Fearless Innovator

Today's episode is entitled What does a Buccaneer's ticket and a townhouse have in common?

I tend to attract and coach a lot of first-time real estate investors or people that just want to start investing but they don't know how.  One thing I'd tell you right out of the gate is to go read Robert Kiyosaki's book called Rich Dad Poor Dad.  This book will change your mind set about real estate investing.  Once you've read that, then go read The Cash Flow Quadrant – this book was an eye-opener for me! 

The next thing I will share with you that investing in real estate IS NOT A GET RICH QUICK Scheme, that doesn't mean you can't make the right moves and get out of the rat race quicker than someone else.  If you want to learn what the rat race is (you're probably in it right now and don't even know it) you can join me online every 1st Tuesday from 7pm to 9pm Eastern – we will use the CashFlow Game online as a tool to educate you about how to invest in real estate.  Sign up at www.fearlessinnovator.com/roundtable to receive the online instructions. That's www.fearlessinnovator.com/roundtable.

There are SOOO many ways to invest in real estate, but it really depends on your circumstances.  I'm going to assume that most of you were like me when I got started.  I was working full time in IT, and I just wanted to start to dabble in real estate and I didn't know how either!   All I ever really heard about were people working full time and they owned rental properties.  There wasn't a lot of education out there like there is today (boy that just made me sound old). 

Today, you can be a

• Wholesaler
• Note Buyer
• Multifamily investor
• REIT – Real Estate Investment Trust
• Commercial investor
• Short Term Rental – Vacation Rental
• Flipper – Rehabber
• Hard Money Lender
• Private Lender
• Single Family Home
• Vacant Land

Each of the above come with their own set of risks and rewards.  It's safe to say that if you're working full-time that becoming a Flipper/Rehabber wouldn't allow you the time necessary to devote to both your J.O.B. and the rehab project.  While flipping can produce a big chunk of money at the end of the project you'll also need to understand the tax implications on the ordinary income.  Another option the younger crowd may select is Wholesaling.  Wholesaling is a lot of hustle finding deals and finding buyers with its own set of tax implications, this is a full time J.O.B.

Most investors are after the passive income/cashflow – you'll hear those words used together a lot.  In the book Rich Dad Poor Dad, you'll learn that passive income refers to making money while you sleep, and it's taxed at a lower rate than ordinary income and this is a step in the right direction if you're wanting to move from the J.O.B. Employee status to the status of Investor.  I bet you didn't know that working as an employee at a J.O.B. you are taxed at the highest rate and true investors are taxed at a much lower rate and are able to take advantage of some tax laws.  Robert Kiyosaki discusses in his book The Cashflow Quadrant.

Maybe you have a big chunk of money sitting around, who knows? maybe you inherited it – did you know there are people out here like myself that use OPM – (Other People's Money) on an investment opportunities?  It's handled legally through an attorney, and it's backed with a Note and Mortgage.  This allows the Full Time Employee to remain in their working status, but their money is passively working for them at a fair rate of return.

I think you can see now why you need to figure out what type of investor you want to be and understand all the risks and rewards.

Another tidbit be sure to connect with a mentor.  This can be someone that is willing to teach you along the way or signup for a mentoring program.

I was very fortunate that I had such a mentor.  My mentor did the same thing I mentioned above, only Jim bought me the Rich Dad Poor Dad book and encouraged me to read it.  And because I'm on the global stage, I'm sorry but you'll have to make the effort to buy your own book!

After reading the book, I became hungry to get started and like you I did NOT know how to get started.  But I did know this about me and that is I can make things happen.

Several months had passed and I was visiting with my girlfriend Patsy.  She had increasingly become more discouraged as her daughter Michelle had moved to Charlotte and started rambling about wanting to be closer to her as she missed her very much.  The two had been inseparable until Michelle moved.  Each time I visited it was becoming more evident that she was going to move.  She had tried to find someone to buy her townhouse and had failed, she was a bit reluctant to use a realtor because she didn't have much equity and she wanted to retain as much as she could for the move.

One day she says – "Mechiel you should buy my house".  I was like I have no idea how to do that.  She said it's easy, I'll just call my Title company and they will handle all the steps.  We just need to agree to a price.  I said, "ok?"  I got on the phone with Jim – he helped me walk through the steps on my side, Patsy and I agreed to 50K.  We both signed the sales contract.  I believe I skipped the whole appraisal and inspection phase - which I would advise everyone not to skip today.  I went and got a mortgage approved and we closed in 30 days.  I helped Patsy pack her things and off to Charlotte she went.

Now here I am – with a vacant townhouse and no idea how to get renters, how to manage them, no maintenance people, no idea how to track income and expenses and I'm working full time.

I ended up putting a For Rent sign in the front yard and I put an ad in the newspaper. (Yeah, this was a while back!)  Soon, I had people calling me and I'd setup appointments so I could "interview" them and they could come look at the place. Back then I told them, "If you have bad credit, just tell me now so I don't have to run your credit".  I would also advise against this today, but it seemed to work back then.    For the next 2 years, I learned everything by a firehose.  I had no maintenance crew and my dad even helped with a major leak under the kitchen floor that ultimately the runoff from the water ended up out in the street, but dad saved the day! 

At the end of the 2 years, my running tag line was – I have a guy for everything!   Then because I thought I had become so proficient that I bought another one in the same development.   This of course, added a whole new layer of complexity and issues but I was hooked!

In summary, here's what I did:

• I negotiated directly with the seller
• I bought a single-family townhouse – without knowing anything at all about real estate and I was working full time and traveling.
• I placed the tenants without knowing how to screen or manage them.
• I held onto to the property for years and bought another one – because I now understood cashflow.
• I sold the 2 properties when there was enough equity to buy my next larger property.

Moral of this story – The best way to start in Real Estate is to just jump in wherever you're uncomfortable!  What are you afraid of?

Oh, and if you're wondering about the Buccaneers seasons tickets – I scored them in with the purchase of the townhouse! 

B U C C A N E E R S – GO Bucs!

The common denominator was my friend Patsy.  Patsy got me started in Real Estate!  I miss her dearly – she passed a few years ago – so I dedicate this episode to my dear friend Patsy Rogers!

Laconia Bike fest is around the corner, and I can't wait for the wind therapy and my adventure with Insane Wanderers which is a diverse group of Latino's and a couple of white people.  I may not understand everything they say, but I can point!

While I'm gone to Laconia my real estate business is thriving!   I'm producing income while I'm out riding around the countryside!  If you want to know how, reach me at www.fearlessinnovator.com!

Ok, I'm going to switch gears this week, literally and talk about the Unspoken Rules of the Road.

If you all have been listening to my Podcast you should have learned that I've been riding a motorcycle since I was 9 years old.  Most of the early years was dirt bike riding, but when I got my license at age 16, my dad let me drive my mom's Honda 500 with a stationery fairing.  After teaching me a few rules of his road - like wear a Lid (which is a helmet) wear the proper gear, never ride after dark, always make sure you're flat footed, always be alert and make sure when you're crossing through an intersection with a car at a stop sign – be sure to watch the wheels of the car and not the person in the car, dad allowed me to go downtown and pick up Sheila and we'd scoop the loop for hours downtown.  Sheila was my first bitch ever!  Bitch today – mean's passenger and it's usually a female although I have seen male bitches!  I'd always have to be home before dusk – because riding at dusk or after dark was an absolute NO because the DEER in Iowa are huge and will definitely kill you.  Even today, I have to stop and think twice about riding after dusk.

Needless to say, that over the years I've put a lot of miles under this ass, and I believe I'm very qualified to help those less experienced bikers with the unspoken rules of the road.

For the sake of this podcast, let's assume that before you just went and took the motorcycle course that you actually have riding experience. I think I gave you a great example in an earlier podcast that just because you want to "ride" a bike – doesn't mean you know how to ride. Taking the taking the motorcycle course wasn't designed to teach you how to ride – it's to prove you have the knowledge and skill on a bike to get your license.

