Archive for the ‘real estat investing’ Category
Monday, October 20th, 2008
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I’m pleased to announce that my book, “Fix em Up Rent em Out,” is an Award-Winning Finalist in the Real Estate category of the National Best Books 2008 Awards, sponsored by USA Book News.
Top 50 Amazon Reviewer D. Blankenship says,
What this work does give you is ideas and an outline, that through hard work, common sense, and a bit of luck, you can do quite well for yourself and have a bit of fun while you do it. The author is quick to point out the down side of every aspect of this business and points out ways, if there are any, to avoid them. On the other hand, the author does a wonderful job of pointing out the positive. He not only emphasizes the financial aspects, but does a very nice job of drawing attention to the many side benefits involved, and there are many of these! I like the way that the author directs your attention to the fact that a job well done is a wonderful feeling. The author has listed given us a great list of other books and resources to turn to which I find most helpful. Actually, his list of places to go for information is almost worth the price of the book alone.
A complete list of winners and finalists in each category can be found at:
http://www.usabooknews.com/bestbooksawards2008.html.
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Tags:best book awards, Fix em Up Rent em Out, USA Book News
Posted in book award, buy rental property using refinance home, buying fixing renting rehabs, buying foreclosures, buying real estate, career changes, excellent real estate books, Fix em Up Rent em Out, fixer upper book, fixer upper houses, fixer uppers, fixer-upper business, fixing rental houses, how I got started in fixer uppers, How to start your own house fix up and rental busines, invest real estate repai and sell or rent, investing book, investing in real estate, investing in your spare time, investment property, investmet properties, learn to invest in real estate, learn to make repairs, real estat investing, real estate books, safe ways to invest in real estate | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, August 19th, 2008
Tags:door of opportunity for real estate investing, investing in real estate
Posted in fixer upper houses, fixer-upper business, fixing rental houses, invest real estate repai and sell or rent, investing, investing financial independence, investing in real estate, investing in your spare time, investment house, investment property, investments, investmet properties, opportunity zone, real estat investing, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Saturday, May 31st, 2008
My wife and I laying laminate flooring
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The Tucson Citizen Newspaper highlighted the fixer upper business that my wife and I operate in Thursday’s paper.
Entitled Learn to Fix Up Houses, Rent Them Out, it describes some details about our business and mentions my book.
Who says newspapers aren’t interesting anymore?
To read another insightful (to me, at least) newspaper article that I did, see “Fix em Up, Rent em Out” Featured in Newspaper Article.
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Tags:fixer upper house business newspaper article, learn to fix up houses rent them out, tucson citizen
Posted in buying fixing renting rehabs, Fix em Up Rent em Out, fixer upper houses, fixer-upper business, fixing rental houses, how to start a real estate business, How to start your own house fix up and rental busines, invest real estate repai and sell or rent, investing in real estate, investing in your spare time, learn repair skills, learn to invest in real estate, newspaper, newspaper articles, real estat investing, real estate books, real estate investing, real estate principles, rental properties | No Comments »
Friday, May 9th, 2008
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The review of Chapter 2 of my book “Rent em Out, Fix em Up” is now up on REI monoloco blog. The article is entitled And the Big Question, WHY?
The review covers shifting from “assets” to “income” and 5 unassailable reasons why you should invest in fixer-uppers.
And, as though that weren’t enough reason to charge over to the site, Mark is offering the chance to win a FREE copy of the book just for answering a question that he posits after the article!!
Other good blogs to check out:
It’s sad to see Connie at Conniebrz.com leave the blogoshpere, but you can read her parting words entitled And Thanks! For All the Fish …. Good luck Connie!
But We’re Paying Full Price addresses the issue of buyers creating never-ending repair lists for sellers, at flipthyhouse.com.
Find out what is The Best, Cheapest Investment When Selling at fsbojane.com
Rentalsrus.com explains why now is a good time to invest in the article A Question From Jack.
