I recently joined a networking group to help expand our presence in the local business community. I looked at several options but chose to join the Rock Solid Referrals chapter of BNI. BNI is the largest professional business networking organization in the world with over 5,000 chapters across the globe, each allowing just one person per professional specialty. The philosophy of this organization is built upon the idea of "Givers Gain®": By giving business to others, you will get business in return. This is predicated on the age-old idea of "What goes around, comes around."  Entering their fifth year as a chapter, BNI / Rock Solid Referrals is the most dynamic and successful chapter in Monmouth County, NJ. I chose this chapter of BNI because of their success rate. In 2013 their members gained almost $700,000 in business from referrals they got from each other. 

The members of the group are diverse, from a life coach to a web page designer and many stops in between. Particularly there are several members that are a natural ‘power team’ for me; a real estate agent, a probate attorney, a general contractor, a real estate attorney, an electrician and a couple others that mesh nicely with a real estate investor. However, the real power in the group lies not only in knowing these folks but in getting to know who they know.

Each week I get to give a one minute commercial about my business and ask for a specific referral. Once every couple of months I get to give a 10 minute presentation and offer a more comprehensive explanation of our business. I gave my first 10 min. presentation last week.  I have attached a link to a video made of my talk. I ran into some technical difficulties. Thankfully, another member of the group jumped in to get the slide show unfrozen for me. This may not be my shiniest moment in the spotlight but, the message gets delivered. I have also attached a copy of the slide show since you really can’t see it in the video.  https://www.dropbox.com/s/xf4usib5hte0w31/VHR%20Presentation.pptx

Being a part of the BNI group has been beneficial so far. I have gotten referrals that will prove useful. I have also been able to refer people I know to other members of the group. Our message is getting out there in ever widening circles. It’s social media the old-school way; actually socializing with other human beings. What a concept!

Right now the only downside to the whole thing is that the meetings start at 7 AM and it’s about 20 or so minutes from my house. There are closer groups to my house but this one is the best (IMHO).

Expect to hear more about my experiences with the folks in Rock Solid Referrals in future posts.

http://youtu.be/hEV33VgQ9-M

Near the end of one of our entries we said it doesn’t get much more exciting than closing on your first property. That is true but, it does get a little more exciting. Let me explain.

At the end of January we closed on our second property. This one is located at 24 Lockwood Ave in Freehold, NJ. The renovation on this property is going to be just a little different than the one in Hazlet. This one is going to be featured on a television show on the DIY Network called First Time Flippers. I think that qualifies as a little more exciting.

Kathy was approached at the New Jersey Real Estate Social Network meeting by members of the production team from the show. They said that if we were interested we needed to submit a 2 minute video to them via YouTube about the project and they would contact us either way. Well, they contacted us. Long story short, after a few more calls and visit to the Freehold property we are going to be on the show. (Shhh! We know it’s our second flip but it’s the first one on television. Technicalities!)

We got the Freehold property through the same agent that brought us the Hazlet property. This relationship continues to grow in positive ways. Linda rocks!

We almost didn’t close on this one. The property has an above ground oil tank. In light of this our lender wanted to be sure there were no old tanks underground. We had the property tested and no tanks were found. However, a positive reading for something metallic was found in a small area in front of the house. We were going to have to investigate this anomaly before the lender would proceed. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get clearance from the institution that owned the property to bring a backhoe or any other heavy equipment on the property to dig. It had to be dug by hand… in January… in 25 degree weather. Nothing like a late Christmas present. So my buddy Brendan and I dug out the space. We were supposed to go three feet deep and have the area checked by an environmental specialist. We got to about 2.5 feet and hit something. We uncovered what appeared to be a sign or maybe a barrel of some sort. We weren’t sure what it was. We had it tested and it was determined that whatever it was had to be completely dug up to check underneath it. Yippee!

Fast forward a couple of days. We are still not permitted to bring anything mechanical in to dig this out. So now it’s me and 3 friends (Brendan, Mike and Rob; thank you so much guys!) with picks and shovels. Luckily the temperature had changed. It was now 15 degrees and the ground was like concrete. We got a great workout. We did what we could and when the environmental specialist, Larry showed up he came up with an alternate plan. Great thinking on Larry’s part. He had determined that it was not a barrel or drum of any kind. With his special auger we got dirt samples from underneath the area in question and got readings of 0.0 on his meter. At that point he got on the phone with our lender and gave him the good news. The lender’s first question to me after that was “So, are we still closing tomorrow?”

