People constantly ask me how do you find these kind of properties?  “Diamonds in the Rough”, some call them! The most common alibi I hear is —There’s no properties in my hometown like you write about!  With very few exceptions, I must disagree.  The properties are there! You simply haven’t found them yet.  There are several different reasons why you haven’t; however, I’ve found most folks simply haven’t been looking for them.  Most investors I know tend to do the traditional kind of property searching.  If they decide to be apartment owners, they mostly look at traditional apartment buildings.  Single house investors generally drive thru the “Burbs” in search of prey.  Hardly anyone is goofy enough to buy slaughterhouses or an old motor lodge.  I’m going to suggest that you broaden your vision a bit.  After all, “non-traditional properties” can be lots more fun - as well as more profitable.

Buying income properties has always demanded a reasonable clear-cut vision of investment goals, plus a large oversized portion of plain old blind faith from those who do it with much success.  It’s almost always the rule rather than exception, that people who observe a serious investor at work, secretly think — This time he’s really lost all his marbles on this latest deal.  That’s a perfectly natural reaction from “faint-hearted” observers watching
from the sidelines.

Many people are a bit too short-sighted to be good investors!  They lack one fundamental requirement which I call “Long-Term Thinking”.  Folks without “Long-Term Thinking” are really not investors.  More often they’re like speculators looking for an easy path to wealth.  Many are easy prey for the “Get Rich Quick” gurus whose techniques contain enough “hot air” to fill several Goodyear blimps.  “Hot air” is not an ingredient you need for success.  It only delays it!

EXPANDING YOUR VISION CREATES OPPORTUNITY

Quite often you’ll find the biggest rewards are off the beaten pathway.  Changing where you look might be your first step towards “big bucks” and real cash flow.  Stop and think about investing a little differently!  Isn’t it the folks with vision who always seem to get there first and make the most money?  Followers are always lagging behind and are never quite certain about where they’re going.  Quite often they show up too late - or become victims of a “bidding war” - paying too much for a property.  Many “traditional-type” investors I know have long since given up any hope of making a profit!  They feel lucky if they just break even.  Their greatest concern is will they ever get their original investment money back.

FINDING PROFITS - NOT LOTS OF HOUSES

The first thing to do is not panic!  My kind of properties are almost always available — You simply haven’t discovered them yet.  Finding the right properties, meaning the kind that will produce monthly cash flow and long-term profits, is one of the most important skills you must develop to enjoy any success in this business! Remember, if this was too easy, everybody would be doing it and we’d all be rich!  Finding properties that will earn respectable profits is one of the biggest challenges for every investor regardless of how many properties might be for sale in his buying area.

You must always keep in mind - finding profitable deals is our goal - not finding lots of deals! Pattern your buying methods after that old Hills Brothers TV coffee commercial a few years back. “90% of all the world’s coffee beans are rejected by Hills buyers — They’re sold to the other guys.” The truth is, about that same percentage should apply to buying the right kind of real estate unless you’re only doing this stuff as a hobby. Quality deals are the ones that make money.  Do not substitute profits for volume.  It makes very little sense to hurry up and buy a loser!

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Stachybotrys is blamed for almost everything in my town!  Even our local Narcotics Task Force has knocked down a few front doors in their war to rid our neighborhood of bad guys.  Still, in their write-up (formal report) they also noted the house has a serious mold infestation!  Imagine the dilemma a poor landlord faces if somehow during an illegal metamphetamine cooking operation, a couple small patties of stachybotrys accidentally falls in the pot of meth!  There goes the purity, I would guess.  These things may sound a bit humorous - but I can tell you, down at my monthly apartment association meetings, hardly anyone is laughing!

STACHYBOTRYS

Just a short time back - not only couldn’t I spell it, but I didn’t have even the foggiest notion of what the word meant.  Had I attempted to guess two years ago, I would have said; It’s probably a Swedish rye bread.  Obviously, that’s the wrong answer!  The layman’s term for Stachybotrys is toxic mold and it’s created panic and screaming fear in the hearts and souls of landlords everywhere!  Especially my group, I think.   They’re all talkin’ like the only solution is to sell their duplexes and apartment and maybe buy oil stocks.

Even though bad things happen everywhere, it seems like my liberal state, California, is always on the cutting edge of disaster.  Remember Santa Monica and the Berkeley rent control spearheaded by our drunk assemblyman Tom Fonda (correction), Tom Hayden - toughest laws
in the nation.  Over the years; however, the Federal Supreme Court, as well as the California top court has dealt rent control several setbacks.  I might just add; however, that during the toughest times several apartment owners and builders who took the time to figure out the system, become multi-millionaires when everyone else skedaddled out of town.

