Frequently Asked Questions
What motivated you to write this book?
I wrote my book, at first, just for myself, so that I
could record and remember every thing I was learning
in my house fix-up and rental business. Then I thought,
I wish I had had all the information available to me
before I had started my business. So, I decided to
share what I had learned with others, both to help
them avoid pitfalls and utilize shortcuts, but also to
encourage other to follow my path to financial and spiritual rewards.
What is the process that you go through
with a fixer-upper house?
My wife and I first try to find a house that meets our criteria.
Our criteria is fairly simple. We look for: 1.) a house
that is in need of repair that we can buy at below
market price, and; 2.) a house in a nice neighborhood
where property values will increase over time.
We search newspaper ads for houses, we drive
around neighborhoods that we like and go to open
houses, and we check the HUD and VA websites for
repossessed houses. When we find one we like, we
make an offer for a price that works for us. After
the purchase, we quickly repair the house, so as to
reduce the amount we pay for monthly mortgage
payments to a minimum. The sooner we get a
tenant in the house, the sooner they can take over
paying the mortgage payments.
A second approach we have used is for my family
to move into the fixer-upper house and repair it while
we live in it.
Can anyone do it?
Anyone can do it. I am a poster child for someone
who started with few skills. Desire is more important
than skills.
Before I began doing fix-up properties, many times
my attempts at even minor repairs ended up in failure.
I thought that it was just beyond my abilities to understand
the complexities of this type of repair work. I often felt
that in any confrontation between myself and the mysterious
electrical system, the Byzantine plumbing system or perplexing
carpentry work, that I would always be the loser.
I admit that I didn’t do that much physical labor around the
house. In fact, about the only exercise I got was in jumping
to conclusions, dangling participles and splitting infinitives.
There is an inherent fear of failure that often saps our
energy and forces us to not even attempt what we may fear
is a difficult repair. By charging ahead in spite of our fears
we often realize that, after removing a cover or digging into
a project, the solution is self-evident. I've often found that
the problem is solved fairly easily by attaching a loose wire
or unclogging a pipe. The worst case scenario is that I just
have to replace something that is broken, which isn't so
difficult when you have a book to refer to or can discuss it
with an "expert" at a hardware store.
Community colleges usually offer courses in the building
trades, with both classroom and hands-on experience. You
can take courses at night, while still working your day job.
I have learned much from classes in electrical wiring, plumbing
and carpentry.
There is a deep satisfaction that I receive whenever I am
able to repair something at a property I have purchased. I
often get an inner glow that lasts for hours, sometimes days.
This is especially true when I have made a repair that I have
never done before. After I finish the project, I bask in the
warmth of satisfaction and the overwhelming feeling of
confidence that "anything is possible".
Beyond the economic side of the fix-up business, there is a
spiritual side to repairing houses. It’s not just about making
money or repairing houses. It’s also about growing as a person.
This part of the fix-up process left such an impression on me
that one of the chapters in my book is entitled, “The Zen of
Repairing Properties.”
Is it easy?
As Lincoln said, some people will try to convince that
“a horse chestnut is the same as a chestnut horse.”
And some self-proclaimed “experts” will try to convince
you that operating a real estate business is a piece of cake.
Don’t believe them. If it was easy, everybody would be doing it.
Fixing up is hard work. Don’t expect it to be easy. Many a day
my wife and I work for long hours after our regular jobs. Then,
we work early the next morning before the kids are up, until it is
time to go to our day jobs. My brother, my wife and I spent full
weekends painting until our arms are so tired that we couldn’t
hold a brush. We worked like dogs, we ate like hogs, and we
slept like logs.
I don’t need to tell you that life is not always fair. We don’t
always get rewarded for the things we do, like working
overtime and weekends at our 9-5 job. But in the case of the
fix-up business, hard work and dedication are rewarded through
the new skills that we learn and when the rental checks come in.
How does one get started?
Learn everything you can. Read books. Visit houses. Talk to
other investors. Take classes. Don’t spend money on expensive
seminars and mentoring programs.
You should gather information about everywhere you go. Never let
an opportunity pass to learn. Buy books and videos on house
repair. I like to scour the fix-up and investing books 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.
In 400 B.C. Archimedes said, "Give me a lever long enough,
and a fulcrum upon which to place it, and I shall move the
world." Your books are your lever and fulcrum. Once you have
them there will be no stopping you.
Where can we get your book?
At Amazon.com, or almost any internet book store.
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