So, please for the sake of yourself and others – go ride a dirt bike, ride out in the country away from traffic and gain the riding experience first! 

I've always told people there are 3 components when you're first learning to ride.

1. Gain experience – I know a lot of people that practice in parking lots.  The biggest fear everyone has are going around curves!  Practice sharp turns! Practice, practice, practice.  I know a female that had just got her license and because she was "trying to stay up with the rest of the group after just getting her license" – she hit a car in a sharp turn and ended up in the swamp!  She lived and her brand-new bike had serious water damage!
2. Know how to handle your bike without thinking about it.  Don't get the clutch and front brake mixed up or you'll end up going over the top of your bike.  I saw a guy do this at 20mph and he was pretty beat up at just 20 mph.  Luckily, he had on leather!
3. Once you've mastered those above – now insert cagers (traffic – cars, trucks and other vehicles) by getting out on the road.  This takes riding to a whole new level!  Your skill needs to be such that you do not have to look at your bike to operate it. You are now focused on everything around you.  You are constantly scanning and watching out for yourself.  You do NOT want to be figuring out what to do with your bike when the guy in front of you just slammed on his brakes. Your eyes should be focused away from your bike.  You need the ability to react without thinking about your hands need to do!  

Now that you've got the experience and your license, here are the basics I've learned from my dad and from riding throughout the years.  

1).  First and foremost, bikers are family – being a biker, you belong to a group of people that not many understand or take the time to understand.  Bikers get a bad name because we look tough decked out in leather and we seem non-approachable.  Did you know bikers come in all shapes, sizes and different professions?  I was in IT for 25 years.  I have friends that are Doctors, nurses, truck drivers, Correctional Officers, Lawyers, Police Officers, self-employed business owners, farmers, musicians, Developers and the list goes on.

There's also a difference between motorcyclists, Squids and Bikers.

Motorcyclists – just a buy a bike, may ride with a Hawaiian shirt with flip flops

Squid – (Stupidly Quick, Underdressed, Imminently Dead) Overconfident rider underestimating their riding skills.

Biker – Is a way of life

2).  What to wear and what not to wear!  This was a big one for my dad. ALWAYS wear a helmet, riding jeans and boots.  Helmet's today are not required in all states and its typically your choice if you want to wear one.  Riders always carry gear with them for the environment you're riding in.  Heat, cold, rain, snow – you'll need gear for all three if you ever head to Sturgis, Colorado or Laconia.

Jeans/Chaps pants - Wearing anything less than something that does not cover your whole leg will cause you pain!  I don't care how hot it is out, jeans/chaps are a must!  Just getting hit with a bug on your leg wearing jeans causes enough pain for you to react, when you react you could cause an accident.  Have you ever seen road rash? If you go down, guess what part of your body takes the brunt besides your head? Your legs?  If you're wearing shorts you have absolutely no protection!

Boots – And I don't mean stilettos for your ladies – I'm talking flat footed rubber soled or leather soled boots.  Boots are used for two things – protecting your feet and your footing.  Ladies if you're wearing stilettos and your foot falls off the peddle and gets caught on the peddle, now your whole body moves forward, and you lose your grip on the handlebars.  This causes you to take your eyes off the road or the biker in front you and now you've just caused an accident due to not wearing the proper gear.  I've seen this happen!

Same goes for you flip flop wearers.  When your flip flop falls off or gets stuck on the foot peg – you to take your eyes off the road and create an accident.   When I see this – I know you're a RUB – Rich Urban Biker – or an inexperienced rider and you've just rented a bike just so you can SAY you went to Sturgis.  Bikers unlike motorcyclists dress the part because we want to be safe.  I watched a guy in flip flops attempt to back his bike up into a spot – First, he must have never parallel parked a car – because he didn't know how to back up a biker either – his flip flop got caught on his foot-peg and over he went.  Good thing he didn't make it into the parking spot because he would have caused the domino effect with the other bikes that were lined up.  Which leads me to another rule.

3).  Never touch another biker's bike – You can bet the owner is nearby and his eye is on his bike.  Bikers are respectful until they've been disrespected.  And when one biker has been disrespected the whole group will follow. Bikers respect all people and in general will not cause problems.

4).  Never leave a biker behind – This one is very personal to me.  Let's be clear on this definition.  

1). If you see a biker on the side of the road and he appears to be having issues with his bike or maybe he's not feeling well whether you are on your bike or not (you're still a biker) – you always stop to offer him assistance.  Maybe he needs to phone a friend and he doesn't have a phone.  Maybe he needs towed somewhere and you have a trailer and offer to help him. It doesn't matter what it is, and it doesn't matter what he's riding either.  Shoot I'd stop for a moped!  He's on two wheels!  Bikers are family! 

2).  If you're riding with a group of 10 and you all have pulled over to do some sightseeing and you agree to be back at the bikes by 4pm and then leave.  That means that at 4pm all 10 bikers need to be back at the bikes.  If one or two are missing – you call them, look for them – do everything possible to locate them and never leave them until you know they are ok and that they choose to stay back.  Leaving them behind is a break in the respect you have for one another.  

Real story – I was leading a group of 10 in Deadwood, SD we agreed to be back at the bikes at 4pm.  At 3pm, I witnessed my group of 8 following the Ex-Marine in our group outta town.  They got the ass end of me.  They had left us because they said they couldn't reach us.  They never even waited until the designated 4pm time!  My response – Marines don't even leave their dead behind, and we were alive and kicking mad!  Never rode with them again!

1. Communication while riding.  If you ride solo this still pertains to you but especially when riding in a group – how you communicate with traffic and the other bikers in the group is critical!  The hand signals on a motorcycle are very similar to those on a bicycle.  I use hand signals and the turn signals on my bike whether I'm solo or riding in a group.  If I'm solo, I want to be sure that guy behind me in the 3-quarter ton truck knows I'm turning left.  He can see my left arm extend out and it's confirmed with my turn signal.  Let's face it some of those turn signals are so small not all drivers can see them!  Be consistent in your hand signals – if you don't know what they are…. learn them!  Just google Motorcycle Riding Hand Signals – you'll find all sorts of charts out there.  Learn them and use them consistently.  If I'm riding behind, you and you use your right hand/arm to make a right turn gesture– I'll think you're pointing at something, and I'd hit you! The proper right-hand turn is using your left harm at a 90-degree angle – just like on a bicycle. When I'm leading and turning right, I'm looking for the guy behind me to turn on his right turn signal – indicating to me, he got my message.  Now I'll know he's slowing down with me.  Safety is always first!

Two Finger Wave -When bikers meet other bikers on the road you will see them make a peace sign down low under the handlebars.  This means we are saying to keep two tires on the ground or the rubber down. It also means we're telling the riders to be safe.  Trikes will stick out three fingers.

6).  Bikers are givers and we love helping others!  Hard to believe right?  When you see a large bad ass looking group riding together it could be one of two kinds of groups.  It could be the affiliated MC's (Motorcycle Clubs) or Independents (bikers with no club affiliation) riding for a charity event.  Yes, even the MC's ride for charitable causes.  Everyone, unless you live under a rock have heard of or seen the very large Toy Runs during Christmas.  We will ride and contribute for St. Jude, cancer events, abused women and children and not only give money but time.  I tend to collect for specific people that I know are in need.  One year at my Mystery Ride we collected for a grandpa and grandma that had recently adopted their 3 grandchildren and they were strapped with living in an RV and needed money and food over Christmas.  We made that Christmas a blessing for them.

Bikers will usually ride on charity events on Saturdays and Sundays and usually on holidays.  One day a FB friend went online to bitch about the bikers he heard while attending church over Labor Day– said he couldn't hear the preacher.  I engaged and attempted to explain that the group was on a charity run for St. Joseph's Children's Hospital.  All that did was opened me up for more crap from his other FB friends.  We have a long road ahead of us to explain to non-biking people who we are and what we do for the community. In the meantime – keep doing it!  Ride on!