Many of my trade secret subscribers, especially those of you who’ve attended my seminars are very much aware that-I believe the world, and especially the world of landlording, would be a pretty dull place without a bit of humor as we plod along.  I appreciate humor and I sincerely believe my sense of humor has aided me a great deal in my 40 some odd years of doing this stuff.  It helps one to lighten up and see the full screen - a bigger picture if you will!  However, on a less somber note, I also realize humor don’t fix real problems and mold has become a top priority landlord problem in the past couple years.  In my local area, it’s already put the jinx on sales and has caused several small property owners to give up the business altogether.

WHAT’S A POOR LANDLORD TO DO?

The answer, my friend, is the same one I’ve used to solve most landlording problems!  YOU MOST EDUCATE yourself!  You must understand what’s going on and then you must design your defense to counter the problem. Let me explain what I mean! Only a few short years ago, lead base paint was housing enemy no one.  It has tough federal laws with even more added on at the state and local levels.  As a landlord, you’re required to give every renter living on your  property a small 51/2 x 81/2  booklet with pictures of ABC building blocks and a naked man with arrows pointing to strategic location on his body where lead might become a problem.  In my view, they need to reverse the frontal view of the naked man to reflect more accurately where the lead’s really concentrated.  It’s a federal law so I do it religiously - and I have no problem.  Just make sure tenants sign the form that goes with the booklet proving what you did.

SOLVING PROBLEMS PAYS BIG BUCKS

I learned everything I could about how to abate (solve the problem) lead based paint.  Many of you already know, scrapping off paint chips and re-painting is the quickest and cheapest method.  Some states require you to jump through a few more hoops with sniffers and high-tech gadgets.  But, in the end - if you know your local rules and what you must do to get by - I’m certain you’ll learn to cope, as I did.  Sometimes you can get help using creative strategies.  For example: In my town I rent to quite a number of low income HUD tenants (Section 8). On one occasion, a local building department inspector told me I would need to have 9 houses tested and treated by a lead paint specialist to determine habitability.  I said - Look, the only way I can accomplish that (testing and sanding) would be to terminate housing for all nine low income families. He gave me a strange, steer in the headlights, look.  Yes, I said, because of sanding and disturbing the lead paint.  I then asked him would you like for me to have the Section 8 supervisor contact your boss on this matter?  Moving out thirty low income people, including 19 children, from their homes may not set too well with HUD — And besides, there’s hardly any vacancies at this price level.  They’ll all be homeless, I told him.

That conversation changed the entire complexion of our lead paint discussion.  He said can you hand-scrape without using electric sanders where the paint is chipping, then repaint all the woodwork without disturbing any occupants?  I said, that’s no problem - so that became our plan and it worked extremely well.  I might just conclude, I still own the houses and every year I scrape and re-paint where I spot chipping paint.

CONTRARION STRATEGY

Stachybotrys is the latest in a long line of roadblocks to make a landlord’s life more miserable.  Going around roadblocks can create some exciting and profitable opportunities if you can replace negativism with positive thinking!  Let me explain — Just a few years back lead base paint was looked upon by many investors as the landlord’s “Armageddon”.  Quite a number of credible and sincere newsletter writers were advising - “Sellout while you can for the end is near”. I figured lots of folks would heed that advice, so I set myself up as buyer of last resort.  Naturally, the prices I paid to several panicked sellers reflected “Last Resort” buying.  I take great pride today showing my Fixer Camp students two properties I acquired at “Fire Sale” prices (approximately 55% of value) because sellers were frightened to death when the bank turned down their loan (refinance) lacking an asbestos and lead paint clearance.  Both these properties (13 units total) have generated a very healthy cash flow since day one of my ownership. The cost to me was residing several units and sanding and re-painting the others.

The local guest speaker at my property owner meeting told the group that any black mold area (stachybotrys) on the wall - 4″ or larger - needs to immediately be encapsulated with plastic membrane, taped and sealed, then he advised we should callout a licensed contractor with a sniffer device to measure air quality. We also need to remove the mold carefully and send samples back east to a special testing laboratory for mold to determine the negative particle content.  He said these special tests would determine if we had NEGATIVE AIR inside the apartment. Negative air, he told us, was bad for our tenants and might cause illness.  He closed his presentation with his recommended remedy.  He said, he’s licensed to test negative air and his computer is hooked up with some eastern lab that tests mold particles.  His standard fee to perform these tests is $695. When testing is completed, we now know if we have negative air quality or not - the next step can be very expensive, he said!

