I am such a douche. Inspired by my Plan C post, I decided to take Friday, Saturday, and Sunday off from the shipping depot. This is the last week of peak season, and I didn't need to kill myself for 200 measly dollars. It marks the first time in 5 and a half years that I took a weekend off to do nothing. No apartment showings. No trips to Brooklyn or Nigeria. Just stay at home and relax! I was gonna catch up on the mountain of posts I have to post before the end of 2015, but I got lazy. I stayed in bed both days watching episode after episode of Forensic Files. I've finally built the willpower to go to this desk and write at least ONE post, so I can at least feign productivity. So here it is.
Last Thursday was my monthly dinner with Damon, the last of the year. I really wanted to know how the progress was going on his Vacancy Bank property renovations.
Damon said that he finally got rid of Igor, but only did it yesterday. That means he allowed Igor to continue working there after our last dinner, where I pointed out just how useless Igor is. He was hoping to squeeze more work out of Igor before firing him, but what was done was minimal. Damon wondered why Igor continued to claim that he can finish the job when he consistently proves that he can’t. Then he started talking about how he’d been trying to do a multi-level marketing project with his friend that hasn’t been working out. As Damon rambled on, I was getting very upset. Finally, I couldn’t contain my anger anymore and started in on him.
I chastised him for waiting a full month to get rid of Igor, even after he agreed to do so after our last meeting. I mean, what’s the point of these fucking dinners if he’s just gonna ignore sound advice?! That’s a full month where a competent contractor could have finished the job and he could have gotten started on the refinance already! He also could have started the process of moving in a tenant to help pay the monthly $1000 payment from the rehab loan. Whatever Igor did during that time was not worth having to pay another $1000 and thus prolonging the whole process. Secondly, I chastised Damon about the multi-level marketing he was attempting with his friend. With a very hectic insurance job and a renovation project that is far behind schedule, how dare he take on something stupid like pyramid schemes?! He has more than enough on his plate and he’s gonna add something as pointless as multi-level marketing?
Damon agreed with everything, and promised to get rid of the pyramid shit and hire a new contractor as soon as possible. But now, the two guys he was going to hire to replace Igor no longer want to work with Damon. Apparently, he was using them as motivation for Igor to finish the job faster. He would tell Igor, “Hey man, if you don’t work faster I’m gonna hire these guys.” Then he would actually call them and say that he wants them to come and give him an estimate. Igor would then promise to finish the job faster, and then Damon would cancel with the replacement contractors. Now it’s a case of the boy who cried wolf. Now that he actually needs them, they don’t want to waste their time.
The lesson to learn from this is very simple: If I hire a contractor and find myself thinking of weird ways to motivate him to finish the job because he’s going too slowly, it’s time to get rid of the loser. I learned the hard way what happens when I try to play one handyman against another. It almost never works out, and ends up being a massive waste of precious time. I recommended he go on Yelp to find some more contractors. I wouldn’t dare expose Handyman Alfonso to Damon’s rookie management skills. Damon thanked me for being so concerned about him that when he saw how mad I was, but I wasn't concerned about him at all. Damon is my guinea pig. I want to see what happens when he goes to refinance the property so I can learn from it, but he's still in the contractor phase after 9 long months! He needs to hurry up and prove his worth, or I'll have no further use for him.
The conversation then turned to me, and he asked whether I’ve started looking for a property. I told him that I’m waiting until February/March. My logic was that I didn't want to deal with the snow and winter issues when renovating the property. Those issues might slow down the work and I can end up like Damon. Damon said that was poor logic. First, this winter has been amazing. Secondly, home prices are usually lower in the winter, so it's easier to find a good deal from a more desperate seller. Lastly, contractors usually don't get too much work in the winter. Having a place to renovate in the winter means income and heat during a time when they would get neither, so I would probably get lower rates during the winter as well. I couldn't argue with any of these points, so I agreed with him. I've already started my search for my property. And that was the end of dinner.
All in all, these dinners with Damon have been worth the time and money I put into it. The October dinner changed everything, and now I have a way to make more money and retire even faster. So I'll keep at these dinners in 2016. Hopefully I'll have 2 real estate deals under my belt by the December 2016 dinner with Damon. Now, back to Forensic Files!
