Turkey Day
- Image via Wikipedia
Over the long Thanksgiving holiday, I didn’t get as much done as I had planned. I took alot of work home with me to Saint Louis, but most of it stayed in my bag. I don’t know who I’m fooling when I do that. Most of my time was spent with the family and catching up with friends. I’ll admit, I had too much fun, I should’ve got more work done, but I live life to the fullest even with my brokeness…but now I’m back to the grind.
I spoke with the High-Tension line lady today and said that I would like to revisit negotiations about her property. I communicated that the power lines in her back yard are a hindrance and frowned upon by conventional lenders. I told her that despite my cash offer, the lending would be an issue when selling to a retail buyer down the road. Just the simple fact that there are power lines in the backyard drops the value of the property by about 10K. I was as courteous as I could be on the phone call. However, when I mentioned the issue, the lady responded that the high-tension lines shouldn’t be an issue and if they are, then “a request could be made to the the power company to move them”. WTF! I think this lady is trying to play the “naive old lady role”, I’m not buying it. She’s gotta know that a power company isn’t just going to move a big-ass tower just cuz. Oh well. I told her I’d get back to her in 48 hours…I’ll let that one marinate and decide what to do later. Most likely I’ll pass on it…but this one is sooo close…if I can get her to drop by 10K I’d have three buyers that are ‘really’ interested.
It looks like I’ll have to man-up and take some of my planned outsourcing activities in-house. I’ve concluded that so far the virtual assistants I’ve screened are either flakes or priced out of my budget ($20 an hour…seriously lady?…how does a VA request this much pay?). So I’d rather pay top dollar for a great assistant than to pay a little bit for a lame one.
On the way to Saint Louis, I got a damn speeding ticket. 82 in a 65. Crazy thing is I was keeping up with traffic…ok not really. Just one of those times that you zone out in thought and next thing you know you’re doing 90. That’s happened so many times, I’m not too mad about this ticket. Haven’t had one in over 5 years. I usually pay a lawyer to do what they do, so I can avoid the points on my driving record. But, if I can find some estimates on how much my insurance will increase by and add that up to compare against the lawyer fees, I may decide just to take the points. It’s been so long, I don’t remember how substantial the insurance hike would be. Anybody out there know? So I mention all of this because, as I sat there I was thinking about how the ticket & lawyer fees would take away from my damn Marketing Budget. It seems like every expense nowadays intrudes on my marketing budget. Need an oil change…marketing budget deduction…need milk…another marketing budget deduction. Oh well.
So with this marketing budget deduction, I won’t be buying the CL Bot Pro software anytime soon (I may have to wait until a few freelance web project checks come in).
So in the mean-time, the show must go on. And “Accountability Mondays” are back. Here is what I’m going to accomplish in the next week.
Tasks:
1. Make at least 10 offers on properties listed on MLS
2. Brush up on REO literature so I can start making REO offers too
3. Distribute my new door hangers with brochures to select Urbana neighborhoods
4. Find more cash-buyers (section 8 landlords, find past cash buyers in MLS, members of Central Illinois Apartment Association)
5. Put something together for a CraigsList nationwide cash-buyer campaign
This is a short list, but it should keep me busy.
- Peace Out