HOW MY MOM DEALT WITH MOLD

I didn’t tell the speaker but I have no intentions of encapsulating 4″ of mold on my wall!  What I plan to do is scrape it off, clean the wall with regular old bleach and re-paint.  That’s what my Mom did 50 years ago, when we had mold in the bathroom.  My Mom got down on her hands and knees and eliminated the problem.  Also, I recall, she never once mentioned she should sue somebody over 4″ worth of mold.

I realize it’s like Bob Dylan’s song, “The Times They Are A Changin”’.  We are not using my Mom’s old-fashion technique.  We’ve progressed beyond Mom’s remedy. Now we must blame mold on something or somebody. And so, landlords need to pay close attention to this latest fiasco so they stay out of hot water - and above all, avoid being charged with harboring negative air.

TOP-RATE SERVICE AND REPAIRS CAN SAVE YOUR BACON

When a tenant calls in with a mold problem - don’t dilly-dally around debating the issue!  Instead, go out quickly and determine what the problem is!  If you see mold, haul out the bleach and take care of the problem quickly.  Also, you need to work on your vocabulary relating to mold. Don’t ever use the word mold in front of your renters. When your renter says- let me show you .the mold over here —You say: Let’s take a good look at your moisture problem!  Substitute the words moisture or dampness to describe or communicate about mold with your tenants. This makes perfect sense because mold is caused by moisture and the lack of proper ventilation! The guest speaker said this combination created negative air. Naturally, I didn’t want to interrupt during the meeting, but many of my renters have created negative air long before mold was in the spotlight.

One method I’ve been using with good success on lower walls where moisture seems to gather the most is to clean the wall first. Always remove any damp sheetrock. Then I install 32″ high sections of wood paneling (T-l-ll siding okay) right over the top of the existing lower wall (from the floor up to 32″ high). Wainscoting, it’s called. I use 30# roofing felt behind the panel and finish it off with an attractive molding (cap) on top. You’ll note that 3-32″ sections can be cut from a standard 4′ x 8′ panel (96″ .;. 32 = 3).

Better ventilation will cure mold problems.  Mold can’t grow in a wind storm.  You need vents under the house and also top side (attic vents) above the ceiling to allow air to circulate freely.  Regular ceiling fans help, but those giant whole house fans will really move the air and obviously are the best.  Mold will grow if water sits under a house. You must somehow find a method to drain standing pools of water if you have this situation. Moisture from standing water can actually penetrate wood flooring and turn linoleum black.  Obviously, roof leaks that allow water to run down the inside of walls will need to be fixed, as well as window leaks. 

 The reason for the high alert status associated with mold today is partly because society chooses to blame every illness on something.  With a name like stachybotrys, it’s no wonder we landlords are catching so much flak.

TURNING YOUR TENANTS INTO AN ALLY

Human nature being what it is, often allows you to solve serious problems with a few wellplaced dollars.  For example, I’ve found several of my tenants who squawked the loudest over a little dab of mold suddenly become quiet as a church mouse when I inject a few bucks into the mold issue.  This strategy works very well, believe me.  I advise my tenant that we will correct her moisture problem - but in the meantime, we needed her help’.

I explained it’s not your fault Helen, therefore, we’d like to pay you to help us eliminate the problem. We’ve cleaned up every spot we can see, but just in case a few dark spots should re-appear on the wall, we’re willing to pay you $30 every month to bleach them off. That means even one small spot! Meanwhile, we’ll be looking around the house to see if we can find where moisture may be coming from!

Now the shoe is on the other foot.  The tenant is working on our side.  $30 a month is very cheap insurance to turn your tenant into an ally.  Quite often you’ll need several months to fix a problem.  This strategy buys you the time!  Mold is not the only problem landlords must wade thru - it’s only the latest.  The best way for investors to protect themselves is to stay “up to speed” on current issues.  Many problems can be turned into golden opportunities for entrepreneurs who take a positive approach.  That’s certainly what I was able to accomplish when lead base paint scared the dickens out of two property owners who thought there was no way out except to sell their properties to me.  I have witnessed many negative landlord issues over the years, but there’s always been a rainbow at the end of the storm. The guest speaker was right the other evening when he told his audience about negative air. What he didn’t say; however, it was coming from him!