Want to retire early? Read Early Retirement Requires Financial and Lifestyle Planning at getrichslowly.org.
Info on Terry’s Book
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Posted in book review, fix up houses, real estat investing | No Comments »
Wednesday, September 26th, 2007
This of Part 2 of my reponse to a question asking, “My background is not in the building trades. How do I learn the required skills to start a business in repairing houses and renting them out?”
How to learn the appropriate skills:
3. Draw on the Past
After I got more involved in the repair work of our houses, I thought back about how my father had taught me a lot by example. I recall seeing him construct screened-in porches on various houses that we had lived in. I was too young to help out much at the time, or to appreciate what he was doing, but looking back I realize that it required a strong desire to learn the basic principals, and a sense of self-confidence to build it. He had no formal training in construction, and didn’t have reference books like I do, but he learned by observing other porches that had been built in the neighborhood.
I also have a friend who has made a career out of living frugally. He does virtually all of his own house repair and car repair work. If he gets stuck, he goes to the library and finds books to help him. It helps that he has a background in teaching vocational eduction. We have helped each other with house repair projects over the years, and he is a source of practical advice when I need help.
You too may have family members, or friends, that you can draw insight and inspiration from when it comes to making repairs.
4.Create a House Repair Library
I like to scour the fix-up book areas at used book stores for good buys. I buy a book as soon as I see it if I know that it has valuable information. In the past, I have waited to purchase the book only to return later and find that the book I had wanted was gone. The price you pay will literally be a drop in the bucket compared to the money you will save. I have books on almost every possible repair topic, including electrical wiring, plumbing, flooring, you name it. Some books that offer information on a wide variety of repairs, such as Reader’ Digest “Fix-it Yourself Manual” and Better Home and Gardens Complete Guide to Home Repair,” are also good to have. See my earlier blog for more infomation on recommended repair books.
When a book is not enough, I can usually get good advice on specific jobs at hardware stores, like Ace Hardware. And, you can sometimes get advice on difficult repairs by doing a Google search.
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Tags:draw on the past, fix em up rent em out start a business, fix up books, learn how to repair rental houses
Posted in buying fixing renting rehabs, buying real estate, do it yourself, excellent real estate books, Fix em Up Rent em Out, fix up houses, fixer upper houses, fixer uppers, fixer-upper business, home buying, house buying, house repair, house repairs, how I got started in fixer uppers, how to make money renting housing, how to start a real estate business, How to start your own house fix up and rental busines, invest real estate repai and sell or rent, investing, investing book, investing financial independence, investing in real estate, investing in your spare time, investment house, investment property, learn repair skills, learn to invest in real estate, learn to make repairs, making repairs, managing tenants, real estat investing, real estate books, real estate principles, rental house protection, rental houses, rental management, rental properties, rental property, renting, repair, repair books, repairing properties, repairs, safe ways to invest in real estate, small investor, spare time | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, September 25th, 2007
I recently received a question asking, “My background is not in the building trades. How do I learn the required skills to start a business in repairing houses and renting them out?”
In terms of how to learn to repair houses, I will answer that question in two parts. The first part today, and the second half of my answer will be in a subsequent blog article.
How to learn the appropriate skills:
1. Learn by doing. When Orson Wells directed his first movie, “Citizen Kane,” he said that he felt “like a kid with a giant train set.” One nice thing about buying a fix-up house is that it’s like having giant practice house, where you can practice learning to do repairs. Since the house is already pretty well beat up, its OK if you make a few mistakes along the way. You can always go back and correct them later.
My philosophy is that the best way to learn is by doing. Granted, you have to gradually work your way up, if your are beginning near the bottom. At first you will have to hire out for most of the moderate or difficult repairs. Make sure you watch, or assist in doing, the repair when you pay someone to do it. That way you can do it, or at least do part of it, the next time you encounter the same situation.
