Lucy: I never get what I really want. I always get a lot of stupid toys or a bicycle or clothes or something like that.
Charlie Brown: What is it you want?
Lucy: Real estate!
You can see it for yourself in this YouTube clip at around the 6:50 mark.
Lucy Van Pelt Has The Right Idea
I was watching A Charlie Brown Christmas the other night with my wife and daughter and was surprised by the shrewd financial savvy of Lucy. This is an exchange she has with Charlie Brown:
You can see it for yourself in this YouTube clip at around the 6:50 mark.
You can see it for yourself in this YouTube clip at around the 6:50 mark.
Any German Readers Out There? Need Assistance
The Louisiana deal is still dragging on.. Hopefully it will be done today and I can post what's been happening..
In the meantime, I am asking for some help, particularly from any readers in Germany.
My father-in-law was in the Air Force and when my wife was growing up, she spent some of her teen years living in Germany on the U.S. Air Force base there. She also loves Christmas and while living there, she fell in love with an album of Christmas music by a German artist named Heino. For the last several years, she's been trying to find this album on CD, without any luck. So if there are any German readers out there who can look for and pick up a copy of the below CD for her, I would greatly appreciate it. I believe the CD is out of print - it was originally issued in 1994. A used copy is fine though. The CD is a reissue of an album that was released long ago under a different name. I should also note that this is the only CD my wife is interested in. She doesn't need any other Heino CDs (thankfully).
Thanks to anyone who can help!
Heino - Die Himmel rühmen
In the meantime, I am asking for some help, particularly from any readers in Germany.
My father-in-law was in the Air Force and when my wife was growing up, she spent some of her teen years living in Germany on the U.S. Air Force base there. She also loves Christmas and while living there, she fell in love with an album of Christmas music by a German artist named Heino. For the last several years, she's been trying to find this album on CD, without any luck. So if there are any German readers out there who can look for and pick up a copy of the below CD for her, I would greatly appreciate it. I believe the CD is out of print - it was originally issued in 1994. A used copy is fine though. The CD is a reissue of an album that was released long ago under a different name. I should also note that this is the only CD my wife is interested in. She doesn't need any other Heino CDs (thankfully).
Thanks to anyone who can help!
Heino - Die Himmel rühmen
Flipping LLCs Update
Anonymous asked for an update on the four LLCs I am invested in that flip properties in the San Francisco area. There is not much news that is different from my last update on these. Three of the four are now ended and the fourth one ends in the next six months.
The real estate slowdown has really put the brakes on these investments. Although the terms of the LLCs are over, they are still operating. Why? Because the properties they own have not yet sold. They are being rented out now to generate some cashflow, but the return of my principle is being delayed until the properties sell. Not all of it though. Last month, the latest LLC to end distributed 20% of my initial investment. The rest is still tied up in properties.
The company that runs these LLCs has offered investors a new program where you earn 9% on your money, paid monthly. You can roll your original LLC investments into this new program. However, the program requires a two year commitment. I can earn more than 9% and I don't want to tie up my money with them for another 2 years, so I've opted to skip that investment. Now I just have to wait for the properties to sell. The way things are going, it might take two years anyway..
Hopefully, I'll have an update on the Louisiana deal later today...
The real estate slowdown has really put the brakes on these investments. Although the terms of the LLCs are over, they are still operating. Why? Because the properties they own have not yet sold. They are being rented out now to generate some cashflow, but the return of my principle is being delayed until the properties sell. Not all of it though. Last month, the latest LLC to end distributed 20% of my initial investment. The rest is still tied up in properties.
The company that runs these LLCs has offered investors a new program where you earn 9% on your money, paid monthly. You can roll your original LLC investments into this new program. However, the program requires a two year commitment. I can earn more than 9% and I don't want to tie up my money with them for another 2 years, so I've opted to skip that investment. Now I just have to wait for the properties to sell. The way things are going, it might take two years anyway..