That morning started off brutal but ended on a very high note. So my friends and I headed off to celebrate in the best way possible on a 15 degree day, bagels and hot coffee!

The day after the closing the production crew met us at the house and we spent the day filming interviews and ‘before’ shots of the house. We described the house and what our plans are for it. We also talked about ourselves and how we came to start Visionary Home Redevelopment. As I recall, Kathy described the experience as surreal. It truly was. It is very strange talking at a camera lens. There is no host, per se on the show. We were asked questions by the producer and we answered. Only our answers will be aired. I don’t think I explained that very well but, watch the show when it airs in August some time and you’ll get it then.

Anyway, that was pretty cool. The real fun though, was on the second day of filming; the first day of demolition! What a blast (all pun intended)! Kathy and I beat the daylights out of that house. Sheetrock, wood, tile, toilets; it was all getting tossed. We took down sheetrock in 4 different rooms, took down three walls (non-load bearing, of course), removed the kitchen cabinets and counters, dismantled one bathroom and removed the refrigerator. We have a feeling the fridge may get a significant amount of airtime. I‘ll explain later.

This time we felt a little more comfortable in front of the cameras. In fact, after a while I know I forgot they were there. The weird part though was talking about what you were hitting or knocking down and why you were doing it. I don’t normally talk out loud when I work on a project at home and announce what I’m about to do. If it doesn’t go well then everyone knows about it and those outbursts can’t go on TV.

We were cruising along nicely. Sledgehammer here, reciprocating saw there; good times! It was close to midday and we were about to start on the kitchen. At this point it probably would have been wise to take a break, grab a quick bite and start again. But, no. We’re gung ho and wanted to take on the world! The producer suggested we get the refrigerator out the back door so it would be out of the way. Good thinking.

Remember I said we should have taken a break…. It took us about 20 -25 minutes to get the refrigerator out the back door. “Which way should it go?” “Is this the right angle?” “Should we take the door off or leave it on?” ‘What if we take the back door off its hinges?”

Really!?!?

Two reasonably intelligent people with college degrees and tons of work experience competing 2 on 1 with a refrigerator. And the winner is…… (drumroll)

Refrigerator!!

Yes, we got it outside but, Holy Cow!

Lesson learned: when in doubt, have lunch. Of course, I learned that lesson after I dropped a kitchen cabinet on Kathy’s head. It wasn’t intentional (honest!). She said she was fine and we kept going. A few minutes later we heard giggles and then someone from the crew came in to make sure she was OK. It was all good but, it was definitely time for lunch.

As the demo continued after lunch we were a little more with it again. We finished up in the kitchen and moved up to start on the 2nd floor. Up here we worked on the master bedroom and bathroom. It isn’t exactly fair to call it a master bathroom. Somewhere along the line the previous owners stuck a toilet and a tiny sink in a closet and voila, a master powder room. This needed to go.

I was expecting another refrigerator experience. I thought since I was dealing with plumbing connections and all that it was going to be a nightmare. I disconnected the feed line to the toilet tank easily enough. There is no water running in the house so, no worries there either. I started on the bolts holding the toilet to the floor. They seemed to be spinning and spinning without doing anything. Somewhere in my head I was thinking ‘just bust it up and pull it out. That will look great on TV.’ Luckily my rational brain kicked in and I kept working on the screws. With a little extra work they came out. The toilet just lifted out then. Things went just as well with the sink, too. I disconnected the water lines. The small sink just lifted off a metal mount it was slid onto.

Holy crap, that was easy!

Now we could get back to the fun stuff, busting out walls! This house has 5 bedrooms on the second floor as well as another full bathroom. Our plan is to take out the wall between the current master and the one next to it to create a very large master. We are also going to expand that little closet bathroom into a full, attached master bathroom.

Once we took out all we were going to take out from upstairs we called it quits on demo for the day. But the day wasn’t over. We still had to do one on one interviews with the camera and discuss what we did that day. Prior to that we took a quick coffee break. I sat down on my new favorite chair in the backyard (the old upstairs toilet), had some Joe and caught my breath.

The interviews are conducted separately so I continue to chill out while they talk to Kathy. I go next. It’s pretty straight forward. The producer just questions about different highlights from the day to get our reactions. Oddly enough they wanted to talk about the refrigerator again. I don’t get it.

Well the interviews wrapped up and we called it a day completely at 24 Lockwood.

