Post Your Wins

[bigdaddybus]

ill take some heat off him and reveal the real haters ... my biggest wins were with RE in 2009, snapping up homes for 80k that had topped out at 375k, currently valued at 260k

as my dad says "Cash is King". Those with cash when the markets crater are the winners.

My parents bought a new construction home in 2009 from a builder in foreclosure, asking price in 2008 was 1.6M, selling price was 750K. I haven't had a win like that yet.

[disneysteve]

sold! $150 (Basically a $0 rental for something that made my life infinitely easier).

We've done this sort of thing many times, especially when we had a baby. We bought a lot of baby stuff used at yard sales. When we were done with the stuff, we resold it at our own yard sale, often getting about what we paid or sometimes even more than we had paid.

My latest win was having one buyer buy 8 catalogs that I had listed on ebay on Tuesday night.

I had another auction end last night without a buyer but I relisted at a lower price so hopefully that will attract some attention.

[rutgers07]

Got a raise in my paycheck this month - a paltry 3% which probably makes this a grand total of 8% increase in my 8 years with this company. If anyone has aspirations of going into community mental health AND making money - don't. Luckily my job is rewarding and there are other major perks (although the new OT law is affecting that a bit) that make up for the poor pay.

[disneysteve]

Got a raise in my paycheck this month - a paltry 3%

It's all relative. I'd be thrilled to get a 3% raise. It would beat the 0% I've gotten.

[rutgers07]

It's all relative. I'd be thrilled to get a 3% raise. It would beat the 0% I've gotten.

True. It's still difficult and the company's retention rate is so low because of poor pay. We're entirely Medicaid dependent so unless Medicaid increases reimbursement, we generally don't get raises.

[Outdoorsygal]

We recently obtained the biggest "win" we've ever had. I keep waking up wanting to pinch myself feeling as if it isn't real. But we've been waiting two years for this and it finally came to fruition so we've been very busy lately.

I've mentioned wanting to go offgrid in a specific town and rent out rv's on the property as our retirement income. 20 acres popped up for sale only advertised as "bare land". VERY CHEAP for any land. We immediately noticed it had an address. This means at one point a home was on this property. So it will be cheaper to build since it is already on record.

We immediately drove up to find a friend/acquaintance gold miner and another very close friend who lives right next door to the property for sale. She's also a retired gold miner. He was irrate at first wanting to buy it because it has a gold mine on the property. He's been writing to the owner for a few years asking to buy it. Except it needed to be jumped on immediately and he didn't have the cash onhand. It would take a day or two and we knew it would be gone. We knew the Realtor next door adjacent the property would buy it, maybe even a bidding war might irrupt. He said there is one gold mine on the property w/two entrances. He calls it two gold mines though it is just a large mine w/tunnels. The county maintained road is right in between the 20 acres.

We hiked it to find the year round stream. We know from biking up there for the last 2 years it was there, we pass by it all year. It never dries up. We also found another water source and the two entrances to the mine have water sources also. There also may be another year round spring.

The owner is in her mid 80's, incapacitated, so a niece wanted to sell it really fast and cheap to pay for her medical care. Their Realtor is not from the area so this niece had no idea of the true value of the land. We wouldn't...but if all we did is flip it... it would be worth easily over double what we paid, but likely closer to triple. The Goldhounds club is very active in that area so to advertise with them would be wise if we are seeking gold miners or to sell the land to.

Very cheap to pipe into the water. We will have a few people living on the property since there are criminals which come up to grow dope illegally, at the very least. Real criminals with AK-47's and who steal up to a million dollars of vehicles, caterpillars etc...that's a recent bust. All despite the recreational area attracting high quality people. A few neanderthals come creeping up and camp in the backwoods sometimes to do their illegal stuff too. Anyhow we have alot to do now...including today but it is exciting. Probably too much to ask but we still have some land for sale so if that sold, it would pay for building our house. We only pay $500 a year in property taxes for this 20 acres!!