Tags: Fixing For Money by FixerJay
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Think about this for a moment! When I buy an income property for $40,000 less than its true market value using my investment knowledge - how much tax do you suppose 1′ll have to pay on the $40,000 I’ve just earned using my buying skills? Don’t take too long with your answer ’cause any way you do the math, the answer is still zip — Like in none! Now think about the same $40,000 amount that you earned last year at the factory! Down there they call it wages.  Let’s assume for the moment you’re a family of four.  I’d bet that when we add up the state, federal and social security taxes, which are automatically withheld from your earnings - you’ll be very lucky to take home $28,000 for a whole year’s worth of bolting on fenders.

Assuming my calculations are somewhere in the ballpark - you’re talkin’ about giving up or losing $1000 every single month in this particular example.  In my case I’ll earn the same $40,000, but the difference is - 1 can keep it all. I’m not sure exactly how you think about money, but from where I sit, $1000 is a whole wad of dollar bills to give up every single month.

IT’S ABOUT KEEPING EVERYTHING YOU EARN

Just imagine what you might be able to do with $1000 every month investing for your own account - using that $1000 to benefit yourself.’  Remember we’re only talking about one small deal here.  This stuff gets real exciting when you start thinking about several deals going on at the same time.

If you follow my line of reasoning here, you’ll understand that the quickest way to become a successful investor is not so much dependent on how much money you have - but rather skillfully using all the dollars you earn to advance yourself .  The idea here is to quickly build up your money-making assets and substitute your tax battered wages with cash flow earnings from your investment houses.  Living off tax-sheltered rents allows you to legally beat the taxman and keep all your earnings to build your own wealth.

Changing careers like I did is not for everyone - nor should it be.  For the same reason they make different colored shirts.  Folks have different goals and dreams.  You won’t find everyone likes blue as I do - but for those who wish a change in their everyday life - or have decided what they do now to earn a living might be temporary or shaky — Allow me to give you a few insights into the world of a FULL-TIME REAL ESTATE INVESTOR.  I’m qualified because I are one - even more so, ’cause I’ve made some seriousmoney doing it.

YOU NEED A WORKABLE PLAN TO BEGIN

If you tell me how old you are now - then give a reasonable amount of time to get you set up in the real estate business, I can come pretty close to telling you what you must do to arrive at the place you’d like to be and I can also give you a reasonable guesstimate about the income you’ll have at that time. This stuff is not brain science or rocket surgery - close is good enough, plus I will tell you I have many students who have proven my estimates to be quite conservative. Don’t ya hate it when they do better than their mentor!

MY SIMPLE PLAN - REASONABLE AND PROFIT ABLE

I decided to buy older houses and small apartments that needed fix-up.  My reasoning was this: I can do much of the work myself Plus, I can buy them for much less cash down because there are fewer serious buyers for unsightly distress-type properties.  I also thought, and it proved to be correct, than once fixed and cleaned up with a shiny new paint job — Older rental houses would command about the same rents as equivalent-sized newer houses. The same thing is true with the older rundown apartments, although I’ve always favored houses because tenants rent houses quicker than apartments.

It is not my purpose here to explain why my plan has worked out so well financially other than to say; BIG MONEY is made in real estate when you can consistently get the highest investment returns. Let me ask you a simple question.  Which do you think is better: Buying houses for $50,000 each with average down payments of $5,000 and after fix-up, rents of $750 per month or — Houses that cost $140,000 each with $25,000 cash down payments and rents of $950 per month?  If you own both kinds right now, you already know which are best.  If you don’t know the answer yet, carefully study these numbers before you invest.  Never forget, cash flow means survival, the opposite spells disaster.

HOW MUCH RISK IS TOO MUCH?

Once I decided where I wanted my plan to take me and after choosing inexpensive fix-up houses as the vehicle to get me there - I then considered how much risk would be involved.  Shopping centers are high-risk properties. Land speculation is more like gambling.  Bare land can go for years without any income or payback.  Special use buildings like airport hangers, bowling alleys, auto factories and resorts can sink an investor quickly if the tenant moves out. You limit yourself to a very specialized group of tenants when you own “special use” properties. It’s dangerous for beginners who normally don’t have “holding power” (extracash reserves).

In my own case, I knew from the very beginning I could not stand many vacancies.  Obviously, too much risk of any sort was not what I wanted or needed.  Just imagine how long you could last if you owned a “seethru” office building in Houston during the last oil bust.  Those buildings stood there for years with little or no rents coming in.  Many rich tycoons joined the ranks of “poor folks” with no income to pay their mortgage payments. By the way, “see-thru” means you could look straight through those fancy glass windows from one side to the other because there were no tenants.  You have an unobstructed view.  That, my friends, is what I call high risk investing.  Forget those kind if you’re starting out!

