Viva Las Vegas
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My mind is reeling after attending a real estate seminar in Las Vegas at the Red Rock Casino and Spa (very nice place). The event was put on by Robert Allen and is called the "Enlightened Wealth Retreat". I almost didn't go because I was still hurting from my accident, but I am so glad I attended, pain and all.
There were multiple speakers who gave very inspirational speeches (and sales pitches for their latest products) and stories of their humble beginnings. As one speaker said, "There is no reason that every one in this room cannot be a... continue reading >>
Who are you?
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Who are you?
After the day I had at work, I'm asking myself who I am and what am I good at. Although I enjoy (most of the time) real estate investing, my niche is as a Medical Technologist. Today I felt like I made a difference. The lab received some blood specimens from a doctor's office and as I was logging them in, I noticed that one tube of blood looked like colored water (meaning that the person probably had a low hemoglobin level). Before the paperwork was all taken care of (i.e. taking the requisition to registration,... continue reading >>
Organizing
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I'm not really sure if this falls under the inspirational category or not, but didn't know what else to put it under. At my J.O.B., I am a very organized person. At home, I don't know what happened, but things are scattered everywhere. My computer desk looks like a paper factory exploded. Then my cat Jesse likes to jump up to be near me and either knocks papers on the floor or wrinkles them or lies down on them.
After going through another tax season and sorting through piles of papers for receipts, etc., I decided I MUST get... continue reading >>
Landlord reality
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Today was spent painting one of my apartments. Once I get started, I really enjoy making a place look better, but sometimes getting started is the hard part. This apartment has been nothing but bad luck since I purchased it 3 years ago. Despite attempts at screening for good tenants, I have been stuck with losers who end up moving out owing me large sums of money. When my last tenant moved out, I was really depressed and even put the place up for sale. Since now is a bad time to sell, I figured I better get my act... continue reading >>showing apartments
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Has anyone had the problem of scheduling a viewing of an apartment and not have the person show up? I have had this happen several times, with the most recent one really getting under my skin. I live about 35 minutes away from this rental property and work a full time JOB, so time is of the essence. I scheduled the appointment for 11 am. When she hadn't shown up by 11:10, I called her. "Oh, I'll be right there", was her response. When she hadn't shown by 11:40, I left and never heard from her again.
This brings... continue reading >>
Don't neglect repairs
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A tenant reported to me that the steps to the apartment had "collapsed". When I looked at them, the steps on the left side had come unattached from the frame of the deck. At the time, the tenant was behind in rent and I told her I wasn't sure when I could get it fixed. She said, "No problem. We can use the steps on the other side and we probably have somebody who can fix it if you want to take some money off our rent". I let it slide. I had been to the property and walked up... continue reading >>
"You're lucky ma'am"
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Today started out as a good day, having lunch with a fellow investor in town (thanks Matt). I had to rush home to get ready for work. As I'm driving, I call my banker on my cell phone to ask about an upcoming closing. I got his voicemail, so I left a message. A little later, my cell phone rang and I saw it was my banker, so I wanted to answer it. Apparently I took my eyes off the road for a second because next I was hitting a mailbox and going through some yard at 45-50 mph. I... continue reading >>