[MonkeyMama]

The owner is mid 80's, incapacitated so a niece wanted to sell it really fast and cheap to pay for her care. Her Realtor is not from the area so had no idea of the true value of the land. We wouldn't...but if all we did is flip it, it would be worth easily over double what we paid but closer to triple.

Congrats on the find!

That's pretty much how we buy real estate. I mean, haven't found anything *that* profitable, but I have a close friend who did. It always amazed us how under-advertised some properties were.

[Outdoorsygal]

Congrats on the find!

That's pretty much how we buy real estate. I mean, haven't found anything *that* profitable, but I have a close friend who did. It always amazed us how under-advertised some properties were.

Thank you MonkeyMama. We got very very lucky having the inside scoop knowing more about the property than the niece who was selling it. And her out of town Realtor whom we also used to buy it. Their realtor had incentive to sell it to us since upfront we said we'd use her. Double commission.

It appears a great way to make money, just flipping real estate. Good for you

[MonkeyMama]

It appears a great way to make money, just flipping real estate. Good for you

These are all just primary residences, that I mentioned, but makes all the difference in crazy expensive/insane sellers markets.

[Petunia 100]

We recently obtained the biggest "win" we've ever had. I keep waking up wanting to pinch myself feeling as if it isn't real. But we've been waiting two years for this and it finally came to fruition so we've been very busy lately.

I've mentioned wanting to go offgrid in a specific town and rent out rv's on the property as our retirement income. 20 acres popped up for sale only advertised as "bare land". VERY CHEAP for any land whatsoever. We immediately noticed it had an address. This means at one point, a home was on this property. So it will be cheaper to build since it is already on record.

Congrats. I am familiar with this general area and know it is very beautiful, though isolated. I have some family in the area and my SB has some property not too far away as the crow flies, though there is no direct route so an hour + drive. Too bad I'm not a crow.

May I ask for more details on your rv rental plan? If I could figure out a way to earn a living on SB's property, I'd strongly consider it.

[Petunia 100]

sold! $150 (Basically a $0 rental for something that made my life infinitely easier).

Glad you sold it for what you paid. Even more glad you don't need it any longer.

[Outdoorsygal]

Congrats. I am familiar with this general area and know it is very beautiful, though isolated. I have some family in the area and my SB has some property not too far away as the crow flies, though there is no direct route so an hour + drive. Too bad I'm not a crow.

May I ask for more details on your rv rental plan? If I could figure out a way to earn a living on SB's property, I'd strongly consider it.

Hi Petunia

The plan to rent a few RV's appeared almost a requirement for living in such a remote area (with criminals around). We have criminals here but these are really hardcore criminals. So I figured we could charge maybe $400 a month to rent an RV w/internet, solar panels and internet provided. Maybe a little more if they needed storage such as a tough shed (if we provided it). At least one man and maybe his wife. Our only concern is getting dopers, that is something i want to avoid. So will likely advertise at some point on the cycling forums and self sufficiency forums. We have some inheritance coming within the next 6-12 months, so until then, it will be slow going. The Solar panels are around $30 a piece and four will do. Then buying a battery at Costco. We'd also like to have a seperate laundry room area outside, sort of akin to those apartment complexes. So it can be used by many people.

We also want our privacy so we'd not be overly close to anyone else. Trees in between at the very least, to provide privacy. If we get the right "tenants", outdoorsy folks, they'd be hiking alot and hopefully still working at least p/t but it's not a requirement.

We had one gentlemen living adjacent our home for a year with his dog in his own RV. We charged a few hundred dollars and he stored some of his stuff in the garage and worked out there with weights. That was when my husband worked late at night so I really appreciated him being there. His dog suddenly decided, after a year, not to stay on the acre property so complains started pouring in by neighbors. It was not fenced and the tenant got a job so they moved on. It worked out great though. He had a very small amount of power to charge his phone and computer in the garage. I believe we charged $225 per month.