Here are a couple of disclaimers!

**Riding a motorcycle is mentally exhausting because you're constantly on the defense looking for exit strategies.     

**Do not attempt group riding until you've mastered solo riding. 

*Bikers often refer to their women as Ole Lady's – ah, yeah never call me that!

Thank you for listening, I hope you were inspired, entertained or you learned something new!

In a couple of weeks, I'm off to the Bikefest in Laconia, NH to scratch off another bucket list item!  I hear the riding is fantastic and I can't wait to go!

While I'm gone to Laconia my real estate, business is doing really well.  My personal residence is producing income while I'm out riding around looking at the countryside!  If you want to know how, reach me at www.fearlessinnovator.com!

This week's topic:  Sale of my Multifamily Property

From my last episode on Owning a Multifamily, I told you that after 9 months into ownership, I had completed the upgrades, increased the rents as much as I could.  And was in a holding pattern on the seawall repairs when I decided that since my 10% HIGH Interest only Loan was coming due, I would just sell it!  I'm always a fan of Plan B's! You learned that:

• Other landlords were offering free water and sewer
• Rents were capped at $825 per month
• Filling vacancies would take 3 to 4 months to fill.
• My expenses had increased significantly

I reached out to my residential real estate agent – because keep in mind I didn't know I should have used a commercial real estate guy.  We had it pocket listed for a short stint, and I went around to many of the REIA meetings trying to find someone interested in buying this but found no takers.

One day, I had been seeing where a bunch of people would get together to go play the Cashflow game.  I had always wanted to play because I had the game, but I had yet to master how to play it, so I decided to travel the hour clear over to Largo to go the play the boardgame.  Funny thing happened; I actually ran into a guy I knew from one of the REIA's.  I chatted with Mike for a few minutes, and he told me he wasn't there to play the game, but he was going to meet some guy named Tyler. Mike sat next to me, we ate our pizza, drank our water and chatted for a while.  Right about when the game was about to start, Mike got up and said, well, I got to go, I'll see you later Mechiel.  Mike went outside the building and started talking to a guy in a blue shirt.  After chatting with Mike for a few, that blue shirt walked in the room and then he sat down in the back of the room.  The two moderators came forward and said to everyone, let's go around the room, stand up, introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about you and what you're doing in real estate.  When it got to me, I said my name is Mechiel Kopaska and I'm here to learn how to play the cashflow game so that I can play it in my area, and I have an 8-unit apartment complex for sale.  The guy in the blue shirt held up his hand and said, talk to me after the game about your 8-unit apartment complex.

I went on to learn how to play the game and had enough knowledge to hold a meeting in my area.  After the game was over, that blue shirt now moved to the front of the room, and he had several people around him.  I said to myself, what makes this guy so special?  Who is he?  Why are people flocking to him?

Well, I started to get aggravated because it seemed like I had been waiting an hour just to get to talk to him.  When it was finally my turn, I said Hi, I'm Mechiel and you wanted to talk to me about my 8-unit apartment complex?  He said, Hi I'm Tyler. I said to myself, this is the second time I'm hearing that name.  Who is this guy?   

He said, oh yeah, where is it located?  I said it's in Hudson on the water thinking that being on the water would have all this sex appeal, right? 

Nope, he said, well I don't want it.  I said, how do you know you don't want it, I haven't told you anything about it?  He said, well do you pay flood insurance?  I said, yes.  He said, well I don't want it.   It was then, that even though I was getting shot down, I realized this blue shirt Tyler had criteria and I needed to know more.  I wasn't going to let him shoot me down and me curl up in a corner without understanding more of his criteria.

Now I started asking more questions to the point where he finally says, how about this, why don't you go to Cashflowguys.com/AskTyler, get on my calendar for a free consultation?  I said, Ok.  I'll do that.

I went right home and booked my appointment.  After doing so, I started reading about this dude and I started asking my friends if they knew him.  Turns out he's the Cashflow Guy – as in one of the top 5 Podcasters on Real Estate just under Bigger Pockets, yeah that guy!  He's a seasoned residential and commercial agent on steroids.  He's sought after because of all the knowledge and creative deal structuring he's done, and he loves Multifamily.  This explained why my friend Mike was interested in him.  I know Mike was about to invest in multi-family so I'm sure he was seeking Tyler's advice.  Who knew this guy was in my back yard!

I showed up prepared with all documentation in my sight and within a click to finding anything I may need for this call.  Initially, Tyler asked me a series of questions and I followed up with answers and then I just started spewing out everything I knew about this property, what I done to it, what my plan was and how I tackled my plan and how now I ultimately wanted to sell it.  After several minutes, he says, my wife and I will be in that area on Friday, do you have time to meet with us at the property?  I thought to myself, I guess, I must have done a good job selling this if he now wants to meet me onsite.  YAY!  Yes, I'll meet you on Friday.  He said we'll take a short tour of the property and then we'll go to a local restaurant and talk more in detail.  Sound good?  I said, yes, that works for me!

The date and time were set!

We did just as Tyler suggested, toured the building and a looked at a couple of the units and then we went to a restaurant where we sat for the next three hours discussing this property!

He told me that he and his wife did invest in multi-family and were fairly sure they didn't want to invest in this one simply because they bought property that required little or no repairs and then there was the cost of the flood insurance.  I was a bit disappointed but then he said, I'm confident I can sell it for you where you would make a significant profit and I'll also tell you right up front that I charge more than most when I take on listings.  Why?  Because I'm great at what I do and what I offer far exceeds what other agents will do or can do for you. What set him apart from other agents was his marketing strategy.  I don't think I'm at liberty to tell you what his strategy is, but I'll just say it clearly intrigued me.

I knew the day I met the guy in the blue shirt he was a very confident guy and after learning more about his background, I believed him!  He was also a man of ethics and morals.  We struct the deal with a handshake and the next day he said I'll be in touch with next steps, but the first step was for me to fill out a complete and full disclosure of everything I knew about the property and NOT to leave anything out!

He made me get another Structural engineering drawing so that could be delivered to any potential buyer.  He had his photographer come and take still pictures as well as drone pictures and within days the property went on the market for the value, he quoted me.

The only time I ever heard from Tyler was when he had a question that he could not answer.  I know for a fact that there were A LOT of moving parts going on behind the scenes, from qualifying buyers, validating buyers, multiple offers – none of which I was previa too.    He made his job seem seamless to me and then less than 1 month – we had a full price offer!  Yes, I said full price offer with a qualified buyer!

1 month later this property sold for top dollar, and I had made a HUGE profit.

That's the short story – but behind each of these steps, I bet his team encountered over 20 points of failure that at any point this thing could have fallen apart, right up to the closing table.

Why didn't it?  Because I hired a well-tuned, fine oiled machine that kept their eye on the finish line and delivered the expected results.

I never once knew any of the negative stuff behind the scenes and I know it was there, but it was not necessary for me to be impacted by something I had hired a team to do.

I heard an occasional rumbling – but it was always solutioned before it hit my ears.

As the old saying goes, you get what you pay for!  I paid for excellence, and I got it!

If anyone has a multifamily property for sale, I come with experience and a great team!  I'm looking for my next challenge!  

If that sounds like you and you need help, reach out to me at fearlessinnovator.com/contact.

Thank you for listening, I hope you were inspired, entertained or you learned something new!

You can get a free copy of my book Why my J.O.B. Quit Me, jumpstart Your Firing, go to fearlessinnovator.com/freebook..

This week's topic:  Owning a Multifamily Property

Ownership

If you recall from my last episode, I had just purchased my first multifamily property with tons of issues!  The seawall was in desperate need of repair, the walls and floors on the first and second floors had gaping holes in them, the floors were not level and I had 7- 28-year AC units that any day could break down.

