Aloha from Alaska!

[Alexander Lommel]

Hey there BP, Just wanted to drop my introduction. I'm currently freezing my butt off in -17 degree weather and am wondering why I'm not choosing to invest some place warm like Hawaii or Arizona. It's awfully hard to renovate for curb appeal when it's colder than an Eskimo's outhouse.

I was born and raised in Alaska and moved to Hawaii never to return. That's when my wife and I decided we needed to buy a house. The market in Hawaii was at it's peak and we couldn't justify paying half a million for an 80 year old fixer upper. I was fortunate enough to have been following Harry Dent's demographic forecasting and saw the real estate bubble for what it was.

(I have a lot of friends that lost everything because "real estate ALWAYS goes up in price" eek!)

I convinced my wife to move to Alaska and even convinced her to buy our first home as a multi-family. Her quote was "No woman wants her first home to be an apartment...) We found an R-2 property with 2 homes on it (so no common wall). Compromise! After fixing it up and moving us back into a 5th wheel trailer (in the winter) so we could clear about $600 a month on the property, I've decided I should have been a salesman instead of a contractor. How she still loves me I'll never know ; ).

We re still living in a 5th wheel in Alaskan winters with 3 kids and a dog... but we have a mission. (and I have a VERY patient wife who believes in me).

I'm looking forward to getting to know all of you and find myself fortunate to have this resource that is BP moving forward!!

[Roy Schauer]

Hi Alexander! Welcome to Bigger Pockets, and back to Alaska. Sometimes you have to do what needs to be done long enough to make it start working the way it needs to. Congratulations on your property and finding an understanding woman. Their worth their weight in gold!