INVEST WHERE DEMAND IS HIGHEST

It’s very important to stay within your means financially and to acquire the type of properties you can personally handle yourself.  If you do that, you can almost write off the risk factor. Inexpensive rental houses and small apartment buildings will always have long waiting lists of qualified tenants if you keep the properties looking attractive and in good repair.

According to Housing and Urban Development (HUD), about 60,000 lower income rental units are disappearing in this country annually.   They are being tom down for urban expansion, condomized and some like the ones I buy just fall down.  The reason they’re disappearing don’t matter much.  The point is, they’re becoming scarce as hens’ teeth.  In some cases I know of, the federal government is already subsidizing landlords who own what’s left.  Certainly that makes as much sense as paying farmers to plow their tomatoes under - or feeding fat kids pizza and French fries for lunch under the federal nutritional lunch program at school.

Because they are scarce and in such high demand, the risk of owning and operating inexpensive rental houses is almost non-existent.  That’s exactly what new investors need, non-existent risk — There are plenty of other things to worry about.

Once you have develop your financial success plan - you’ve decided where you wish to go - you’ve selected the vehicle to take you there, and you’ve decided to invest in properties with the lowest possible risk given your resources and abilities.  You have completed the first step.  Now you are ready to implement your plan.  Don’t wait until you know everything about investing.  You never will!  Investment education comes mostly from investing.  Obviously, you must learn all you can from reading, classrooms and seminars.  However, unless you actually do some investing yourself, you’ll be missing the most important part of the learning process.  Following is a list of 8 things you need to pay particular attention to as a career-changer who needs to get a payday as soon as possible.

     1. Learn your local market. Know what properties should cost - what they can reasonably sell for. Learn how much rent you can get.  Do this step before you buy - not afterwards.

     2. Learn to spot or identify hidden bargains quickly - then act fast to acquire them.  Remember, competition is keen.  You must develop a sixth sense for “sniffing out” hidden money-makers.

     3. Develop a business sense — Think like a retailer.  This will help you to pay wholesale prices when you buy.  Buying at retail prices and selling for retail prices simply won’t work.  Don’t do it! It shows your wife/husband or significant other how dumb you are!

     4. Invest - don’t speculate. Investing is a plan to make money.  You must be able to identify exactly how you will do it.  That’s why step one is necessary.  Speculators are merely guessing without a plan.

     5. Learn how to do deals where you have 100% control or nearly so. Basically this means owner financing with you doing the management.  Avoid short payback notes and variable rate mortgages offered by the institutional lenders.

     6. Learn how to live on tax-free or tax-sheltered income.  Rents you collect are normally tax sheltered. Rehab loans, like Title Ones, are tax-free same as borrowing on equity or refinancing.  When you collect $100 rent - you get to keep $100. When you earn $100 in wages - you keep only $70.  Taxes eat up the money you can easily keep to benefit yourself.

     7. Learn landlording firsthand - from doing it.  Manage your own customers (tenants).Many inexperienced investors farm this function out to professional property managers.  I consider this a serious mistake for new investors.  Maybe it’s okay later on, but owners should know the job inside and out first.

     8. Once you have developed a plan that works wee and consistently makes you money.  Stick with it til it quits working.  Most investors suffer this common weakness.  We’re all suckers for a better mousetrap.  Avoid the “to good to be true temptation” - it generally is.

Looking back now, I still wonder where I found the time to do all this stuff It sounds like more work than the job I left, but it certainly paid me back for all the effort I made.  Let’s review what I told you earlier about a plan. First, I said you must know where you want to go.  Obviously, you must direct yourself towards a target.  In my case, I wanted to own enough income-producing real estate to support the lifestyle I had planned for myself.  That meant I would need to own rental properties that would provide enough cash flow every month to pay all my expenses.

I remember at first $1000 every month was okay.  Then $2000 seemed more appropriate.  When that happened, I adjusted my goal to $3000, then $5000 and so forth.  Remember, when you’re working your plan, adjustments and fine-tuning are perfectly all right.  Also, don’t forget when you’re doing this stuff yourself, you’re also learning how to work much smarter!  Working smarter means bigger paydays.

