One Day Delay

I was planning on heading out to the property today to take some pictures and see how things looked, but I just got a call from Keith and will postpone that trip one day. All the cabinets are hung and today they are installing the doors. They are missing one drawer box, so Keith has to pick that up and get it installed. The panels for the sides of the cabinet are still not done, but they should be done and installed tomorrow. (Keith says they are just veneer that is cut to fit and glued on, so installation time is minimal.) They also realized they needed toekicks, so they've got to get those. In short, all that's left is the little stuff that was overlooked because the job was half done when Keith got it.

The yard guy called this morning and said he could get the yard done today. He was a bit put off when I told him no one would be at the house. He said I needed to be there to tell him exactly what needed to be done. I explained the yard is all rock and I just need all the weeds pulled. There is really nothing ambiguous about it. He said he'd call me again when he gets there. This was about 2.5 hours ago and I haven't heard back, so I'm wondering if he just blew me off.

I got the invoice for the tree trimming, so that should be done. I'll check tomorrow when I go out there before I pay it.

I ran comps again and, as Scott alluded to in the comments to my previous post, the increased holding time I have encountered has worked to my benefit. Using the same source, comps for the property went from an average of $99.94 / square foot in March to $102.65 / square foot in May to $112.20 today. That's an increase of $12.26 per square foot, which translates to an extra $16,600 for this house. Yeah, that pretty much covers my holdings costs of $160 a month!

Another Update on Cabinets

Keith called me this morning to give me an update on the plans. At the time, he said the cabinets would be in today and the countertops were being installed in the afternoon. He said he would have to do some work on Monday - the cabinets the first guy made had no end panels, meaning the side that faced into the room was just raw wood. So Keith picked up some panels and took them to get them finished the same color as the cabinets. Those won't be ready until Monday and that's what he's got to install them.

This afternoon at 5 PM, he called to give me another update. Two-thirds of the upper cabinets are in and screwed together. They've still got one or two more to put up, which will be done on Monday. He hasn't heard yet on if the panels are finished, so if they aren't done by noon or so on Monday, he may have to come back on Tuesday. The countertops are all in and the sinks are installed. Keith also mentioned he picked up some lazy susans for the two corner cabinets, which did not have any.

So pretty good news so far. I also spoke with someone about clearing the weeds and they will be in the area on Tuesday to give me a quote for that. I'm hoping he can also get the job done on Tuesday, but if he can't, I'm going to go ahead and list the property anyway, assuming all the other stuff is done.

Countertops Going In Friday

I spoke with Keith today and he tells me the countertops are in and will be installed on Friday! Keith suggested I ask if Corbin, the countertop guy, could install the sinks in the bathrooms. This is something of a sore point with me. Originally, Corbin said he likes to install sinks because he can pick up some extra money, but he would not be able to do it for me due to time constraints. This was back before we had to re-order the countertops, so he might have more time now. When I spoke with Keith last week, he indicated that Corbin told him he would install the sinks. Now, I’m supposed to ask again. Ugh. Anyway, I called Corbin and got his voicemail, so I left a message asking if he would be able to do it. Personally, Corbin strikes me as someone who does stuff only if he feels like it. This is twice now that I have talked to Keith and he has said “Oh, didn’t Corbin call you?” The difference between Keith and Corbin is striking.

The tree in the front yard should be trimmed by now and if not, it should be done by the end of the week. Today, I’ll start lining up someone to clear the weeds in the front and back yards. If all goes well Friday, I’ll try to head out there this weekend and do a bit of cleaning and then get the house listed!

Another Cashflow Day!

Yesterday, I received a check for almost $1,450 from another one of the foreclosure investing LLCs I am in. Over the past year, this LLC is returning about 31% and the annualized ROI for the 18 months I've been in it is around 22%. Not too bad. This money is being turned right around and reinvested with the same people. If you recall, my goal was to get into 6 of these ventures so that I will be receiving a check each month. This latest one, assuming I get in (and I haven't gotten confirmation yet), will make four.

In reading the first post I linked to above, I realized that my cashflow from the Indian casino has dried up. Apparently they discovered I was simply redeeming the $5 coupons and never playing, so they stopped sending me the newsletter. Either that or they stopped the newsletter for the summer, which might be possible since so many people leave town for the summer months. These "snowbirds," as we call them, are probably the casino's main target audience. Oh well. Easy come, easy go.

Finally, A Callback

One of the tree services I emailed finally called me back. I got a voicemail Thursday around 4:30 PM asking if I was still needing service. I called back and got the guy's voicemail, so I left a message telling him yes, I still needed service and gave him some details. I didn't hear anything Friday or Saturday. Sunday afternoon rolls around and I get a phone call from the guy. He's calling me from the property and quotes me $275 to trim the dead parts off the tree and $450 to remove the tree and grind the stump away. He tells me the tree is half dead. Since I am going to be selling the place, I think even half a tree would look better than nothing, so I opt for the trim. It should be done Tuesday, but I told him as long as it was finished this week, that would be ok. He's going to send me a bill and, supposedly, call me when it is done. I say supposedly because when I asked him to call me when it was done, he sounded a little put out. I guess that's not something he normally does. But heck, if he's willing to work on a Sunday afternoon, I think he should be willing to follow up and call me when the job is complete.

The tree probably hasn't been watered since I bought the property. I did not see an irrigation system, so I guess the previous owners watered it with a hose. I never thought about watering it of course, since I didn't plan on holding the property as long as I have. We had some storms over the weekend, so the rain should help the tree. It also looks pretty mature and I hope it has deep roots and can find water somewhere underground. Lord knows that with the 110+ degree weather we've been having lately, there isn't much water to be found above ground!