I haven't had much time to post lately, my business saw an increase in profit of 275% from the month of April to the month of May and here it is, the first few days into June, and I have already doubled Mays sales figures for the month. Things are getting bigger that I had planned at this stage, my controlled expansion is no longer under control.
Eminem said in a song once "This is your moment,And every single minute you get try'n hold on to it 'cause you may never get it again" and that's exactly what I plan to do. I will ride this money train until the brakes fall off. I don't come from a rich family or even an upper middle class one so this is so strange to me. I now earn in one month what I used to earn in a year. Still I recognize that this could all end tomorrow so I am thankful for everything I have been blessed with.
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Will Flipping Homes Make You Rich?
I'm sure by now most of my readers know what home flipping is but for those that don't I will give a brief explanation. A home flipper will purchase a home that is about to enter foreclosure for a cheap price, invest in making necessary repairs and upgrades and get the home back on market and hopefully sold as fast as possible for a profit.
This concept is not new but is becoming increasingly popular and to those that perfect the method, it is nothing to see a 40-50 thousand dollar profit in a short period of time. This is also becoming increasingly more risky for the investors that don't have the funds to ride out this current real estate market.As many would be flippers soon realize, only on television do homes sell in the first week on the market. First time home flippers are also more prone to miss huge repair items that eat away at the potential profit even before the home is flipped.
Being a contractor and having a brother that is also a contractor, I have done the math and can not for the life of me see why anyone in the world would ever flip a home. Why would anyone ever undertake fixing up a structure that they had to hope and pray did not produce hidden problems half way through the process? Before any of my more intelligent readers begin to point out the 40-50 thousand dollar profit as the answer I want them to first research how much money actually goes into building a home. In 1998, My brother and I were hired to build my uncles home on an acre of land he had purchased for $6000. The total cost for materials and labor came to right at $45,000. For a total of $51,000 ( $6,000 + $45,000) he received a four Bedroom home that appraised at $220,000, even in todays market it still appraises at $175,000.
If my uncle were to have purchased that home via bank mortgage, he would have not only spent decades in debt but would have paid an additional $169,000. If he were to have sold the home as soon as it were finished he could have priced it at $220,000 (fair market value for that time) and seen a potential profit of $169,000. That 40-50 thousand dollar profit looks kind of small now, huh?
Flipping homes may or may not make you rich, for many it leads to nothing but bankruptcy.As for me, I will save my money, purchase land and then pay cash to have a home built on it. Paying cash will allow me to hold on to the home until I get the price I seek, I will never see my profit line decrease due to mortgage payments and I will never deal with hidden problems a previous owner did not know about or failed to disclose.
I wish all the would be home flippers luck in their endeavors however there is a better plan. It has been used by land developers for as long as banks have held mortgages and whether you use it for your own home or simply as a way to gain wealth, it will work for you too. The profit margin is higher (banks gotta have some reason to hold mortgages)and the risk is lower.
If You Liked This Post, Please Subscribe To For My RSS Feed
This concept is not new but is becoming increasingly popular and to those that perfect the method, it is nothing to see a 40-50 thousand dollar profit in a short period of time. This is also becoming increasingly more risky for the investors that don't have the funds to ride out this current real estate market.As many would be flippers soon realize, only on television do homes sell in the first week on the market. First time home flippers are also more prone to miss huge repair items that eat away at the potential profit even before the home is flipped.
Being a contractor and having a brother that is also a contractor, I have done the math and can not for the life of me see why anyone in the world would ever flip a home. Why would anyone ever undertake fixing up a structure that they had to hope and pray did not produce hidden problems half way through the process? Before any of my more intelligent readers begin to point out the 40-50 thousand dollar profit as the answer I want them to first research how much money actually goes into building a home. In 1998, My brother and I were hired to build my uncles home on an acre of land he had purchased for $6000. The total cost for materials and labor came to right at $45,000. For a total of $51,000 ( $6,000 + $45,000) he received a four Bedroom home that appraised at $220,000, even in todays market it still appraises at $175,000.
If my uncle were to have purchased that home via bank mortgage, he would have not only spent decades in debt but would have paid an additional $169,000. If he were to have sold the home as soon as it were finished he could have priced it at $220,000 (fair market value for that time) and seen a potential profit of $169,000. That 40-50 thousand dollar profit looks kind of small now, huh?
Flipping homes may or may not make you rich, for many it leads to nothing but bankruptcy.As for me, I will save my money, purchase land and then pay cash to have a home built on it. Paying cash will allow me to hold on to the home until I get the price I seek, I will never see my profit line decrease due to mortgage payments and I will never deal with hidden problems a previous owner did not know about or failed to disclose.
I wish all the would be home flippers luck in their endeavors however there is a better plan. It has been used by land developers for as long as banks have held mortgages and whether you use it for your own home or simply as a way to gain wealth, it will work for you too. The profit margin is higher (banks gotta have some reason to hold mortgages)and the risk is lower.
If You Liked This Post, Please Subscribe To For My RSS Feed
Monday, May 26, 2008
Memorial Day
Before you fire up the grill today, I want you to just take a few minutes to remember that today is more than just a day off from work. Today is about honoring our fallen troops, men and women that died doing their jobs. No matter your political beliefs or how you feel about this war, these men and women deserve our respect and Thanks. So today when you sit around drinking a beer with your buddies, take a moment to remember all the troops that made that possible.I want you to also take a moment to think of all the troops still in harms way, holding it down so we don't have to.
Friday, May 23, 2008
Recession Proof Your Life
If you're an American like myself, you know our country has entered a recession. The rising cost of gasoline alone is enough to make you want to scream. Today I want to talk about what a recession is and a how to not let it affect your life.
