2 new roomies

I've finally got a full house. Unfortunately, not in the Mary-Kate and Ashley Olson kind of way. All of the rooms in my house have been spoken for. I originally had wanted to have 2 girls move in so that the house has a better chance to remain clean, but I decided to go with a friend of a friend instead.

Both people moving in appear to be mature, and hopefully respectful to my property. I'm going month to month with them as I need to be sure that I will get along and not necessarily committed to them for a whole year. There is one guy and one girl moving in. The girl is moving in this week, while the guy, next month.

I could have had another girl move in, but there was some comfort issues. First, I was supposed to meet her one night to show her the house. After 30 minutes, I decided that I would leave the house and go to the gym because she hadn't shown up yet. Graham, my roommate, happend to be home when she finally showed up and showed her the house. Graham tried to engage in conversation with the girl and was unable to do so. She then emailed me to tell me that she would take the place. I wasn't comfortable with this so I asked my new roommates to accept the rooms quickly. I feel a lot better now.

With two more people moving in, this means another $1000 a month coming my way. This is huge in terms of speeding up the renovations. I'm very excited. I'll probably end up getting some new furniture first though. The seating arrangements in the living room are not quite where I want them to be.

Sold???

It looks like my neighbour at 73 Arlington will have a sold house very soon. While I was at the gym last night, a man stopped by my house and left Graham, my roommate, a note to call him back. The man is buying the neighbour's house and wanted to talk to me about something.

Of course, I called him back right away to discuss the purchase. I mentioned that I originally had been interested in purchasing that side of the house as well when he asked me if I was selling my half of the house. At that point, I told him "no". I just bought the house and was planning to do renovations on my side. This guy was an investor and he was looking to buy both halves like I did. Unfortunately, he has the money to do so, but the news is not all that bad.

I like the fact that the guy is willing to do renovations. I had asked whether or not he was going to continue to rent the property or do a quick flip. He did not know the answer. It doesn't matter. The fact that he will be using a lot of money on his side of the house (he estimated 50-60K) means that the direct comparable to my house will increase in value. If it's a quick flip, I can probably see him re-listing in the spring and setting a new precedent for the value of my house.

Now, his side is very different than mine. Well, not completely different, but with some notable differences. First, I have a living room and dining room on the main floor. He has a living room and a bedroom. Next, I have a larger kitchen due to the fact that he has a small bathroom located on the back portion of his kitchen. Finally, his basement is not finished while I have my second bathroom located there. Therefore, I think my home has two things. First, it has more potential. Second, it will cost less to do the renovations.

I think it has more potential due to the size of the kitchen for example. It is big and capable of becoming a very sellable feature of the home. In the other side, for example, the bathroom would have to be removed to get the same effect. Regardless, if the investor wants to do that on that side of the house, by all means, I hope he does.

These are the days that I love real estate the most. They are the surprises that you don't expect. It gives me optimism and confidence that I am doing the right things with respect to my investment. My "hobby" is getting serious.

When hobbies get serious...

Over the course of my short real estate hobby, I have had many people ask me questions about the process, my experiences, and my thoughts on various things relating to real estate. I am always glad to help and that is part of the reason that I have created this blog. I try to share my experiences so that people can read and learn and figure out how to best go about purchasing a home for themselves or as an investment.

The problem is that the questions have started to become more pointed. They are no longer general inquiries, but questions relating to specific properties. Unfortunately, I do not have access to all of the information that is needed to make a proper assessment for people, and this frustrates me. I usually have to refer them to a real estate agent, so that the person can properly assess the situation.

Now, I've had a great experience with my real estate agent, Jeff, but I think its more prudent that I take the next step in my hobby. I'm going to start looking into becoming a part-time real estate agent. Weekends and evenings are usually showing times, so I should be able to manage my duties on a part-time basis. In addition, I'm going to be able to list my investment properties without the fear of losing 5% on real estate commissions.

Also, it's going to give me a better opporunity to get better information for people when they are looking at homes. If there has been one thing that I really like about real estate, it is that I gather information to help make a decision. How long has it been listed? What does a place like this rent for? What are the costs of renovations? Is it a bargain? Is it overvalued? What's the expectation for this area in terms of property values? Can I afford it? Where should I buy?