The second part of my plan involves — How to get there. This part is very important. You must choose a method for achieving your goals within your personal capabilities. This means financially and physically.  You must know yourself first.  Evaluate what you can do and what you cannot do.  This is not the place to dream.  In my own case, J had very little money saved.  However, I’ve watched others start with even less.  Money to start, as it turns out, is much less important than starting and staying with it. PERSIST ANCE WILL BE THE MOST IMPORTANT INGREDIENT OF YOUR PLAN.

Tags: Changing Careers, Fixing For Money by FixerJay
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Millions of folks just like me spend countless hours and huge sums of money shopping in big box home improvement stores. Unlike me however, most shoppers are looking for new ideas and Products they can use around the home for improvements and personal enjoyment.

Big box shoppers are an ambitious bunch, I’ve found - and many are quite skilled working with their hands. They love fiddling around the house, fixing stuff, and installing new gizmos. My good friend Everett is hopelessly hooked! He never seems to run out of new ideas. So far, he’s added two new rooms on his house - and completely remodeled the bathroom twice - since catching the bug!

What I’m saying here - the guys and gals who show up bright and early weekend mornings with hand scribbled shopping lists don’t consider replacing floors, building fences or remodeling the bathroom, chores beyond their reach. Even when they botch up a job - they don’t quit! They might kick the wall, or even read the instructions - but they’ll do it over till they get it right! The way I figure, these kinds of people deserve to be millionaires. Let me share a few thoughts about how that could happen.

That bug, my friend caught is called the home improvement bug, and it’s highly contagious! It also creates an overpowering addiction that few do-it-yourself types can walk away from till it runs its course. Fortunately, for those who catch it - it’s the very same bug that can make you a millionaire. Let me explain what I mean, since I was once a victim!

When I was younger - I had the most over-improved house in my subdivision! I was constantly re-doing everything - and when I finished, I’d start all over again - improving my improvements! One day a good friend of mine dropped by to see my house. He suggested, rather than to keep doing the same things over again - why don’t you use your skills on another house? My friend’s visit that day would change my life forever! It wasn’t long afterwards; I discovered how easy it was to convert my handyman skills and personal ambition into a profit-making opportunity. I can tell you from experience - there’s not a dime’s worth of difference between working at a hobby without any pay - and being the highest paid handyman in the neighborhood.

In my best-seller book, “INVESTING IN FIXER-UPPERS”, McGraw Hill Publishers, in the very first chapter, I inform my readers that - big money is earned by working smarter - not harder! The average saw mill worker in my hometown can expect to earn $1,200,000 during his working career assuming of course, he keeps stacking lumber the next 40 years. My book explains that with just a little bit of financial training -using the same house fixing skills that most handy folks already have - it’s very possible to create a sizable monthly income and financial security for a lifetime.

Most investors, including myself, who set out to build real estate wealth - or earn a million dollars, are wanting to do it while we still have some breathing time left on the planet to enjoy it! In my fixer-upper book, I explained to readers how I fixed up my Hillcrest property and earned a million dollars, same as the mill worker - the big difference was, it only took two years of my time! The key to building wealth and long-term financial security is not only about the amount of money you make; but how long will it take you to make it!

In my book, I will show you dozens of practical investment techniques and strategies, ideally suited for small-time, do-it-yourself investors, both part-time and full-time! I started as a part-time investor, moonlighting while working for the telephone company. After 23 years, and a string of rental houses under my belt, I mustered up the courage to quit my telephone job and begin a full-time investment career! Without a steady paycheck, it doesn’t take very long to realize - cash flow properties are the only kind you want.

 You’ll find my investment strategies work equally well for brand new folks and old salts alike because I only recommend the kind of properties that will pay for themselves. I’ll show you how to earn profits much faster than inflation, even faster than you can spend them and a lot quicker than the tax man (IRS) can snatch them from you!
Making a $1,000,000 is not the least bit unusual. In fact, nearly every wage earner with a decent job will earn a million dollars! The only question is when? How long will it take to get the money

Tags: Fixing For Money by FixerJay
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The title sounds like a RICE ~RISPIES commercial, don’t it?  Well, it’s not!  I simply want to cut you in on a whole new generation of ready-to-use building products and some free fix-up advice that can make amature carpenters and struggling handymen look like trade school, professors — Well, almost anyway!

 

Newcomers might be slightly ahead of me on this stuff, but you old-timers can back me up here! Fixing houses today is a whole different ball game in terms of ready-to-use materials and instructions on how to do things.

