All Forum Posts by: Lynn Currie

Thanks for the clarification @Wesley W.. I read that completely wrong!

Anyone have any experience with home automation? We'll be wiring a house for a system and was wondering what those in the know have to say. Platforms/systems you like, dislike, etc? Which companies are the leaders, which will be sticking around, which will not make the homeowner want to throw the remote(s) across the room?

Thanks!

@Wesley W.

I have several policies, but one agent who manages them all.  I've never heard of one company that offers it all under one policy. I'm sure if this is a thing though, someone on BP knows about it! 

Umbrella policies do not cover what you're asking about. They are a specific type of catastrophic policy that "umbrellas over" your other policies and kick in if something happens that exceeds your other policy limits.

Thanks for the tub info, Bryan!

Great advice from a lot of experienced folks. Overall, I agree with what everyone is saying - you can't do it all.

My advice would be to find the part that you are really good at and love, and off-load the other tasks to others. Then (assuming the folks you brought in are competent), get out of their way and let them do their job.

In my case, I flip it around from what others are saying. I GC all projects (yet do none of the actual construction work) and leave all of the other stuff to other folks. I can handle multiple projects at a time as long as they're staggered (not all starting or finishing at the same time) and geographically close together.

So far, this works well for us. I get to do the part of the gig that I love, which is creating and building beautiful things and I still have time to evaluate and look at deals. My business partner oversees all the financials, and we both have a right-hand-man that helps us out.

When it becomes too much for me to handle the GC work due to volume, I'll likely bring someone in that is a project manager in another industry, and train them to PM jobs. This will allow me to let go of some of the more task oriented aspects of what I do, but still drive the proverbial bus.

Video 15: Drywall Installation, Tape and Float, and Roofing

The roof is being wrapped up and the drywall is being hung. In order to avoid the dreaded nail pops in the future, we hang our drywall with screws instead of nails, then bring the crew in to tape and float. 

Items discussed:

• Prepping for the sheetrock installation by spotting and reviewing all cabinet and appliance installations
• Working with smaller companies/contractors 
• Screws vs. Nails for sheetrock
• Ensuring that all holes are cut where needed
• Finding and fixing potential problems
• Baseboard installation

This is a BIG question! I've have another business and this was the absolute hardest thing for me to learn.

I'll start with the end: Learn to unload the things you hate onto someone else. If you hate them, you probably aren't good at them.

With that said, here's how we manage things:

• I manage all of the construction, design, real estate aspect of the business. With the exception of property management, I love it all. Looking at properties, working through what to do with a piece of property, overseeing the construction. None of this feels like work to me.
• My business partner manages the finance side of the business. I like to look at the end result of a well-done spreadsheet, but don't want to do all of the work that goes into looking at it a zillion different ways. She loves that part.
• Both of us have an assistant. Hers is an MBA, spreadsheet guy. Mine is a construction guy. 
• We sub-contract everyone else - CPA/bookkeeping, crews, architects, etc.

Running it this way keeps us lean and out of the business of managing a business. We are able to spend our time focused on managing the real estate and building the business.

When my business partners and I started our other business, we were the folks that did everything. We had to learn that, in order to keep our eye on making the business successful, we had to stop doing that. Our first hire was a bookkeeper. The mental energy that it took for us to do the bookkeeping was huge. Once we got someone in that role that was good and trustworthy, we could focus on other things. Through the years, we hired for many other positions. 

There are a few books that were life changing for me. They made me do things differently and see my role in a different way:

• The E-Myth Revisited - this is all about learning to setup systems so you can grow.
• Getting Things Done - I live and die by my GTD lists. Not only do they ensure that I don't drop the ball on anything, I actually feel more secure and peaceful by using them.
• StrengthsFinders - this was part of my journey to stop trying to focus on doing things that I'm horrible at, and focus on my strengths. 

The other thing that I do is run a paperless office This is based on the Getting Things Done philosophy of filing everything, but it's done paperlessly. I moved to this after a particularly painful state comptroller audit. The audit itself ended okay with us not getting into any trouble, but the time spent of finding paper documents in archived boxes for all of the backup that the state wanted took a week's time for two employees. Today if there is an audit, I can produce all docs in seconds. I've gotten many requests to do how-to videos on my system, including my methodology and the tools I use.  I plan to do so soon.

Welcome to BP, @Asma A.!

I do all of my RE investing in Austin, but travel to DC twice a year for board meetings. I lived there many, many, many, moons ago, and love how the city has grown and changed. 

I don't know anything about the DC or Baltimore market for flips, but know a little about the Austin market and people are flipping successfully here at a variety of price points. I think the key is, you need to get solid on your criteria, identify the areas that fit both demographically financially, and take the leap!

Feel free to reach out if you have any specific questions or need someone to go on a recon mission for you to check out a property.

@Roberto Andrade

Unbelievable, right? I shot a video a couple of months ago about a lot that I didn't end up buying. At the time I thought the price was a little high, now I wish that I had snapped it up. I noticed yesterday that it's under contract and, while I'm not sure what the actual contract price is, the listing price is $10k more than it was when I originally looked at it.

Looks great! My two favorite parts are the light grey with the white and pop of red on the trim and the shower with the subway tile.