Sometimes I’m afraid.
(Big shock, no doubt)

I’m afraid of snakes
I’m afraid of heights

But looking over the big checklist, many childhood fears are no longer an issue.

I’m not afraid of dogs
I’m not afraid of the dark
I’m not afraid of doctors
…or needles
…or hospitals
I’m not afraid of death
I’m not afraid of the future

A chance conversation clued me in the other day […]

Popularity: 17% [?]

read more from this topic.....

Other than  real estate, home decorating is probably nearest and dearest to my chicken-fried heart (right after the mister… and the little Brz’s…and possibly JoJo… oh, never mind.)
Much too late in life, I came to realize that beauty and order in our home environment directly correlates to positive mental outlook and increased productivity. Which, of course, is an excellent excuse […]

Popularity: 23% [?]

read more from this topic.....

Another BiggerPockets article is up, Carpet or Tile? Rehab Decision Making for Nervous Newbies.
Nothing new on the REI front until January… lots of family and business stuff to wrap up before moving on to ‘08
Popularity: 18% [?]

Popularity: 18% [?]

read more from this topic.....

Here’s the link to an article written for BiggerPockets with the snappy title, “That’s Too Risky! Overcoming A Poverty Mindset.”

Josh doesn’t know yet, but I may be too overcome with Christmas Cheer to write another for next Saturday.
 <Gratuitous Snicker>
Popularity: 17% [?]

Popularity: 17% [?]

read more from this topic.....

Confessions of a Former RK Addict
My first real estate investment book purchase wasn’t actually about real estate at all–RK’s Rich Dad books inspired us to action and I will be forever grateful.
Unfortunately, most of the real estate advice and examples were seriously dated, going back to before the humongous tax reforms that changed real estate investment forever […]

Popularity: 19% [?]

read more from this topic.....

Books That Deserve a First, Second, Third and Thirty-third Reading
Reading this wonderful post over on Shaun’s blog, How To Get Started In Real Estate For Under $400, got me thinking about our own beginning in REI. For starters, our experience closely mirrored his post (never tried #10… just not a birddog by nature). And I can’t […]

Popularity: 20% [?]

read more from this topic.....

Digging through the pictures and financials of our first rent house prompted a seriously soppy trip down Memory Lane. It’s a bit of a conflict as such sentimental dribble should probably be reserved for babies and new puppies but as we have neither at the moment, this will have to do.
When it came time to write this week’s article […]

Popularity: 23% [?]

read more from this topic.....

This first purchase tossed us way outside our comfort zone.
Here’s where we were mentally at the time of purchase:
Note: If you notice something missing, leave a comment and I’ll edit the post.

ARV for the house was 110K.
Asking price: 100K  
Offered 82.4K which was accepted without counter. We learned at closing that 2 bids came in the same […]

Popularity: 19% [?]

read more from this topic.....

We paid 83K for this 3/2/2 in 2004 with nothing but our good credit rating, an 80/20 loan, and a handful of credit cards. We borrowed enough to pay closing costs from family until our income tax refund came back.
Everyone’s got to start somewhere. I’ve hesitated to show our first purchase because the before pictures are […]

Popularity: 25% [?]

read more from this topic.....

I like Mike and Rob over at Two Wise Acres… they’re funny. (Thanks Terry for the referral). Even better than funny, they possess a commodity sometimes lacking in the drama that surrounds real estate investment–
Authenticity 
Every post is gold– but this one, How To Succeed in Investing by Doing Everything Wrong, instigated a random James Brown moment in the Brz parlor.  
Best quote:
Many of […]

Popularity: 13% [?]

read more from this topic.....

Shopping for real estate is personal– every investor’s looking for something different. Some turn away from termite damage, some get nervous over cracked slabs, others are fanatical over water problems. Our biggest concern is always location. Almost anything can be fixed if the numbers work and you have a good contractor, but short a load of dynamite or a […]

Popularity: 22% [?]

read more from this topic.....