First, let me take you back a few weeks ago to when Bush announced our country had entered a recession. It was like the hammer dropped for more than half the country. Almost overnight it was all anyone wanted to talk about as fear set in. Now lets look at what it really meant. There are just as many jobs today as there were the day before the recession started so why all the sudden panic? Because the President said things were bad? Need I remind anyone that this is the same President that only knows how to say "Stay the Course" when it is so evident that "the course" is broken? This is the first President in U.S. history to ever wage war against an unnamed enemy, spending a billion dollars a day to fund it.I'm sorry, I just don't put much faith in anything he has to say. Times are bad but not as bad as he would have the public believe, this is not the end of the world but we can not look to the government to do what we as individuals must take care of ourselves.
First and probably most important, if you don't have an emergency fund in place, start one. This can not be emphasized enough. Stop overspending on things you do not need. Learn the difference between want and need. I want a Brand new truck however I do not need one so that money is better kept in the bank.
Credit cards- I have them and I think everyone should however I believe that they should only be used when you know for a fact that you already have the money to pay the bill as soon as it arrives. If you can't afford to do that then you damn sure can't afford to charge it, the interest rates alone will dig you a huge hole of debt before you will ever get the money repaid. Robbing Peter to pay Paul should never be an option.
Jobs- get one and keep it. Nobody likes to work but it is a necessary evil. I have been employeed since I was 14 and have never once used the lame excuse that I could not find employment. I may not be able to be a rocket scientist but damn near anyone can dig a ditch, work fast food, or swing a hammer. I am also sick of hearing people claim an illegal alien took their job, if your job can be taken from you, you weren't doing it correctly. Excuses satisfy only those people that make them.
Vote- if you don't like the way things are being done, decide what you would like to see different and when election time comes, ask the candidates their stance on those issues. Remember they work for us. Personally, I will never vote for any candidate that supports NAFTA. It was a stupid concept that has allowed thousands of companies to outsource their work to foreign countries to avoid paying taxes and to cheapen their labor costs. That is the true place where American jobs are going, why would anyone want to sneak into our country and "steal" our jobs when our jobs are not even in our country anymore?
Set goals and achieve them, list your goals in order from easiest to achieve to hardest, then begin to take steps to achieve them in that same order. As you finish one you will see the next doesn't look as hard as it once did. Sometimes a little victory is all it takes to make you see that you can do anything you set your mind to...ANYTHING!
Recession is just a word, you are responsible for yourself and until you learn to take responsibility for your own financial future through better money management, you will never know the meanings of debt free or financially secure. This generation of Americans has racked up more debt than any previous generation, it has also produced more millionaires. The difference being only in how one chooses to spend their money.
First, let me take you back a few weeks ago to when Bush announced our country had entered a recession. It was like the hammer dropped for more than half the country. Almost overnight it was all anyone wanted to talk about as fear set in. Now lets look at what it really meant. There are just as many jobs today as there were the day before the recession started so why all the sudden panic? Because the President said things were bad? Need I remind anyone that this is the same President that only knows how to say "Stay the Course" when it is so evident that "the course" is broken? This is the first President in U.S. history to ever wage war against an unnamed enemy, spending a billion dollars a day to fund it.I'm sorry, I just don't put much faith in anything he has to say. Times are bad but not as bad as he would have the public believe, this is not the end of the world but we can not look to the government to do what we as individuals must take care of ourselves.
First and probably most important, if you don't have an emergency fund in place, start one. This can not be emphasized enough. Stop overspending on things you do not need. Learn the difference between want and need. I want a Brand new truck however I do not need one so that money is better kept in the bank.
Credit cards- I have them and I think everyone should however I believe that they should only be used when you know for a fact that you already have the money to pay the bill as soon as it arrives. If you can't afford to do that then you damn sure can't afford to charge it, the interest rates alone will dig you a huge hole of debt before you will ever get the money repaid. Robbing Peter to pay Paul should never be an option.
Jobs- get one and keep it. Nobody likes to work but it is a necessary evil. I have been employeed since I was 14 and have never once used the lame excuse that I could not find employment. I may not be able to be a rocket scientist but damn near anyone can dig a ditch, work fast food, or swing a hammer. I am also sick of hearing people claim an illegal alien took their job, if your job can be taken from you, you weren't doing it correctly. Excuses satisfy only those people that make them.
Vote- if you don't like the way things are being done, decide what you would like to see different and when election time comes, ask the candidates their stance on those issues. Remember they work for us. Personally, I will never vote for any candidate that supports NAFTA. It was a stupid concept that has allowed thousands of companies to outsource their work to foreign countries to avoid paying taxes and to cheapen their labor costs. That is the true place where American jobs are going, why would anyone want to sneak into our country and "steal" our jobs when our jobs are not even in our country anymore?
Set goals and achieve them, list your goals in order from easiest to achieve to hardest, then begin to take steps to achieve them in that same order. As you finish one you will see the next doesn't look as hard as it once did. Sometimes a little victory is all it takes to make you see that you can do anything you set your mind to...ANYTHING!
Recession is just a word, you are responsible for yourself and until you learn to take responsibility for your own financial future through better money management, you will never know the meanings of debt free or financially secure. This generation of Americans has racked up more debt than any previous generation, it has also produced more millionaires. The difference being only in how one chooses to spend their money.
Saturday, May 17, 2008
I Was Mistaken
In my last post, I promised to announce the winner of my contest to win $50 within 24 hours. Due to me working so hard lately, I had the dates confused and had several bloggers notify me that my original post said the contest winner would be announced on the 19th of May. To those bloggers that anticipated the announcement today, I do apologize but in fairness, I will not announce a winner until Monday night. To all those that have not entered yet, time is running out, get your entries in and good luck to all.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