 

A friend of mine who is about a whisper away from being a total klutz recently re-wired two add-on rooms in his house with just a little help from the clerk who sold him mat­erials. Very knowledgeable, the clerk explained exactly how to install new wires and even drew a simple sketch showing my friend how to connect all the circuits together! The fact that Bob didn’t burn his house down or electrocute himself sold me on the proposition that today’s do-it-yourself movement has come along ways since the time I did my own plumbing work!

HOOK-EM UP AND GLUE-EM

 

It seems like only yesterday that do-it-yourself owners had to learn some basic soldering skills if they intended to do their own plumbing chores. Today, unless you’re messing around with copper supply lines, basic plumbing parts are all made from plastic! You simply cut-em with a hacksaw and glue-em together! All that maze of twisted pipes under the kitchen and bathroom sinks — It’s all plastic now! The whole shootin’ match comes in a cardboard box with pictures on the back. Every clerk at the do-it-yourself store is happy to explain what goes where if you get stuck or end up with parts left over

 

Giant handyman stores are in fierce competition for the do-it-yourself trade. They stock acres of every building product imaginable for doing your own home improvements — or fixing something that’s busted! The whole idea is hook a new generation on doing stuff for themselves. Don’t read me wrong here — Not every job is a candidate for do-it-yourselfer investors. As a general rule, I’d be very careful with jobs that concern safety ~ like gas piping and electrical upgrades. These jobs normally require building permits and because of the extra liability, contractors should generally do the work.

 

THE MAJORITY OF FIX-UP IS CREAM-PUFF

 

Drain lines are glued together and even those hard-to-bend chrome supply lines under the sink can be substituted now. Flexible polyethylene lines of various lengths with screw-on fittings at both ends are the amature plumber’s dream come true! Personally, I never did master those flared ends with compression fittings. My plumbing jobs gen­erally leaked for a week or so — Nothing serious, but with screw-on connectors I can plumb like a pro.

 

Not so long ago, installing plastic laminated countertops (FORMICA) could be a major undertaking. Plywood or pressboard panels and a thin plastic sheeting had to be presser and glued together, then held snuggly with special wood vises until it dried. Gobbs of glue or air bubbles could make the job look like a third grade woods shop project.

 

Today, you buy countertops already made! They even come with 45° angle cuts so you can build professional looking corners. All you need to do is cut a whole for the sink and glue the sucker down to the cabinets and presto! You’ve taken a giant step toward modernizing an ug1y kitchen or bathroom.

 

YOU WON’T GET HIGH ON PAINT FUMES TODAY

 

Not so long ago, painting was a stinky job. Oil-base paint, in a small room or closed-in area, brought tears to your eyes. Cleaning up the mess with solvents or thinner took almost as long as the painting did and the solvent smells worse than the paint. Water­base latex paint put an end to the stink problem, plus it cleans up twice as fast. You don’t need cans of thinner sitting around either. Plain old tap water cleans up your mess.

 

Painting is a major part of fixing up rundown properties and fortunately everyone I know can paint without too much training or education.   Easy-to-use rollers, extension poles and airless sprayers help anyone look like a pro in no time at all. Also, most physical therapists agree — Painting is one of the most complete body exercises you can do. Almost all major muscle groups get an excellent workout when you paint. It’s well to keep this in mind before you re-new your membership at the local gym.

 

CABINETMAKERS ARE GONE WITH THE BLACKSMITH

 

Kitchen cabinets with damaged drawers and missing parts were once an expensive fix-up chore that required special skills. Today, you can purchase any size cabinets you need ~ already built and ready to install it in kitchens or bathrooms. They’re available with fin­ished surfaces or you can paint them yourself and the best part is — Almost anyone can install them with a few brief instructions from the vendor or a friend.

 

Tub kits and one piece shower enclosures made from fiberglass and plastic sheets (skins) are available for every size bathroom. They are very easy to install if you follow the instruction brochure the clerk can give you where you purchase materials. I use plastic shower kits (plastic sheets) in my older houses where only a tub exists. I always con­vert tubs to a tub-shower’ combination. The only tools you’ll need are a tape measure, straight edge marker and a pair of scissors.  The waterproof plastic sheets overlap each other and are easily glued to any wall surface. By replacing the tub faucet with a shower diverter faucet and installing a short riser (chrome pipe mounted up the wall) and a shower head, you now have a very inexpensive, but efficient, tub-shower combo!

 

THE HANDYPERSON-FIXER UNIVERSITY

 

If you’re interested in learning how to install floors, hang doors and windows or plain old plumbing and wiring, then I’d recommend you to go handyman college.  No, I don’t mean a regular college!   Find out where you can attend the free clinics conducted by most of the big handyman super-stores.