Day 1 after the purchase I went on the hunt for a great property manager.  Well, the hunt didn't take long, I met with the existing property manager and due to her experience with this particular area and this building, I decided to hire her and her team.

I met with her on day 2 to understand in detail the leasing agreements and to discuss vacancy rates and any concerning issues I wasn't already aware of. 

I learned:

• The tenant pool was somewhat limited in this area. It was limited because there were not a lot of jobs in this area.  Generally speaking, my tenants all worked in the local restaurants or bars. 

• One of the 1-bedroom units was vacant and the larger 3- bedroom unit would become vacant soon.

• My tenants had nowhere to do their laundry and they were traveling 5 miles just to do their laundry

My plan was

• To rehab each unit after a vacancy, the 1-bedroom unit had shelves with no doors for cabinets and very limited counter space. I called on my rehab team and the plan was in place to get new cabinets and a countertop. Clearly this would be more appealing towards future tenants, and I could raise the rents a bit.
• The 3-bedroom unit needed a new toilet, new dishwasher, and new paint.
• I added a coin operated washer and dryer for the tenants. I now had to visit the property weekly to collect the coins and check on my investment.

As the vacancies occurred, I was in wash, rinse and repeat mode, rehabbing, cleaning and repairing each unit.

Each time a tenant would move out, I upgraded the units and increased the rents to market rates. However, I quickly learned 4 NEW things.   

1).  Other landlords in the neighborhood – we're offering free water and sewer – which would equate to about a $600.00 loss on my books per month. This meant tenants were not renting from me, they were renting from my competition.

2). The local job market would also limit the amount of rent one could pay because of the type or work offered which were restaurants and bars.  The rents were capped at $825 per month.

3). I'll also point out that because these 8 units were in proximity of each other, the tenants all became friends – what do friends do?  They talk about how much they are paying vs. the other tenant. The fight for equality began.   The banter between tenants was becoming bothersome for me and it was challenging to keep steering this business in the right direction.

4).  The property manager would then report difficulty in filling the vacancies, after all the tenants already knew upon renewal what their new rate was going to be so they would leave.  Replacing tenants would often taking 3-4 months – at the same time I'm losing income.

5). Another disappointing fact was I learned the sellers hadn't been forthcoming on their monthly expenses for electric, sewer and water, I lost close to $1,000 a month total.  I had researched placing remote water devices so the water could be measured by unit, but the cost far outweighed the benefit and other landlords offered this free to their tenants.   I'm not sure how they made money on their investment, but I knew I couldn't fight this battle.

More importantly and the most concerning fact that I learned was that the 2 quotes for the seawall repair were simply a band-aid to a much larger issue.  I learned through an engineering inspection that the wall was not going to collapse even though it really looked like it would and to fix it the right way was more like $40K and there were some other concerns as far as the approach to fixing it.  One approach, everyone on the bottom floor would have to move out for a week, another approach didn't require that.

After 9 months into ownership, I had completed the upgrades, increased the rents as much as I could.  And was in a holding pattern on the seawall repairs when I decided that since my HIGH Interest Loan was coming due, I would just sell it!

This week's topic:  My first multifamily purchase!

Purchase

After taking a 6-month class from Robert Kiyosaki in 2017, I had learned what I thought was enough information to evaluate properties and make good decisions on buying investing properties.

I had started working with a new real estate agent and we had already completed one single family home transaction, when he said to me.  "Mechiel what are your real goals?"  I told him I wanted to buy commercial property simply because it had been on my goals list for several years.  Clearly not the right motivation to buy my first commercial property!  I couldn't wait to place a check mark next to Commercial Property. 

He asked me if I would consider buying an off-market 8-unit apartment complex. I said, "sure" and we scheduled a meeting with the broker and the husband/wife sellers. 

When I first arrived, I met with the sellers.  Nice couple from Greece.  The sellers took me on a tour of the property. I was granted access to enter each apartment.  We went out back and walked along the seawall.  The property was located on a canal that led to the Gulf of Mexico – it was beautiful.  On the tour, the owner had explained all the updates that he had completed.  The 4 upstairs patios had been upgraded and made a nice deck to watch boats or sunbathe. 

Then we toured a 9th room that we'll call the maintenance/supply room.  When you first walked in you could visibly see that the owner was attempting to create a 9th unit as the framing with the 2 x 4's were up. He had explained that he was either going to make it into another unit or it could be converted to a laundry room with storage.  As we went to the back of this unit, you could clearly see that the walls had gaping cracks in it, and the floor was no longer level.  The owner explained that there had been a seawall issue and water had intruded under this floor and washed away the soil from behind the seawall but indicated that he had received 2 quotes to fix it and later he would pass that information along to me.

I sat down with the sellers in their Unit D, and I was able to ask them all the qualifying questions that I had learned from my training.  They had a sheet prepared for me by unit that described the upgrades they had done, the rental amounts they collect per unit.  Basically, any questions I had they answered.  I knew the asking price and I had the rental income and a good idea of the monthly expenses that included some electric, including the whole water bill with sewage and trash and a high Flood insurance policy along with Liability.  He had explained that they had no way to measure the individual water bills per unit but that would be something for me to investigate doing so I could pass that expense on to the renters.

After 2 hours, I felt I had enough information to take back to my desk to perform a complete evaluation. I thanked them for their time and told the broker I would be in touch.

Upon completion of my analysis, I had determined that the asking price didn't line up or make sense. The income vs. expenses weren't lining up, so I called the broker and declined to make an offer.

I didn't think any more about this deal until a month later, I got a call from the agent, and he called with great news, the price had dropped $100,000.

I thought $100,000 was a significant difference, so I evaluated the numbers again, it still didn't work, and I declined to make an offer a second time.

Then within a few days, the agent called to let me know they had dropped the price another $10k.  Again, I declined but this time, they said please just make an offer.  The sellers were motivated because they needed to leave the country for a family emergency.  I looked at the numbers again and made an offer where I knew I could get the formula to work. 

To my surprise, in Aug of 2018, the offer was accepted!

Now, keep in mind I had never purchased commercial property before, so this process was entirely new on the learning curve.  However, my residential agent completely helped me throughout the process.

First challenge was, per the contract, I had 5 hours to find a lender – not just any lender a commercial lender that would believe in me enough to write an approval letter.  I had no idea what I was doing or who I would contact, so with the help of my agent, he gave me a couple of names to call and after that I hit the internet, I was talking to anyone that would listen to me, my story and my vision for the 8-unit apartment complex.

Luck was on my side, I found a lender that did just that, she believed in me and 3 hours later, I had an approval letter in hand.

I called my agent, and he was in complete shock that I delivered the letter to him in record time.

I'm starting to add things up in my head, this process has been really super easy.  Why is this commercial deal going so smoothly, I kept saying to myself…?  I had always heard that commercial is a different animal but this one was clearly not.  Hmmm?

The letter was delivered, and the next step was to complete a 4-point inspection.  The inspection was complete within the next couple of days, and I learned and confirmed 2 things.

1).  The settlement issue along the sea wall was real!  SO real you could see the deep cracks in the walls, and you could see where the main floor had dropped inches away from the foundation and you could even tell inside the upstairs units that the floors were not level. 

2).  All 8 AC units were 28 years old and would need replaced any day!

3). The roof was good.

I had learned from the seller prior that he had gotten 2 quotes to fix the settlement issue along the seawall and I had determined to replace the AC units it would be $3k per unit or $24K.

So, I went back to the negotiating table and stated that because of these issues I wanted an addendum to the contract to reduce the purchase price by another $50k. Clearly, they wouldn't accept it.

The addendum was accepted the next day.  Now, a little fear set in as I contemplated all these issues, but I quickly said to myself, every issue has a solution.  I'll cross that bridge when I get there.

I now had 30 days to seal the deal with my new commercial lender.

For the next few days, I worked with my lender that had approved me and due to new internal criteria, I learned that they would not be able to provide me the lending and declined to work with me.