Updates to come soon!

I have posted some updates over the past few months about the progress on this flip but I want you to know some more details about it.

First, let me introduce my husband, Brian.  -“Hi.”-

I came on board around the time of the closing at 61 Nevada Dr. in Hazlet. That property is now on the market. It looks great and we are confident it will sell quickly. That’s exciting. But let us tell you more about how we got here.

During the first couple of weeks things went pretty smoothly. We closed on the 22nd of November. On the 26th a dumpster was in the driveway waiting to be filled. The permits took a little longer for the town to approve than we thought; no issues with the house, just bureaucracy. Oh, well. Work started and things were moving along. There was some demo to be done and that got banged out quickly. In fairly short order the rough plumbing and electric were done and awaiting approval by the town. That also went smoothly. So far, so good.

By the end of December the new siding and windows were being installed. By mid-January all the new sheetrock was in and things were moving along nicely. The complete gutted upstairs bathroom was mostly done and the ceramic tile surround was being installed

Shortly after this things did slow down a bit. Some of this was weather related. That’s understandable. But, our contract called for the entire project to be completed in 5 weeks. Even allowing for delayed permits, holidays and weather we were quickly approaching the end of that timeline and there was still a LOT to be done. There was a good amount of anxiety and a few sleepless nights. However, except for a couple of exterior items that can’t be completed because of the weather it all got done.

One exterior item that could have and probably should have been taken care of earlier on in the process was a small leak in the roof. The contractor didn’t think we needed a new roof, the leak just needed to be repaired. As we were getting toward the end of the project it still hadn’t been fixed so we asked a friend of ours who is a professional roofer to look at the leak. Long story short, we needed a new roof. Thanks to our friend Bill and his team at Crown Roofing we have a new roof and the three other holes in the roof they found and repaired aren’t going to be problems for us or anyone.

Many fellow flippers reading this are probably chuckling (rolling on the floor) at our naiveté. Some day we probably will, too. For now we’re just happy to be moving forward with the sale.

Please don’t think construction issues were our only issues. Let’s not be silly people. Right near the end of January, the furnace died. Smack in the middle of one of our coldest winters: no heat! Yippee!

Luckily we had a guy who could replace it right away and quite economically (thanks Jim and the All Seasons team). So, new furnace is in and everybody is happy, right? Wrong. The new furnace is in but doesn’t seem to be responding to what the thermostat is telling it. The installers came back and it wasn’t the furnace or their work. Somehow the wiring in the wall behind the thermostat had been severed and a new thermostat needed to be installed. What next?

‘What next?’ is me installing the new thermostat. This of course means trying to snake the wire through the wall down to the furnace. The guys at the job from the contractor would love to help but aren’t sure where the wire feeds. They do recommend a wire snake which does come in handy. I figured out how the wire fed through and at the same time discovered how it got severed. The floors were being refinished right at this same time. The wire snaked through one of the closets and through the closet floor (I would explain but your head would hurt as much as mine did at the time). Suffice it to say the wire was accidentally cut when refinishing the hardwood on the closet floor and no one noticed. Annoying but, not insurmountable.

Now it’s time to get this property ready for sale. Enter our friend and stager Jodi of Pear Tree Home Designs. Kathy and Jodi have been collaborating for a while on the best way to present this property for sale. As you will see in the pictures the result was tremendous. Thank you, Jodi, very much for a job well done.

We have created listings on Craigslist, Zillow and FSBO. We’ve handed out flyers and postcards throughout the immediate and surrounding neighborhoods. Yes, my two amazing daughters and I walked door to door to get the word out there. We’ve posted on our Facebook pages (personal and VHR), emailed and posted on other websites, as well.

This property wants a new owner. Let’s get it done.

Shared from http://finance.yahoo.com/news/mortgage-rules-mean-060100526.htmlNew mortgage lending rules are going into effect Friday that aim to put an end to the worst mortgage lending abuses of the past.


The new rules are designed to take a "back to basics" approach to mortgage lending and lower the risk of defaults and foreclosures among borrowers, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which issued the new rules.

"No debt traps. No surprises. No runarounds. These are bedrock concepts backed by our new common-sense rules, which take effect today," said CFPB director Richard Cordray in remarks prepared for a hearing Friday.