Hopefully, I'll have an update on the Louisiana deal later today...
Wii Update
My experiment in reselling a Wii for some extra cash is now over. I am a bit disappointed in the results, but I still came out ahead, so it wasn't a total failure.
My eBay auction ended with a high bid of $450, plus $39 for shipping, handling, and insurance. I was hoping for closer to $500 though. Here's all the details:
The profit wasn't close to $100, as I had hoped, but it is still acceptable, considering the tiny amount of time I put into this. Close to a 13% profit in five days, most of which was just waiting for the eBay auction to end. I figure I spent less than 1 hour on the whole deal.
eBay and Paypal fees killed me. I knew they were expensive, but forgot how expensive. No excuse for this. I could have easily looked up the fees before I placed the auction. However, had I decided to sell this on Craigslist or some other site instead, the amount of time I had invested would have been more, so it's a trade off between effort and cost. I also could have used a 3 day auction length instead of 5 days. No one bid until 2 hours before the end time, which I half expected, so there was a lot of wasted time there. I also only had 5 bidders. I was expecting closer to 15, based on the other auctions I was seeing. And finally, my auction ended on a Tuesday night, at around 9 PM Pacific time. Auctions that end on weekend nights tend to do a bit better.
All in all, I'm happy with my $47 profit, considering how little work I put into this effort.
My eBay auction ended with a high bid of $450, plus $39 for shipping, handling, and insurance. I was hoping for closer to $500 though. Here's all the details:
| Sales Price | $450 |
| Shipping, Handling, & Insurance | $39 |
| eBay Listing Fee | - $4.35 |
| eBay Final Value Fee | - $15.13 |
| PayPal Fee | - $14.48 |
| Cost of shipping box | - $8.00 |
| Shipping & Insurance | - $24.78 |
| Cost of Wii | - $375 |
| Net Profit | $47.26 |
The profit wasn't close to $100, as I had hoped, but it is still acceptable, considering the tiny amount of time I put into this. Close to a 13% profit in five days, most of which was just waiting for the eBay auction to end. I figure I spent less than 1 hour on the whole deal.
eBay and Paypal fees killed me. I knew they were expensive, but forgot how expensive. No excuse for this. I could have easily looked up the fees before I placed the auction. However, had I decided to sell this on Craigslist or some other site instead, the amount of time I had invested would have been more, so it's a trade off between effort and cost. I also could have used a 3 day auction length instead of 5 days. No one bid until 2 hours before the end time, which I half expected, so there was a lot of wasted time there. I also only had 5 bidders. I was expecting closer to 15, based on the other auctions I was seeing. And finally, my auction ended on a Tuesday night, at around 9 PM Pacific time. Auctions that end on weekend nights tend to do a bit better.
All in all, I'm happy with my $47 profit, considering how little work I put into this effort.
Christmas Present From The Tax Assessor
I got my tax bill in the mail for the next year's property taxes at Rental #1 and got a nice surprise. When I was analyzing the property before purchasing it, I used the tax estimate calculator at the assessor's website and had estimated my yearly property tax to be $989.00, based on my purchase price for the house. But the tax bill is currently still being figured using the seller's purchase price, which means my tax bill is only $376, just a bit higher than the $371 the previous owner was paying. That gives me an extra $51 a month in cashflow! Of course, I'm sure next year the taxes will go up, but at least I got a one year reprieve from the higher tax.
And that money will come in handy. The property is still not rented yet. It's only been on the market for two weeks though. The old tenants moved out the end of October and the management company had it off the market for two weeks for cleaning. December is the first month that I've had to make a mortgage payment without getting any rental from it, so hopefully it will rent soon.
And that money will come in handy. The property is still not rented yet. It's only been on the market for two weeks though. The old tenants moved out the end of October and the management company had it off the market for two weeks for cleaning. December is the first month that I've had to make a mortgage payment without getting any rental from it, so hopefully it will rent soon.