Just last week, I had to hire someone to repair my air conditioner in a house that I am living in and fixing up at the same time. I took time off my 9-5:00 job to be on the roof with the repairman and observe what he was doing. I saw all of the tests that he performed with the multi-tester to identify what was wrong. The problem turned out to be two capacitors that were blown. If a similar problem arises in the future, I will know how to check and replace the capacitors myself.
If you have to pay someone to make a repair for you, make sure that you get your money’s worth by watching the repairman, and learning how to do it yourself.
2. Take community college classes. Most community colleges offer courses in the building trades – plumbing, electrical wiring, air conditioning and furnace repair, and woodworking. For a fairly low price, you can learn how to make repairs like a pro by taking these classes. I have taken several classes and they have been well worth the investment of time and money. Besides leaning the skills in a supervised environment, you also learn how to use the correct tools in the proper manner. As part of the program, students are required to take an 8-hour OSHA course in how to be aware of work site dangers, to do work in a safe way, and to avoid accidents. I highly recommend that anyone who does repair work take the OSHA class.
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Tags:fixer upper houses, learn by doing, learn to repair houses, repairing rental houses, take classes
Posted in buying fixing renting rehabs, buying foreclosures, buying real estate, do it yourself, Fix em Up Rent em Out, fix up houses, fixer uppers, fixer-upper business, fixing rental houses, house repair, how I got started in fixer uppers, how to start a real estate business, How to start your own house fix up and rental busines, invest real estate repai and sell or rent, investing, investing financial independence, investing in real estate, investing in your spare time, investment house, investment property, investments, investmet properties, learn repair skills, learn to invest in real estate, learn to make repairs, making repairs, overcoming obstacles, real estat investing, real estate, real estate principles, rental houses, rental management, rental properties, rental property, repair, repairing properties, repairing rental houses, retirement, safe ways to invest in real estate, small investor, spare time, Terry Sprouse | 6 Comments »
Friday, September 14th, 2007
One of the surest ways to make money in any endeavor is to follow in the footsteps of other successful people. Astronaut Neil Armstrong followed in the steps of John Glenn. Comic actor Ben Stiller followed in the steps of his show biz parents Stiller & Meara. The same is true in real estate. Plenty of people have gone before us.
Buying lower-priced fixer-upper houses, using your own time & effort to fix them up, and renting them out has been a tested and true path to generate wealth & security.
The four chief benefits of purchasing fix-up houses are:
1) if you buy a house in need of repair, a fixer upper house, you pay less for it than for a house in good shape. Since you paid less, you can take out a smaller loan and have lower monthly payments.
2) By doing repairs yourself (as much as you are able to), you save the money you would have paid others, and you learn new repair skills.
3) By renting it out, you get a house that is constantly increasing in value (by an average 5% per year) the same time the rents are going up.
4) When you get older, your loans will be paid off (or close to it) and the rental income you receive are like a pension for your retirement.
Granted, it is hard work to find a house, make repairs and learn how to deal with tenants. But you also learn valuable technical and people management skills that you can use in other parts of your life, and pass along to others. Mostly, there is a great sense of satisfaction in your accomplishments, a stronger sense of security, and more income, which means more freedom.
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Tags:doing repairs yourself, financial freedom, fixer upper houses, how to start a rental house busiiness, learn repair skills, rental income is like a pension for retirement, renting out a house, stick to the basics
Posted in buying fixing renting rehabs, buying real estate, create wealth in real estate, do it yourself, fix up houses, fixer upper houses, fixer uppers, fixer-upper business, fixing rental houses, home buying, house repair, house repairs, how I got started in fixer uppers, how to make money renting housing, how to start a real estate business, How to start your own house fix up and rental busines, invest real estate repai and sell or rent, investing, investing in real estate, investing in your spare time, investment house, investment property, investments, investmet properties, learn repair skills, learn to invest in real estate, learn to make repairs, real estat investing, real estate, real estate principles, rental house improvements, rental houses, rental management, rental properties, rental property, rentals, repair, repairing properties, repairing rental houses, safe ways to invest in real estate, small investor, spare time | 1 Comment »