Mortgage lenders are being asked to comply with two new requirements: The Ability to Repay rule and Qualified Mortgages. Here's how they will impact borrowers:

Ability to Repay

Lenders must determine that a borrower has the income and assets to afford to make payments throughout the life of the loan. To do so, the lender may look at your debt-to-income ratio, which is how much you owe divided by how much you earn per month, including the highest mortgage payments you would be required to make under the terms of the loan. To calculate your debt-to-income ratio, add up all your monthly obligations -- including student loan, credit card and car payments, housing costs, utilities and other recurring expenses -- and divide it by your monthly gross income. In an effort to put an end to no- or low-doc loans, where lenders issue risky mortgages without the necessary financial information, lenders will be required to document and verify an applicant's income, assets, credit history and debt. For borrowers, that means more paperwork and longer processing times. Underwriters must also approve mortgages based on the maximum monthly charges you face, not just low "teaser rates" that last only a matter of months, or a year or two, before resetting higher.

Qualified Mortgages

To make sure you aren't taking on more house than you can afford, your debt-to-income ratio generally must be below 43%. This rule is not absolute. Banks can still make loans to people with debt-to-income ratios that are greater than that if other factors, such as a high level of assets, justify the risk. Qualified mortgages cannot include risky features, such as terms longer than 30 years, interest-only payments or minimum payments that don't keep up with interest so your mortgage balance grows. Upfront fees and charges cannot add up to more than 3% of the mortgage balance. That includes title insurance, origination fees and points paid to lower mortgage interest rates

The rules also restrict "steering," or practices that give financial incentives to loan officers or mortgage brokers for pushing people into higher-interest loans that they can't afford -- a practice that was all too common leading up the housing bust, Cordray said.

"We think the new rules are balanced and well-drawn. They will offer consumers protection without limiting credit to qualified borrowers," said Gary Kalman, the policy director for the Center for Responsible Lending.

Lenders don't seem to be too worried about the new rules, according to Keith Gumbinger of HSH.com, a mortgage information provider. "It's no surprise; everybody has been preparing for the change for months," he said. "Because there will be additional underwriting scrutiny, it could gum up the works initially and slow loan processing, but it's really just the codification of things that are already in place."

A significant factor is what's not in the rules. There's no minimum down payment or credit score requirement.

"[The qualifed mortgage] is not taking a one-size-fits-all approach. It ensures that first time homebuyers can still come to the table," said Kalman.

If the rules required a minimum down payment of, say 10% or 20%, it would eliminate many first time buyers who would have a difficult time raising that much cash.

The lack of a credit score requirement will enable lenders to loosen currently tight underwriting standards in the future should conditions warrant, according to Gumbinger. For the moment, most loans will still have to be backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and, with a few exceptions, they won't approve applicants with scores below 620.

Shared from http://www.realtor.com/advice/buying-a-home-in-the-winter/?cid=EML301519#.UtasJ9JdWdI

Spring and summer are the high season for home sales, but winter can be a buyer’s market. If you don’t mind a smaller pool of homes for sale or moving around the holidays, winter might be a good time for you to house shop.

Less Competition, More Leverage
Since spring and summer are the most active real estate seasons, many home sellers wait until then to list their homes. That means there are fewer homes for sale in the winter, but the sellers often have strong reasons to sell their homes soon, such as job relocation. These motivated sellers can be a boon to the home buyer.

While there are fewer homes to choose among, the smaller selection can save you a lot of time. Do you really want to traipse through 50 houses? It may be simpler to view the handful of homes for sale in the winter and choose the one that best suits your needs.

Just as there are fewer homes for sale during the winter, there are fewer buyers, too. That means less competition and sellers who are more willing to accommodate potential buyers. Use this knowledge to your advantage. Offer a relatively low (but not insultingly low) bid for the home you’ve selected, or ask for perks such as the living room furniture or the chandelier that you admire. The low number of potential buyers also means you have more time to make your decision. In the spring, you often need to choose a home and act quickly, but in winter you may be able to take your time.

Assessing a Home’s Winter Fitness
Viewing homes in the winter lets you see how it holds up to the weather. Did you feel cold while looking through the house? Is there a functioning heating system and hot water? Are the windows letting in drafts?

Availability of Agents and Others
Another advantage of buying a home in the off-season is the greater availability of industry professionals. Real estate agents will have fewer clients and more time to focus on your home search. Lenders will be more accessible for questions and assistance. Some lenders even waive fees during the off-season to encourage borrowers to use their services. Likewise, movers tend to lower their costs during the winter months.