Good news was, I now had 30 days to get the lending – so I wasn't concerned.  Back to the internet, I went!

After several days of hunting, talking and submitting documentation, I had a conventional lender and a hard money lender on the hook.

The choice was mine!

However, let's dissect the differences between the two options.

• Conventional lending – was just that get an appraisal, inspection and put 20% down and get a lower interest rate – at the time it was 5% - all qualified with tons of paperwork.
• Hard Money Lender – Validate with an appraisal, they would use the 4-point inspection I already had, 20% down, 10% interest only loan with 4 points. Sell or refinance within one year – short term loan.

Now, let's talk about my strategy.

My strategy was to keep the property (buy & hold) but first I wanted to fix the settlement issue, upgrade the units as the tenants moved out, raise the rents to market value and hire a great property manager.

Which option did I select?  I'm confident most would say Option 1 – Nope, my brain doesn't go with the flow – I go against the grain.

I selected Option 2 – the Hard Money guy!

Why?  That was simple, I wanted a relationship with the hard money guy, because I figured we could quite possibly do other deals together in the future.  So, I was after the relationship!

Before I agreed to go with the hard money guy, I called the Hard Money lender's mortgage broker and said, "look I'll go with you, but I need you to confirm that I'll get to meet the guy behind the curtain'.    He was reluctant at first and told me that wasn't customary, but he did agree to call him to see if the arrangements could be made.  He was able to confirm with the hard money guy and the meeting date and time were set.

I met with him prior to closing, because it was important for me to know him and for him to get to know me and what I was all about. After all, it held me accountable for this large transaction that I was about to embark on!

Then 3 days before closing, I learned that 1 AC unit had broken down and the sellers had to replace it prior to closing. I knew then it was just a matter of time, before the other 7 started to breakdown.

The meeting with the man behind the curtain went as expected and we moved forward with the purchase, and I made my payments on time without fail.

At the end of the day, I had just purchased my first multifamily property with tons of issues!   I mean, who would buy a building that could one day at any time just fall into the water? If you've read my book yet, you'll learn that I love making mistakes, because I learn!  But if someone were to ask me at this point in time what my stress level was – I would have told you it was low, because remember my day-to-day JOB was much more stressful and I didn't worry about those AC units or that the building could just collapse, because I had a plan!

In my next episode I'll continue with talk about the ownership of the 8 Unit Apartment Complex.

Thank you for listening, I hope you were inspired, entertained or you learned something new!

You can get a free copy of my book Why my J.O.B. Quit Me, jumpstart Your Firing, go to fearlessinnovator.com/freebook..

Hey, I'm looking for homeowners that may have a second home, but you're not sure you want to keep it or let it go?  I may have a solution for you.  Hit me up on Fearlessinnovator.com.

This week's topic Embrace Losing Your J.O.B.

I quit my J.O.B., not once but TWICE!

The moment I realized I was not longer a "great" employee, I quit being an employee!

Did my J.O.B.. serve its purpose?  Yes!  I excelled in project management.  I ran very large, complex deals with difficult people!  I loved my work!  I made a lot of contacts in and outside the U.S.

Did I earn a good living at my J.O.B.?  Yes, I made over 6 figures!

I had colleagues for years, telling me that I needed to start my own business.  What would I sell?  Why would I do that?  How would I do that?  I just blew them off and continued traveling and working upwards of 12-15-hour days on multiple projects and watching my expenses build up but I was getting no where!

Then one day, something clicked. I realized that all I ever wanted out of my employer was recognition for a job done well. After all, I ran complex deals, travelled, worked with multiple vendors and worked hard!  I wasn't getting recognized, nor was I getting ahead in life being an employee, but they would dangle the money carrot in front of me that went something like this.  If you do XYZ, then I'll give you more $.  That sounded like more of a bribe than someone that valued my work. Now, they wanted me to work more hours and travel more?  I was even offered a directors role, but I turned it down.  Are you kidding me?  I know what my boss does, and I was NOT interested!  My employer quite frankly didn't know what to do with someone that didn't want more money or a promotion.

During a very low time in my life, my father had passed away, I was in menopause at an early age and didn't know it and I was maxed out in the stress department running two large engagements and I was in a failing relationship.

One day it finally happened!  My J.O.B. and I decided we were no longer a good fit, and I was out of there!  There's more to this story in another episode!

Do you know what the worst part was?  My best friend died the next day from cancer!

Do you know what the best part was? My stress was gone, and I could breathe again.  I didn't have to wake up and figure out who's problem I had to solve today.   My time just became MY TIME.  I took off the next two weeks with no worries in the world and went to be with my best friend's family.  I decided to just let go of something I could not change and embrace my new freedom.  I told myself I would not worry about anything happening back home, until I got back home.

It was during this quiet time – here's that bucket time again, that I was able to let everything sink in.  Boom!  It hit me! I was not going to let a J.O.B. get the best of Me.  Why?  Because I had skills and talent and I get to take that skill with me wherever I decide to go.  I see and hear people all the time in fear of losing their J.O.B.  I know and you do too, that if you lose or decide to quit on your own, there is always something better on the other side.  I also know that employers like to instill fear in you, why else do they write bad reviews?  It's to make you feel less than what you really are.  You know who you are, so start living that way!

I got back home and I immediately, tapped into my network across the US and before you knew it within a couple of months, Project Strategixx was born and I was on plane traveling the US from FL to Hollywood to Kansas City and New York City, gainfully employed and living my dream.  Was I scared? Absolutely, I was scared!  But I've also learned that when I'm scared of something that's where I win, so I tend to be scared A LOT! 

However, there was a new storm brewing behind the scenes, now that I didn't have a J.O.B., how was I going to pay my mortgage?   I'll share that story in another episode soon!

Wait for it….and then

I got a call from a prior local consulting gig.  They called and needed my help on a part-time basis for 3 months.  Which meant I'd be back in the employee status again. 

By the way, going off on a tangent here, do you all know that as employee you are taxed higher tax rates than that of a self-employed person?  Here's an example:  In 2020, let's say you are an employed single person making between $40k to $80k your tax rate is 22 percent. If you're married, you can make up $171,000 at the same 22%.

For a self-employed person making up to $137,000 your tax rate was 15.3%.  Yeah, don't get me started on that topic…

Here's the punch line……

I took the J.O.B.!  You didn't see that coming, did you???

Why did I take it?  It was temporary pain….  You know kind of like when you give blood, that first prick in your arm is a doosie but it quickly goes away?

This part-time gig would allow me the time I needed to focus on my real estate portfolio.

I had been investing in real estate since 2000 and this would free me up so I could build up my portfolio and my real estate network! At the time, I had 8 rental properties that I managed myself!

Bad news is this gig lasted 3 years – not 3 months.  the great news is when they fired my boss, I knew it was only a matter of time before they dissected the whole IT team. I had been in and out of companies across the US and I had firsthand knowledge of the inner workings of businesses and how they operated.

 One day we had a meeting.  In that meeting, we were told, we were going to get One on One's to determine what type of player we were, A, B, C, or D. I raised my hand right in front of everyone and asked what type of player am I? You should have seen their faces!  It was priceless and my new boss said, "Let's do your one on one today!"  I said, "Great, I'll meet you at 3pm".  By 4pm, I had been given my 30-day notice.  Sweet!!!

That door never hit me in the ass, and I was gone! I was free!!!!  Free, to do whatever I wanted.  Well, I already knew my plan. 

My plan was to dive in, heads down into educating myself more about real estate.  I took a 6-month Robert Kiyosaki online real estate course, joined several networking groups, attended weekly REIA meetings and other specialty courses taught by people in my area.  I even found MY own tribe!  Today, I have a huge network of people just like Me, doing what they love in real estate.

