies and confirmed that travel agents are still needed. While the advent of the internet drastically changed the way travel agencies work and make money, the internet has also fueled a need for travel agents, mostly due to the overwhelming number of options available due to the internet.

Now that I was convinced that being a travel agent was viable business venture, I needed to get started. I researched host agencies and settled on Travel Planners International (TPI). Before they would allow me access to their website and booking engines, I was required to complete an introductory course on travel. It took longer than anticipated, but in mid-July, I was approved as an agent. I set up an LLC, opened a bank account and business credit card, and started working on my website and Facebook page. Mr. PFL and I decided at somewhat the last minute to do an East Coast road trip, so I booked our hotels and rental car through my travel agency and I’ve made my first commissions.

The beauty of having a home-based travel agency is that I really only need phone and internet access, which are available nearly everywhere. I also need confidence. To that end, I’m spending the rest of the week in Orlando at the TPI Extravaganza - the yearly conference for Travel Planners International. I’m scheduled for four jam-packed days of learning and networking. I anticipate that I will begin actively marketing my travel agency upon return. My first goal is to generate enough income from this business that I can pay for my student loans each month ($500) without tapping into any other revenue stream. My second goal is to provide excellent service to my fellow travelers so that they can have new experiences in the world, too.