TheLandlordBlog.com

We recently released a new website that will serve as a valuable resource for all real estate investors - www.AnesiaRecommends.com !

The site includes articles, book recommendations, and reviews of home study courses, bootcamps, and a whole host of other products and services that will benefit investors.  The site changes constantly as I add and delete based on my experiences.  If you know of a product or service you think other investors would be interested in, please post it in a comment here and I’ll take a look.

I have some cool additions to the site planned, so please bookmark it or put it in your favorites so you can easily check back for the latest and greatest!

I got one of my houses in Tucson rented over the weekend! Yay! The more I learn about this market the more interesting it gets.

I was at this house a week ago and saw one of the neighbors out so we talked. She told me about how she moved from Illinois to Tucson several months ago and how difficult it was to find a place to live. From Illinois she and her husband were doing internet research looking for rental homes and property management companies that could help them find a house to live in. She made many many calls and the management companies were not calling her back. They were down to the week before the move and still nobody had called her back. They were getting very frustrated and worried about where they would live.

Finally, at the last minute, a management company called her back. By this time she was ticked and used her energy to her advantage (smart woman). She told them she would pay $950 for a house and whoever agreed to take that first would get her business. That day. She ignored the asking prices and was shopping new homes only. They rented a house next to ours and says the management company has been terrible to deal with. She’s paying $950, another neighbor is paying $875, and I’m not sure about anyone else.

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Today I attended a taping of Rich Dad TV (RDTV) at the Rich Dad studios here in Phoenix.  If you’re a member of the Rich Dad Insiders, you’ve seen the videos from these sessions.  If you’re not an Insider, the price of the annual membership would be worth the video that was taped today alone.  Again I am reminded of how grateful I am to not have to go to a job everyday.  Would I have taken a vacation day to attend this taping today?  Certainly not.  The value of freedom from having to go to work is staggering.

Today’s guest was Mack Newton.  He’d rather be referred to as a teacher than a personal trainer, but he is an expert at Taekwon-Do and has helped Robert Kiyosaki improve his overall health in the last year (see www.macknewton.com).  Robert has lost over 50 pounds and looks great!  Mack helps his students by getting inside of their head and helping them figure out how their thoughts are controlling their actions, which drive the results they are seeing in life.  Sometimes negative thoughts manifest themselves in our appearance, being overweight, low energy, food choices, etc. and these outward actions and results are simply a reflection of the way we think about things.  He helps you change your thoughts, and then the actions and results take care of themselves. (more…)

Aaaaaahh… there’s something so gratifying about blistered hands and sore muscles.  That can only mean one thing: something got accomplished over the weekend!  My husband and I spent the weekend in Tucson painting one of our preconstruction homes.  We closed and got the keys to it on Thursday, after a build out time of about 6 months.  We’re putting it up for sale and want to give it that extra edge that will make ours sell faster and for more than the others in the community.

I can hear the echos now - a seasoned real estate investor painting her house? That’s proof positive that she’s an amatuer!  Pros leave the dirty work to contractors while they spend their time fast-talking more deals.  I basically have one thing to say to that: my ego does not stand in the way of me making money!  (more…)

Stay tuned as the drama unfolds…

Welcome to our new blog!

Today is the official launch of The Landlord Blog.  Here I’ll be writing all about real estate investing strategies, property management techniques, and the news and events of Goal Digger, Inc.  Goal Digger is the home of The Landlord System, which is an educational resource for buy and hold real estate investors. 

I created this company to help other real estate investors learn from my experiences and from each other.  Many new investors are overwhelmed with all of the different approaches and angles to investing.  Many are struggling to get out of their day jobs and have precious little time and energy to devote to investing.  There is a lot to learn indeed, and I’ll be the first to say it’s not easy to do it “on the side” while life’s mandates dominate.

This is one reason why I’m such a big fan of buy and hold rental properties.  You can successfully do this on the side while working at a full time job.  It does not need to consume your life.  In fact, I have many rental properties and I spend about 2 hours a month managing them.  I have managers and systems that do most of the work for me.

Be sure to revisit this blog often for tips and tricks you can use to grow your real estate portfolio.  Also, subscribe to my site http://www.landlordsystem.com to learn all about how to create the necessary systems to completely automate the management of your properties.  You’ll learn painlessly through email as I send you gems that I’ve discovered over the years.

To Your Freedom,

Anesia Springborn

About 18 months ago, my husband and I signed a contract on a loft that was to be built in downtown Tempe, Arizona.  $5k earnest money locked in our price way back then.  The progress on the building has been slow but sure, and that’s perfectly fine with us.  The longer it takes the better, so we can capture all that appreciation during the build-out time. 

We can assign the contract on the loft if we want to, but we’ve since decided we will move into it.  Moving into it will allow us to get into zero-down financing with an owner occupied loan.  We found a new loan program through our broker that allows a pay option ARM with 100% financing!  We just re-financed the primary home we’re in now and will rent it out when we make the move.  We’ll positively cash flow it without a problem.  Actually, we’re considering leaving our home vacant for several months until our would-be 2 years has passed so that when we do sell it in a couple of years we can sell it with the gains tax free.  As long as we sell it before a total of 5 years passes, this strategy will work great!