Through this education, I now know how to evaluate a property to make the deals, how to buy it at the right price, how to sell a property, learned how to use Seller financing to my advantage, how to invest in Notes and how I can use my own or a friends/family IRA money and convert it to a self-directed IRA and buy more real estate! I even write my own Land Trusts, Quick Claim Deeds, etc.  I have firsthand knowledge in flipping houses and I've even bought my first commercial property!  Months later, I researched developing an RV park in GA. 

Hey, when I write my goals down, I MAKE them happen!

Evolving into an entrepreneur is NOT EASY!  There are several days where you doubt yourself, but I've found that if I get around MY tribe, they typically can restart my energy.

Is a J.O.B. (Just Over Broke) holding you back from being happy?  Are you fulfilling your life goals?  Do you need a kick in the butt?  Are you trying to invest in real estate while working your J.O.B.?

If any of those sound like you and you need help, reach out to me at fearlessinnovator.com/contact.

Thank you for listening, I hope you were inspired, entertained or you learned something new!

You can get a free copy of my book Why my J.O.B. Quit Me, jumpstart Your Firing, go to fearlessinnovator.com/freebook.

Hey, I'm looking for homeowners that may have a second home, but you're not sure you want to keep it or let it go?  I may have a solution for you.  Hit me up on Fearlessinnovator.com.

Welcome to the Fearless Innovator Podcast, my name is Mechiel Kopaska, and I am your host.

Today I am stepping wayyyyy outside my comfort zone and doing something that is completely fearless.  I promise this episode will be super short, but I need your help at the end!  I'm putting myself way out there so much it makes my heartbeat really, fast!!

You already know that biking is a big passion of mine.  You know I've been riding since I was 9 years old, my dad bought me my first bike so I could chase the cows, I lead a group of bikers on what I call the Mystery Ride, I've been to Sturgis 4 times and Laconia, and I've ridden Route 66 and most recently visited 7 of the 97 Iowa Freedom Rocks – so there's no doubt you know I ride.

I'm sure you've all heard about the Orange County Choppers or the OCC show on TV, right?  Where they build custom bikes and the dad Paul Teutul, and his son Paul Jr are always disagreeing on how to build a bike?  Well, they've recently just built a new facility in St. Petersburg called the O.C.C. Roadhouse & Museum – basically is a bikers dream location for meeting up with friends to enjoy food, concerts and the museum.

I just got word that the OCC is hosting their 2nd Annual Dream Chopper contest!  I did a little research and discovered that last year's winner was Joe Rasulo a US Army Veteran, and he built a bike to commemorate his time in the service.  How cool is that??? He got to appear on one of their episodes with the OCC crew and was featured on the cover of the Cycle Source Magazine.

This got me to thinking…  Hey, I can do this!  So, I've entered myself into the competition and currently I'm in 6th place in my group.   I have no idea how many groups there are, but my eye is on the number 1 spot above all groups.  I intend to be the 1st Female to win this Custom Chopper!  I already know what it's going to look like…it will have loads of bling and crosses!   I also intend on inviting all my friends over to the OCC in St Petersburg, where I will host another Mystery Ride!  

Go to Fearlessinnovator.com/mychopper to vote for me!

There are 2 ways to vote – vote daily for the free votes or use the Rescue votes to donate to the Hudson Valley SPCA – a foundation Paul Teutul SR is fond of every dollar donated is one vote – however, keep checking back because sometimes they offer a 2 for 1 deal – When you Pay $500 towards the Hudson Valley SPCA and it counts as 1000 votes

I will see you at the OCC when I win my custom chopper!

#makingdreamsreality

Thank you for listening, I hope you were inspired, entertained or you learned something new!

Side note – I have found an RV park and I'm diving in!  Stay tuned!

Catch me later…

This week this story should really help you to understand why I call myself the Fearless Innovator.  And women if you're listening…. this is a story of what NOT TO DO and for the record I'm NOT for hire!

Full Disclosure!  Whatever you do, do NOT try this at home!  This story was good for the time in which it happened but not today considering there are over 400,000 registered gun owners in Florida, and that doesn't account for the non-registered owners.

To protect the innocent here, I'm not going to use real names except for my own and clearly, when I look back on this story, I can't believe I did this, but it is, what it is.  I was not the mastermind behind this plan, but I did put the plan together to make it work.  Now you already know I am from Iowa, my dad was fearless, I'm fearless and I had several years of IT Project Management years behind me at the time of this event.

SOOO here we go!

A friend of mine, whom we will call Carol, was traveling home from work one day, her car had broken down and a knight in shining armor tow truck driver rescued her! He picked up the car and towed her and her car to the nearest repair shop.  It was during this ride, these 2 struck up a conversation, exchanged phone numbers and before she knew it, she was on her first date with him.  Then a second and then a third and then a fourth.  I had met him several times, he seemed very attentive, funny and charming and he treated her well.  As far as I knew, things were going along smoothly and all was well…….Several months later, Carol didn't seem to be herself and when I asked about life in general, I just got a basic – everything is alright.  I shrugged it off and thought maybe her workload was really heavy at work.

Several days later Carol came to me and only this time she was crying……  Crying…. I'm thinking to myself, what on Earth could be so bad?

She proceeds to tell me that the boyfriend had cheated.  I did my best to comfort her and told her not to worry about it, there were plenty of other men worthy of her attention.  I dropped it at that.

Couple of days go by, she again comes to me crying – only this time there was more desperation and nervousness in her voice.

She proceeded to tell me that she had bought the boyfriend a brand-new Toyota Tundra and everything was great, and he was making the payments until he started cheating and now, he was missing in action. 

BUT she says I know where he's staying.  And I said, and you want my help how?"  She said, well, I think we can steal the truck.  I'm the owner, I have the registration and I got an extra set of keys made.  Did I hear you say, we?  Yes, she said. My eyes musta popped out of my head but not for the reason you all think!

You see Carol, is the opposite of me.  I have a backbone, she has no backbone, she likes status quo, I like to make things happen.  She's quiet and reserved and quite frankly I'm not.  So, Oh I get it, she knows my strengths and just developed a plan to use my strengths to work her plan.   Oh, I see!

I told Carol, I need to think about this for a while and I'll let you know.

Now, Carol is a great friend of mine and of course I really wanted to help her get that truck back from that scumbag.  But I needed more time to think about it and plan our strategy.

I've realized over the years that defense is my best weapon! I played guard in high school basketball, and I was determined that that ball was mine so I like it when people make the first move – all their cards on the table and you can't guess what my next move might be…Sorry, I digress….

The first thing I wanted to know was more about the Toyota Tundra.  I called up my dad.  Dad, I'm going to ask you some questions, but I don't want you asking me why I'm asking you.  He said, "hmm" I said, you're just going to have to trust me.

Dad, when you put a key into mom's Toyota Tundra which way do you have to turn the key?  He said to the left. I said, Ok.

Once you're inside the truck where is the door lock?  He said, it's on the door.

Where is the gear shift, he said on the console?  I said, "Ok, thank you!" and I hung up!

I went back to Carol and said, didn't you tell me you know where he lives?  She said, yes, with his new girlfriend.  I didn't ask how she found out where he lived that would be another story.  I said, do you know about what time he gets home from work?  She said, yes around 6pm.

Ok, one night after work, let's take my black truck, park in the shadows and wait till he gets home because I want to see how and where he parks. Off we went to stalk a guy in black Toyota Tundra.   As luck, would have it and just like clockwork he showed up at his apartment and he backed into his spot and the walked across the parking lot and up a flight of stairs and inside the door he went.

All the way home we discussed how this might go down and after many sleepless nights I kept pondering what we should do.

A couple of days later, I approached Carol and said, "I think I've got it."

But I said here's the deal, I'm not the registered owner so if you think I'm going to steal your truck, your dead wrong YOU have to do it! I've already called the cops and they said they won't help us because this is a personal repo!   She was scared to death!!  I said, girl you're going to have to buckle down and stay focused, here's the plan!