 

They’re all after your business and nearly all the major chain stores are sponsoring evening or weekend clinics to teach you how to use their materials. I recently learn some new tricks at my local store about finding and repairing leaks on my stupid flat’ roof houses. Naturally, they sold me several rolls of fiber tape and a couple buckets of high price “goop” to fix my problems. You simply can’t learn enough about fixing leaks on flat roof houses short of just saying no to the next person who offers you one!

 

DOORS AND WINDOWS JUST PLOP IN

 

With ready-made, pre-hung doors, all you need to do is pop ‘em in the wall and “trim out” both sides with standard molding and your replacement job is done. Most doors ­are already factory drilled for locksets (door-knobs).

 

Steel pre-hung exterior doors are my favorite today because they don’t crack, split or swell up in wet weather like most wood doors. There’s no drilling. All you do is nail the door and frame in place, install a keyset and deadbolt , trim around the edges, in­side and out and you’ve got a professional looking job.

 

Windows are the same way. Aluminum sliders, both single glazed and double insulated, are ready-made to plop right in the same hole that you remove the old ones from! Re­placement windows come in every shape and size you’ll ever need.

 

ELECTRICAL GENIUS IS NOT REQUIRED HERE

 

Modern electrical fixtures of all kinds are easy to install. Fans, blowers and a large variety of light fixtures take up whole departments in the home improvement stores. There’s no longer any need to tear the walls apart when you need to add another circuit or two. Decorative conduits can be installed along the baseboard without cutting into walls and surface-mount boxes are made in various sizes for hooking up new fixtures. Remember, the old rigid conduits that used to require an electrician with a pipe-bender, forget that! Now there’s flexible, aluminum conduit that goes around corners and any­where else you wish to run a new electrical circuit. They even make it plastic covered (weather-proof) for outside uses. Electrical wires are not soldered and taped anymore. They’re screwed together with plastic threaded (screw-on) connectors. If you are smart enough to turn the power off at the main meter panel, you can probably tackle most of your basic electrical jobs.

 

It’s quite easy to learn the stuff you need to know to install most new fixtures and do minor repairs. Many salesmen working at the handyman stores will actually draw you a sketch to show you how your project should work. Also, there’s at least half a dozen good illustrated books, like “Time Life Series”, to show you every detail about any wiring job you may wish to undertake. Just remember, turn off the main breaker switch or pull out the fuses before you start anything! If you stick your fingers in a hot splice box and you hear a sizzling sound, stop immediately, pull your fingers back out and re-read this paragraph again!

 

WINDOW COVERINGS ARE SIZZLE ITEMS

 

Curtains, drapes, mini-blinds and decorative shades will make any house or apartment much more homey! More homey translates to 10% more rent when you dress up your houses. Also, attractive window coverings will make an empty house rent much faster than naked windows. These are good sound economic reasons for installing them in all your houses.

 

Anyone can hang curtains, right? WRONG, if you don’t believe me chances are you haven’t watched tenants install them! One tenant I had installed curtain rods with nails so long, they went clean through the wall and came out the other side. I’ve seen 48″ drapes hanging on 8 foot windows, curtains a foot too short and traverse rods that won’t open. Take my advice here — Do this job yourself when the house is empty, before your tenants arrive!

 

If you use drapes and traverse rods, which I like to use for most larger front room win­dows, be sure you purchase them from a supplier who specializes in selling to apartment owners. You’ll find their price much cheaper, plus it makes for easy one stop shopping because they will supply drapes, rods and all the hardware to complete the total job.

 

RICH MAN - POOR MAN STRATEGY

 

People often ask me if it’s necessary to know everything about doing fix-up work to be a successful house fixer. The answer is no, but the knowledge is very helpful, even if you don’t plan to do the work yourself. The reason is because you need to know how much things cost!

 

In my own case, I did everything I could (90% or so) when I first started out because I didn’t have the money to hire it done. Many investors do a portion of the fix-up and contract with others to do what’s left. Some investors lack handyman skills and hire everything out!

 

In the final analysis, it boils down to money no matter who does what! Approximately 30% of every fix-up dollar goes to purchase materials. The balance (70%) is the cost for labor. Obviously, you can save $700 for each $1000 you plan to spend by doing the work yourself. Saving $700 is almost the same as earning that much! It makes a pretty strong case for learning how to do your own fixing, I’d say. But, even if you don’t move a finger yourself, the more fix-up knowledge you have, the more success­ful you can expect to be doing this stuff.

Tags: Fixing For Money by FixerJay
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