Sold! Now That Was FAST!

Actually ... a serious offer is pending, but I'm very optimistic.

My real estate coach and general business mentor, Mark Ijlal, always says, “Money Loves Speed!” and I do believe he is right. Talk about speed …. I just posted yesterday morning that my renovations are complete and that I am entering into full marketing mode. Of course, I have been marketing for weeks on Craig’s List, Zillow, and Owners.com (to name a few) but I didn’t have good pictures and walk-around video until recently when all the renovations were complete.

Well, just as I hit “publish” on my blog post yesterday morning, my phone rang. It was a young woman calling about the house and she just HAD TO SEE IT NOW! She was very considerate about the fact that it is Memorial Day weekend and she didn’t want to ruin or interrupt any of my plans, but she just had to see inside this house and she did NOT want someone else to scoop it out from under her. Now that is SPEED!

We have come to a verbal agreement as of last night and I have drafted up all the necessary paperwork. We will meet to sign on Tuesday at 6:00 pm and get things moving forward with a title company to handle all the paperwork and the closing. We are shooting for June 12 as a closing - just in time for Father’s Day! Dennis and Jennifer are really excited and, if I can get their permission, I will get a video testimonial and post it here for everyone to see.

Full Marketing Mode!

The time has come.
26453 Curie Court in Warren, Michigan is NOW COMPLETE!
Well, I did have to finish up with some paint touch-ups and overall cleaning (I have discovered that contractors don't do windows!) :-D

I have included an updated walk-thru video (no commentary this time) and I am going to use this as my virtual tour on the MLS (that's multiple listing service database used by Realtors). That's right, I'm using a Realtor to list my house while I advertise as a For Sale By Owner (FSBO) at the same time. If I find a buyer through my own marketing activity (Craig's list, Owners.com, Zillow, word-of-mouth, etc.) then I pay no Realtor commission. I paid an up-front flat fee of $495 to get full exposure on two MLS (MiRealSource and Realcomp) which gives me broad coverage across south-east Michigan counties.

I am looking forward to a lot of interest being shown in this house and a quick sale (no more than 6 weeks). And then ... we will be on to our next project. Between projects, I hope to share my lessons leaned as I review the costs involved. Right now, the most obvious area in which I need to improve is the costs of renovation. I have shared my numbers with fellow investors and I was told I paid almost DOUBLE what I should have paid. Personally, I don't believe they understood the full scope of what was needed, but I do believe I should be able to cut my rehab costs by at least 30% -- I just need to do more homework (research) and get better referrals from those who know how to do this. Heck ... this is ONLY my second project!

Enjoy the walk-thru:

At Last! The Day Has Finally Come! (Almost)

We are down to the final touches at Curie Court! There are a few touch-ups to be completed and the basement is being finished off (painting, install of washer and dryer, etc.)

I have taken a few photos and a couple of panoramic videos (Living Room and Kitchen) to show you how beautiful this home is.

Panoramic View of Living Room:


Panoramic View of Kitchen:


Still Shots:

Mission Accomplished?

OK -- It's now May 5 and the rehab is supposed to be completed. (Including a 5-day grace period.) Well, it ain't so! Plenty of fine details left to be completed. Take a look at my first floor walk-thru ...



And if that doesn't seem like enough work left, check out the basement ...



So, this is the critical part. Managing your contractor(s) is the part that makes the squeamish run from real estate investing -- just as property management and handling tenants makes people run away from owning rental properties. But let's face it, working with others involves conflict and there is no way to avoid it. You have to face it head on and just keep your cool. It's no different than dealing with people you work with every day. Except, when you're the real estate investor, you're the boss!

So, I'm going to enter into discussions with my contractor beginning tomorrow to discuss how we can move this project forward to satisfactory completion. He's a reasonable guy ... I'm sure we can get this wrapped up in a week or less.