We're going to drive over there just like we did the other night.  We'll park in the shadows down the street and when he hits the apartment door, you're going To take a deep breath, open my truck door, shut the door quietly, run down along the sidewalk so he can't see you, dart over to your truck, put the key into the door, turn the key to the left, open the door, jump in, hit the lock button on the door, put the key into the ignition, start it up, put it in gear and about that time, I'll pass in front you of you and then you just follow me.  Got it?

You should have seen the fear in this girl's eyes.  I said, listen, you got this, just follow me!

The next night, we went over as planned, we waited and waited and watched several cars come and go and THEN it was game time.  He was pulling into the parking lot, backed in, got out, checked his doors, walked across the street and as soon as he hit the apartment door, Carol jumped into action.  She took a deep breath, opened my truck door, shut the door quietly, RAN down along the sidewalk so he didn't see her, she darted over to HER truck, put the key into the door, and turned the key to the left, and when she did the ALARM went off in the truck!  I thought OMG, she's going to buckle on the plan, NOPE!  She jumped into the truck, hit the lock button on the door, put the key into the ignition, and started it up, she put it into gear and about that time, I passed in front her, but as I'm passing in front of her, he's running down the flight of stairs!  Carol continues to follow me.  I called her on her cell phone, and she says, Mechiel he jumped into his girlfriend's car and now he's chasing us… I said keep coming, he can't hurt you.  She said but Mechiel, this truck is running like a piece of shit, I said I don't care…. keep moving!!!!  We got to a main road and by this time Carol was dragging back a bit and he was nowhere in sight, but we knew he was back there.  She said, Mechiel we have to pull over, I said that's not a good idea!  Well, we pulled into a Target, checked things over quickly and got back on the road.  Carol called me and said, Mechiel he's following us, I said keep moving!!!!   I said we need to find a police station.  At this point, I was struggling to come up with a police station, my adrenaline was running high, and you know it's not every day that I need to know where a police station is!   All of sudden, Carol says, Mechiel there's a substation just ahead down the road, take a left.  It took me a while to realize what she was talking about, and she was right, there was one.  OMG, I thought, Carol just saved the day!  I said, ok, I'll call them to let them know we're coming in HOTTTTT!  Just keep following me!!!  She said, OK!  I said, I'll call Ya back.  I called the substation explained that we had just done a personal repo and we were getting chased and we wanted to swing in to prevent this guy from hurting us.  They were less than willing to help us with anything but agreed to have an officer outside waiting for us.  

We both pulled in like we were pitting in the Daytona 500!  I immediately got out and went to check on Carol, she was a mess, well we were both a hot mess!  She got out of that truck yelling and screaming that he had ruined this brand-new truck, this truck is a piece of shit and then she screams out and now he went and put a frickin security system on it.   Right then she saw him pass by the substation in his girlfriend's car.  We were both relieved because now we knew he wouldn't come into the substation.  The officer just stood there with is arms crossed, laughing at us!

It was right about then I realized there was smoke coming from the back of the truck and it smelled like hot brakes.  I jumped in the truck and realized she had been driving with the emergency brake on! I released the brake and went back and told her this truck isn't a piece of shit, he had put on the emergency brake!  So, Carol you were driving with the brake on!

I told Carol, girl I'm really proud of you!  When that alarm went off, I thought for sure you'd run back to my truck, but you didn't YOU STUCK TO THE PLAN!  You even pushed through with the emergency brake on, and you came up with a split-second decision to go to the substation!

We left the substation that night and hid the truck in a safe spot until she could decide what to do with it.

Just goes to show not all plans are perfect but putting in the effort to do the plan does yield a result.  In this case, we got the desired result, it was just a bit clunky getting there!

For the record, this is the one and only time I've ever stolen a truck, so I don't want any calls wanting me to devise a new plan.  I won't do it!  Well, I might consider a small car, next time….

Thank you for listening, I hope you were inspired, entertained or you learned something new!

Hey, if you're looking to invest in Florida real estate and you don't quite know what you'd like to do or how to do it, please go to fearlessinnovator.com and fill in the contact page.  I'd love to help you!

Please join my FEARLESS - Real Estate Innovator Group on FB.

If you'd like to attend my Innovation Roundtable where we talk about everything Real Estate, go to fearlessinnovator.com/roundtable to sign up!

Tonight, I'm hosting what I call the Innovation Roundtable.  If you'd like to attend my Innovation Roundtable where we talk about everything Real Estate, go to fearlessinnovator.com/roundtable to sign up!

Catch me later!

Fearlessinnovator.com/contact

Fearlessinnovator.com/mybook

If you'd like a free copy of my book Why my J.O.B. Quit Me, jumpstart Your Firing, go to fearlessinnovator.com/freebook.

This week's topic is Just Move it!

If you recall, from last week's episode, I had purchased 1.65 acres that had a double wide mobile home and a 2-story stick-built house with a 6-car garage.

My goal with this property was to build a custom home and flip it and move on to another property.  I was clearly living up to the Nomad life, a name given to me by my parents. I loved to move around!  But That's NOT what happened! 

I worked with a local commercial lender and was able to sell him on my idea to build this custom home.  The construction loan had a limited timeframe and at the end, I would need to seek conventional lending. 

After the purchase, I sold the double wide and had it hauled off and in its place my home was built which took almost 2 years, by the way – but that's another story for another day. 

Then something else unexpectedly happened and it ruined, and I mean ruined my goal for flipping the home.  Sadly, I got into a relationship. 

That relationship changed the trajectory of my vision.  Now, it made sense to keep the home, but it just didn't make sense to me to have 2 dwellings on one property.

Had I known now what I know today, I had a perfect multi-family property which in today's market is clearly sought after but at the time I did not know what I had.

Now, I was hunting for a solution.  Everyone, I encountered I would ask, "what would you do?".  I got no viable solutions.

Mom and dad came down for their annual visit in February.  It was during this visit with dad where we were actually standing inside the 6 car garage when I got a call that said, I needed to move from the 2 story building into my new home (20 ft away) that day and I had to take pictures that day and send them that day back to the mortgage company so they could validate that I actually lived on premise so I could pass the final inspection allowing me to take possession of the new home.  Immediately, mom and dad and I went to work and began moving in the essentials.

After we completed our work, dad and I were back in the garage talking, only this time the attitude was a little different.  We were now discussing his death and everything he wanted me to know about his life and how he wanted things to go after his death.  He told me three things, He did everything in life in wanted to do, He lived life with no regrets and that he was happy.  I wasn't extremely happy talking about his death, but I did listen intently.   I decided to change the topic to something more enlightening.

I said, dad, "now that I've moved into the house what on Earth am I going to do with this 2-story building?  He said, didn't you tell me that the 1.65 acres over there with the single wide is for sale?"  I said, "yes".  He said, "go buy that 1.65 acres and move this house over there in place of the single wide and when you do, rebuild this barn to the size you want BUT make sure you put in a very large door in the middle because one day, Mechiel, you're going to want an RV.

My dad was brilliant, and I was his perfect little get er done, kind of girl.  I made a deal with the neighbor next door and purchased the 1.65 acres.  The single wide wasn't worth 2 pennies, but I found a group of guys that came to get it for free and they made it a hunt camp up north somewhere.  I don't know where. I didn't care, it was gone!

I started hunting for house movers. Now, In Iowa this happens a lot where people move houses, but not so much in Florida.  My friends thought I was nuts!  I didn't care!  the least I could do was research it and see what I could find out. 

I had heard during this time about a house they moved on water, so I was confident I could find someone.  I planted seeds everywhere trying to find a house mover.  Finally, I found a guy in Dade City, just 40 minutes from my house.  I still have his business card!  He shows up on time with his buddy – two good ole country boys chewing tobacco.  He asked me what the goal was, we walked and talked as I explained it to him, and he looked over it really good and said, yep, we can do that. 