P.S.: Another reason to start property shopping now is the interest rate hike that just occurred last week. It spooked a lot of amateur investors, which is stupid since it's a very miniscule increase. But I'm glad because this means less competition. Better find those deals now before many investors realize that the increase is still historically low and nothing has really changed.
Last Thursday was my monthly dinner with Damon, the last of the year. I really wanted to know how the progress was going on his Vacancy Bank property renovations.
Damon said that he finally got rid of Igor, but only did it yesterday. That means he allowed Igor to continue working there after our last dinner, where I pointed out just how useless Igor is. He was hoping to squeeze more work out of Igor before firing him, but what was done was minimal. Damon wondered why Igor continued to claim that he can finish the job when he consistently proves that he can’t. Then he started talking about how he’d been trying to do a multi-level marketing project with his friend that hasn’t been working out. As Damon rambled on, I was getting very upset. Finally, I couldn’t contain my anger anymore and started in on him.
I chastised him for waiting a full month to get rid of Igor, even after he agreed to do so after our last meeting. I mean, what’s the point of these fucking dinners if he’s just gonna ignore sound advice?! That’s a full month where a competent contractor could have finished the job and he could have gotten started on the refinance already! He also could have started the process of moving in a tenant to help pay the monthly $1000 payment from the rehab loan. Whatever Igor did during that time was not worth having to pay another $1000 and thus prolonging the whole process. Secondly, I chastised Damon about the multi-level marketing he was attempting with his friend. With a very hectic insurance job and a renovation project that is far behind schedule, how dare he take on something stupid like pyramid schemes?! He has more than enough on his plate and he’s gonna add something as pointless as multi-level marketing?
Damon agreed with everything, and promised to get rid of the pyramid shit and hire a new contractor as soon as possible. But now, the two guys he was going to hire to replace Igor no longer want to work with Damon. Apparently, he was using them as motivation for Igor to finish the job faster. He would tell Igor, “Hey man, if you don’t work faster I’m gonna hire these guys.” Then he would actually call them and say that he wants them to come and give him an estimate. Igor would then promise to finish the job faster, and then Damon would cancel with the replacement contractors. Now it’s a case of the boy who cried wolf. Now that he actually needs them, they don’t want to waste their time.
The lesson to learn from this is very simple: If I hire a contractor and find myself thinking of weird ways to motivate him to finish the job because he’s going too slowly, it’s time to get rid of the loser. I learned the hard way what happens when I try to play one handyman against another. It almost never works out, and ends up being a massive waste of precious time. I recommended he go on Yelp to find some more contractors. I wouldn’t dare expose Handyman Alfonso to Damon’s rookie management skills. Damon thanked me for being so concerned about him that when he saw how mad I was, but I wasn't concerned about him at all. Damon is my guinea pig. I want to see what happens when he goes to refinance the property so I can learn from it, but he's still in the contractor phase after 9 long months! He needs to hurry up and prove his worth, or I'll have no further use for him.
The conversation then turned to me, and he asked whether I’ve started looking for a property. I told him that I’m waiting until February/March. My logic was that I didn't want to deal with the snow and winter issues when renovating the property. Those issues might slow down the work and I can end up like Damon. Damon said that was poor logic. First, this winter has been amazing. Secondly, home prices are usually lower in the winter, so it's easier to find a good deal from a more desperate seller. Lastly, contractors usually don't get too much work in the winter. Having a place to renovate in the winter means income and heat during a time when they would get neither, so I would probably get lower rates during the winter as well. I couldn't argue with any of these points, so I agreed with him. I've already started my search for my property. And that was the end of dinner.
All in all, these dinners with Damon have been worth the time and money I put into it. The October dinner changed everything, and now I have a way to make more money and retire even faster. So I'll keep at these dinners in 2016. Hopefully I'll have 2 real estate deals under my belt by the December 2016 dinner with Damon. Now, back to Forensic Files!
P.S.: Another reason to start property shopping now is the interest rate hike that just occurred last week. It spooked a lot of amateur investors, which is stupid since it's a very miniscule increase. But I'm glad because this means less competition. Better find those deals now before many investors realize that the increase is still historically low and nothing has really changed.
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