Posted by Truth Teller on September 19, 2007 at 13:58:22:
that SUCKS
Pity Party? Rant - Posted by James - Michigan Investor
Posted by James - Michigan Investor on September 18, 2007 at 16:15:09:
Ok, here’s the run-down on me and what my CURRENT dilemma is.
Is it just me or do all you investors dirve a whole bunch
every day? I’m single w/ (no kids, Hey ladies 
) and I
drive a medium-sized truck (S-10). 17 MPG (should be 21-
24) anyway…I drive anywhere from 50 - 100 miles a day
and it averages at about 60. I need my truck as I carry a
lot of tools for certain jobs I refuse to call my
contractors for (plumbing issues etc). In Michigan, the
gas prices are terrible…$3.00 right now. I get tired of
filling my gas tank every couple days.
That’s it. Just wanted to rant about the cost of gas and how much I fill up.
I’ve got a friend in the same business who drives a hummer. That’s gotta suck even more.
/rant
Thoughts? Comments? Condemnations?
James
PS - I live IN TOWN too! (98% of the rentals are here)
PSS - I’ll just blame it on Bush. Everyone else does.
Re: Pity Party? Rant - Posted by Penny
Posted by Penny on September 20, 2007 at 08:50:41:
I’m with Jimmy. I do as much via phone & internet as I can. The gas prices are annoying, but I consider my time to be the most valuable, so driving isn’t always the best use of it.
There’s a bunch of things I want to know before I’ll spend the driving time to go look at something. I make a list of what I want to visit and have a flight plan to make any driving trip most efficient.
Combine personal errands in your flight plan and you can still write off mileage. Last week I looked at an office building for sale after dropping off my husband at the airport on the way. Legitimate deductible business expenses are great.
I traded in my S-10 after 9 years and 182,000 miles on my 1999 Jeep Cherokee. Great little truck when it was just me and the dog. The Jeep’s been great now that I have kids.
I bought the Jeep as a 2 year lease return, so somebody else took the 35% depreciation hit off the first 2 years. It has an inline 6 and the drag coefficient of a brick, so the mileage isn’t that great, either. But I’ve also towed things and hauled furniture with it. I’ve got 136,000 miles on it and the 4 wheel drive is great in the snow.
Same thing as Jimmy - keep up with the routine maintenance and it goes forever. My husband gave up trying to get me to spend $35,000 on something newer.
Phones and Internet - Posted by Jimmy
Posted by Jimmy on September 20, 2007 at 05:39:28:
I am a miserly ba$tard, as my wife will attest. but frugality is a critical cornerstone of wealth accumulation. read any of the rich Dad, Poor Dad materials, or The Millionaire Next Door—which validate this principle.
I burn very little gas in my REI biz. That’s because I invest 200 miles away from my home, and I have learned to do a lot of research and info gathering from my home office. I have eyes and ears on location, and can get a really good picture of a property without seeing it in person. I can eliminate 95% of would-be investments without leaving my office.
and when I drive, I pile my 6’2", 235-pound frame into a 1998 Toyota Corolla with 140,000 miles on it. best car I ever owned. never breaks. oil changes, brake pads, a new set of tires around 90,000 miles, and a little bit of gasoline.
my wife would prefer that I drive a nicer car, but I just can’t do it. the thought of plunking down $110,000 for a Porsche is just nuts to me. I’d sooner buy 4 or 5 more houses.
then again, my Corolla does not make that oh-so-sexy VROOOOM sound.
Re: Pity Party? Rant - Posted by Anne_ND
Posted by Anne_ND on September 19, 2007 at 08:22:00:
James,
You have more control over this than you realize. I spend 90% of my investing time on the phone and the computer. Most of my current real estate investments are about 1 hour away from me and some weeks I drive out there 2 or 3 times, but most weeks I do not go out there at all. Some of my investments are 1800 miles away and I never see them at all. Somehow they get repaired, shown, sold, rented, without me being there. I have a garage full of tools that I never use anymore.
Most of my driving is to look at commercial properties a few hours away.
You can easily reduce the amount of time you drive. For instance you could decide that you are not driving to any work site on Mondays or Fridays. Those days are reserved for either extended weekends, or office work, or your knitting class. The point is, if you decide you’re not driving, you’ll find non-driving solutions.
My guess is you do get some positive reinforcement from all the driving, otherwise you wouldn’t do so much of it.
good luck,
Anne
Re: Pity Party? Rant - Posted by DP
Posted by DP on September 18, 2007 at 22:16:28:
There’s nearly a billion dollars worth of real estate within walking distance of my house. Depending on your strategy and location you might not even need a car to invest.
Re: Pity Party? Rant - Posted by Rich-CA
Posted by Rich-CA on September 18, 2007 at 17:31:38:
I got started driving during the Jimmy Carter recession. Gas was 79 cents a gallon. BUT in 2007 terms it would have been $4.75 per gallon (adjusted for inflation, which we had a lot of under Carter).
Great point about due diligence and research - Posted by John Behle
Posted by John Behle on September 20, 2007 at 16:54:33:
You make a great point about research.
I wasn’t really following this thread, but noticed your post and a point most people should not gloss over.
RESEARCH doesn’t have to mean driving. I think many of the people worried about gas prices, etc. just don’t realize first, that there are alternatives and second that they may be wasting time.