[Petunia 100]

Hi Petunia

The plan to rent a few RV's appeared almost a requirement for living in such a remote area (with criminals around). We have criminals here but these are really hardcore criminals. So I figured we could charge maybe $400 a month to rent an RV w/internet, solar panels and internet provided. Maybe a little more if they needed storage such as a tough shed (if we provided it). At least one man and maybe his wife. Our only concern is getting dopers, that is something i want to avoid. So will likely advertise at some point on the cycling forums and self sufficiency forums. We have some inheritance coming within the next 6-12 months, so until then, it will be slow going. The Solar panels are around $30 a piece and four will do. Then buying a battery at Costco. We'd also like to have a seperate laundry room area outside, sort of akin to those apartment complexes. So it can be used by many people.

We also want our privacy so we'd not be overly close to anyone else. Trees in between at the very least, to provide privacy. If we get the right "tenants", outdoorsy folks, they'd be hiking alot and hopefully still working at least p/t but it's not a requirement.

We had one gentlemen living adjacent our home for a year with his dog in his own RV. We charged a few hundred dollars and he stored some of his stuff in the garage and worked out there with weights. That was when my husband worked late at night so I really appreciated him being there. His dog suddenly decided, after a year, not to stay on the acre property so complains started pouring in by neighbors. It was not fenced and the tenant got a job so they moved on. It worked out great though. He had a very small amount of power to charge his phone and computer in the garage. I believe we charged $225 per month.

That sounds like a good plan.

Ideas SB and I have tossed around for generating income are setting up camp sites to rent and leasing land for Christmas tree farming, or perhaps just plain old selling off timber. I really don't know how to explore the feasibility of any of these ideas. I don't favor the camp sites as that sounds like a lot more hands-on work than leasing land or selling off timber.

SB is also considering just selling and doing a 1031 exchange into some other property, perhaps a small apartment complex or a storage facility. He won't sell outright; too much would be lost to income taxes.

It is his decision to make, but I sure wish he would hurry up and make it.

[Outdoorsygal]

That sounds like a good plan.

Ideas SB and I have tossed around for generating income are setting up camp sites to rent and leasing land for Christmas tree farming, or perhaps just plain old selling off timber. I really don't know how to explore the feasibility of any of these ideas. I don't favor the camp sites as that sounds like a lot more hands-on work than leasing land or selling off timber.

SB is also considering just selling and doing a 1031 exchange into some other property, perhaps a small apartment complex or a storage facility. He won't sell outright; too much would be lost to income taxes.

It is his decision to make, but I sure wish he would hurry up and make it.

I think a campground would require high liability insurance, we considered that option. It is almost $40 to stay nearby adjacent the american river and you get nothing but a fire pit and bbq.

We also considered AIRB&B for renting out one of the RV's but I think we'd do better just laying low and renting it f/t via word of mouth or Craigslist. There is timber on our land but we aren't going to cut it down, California needs all the trees it can get. Way too many forest fires. Your idea of a Xmas tree farm is quite innovative. You might even be able to get your County Ag Tourism Dollars to help promote your business. I used to work in Tourism

[Petunia 100]

My thinking with the timber is that he could rotate the areas being harvested each year. Then you replant and let new trees grow. However, the big problem with this is I do not even know how one would go about selling one's timber, what it costs to harvest, or what it would sell for. So I don't actually know if that is anything which would be worthwhile. There are 3 parcels, totaling more than 100 acres. About 160 I think, but I'm not sure. Two parcels are adjacent and border a main road, the third is a few miles away and is completely landlocked.

If selling Christmas trees, I would think the best way would be to go under contract for the entire crop, then plant and tend them. Or maybe just lease the land and let some sort of Christmas tree farmer raise the trees and sell them. With this too, I don't even know how to go about contacting people in this business. Perhaps this winter we should hit up Christmas tree lots and see if we can find out where they get their trees.