Chad meets Exit Realty on Monday.

1st coat

I have started to paint in the house. It's taking awhile, but it's coming along. I really think that it has given the house more character and cleanliness at the same time. I'm not sure that I am 100% sold on one of the colours, but it seems complimentary to the brown that I have chosen, so I don't know whether or not I want to change things.

I also want to wait until I post any pictures of the rooms. I would really like to do a before and after type of analysis. Since I have not bought any furniture for the living or dining rooms yet, I do not want to post the pictures for that reason.

Painting is a slower process than I had anticipated. This house had many scratches and dent in the walls, so it took awhile to try to mud and sand the walls. It's more in the waiting for things to dry, but it makes the nights go by a little quicker when I can work for a little bit each night and then go to the gym or do some other house chores.

The other night I got a lot of help and I am very thankful for it. Beer currency works wonders except when you make someone work overtime. I'm now at the point where 90% of the cutting is done and 80% of living room and dining rooms have at least one coat of paint.

Done!!!

For those that didn't know, I finished my studying and wrote the UFE last week. The UFE, the exam that I had failed last year, is the final exam in the process in trying to become a chartered accountant. There are a total of 3 exams in the process and there are 3 days worth of exams for the UFE. It's a heavy load and it uses a lot of mental resources to succeed. Not only does it take a bunch of knowledge, it also puts a lot of stress on a person. It is more of a mental marathon than a sprint, so its exhausting and daunting, but its important to keep studying even if you think you are ahead or behind.

But, now I am done! Hopefully, I passed though. It's a terrible experience in terms of dealing with stress and anxiety, and I really do not want to go through the process again.

To the unformed, writing the UFE is similar to writing an essay in school. In many ways, you can prepare properly and think you've created a masterpiece only to find out that the teacher didn't like what you wrote and you end up with a miserable grade. The reason for this is because the exam is relative to your peers. The exam is bell curved, so that the "best" students are passed. CA students are usually recruited before they graduate, so students are often very smart individuals. Therefore, like pimpin', its not easy.

So, how did I do this year? I don't really know obviously, other than I know that I prepared better this year. I knew I didn't kill the exam, but I thought I had managed to cover as much material as I needed to without getting frustrated. I think that's a key component to the exam, so hopefully it translates into success. I just have 2 and a half months till I get my results. Cross your fingers for me.

Garbage done.

So, I moved into the house at Arlington, but there was enough work to do. There's a few things still lying around for garbage day next week, but most of the stuff involve large pieces of furniture, so I'm keeping the stuff until I get stuff to replace them.

The garbage didn't go on the first weekend. It was outside, but because the previous tenants had just tossed things outside, the garbagemen didn't pick anything up. I had to, unfortunately, pick up the existing garbage and clean-up some of the inside of the house. Since there was so much garbage outside it began to stink. On Sunday night, magots had even found its way all over the garbage outside. I was very happy to see the garbagemen take the garbage Monday morning. In fact, when they came, their eyes lit up and took my garbage away with a smile.

Next, I am cleaning the walls so that I can paint. I need to take out the nails, pins, and screws. Mud the walls, and sand them. Then, I will begin to paint. I pay in beer currency if anyone would like to get some experience in painting.

Almost a month

Well, I certainly did not expect to stop writing in this blog, but the reality is that I've been super-busy with things. First, I was playing nearly every night in ball back near the end of August. It was playoff time, so it meant that I was playing about 4 nights a week. The DNTW Eagles lost in the first round against the Stittsville 56ers. We had a good season, but unfortunately left on a sour note with a couple of blowouts.

Exit Realty fared slightly better. They made it past the Rogues in 2 games, but failed to give the Guzzlers any real competition in the 2nd round. Unfortunately, we lost our last game by the score of 1-0. A tough loss, but reflected our inability to get the bats going all year.

The biggest reason for my blog departure is the fact that I have moved to 75 Arlington. I have found a new roommate in Graham Conners, but we're still in the process of doing clean-ups after the tenants have left. It has been a very hectic few weeks trying to get things organized, cleaned, repaired, or bought. Things are coming along nicely and I will try to post before and after pictures of the house in future postings.