This is how it works: I'm going to place big jacks under the home, raise it up, cut off the bottom floor, place it on a flat-bed semi-truck, lower the jacks so the home is now on the truck, and very slowly inch by inch, move the house from Point A to Point B.  This process will take a week to complete. 

I had to cut down a fence, with nasty bushes in it, take a lean too off the building, and pull a permit and hire a contractor to put down the new elevated foundation that ultimately became the crawl space.  Once permitting was approved work could begin.

Within 2 months we were ready for the "move".  Unfortunately, I couldn't witness the move because I had to go to my J.O.B. and wasn't allowed time off to be there, but my great friend Kathy went and took pictures, and video and gave me the play by play.  It went off without a hitch!  Next steps were to secure the home to the new foundation, took off the baby blue vinyl and put-up concrete walls and paint and then wait for the inspection!  A couple of days later, I cleared the inspection and began my search for a renter.

Total cost of the project was $40k and at that time, you couldn't have built a home for that price.   Over the next several years, I've had tenants come and go and most still remain in contact except the tenants that decided doing meth was smart!  I didn't have to call the cops because his brother (which I knew he was afraid of) did the trick and they were gone in 15 days!

Today, this home is a short-term rental and yes, I rebuilt the garage to meet dad's standards and yes, you already know I have an RV (but I guarantee you at the time I built the barn, no I did not have an RV, nor did I think I would want one.)  I sure miss my dad's wisdom; he passed the same year we had a discussion about is death – just months later.

Thank you for listening, I hope you were inspired, entertained or you learned something new!

If you'd like to attend my Innovation Roundtable where we talk about everything Real Estate, go to fearlessinnovator.com/roundtable to sign up!

Tonight, I'm hosting what I call the Innovation Roundtable.  If you'd like to attend my Innovation Roundtable where we talk about everything Real Estate, go to fearlessinnovator.com/roundtable to sign up!

Fearlessinnovator.com/contact

Fearlessinnovator.com/mybook

If you'd like a free copy of my book Why my J.O.B. Quit Me, jumpstart Your Firing, go to fearlessinnovator.com/freebook.

This week's topic is Houston, I Have a Problem! A real estate problem that is!

My goal in 2005 was to sell the house I currently lived, take the profit and buy another house.  One night after arriving home on my motorcycle from attending a Wednesday night bike night, I decided to start my search for my next house, because quite frankly I didn't fit into my current neighborhood.  I drove a truck and I was the only motorcycle (at the time) that was embedded between beamers and Mercedes, as my neighbors.  They clearly didn't take kindly to my loud pipes.  I couldn't even exit the property on my bike, because it wasn't heavy enough to trip the security gate. Luckily, another biker arrived in the neighborhood, and he had the same problem, we had to go in front of the HOA to request they change that.  They did, but it took some time.  I digress….

My hunt began on Realtor.com simply because I wanted the ability to search for a home without a realtor involved.  It wasn't that I didn't want to work with a realtor, I just didn't need anyone driving me around to look at the area or the exterior of a home. I first wanted to find the right location.

I found 5 listings that intrigued me.  On Saturday, (because I had a regular J.O.B. back then) I started my search.  I drove aimlessly for hours driving through neighborhoods about 10 miles north of my current house.  I ran scenarios through my head about the distance it was from work, did I want to live on a gravel road?  Was the grocery store close by?   Where was my bank in proximity? How far was this from my friends? Did I mind that one property was on a main road?  Was I looking for privacy?   I narrowed my search down to 2 properties.  Over the next several weeks, I continued my random drive-bys at different times during the day and night.

This whole time, one property kept me coming back.  It had a long driveway and was quite intimidating to drive down because you couldn't see the house from the main road. I wasn't even sure if I was in the right place, but there was a realtor sign out front.   It was very secluded, dusty driveway and at night you would have thought this is where kids would say that's where the wicked witch lives.  Yeah, that kind of place!

However, at the end of the abyss it opened up into this beautiful, secluded 1.65 acres surrounded by trees. There was a double wide on the left and on the right was a 2-story building that was baby blue vinyl.   On top was a 1200 sq ft apartment like and 6 car garage below.  It wasn't a mansion by any means but this place, to me, had great potential.

I never approached the buildings; I would just sit in my truck away from the vacant house and daydream of what the possibilities could be.

On Mother's Day this year, I went and picked up my little Sister, Elizabeth.  She was my "little sister" from Big Brothers Big Sisters.  I never had children so during this time in my life I was single and thought it would be cool to share part of my life volunteering with the less unfortunate.  This is another story, but we were together for 5 years.

I was ready to tell Elizabeth that I may be moving soon, and I'd like to have her go with me to see what I may be buying.

Nothing was different this day, I drove down the driveway and parked in my usual spot, positioned my truck so we could look at the house and daydream except this day, the front door to the 2 story flew open and there was a big guy in the doorway with what I thought for sure was a shot gun!  He waved that shot gun as if he was motioning us to come close.  I wasn't sure and held off, now he was approaching us and then I realized that shot gun was a cane!  I was never so relieved, after all I had my little sister with me and couldn't imagine putting her into a bad situation.

Once we approached, I realized he was the nicest guy ever.  He said to me, I've seen you sitting down there several times, would you like to come inside and take a look?  We said yes, and then we met his wife, Laurie.  Once inside the 2 story, I quickly realized that I loved this place!  Charles told me that he and his son had designed and built it themselves and they had the double wide there for other family members.  He told me they had lived there for roughly 15 years and his brother had owned the adjacent 1.65 acres and they lived in a single wide on that property.  He told me when they moved there years ago a bunch of bikers lived there and they were still finding beer cans laying everywhere.   We walked the property and he told me everything he could about the property.  Charles said that he and Laurie were now retired, and they wanted to sell so that they could buy a new truck and RV because they wanted to travel.  He asked if I was interested in purchasing and my gut replied, yes, I do think I'd like to live here.  After all, I was thinking this place kind of reminded me of Iowa.

He said OK, but there are 3 things I want you to know.  1) Let's wait until my contract expires with my realtor – which was just days away 2). They had had some financial issues but were hoping to get them resolved quickly 3) If you buy the house, would you please take a care of our momma kitty?

I told him; I had no issue waiting on the contract to expire.  You tell me when you're ready and we will close on your terms and of course, I'd take care of that sassy orange momma kitty!  She had already swiped me!

Charles gave me the go ahead to place my property for sale.  Back in 2005 properties were flying off the shelves.  I kept Charles and Laurie in the loop with my progress and they kept me updated.  However, as luck would have it, my place sold within 30 days!

I called Charles up and I said, Houston, I have a problem!  He said, what's that?  My house sold and now I have nowhere to go!  He said, yes, you do!  I said, what do you mean?  He said, Mechiel after your closing, you bring all your stuff out here.  Laurie and I will move into the double wide and you can live upstairs.  Now, listen, he said, we don't want rent either. He said you're doing us a favor and you won't have to pay rent.

The day of closing, I moved in with my sellers for about the next 6 months.  Now, I couldn't pay rent but I damn sure paid for anything that broke! and I bought them groceries and even had a Ford connection that when they were able to close, enabled them to buy a FORD dually for under invoice!  We shared evening meals and me and momma kitty became the best of buds.

The FORD was delivered sight unseen, they picked up their RV and off to Virginia they went on their next chapter in life.

I'm very grateful for my friends Charles and Laurie and today we remain friends and now I even know their kids!  I run into them often at concerts!

This is the way real estate deals should be handled!

Stay tuned for next week's continuation saga entitled Just Move It!

Thank you for listening, I hope you were inspired, entertained or you learned something new!

If you'd like a free copy of my book Why my J.O.B. Quit Me, jumpstart Your Firing, go to fearlessinnovator.com/freebook.

If you'd like to attend my Innovation Roundtable where we talk about everything Real Estate, go to fearlessinnovator.com/roundtable to sign up!

Fearlessinnovator.com/contact

Fearlessinnovator.com/mybook