The power of two makes three
The Power of Two Makes Three
I read one time in one of the many success books or audio courses I have that when you brainstorm with another person, a third invisible entity is formed which creates ideas that neither two could come up with on their own. I've seen this first hand, and the other day I had a guy help me do some work on my duplex, and in one 5 hour day, we accomplished what it would take me in three days, so it was like the invisible entity principal demonstrated in physical labor.
I've done a lot of different types of jobs in my day, computer games, auto body work, and a lot of times two guys working on the same thing just slows it down or isn't efficient. But with construction it was pretty cool, we seemed to get tons done. Not a big secret or anything, but I was impressed with having a good helper for a few hours, so impressed that I will be hiring this guy for some more projects.
Not only will holding costs be reduced, but its just a lot more exciting to see projects get done faster, and of course I learned from working out a long time ago that if you have someone to work out with, you become accountable, thus you are likely to make your workouts. While I've never skipped a work day, I think one is going to work harder and faster if someone is counting on them. So even though I can't really afford to hire someone full time, I will use him as much as possible, just because some jobs go so much better with two people.
Duplex Update
Well the weather went from -8 to the mid sixties! We cleaned up the whole yard the other day, hauling off loads of bricks, old furniture, brush and garbage. Today I got the last porch on the front started with vinyl siding. Its amazing what vinyl siding does to these old houses. It makes them look brand new, I just love the finished effect. Curb appeal is starting to kick in, hopefully I can get the north unit rented sometime in January. The whole house is basically redone. I've repainted nearly every room, new plumbing, new siding on the front of the house, redid most the bathroom, new toilet parts, new seal, new faucet, new upper shower boards, caulking, paint etc. The drywall needed a lot of love in the living/kitchen area, plus I fixed the floor, it was weak and rotted from a leaking fridge. I raised up the floor in the bathroom by pouring concrete and jacking the whole foundation up and setting a 4x4 in there. I did the same to both porches outside, they had sunk into the ground about 4" or more, now they are level with the roofs level as well. I also replaced a ceiling in one room. Not bad for a little over a months worth of work. I've left off about two dozen smaller tasks not worth mentioning. I'll get some pics once its all done. I'm really impressed with how nice it has turned out.
The Next Project...
My new partner in real estate and I are going to close escrow on a flip in the next couple of days. I'm very excited about this house, because it has so much potential and it will be my first real flip. I've renovated for renting several homes now, but you always have limited budgets on those, so I'm really excited to have a decent budget for this house, plus I just love the layout (in my mind) after we renovate it, and the materials I will choose for the hard wood floors, crown mouldings, etc. This house is going to look like a sweet HGTV home when I'm done with it, and the before/after shots will be astounding. I'm totally psyched up to do this house. I'm a huge fan of the show flipping out, a tv show about a guy in LA who buys and flips homes, and this will be a mini version of the kind of stuff he does. Granted I won't sink 700k into a house, but still, I love his style and flow changes, and he has a lot of great design ideas that can be incorporated on a budget. So finally being able to redo a full house will be a great challenge, and I KNOW we're going to make good profits on this house!
Here's to 2009!
Until 2009... Its been great sharing my ideas here. I want to thank everyone for reading. I'll be sharing a big list of goals with everyone come January, and start adding more real value here, rather than make this just be a big diary dump, lol. Cya!
I read one time in one of the many success books or audio courses I have that when you brainstorm with another person, a third invisible entity is formed which creates ideas that neither two could come up with on their own. I've seen this first hand, and the other day I had a guy help me do some work on my duplex, and in one 5 hour day, we accomplished what it would take me in three days, so it was like the invisible entity principal demonstrated in physical labor.
I've done a lot of different types of jobs in my day, computer games, auto body work, and a lot of times two guys working on the same thing just slows it down or isn't efficient. But with construction it was pretty cool, we seemed to get tons done. Not a big secret or anything, but I was impressed with having a good helper for a few hours, so impressed that I will be hiring this guy for some more projects.
Not only will holding costs be reduced, but its just a lot more exciting to see projects get done faster, and of course I learned from working out a long time ago that if you have someone to work out with, you become accountable, thus you are likely to make your workouts. While I've never skipped a work day, I think one is going to work harder and faster if someone is counting on them. So even though I can't really afford to hire someone full time, I will use him as much as possible, just because some jobs go so much better with two people.
Duplex Update
Well the weather went from -8 to the mid sixties! We cleaned up the whole yard the other day, hauling off loads of bricks, old furniture, brush and garbage. Today I got the last porch on the front started with vinyl siding. Its amazing what vinyl siding does to these old houses. It makes them look brand new, I just love the finished effect. Curb appeal is starting to kick in, hopefully I can get the north unit rented sometime in January. The whole house is basically redone. I've repainted nearly every room, new plumbing, new siding on the front of the house, redid most the bathroom, new toilet parts, new seal, new faucet, new upper shower boards, caulking, paint etc. The drywall needed a lot of love in the living/kitchen area, plus I fixed the floor, it was weak and rotted from a leaking fridge. I raised up the floor in the bathroom by pouring concrete and jacking the whole foundation up and setting a 4x4 in there. I did the same to both porches outside, they had sunk into the ground about 4" or more, now they are level with the roofs level as well. I also replaced a ceiling in one room. Not bad for a little over a months worth of work. I've left off about two dozen smaller tasks not worth mentioning. I'll get some pics once its all done. I'm really impressed with how nice it has turned out.
The Next Project...
My new partner in real estate and I are going to close escrow on a flip in the next couple of days. I'm very excited about this house, because it has so much potential and it will be my first real flip. I've renovated for renting several homes now, but you always have limited budgets on those, so I'm really excited to have a decent budget for this house, plus I just love the layout (in my mind) after we renovate it, and the materials I will choose for the hard wood floors, crown mouldings, etc. This house is going to look like a sweet HGTV home when I'm done with it, and the before/after shots will be astounding. I'm totally psyched up to do this house. I'm a huge fan of the show flipping out, a tv show about a guy in LA who buys and flips homes, and this will be a mini version of the kind of stuff he does. Granted I won't sink 700k into a house, but still, I love his style and flow changes, and he has a lot of great design ideas that can be incorporated on a budget. So finally being able to redo a full house will be a great challenge, and I KNOW we're going to make good profits on this house!
Here's to 2009!
Until 2009... Its been great sharing my ideas here. I want to thank everyone for reading. I'll be sharing a big list of goals with everyone come January, and start adding more real value here, rather than make this just be a big diary dump, lol. Cya!
posted by Joel Huenink at
12:23 AM
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