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What is the difference between a home loan and a pool loan?  Weeks of time, loads of conversation, and paperwork!

We just bought a new primary and since we have so much equity, decided to put in a pool.  I called the pool loan guy at 4:00 on Thursday.  He told me he needed a copy of my mortgage note, my homeowners insurance policy, the HUD-1 from the purchase, a schedule of real estate owned regarding only the properties that show up on my credit report, and my name and social for the credit check.  By 1:00 the next day I had access to $40,000!

The pool loan is going to be a 3rd lien position note.  We’ll take out 4 draws over the course of the pool building process.  The pool is about $30k and the pool guy wrote us an addendum for $10k in “landscaping” so we’ll get $10k back at closing to use for landscape, blinds, whatever else we want to do with the $10k.  As soon as the pool is done we’ll re-fi all three loans (1st, 2nd, 3rd) into new financing.  Interesting how little info they need to loan out this money.  Nothing regarding income or assets.

We have two more new-builds in the hopper and then I plan to be done.  Unless an irresistable deal happens to come along of course.  I’m getting tired of working with the builders.

These last two homes are DR Hortons that we signed contracts for last December 31.  They had a year-end fire sale and allowed investors into a community where they had not been allowed into previously.  They also allowed you to ride out the build time on a $2,500 earnest money deposit.  We did these homes up pretty nice with open banisters and 18″ tile on the entire first floor.  The deals were good at the time, and as of today’s prices still have over $25k in equity, but I’ve gotten spoiled since then.  I want more equity than that.  There actually aren’t many comps from the neighborhood (one I think?) because there hasn’t been any investor turnover.

In the last couple of weeks we’ve been debating whether or not we should cancel out of the contracts.  My husband has since gotten his RE license and we’d rather get paid commission to buy a house now.  Some builders are paying up to 10% right now.  There is another realtor on these homes (who we’ve not spoken to since Dec. 31 BTW). (more…)

Last week at one of my real estate closings, the title company was so busy servicing their fiscal year end closings that they had to bring in extra 3rd party notaries.  This presented an interesting benefit in that the notary had no affiliation with the builder or the title company (who is owned by the builder).  He could say anything innocently and not realize or care if it’s to anyone’s benefit or hindrance.

This brought to light one little bitty piece of fine print, or lack thereof. (more…)

This week’s Carnival of Real Estate has been posted for your reading pleasure at YoChicago.  Check it out!

Last night I came home from a weekend away celebrating my birthday!  We went to Las Vegas to take in a couple of shows and to stop in at the Winning the Real Estate Game bootcamp.  It was great seeing my good friend Tom Kish again and being in an environment of eager REI learners.

My husband and I saw Cirque du Soleil’s O at the Bellagio and Celine Dion’s A New Day concert.  This was my fourth Cirque and if you ever have the chance, I highly recommend any of their shows.  They are incredible!

Being in Vegas this time was such a dichotomy for me.  The best and the worst.  What I want to be and what I don’t want to be.  Where I came from and where I’m going.  All of my prior trips to Vegas have been for business.  This time it was mostly pleasure and being that it was my birthday, it was an opportune time to look around, think, reflect, and plan.  Another year… where am I at now?

There is so much intensity and passion in Vegas.  As I watched the performers at the Cirque, I see individuals living their dream at the prime of their athletic lives.  They are the best of the best.  Celine Dion is first class all the way, and makes her extreme talent appear effortless.  Again, the best of the best.  These artists are doing exactly what they dream to do and have fine tuned their performances to perfection.  The crowds roar with appreciation for what they’ve chosen to do with their lives.

On our walk to and from these shows, we couldn’t help but notice the hope and hopelessness of those so drunk they can hardly stand with no one there to hold them up, and those who feed coin after coin into the slot machine, waiting for that lucky day to come.  Some are waiting for something to happen, some are bummed that nothing is happening, and some are making it happen.

I recalled the times I was in Vegas with one of my former coworkers in corporate America.  I rolled the dice for him at the craps table as he won and lost.  His shirt pocket was packed full of $1 bills that he would tip out everytime a waitress would come by.  I held his place in the taxi line as he quick ran into the boutique to buy a Rolex when no one was looking.  My friend later died of “extreme living” at the age of 33.

My cellphone rang on Sunday night and it was my dad.  He was actually calling for my husband and was complaining that he was not answering his cellphone.  My dad wanted to tell him that his brother heard a media report about home values in Arizona going down and that’s it’s bad to be investing right now.  My dad doesn’t acknowledge that I study real estate markets and that my husband and I invest as an educated team.  When I told my dad we were in Vegas about to go into our show his response was ”What are you doing in Vegas???” followed up by “Are you staying at a hotel that has gambling?” and “How much are you paying for your hotel room?”  He had forgotten it was my birthday but reminded me how I came to be at that place in that exact moment.  It was a choice I made the day I turned 18.