When I first started investing, I drove around a lot and looked at properties. Let’s see, it has a porch, a front door, grass, it is a rambler, has a garage. Hey look - a chimney, ok on to the next.
What a waste. I bought two properties in my first year and a half of buying residential property. I spent time cutting ads out of the paper, pasting them to cards, prioritizing them, calling a few and driving around looking at properties.
Then, I changed my approach and bought a million in properties in my next three months. In the late 70’s in my state that was quite a few properties.
What was the difference? I had people calling me on my ads, coming to my office, negotiating in my office and walking out with a signed offer.
I usually only looked at properties when I had a signed offer subject to my inspection. I found even almost 30 years ago that I could gets comps off the MLS computer and find out most information and details I needed over the phone and without needing to leave the office.
I do preliminary due diligence quick and easy and these days it could hardly be easier with the Internet. Once an offer is signed, then I can do full due diligence on checking out prices, title, condition of the property, etc.
I also found a whole different world of sellers. A non-motivated seller wants you to drive out and look at the property and sit in their living room. They or the agent want you to come fall in love with it. Many non-motivated sellers won’t give you even the tiniest details unless you drive out.
A motivated seller wants to talk terms and talk a deal. They are more than willing to come to my office and bring information with them. No question it worked, my results went up by FIFTY TIMES.
There’s also a world of difference negotiation wise when people come to you, get off their home turf, etc. I turned from a “property looker” to a “deal maker”. I kicked that up another 300% to a million a month in properties by using real estate agents more effectively and gathering more information without having to drive around.
These days with the Internet, whether I am buying a note or a property, I can have just about every detail I might want - maybe 95% - within just a few minutes. One click of the computer and I can have an abstract of title. Another click and I might have interior pictures. Another click and here’s the yard and aerial view.
Re: Pity Party? Rant - Posted by James
Posted by James on September 20, 2007 at 11:59:19:
Anne,
It’s been a while since I knitted anything…my mother taught me when I was younger.
I doubt there’s anything I could do now other than knitting a straight chain…
I actually save as much time/cost in driving as I can now anyways.
Generally speaking instead of calling one of the contracters to handle maintence calls, I just do them.
Saves me a little bit of money that way and I enjoy it.
I do like listening to Talk radio though - Dennis Miller, Oriley, Glen Beck…good stuff right there.
So I do enjoy the driving…especially when I was driving this: http://www. pontiacpower.net/pictures/98fhta1.jpg
Things were going pretty well then…and FAST too!
James
Tim Maddox - Posted by Clement Berry
Posted by Clement Berry on October 20, 2007 at 09:44:39:
truxilline endotheliolytic glossorrhaphy avolitional cecily unparticipative protohymenopterous ringleted
Cornwall Holidays
Carey Mclaughlin - Posted by Margie Wolfe
Posted by Margie Wolfe on October 16, 2007 at 01:44:43:
truxilline endotheliolytic glossorrhaphy avolitional cecily unparticipative protohymenopterous ringleted
Actress of the Month: Judy Davis
http://www.be.emb-japan.go.jp/
Re: Pity Party? Rant - Posted by Alex SC
Posted by Alex SC on September 18, 2007 at 20:17:59:
I guess I do not mind driving to find my next deal.
Full tank of gas cost $50 bucks Average Deal over $100k.
heck of a return on my money …LOL
Kevin King - Posted by Etta Miranda
Posted by Etta Miranda on October 18, 2007 at 16:22:39:
hoistway untaped uncensuring superpatient retransplant truffler mammality curmudgeonly
Minehead Marquees
http://www.dyship.com
Amy Curtis - Posted by Wilbur Christian
Posted by Wilbur Christian on October 16, 2007 at 05:11:15:
hoistway untaped uncensuring superpatient retransplant truffler mammality curmudgeonly
Prestwich Place Bones Could Provide a ‘Whole Mixed Bag of Answers’
Re: Great point about due diligence and research - Posted by Bob Smith
Posted by Bob Smith on September 23, 2007 at 21:55:18:
Who gives title abstracts by Internet?
Ok, I need some of your deals… - Posted by James
Posted by James on September 18, 2007 at 20:37:31:
I only get (on average) a $30k return (in real equity).
That’s 50% of the value of the house too.
James
Re: Great point about due diligence and research - Posted by John Behle
Posted by John Behle on September 24, 2007 at 09:49:42:
Many Country Recorders offices are online and provide good services. I can pull an abstract off of most of them with a little work. One of my local ones is wonderful, it has a click one button abstract. That’s very helpful since the last couple times I have asked a title company to pull me an abstract they had no idea what I was talking about. I know they may not have much call to provide them, but to not know what an abstract is is amazing. They are still needed in some legal actions, court proceedings, etc.
So, I was very surprised to have a recorder’s office that had actually made pulling an abstract so simple. I love it. On a foreclosure deal for instance, I can know the status and all of the loans and liens immediately.
Use a Siphon Tastes bad but cheaper LOL - Posted by Truth Teller
Posted by Truth Teller on September 18, 2007 at 21:00:53:
LOL
I ‘use’ to have a… - Posted by James
Posted by James on September 19, 2007 at 09:28:34:
…6 gallon gas tank in the back of my truck. One day this summer, I went outside to find it missing.
And I just filled it up the night before. grrrrr…