Update on my SLOW journey.

[Annalisa Brown]

Hell, all!

Obviously, not many people follow my timeline because I'm not as active on BP as I should be.

My last post was about a year ago when we closed on our first house.... before covid!

 Sight unseen from 2 states away, occupied, 800 square feet, needs a lot of work.

 We've gotten the foundation lifted, kitchen and laundry room are gutted, changed the floor plans a little bit to open the space up, been waiting on an electrician about 5 months! They're very busy here and all booked out SO FAR. That's okay. We hoped to have our second or third property by the end of 2020 but, being new at this, we don't have systems in place or enough reserves so we're barely scraping through to afford this. We've been on forbearance for 12 months. We aren't freaking out! We're still going to finish this house and try to cash out refi if the market is in good enough condition to do so and still get enough out for a down payment on the next one. I am not hopeful about that working out.

 The backup plan is to just place a tenant in it and find something else to house hack in the area with creative financing.  We can leave the capital in this home until the market comes back, even if it's years from now. We will NOT let the tumultuous year of 2020 get us down forever. We've slowed our roll but we will build something great! 

I've also found a job here in Port Angeles, Washington with Habitat for Humanity! I am the Americorps construction crew lead. I've realized that I want to help provide affordable housing. I am not afraid of section 8 tenants, in fact I am up for the challenge. I love office work and bookeeping and I plan to put in place everything I have learned from the podcasts, forums, books and articles about tenant screening and building systems. My Americorps 10 month contract is over in September and I think it may be a great idea to find a local investor that needs someone to help with their books, making phone calls, driving/walking for dollars, direct mail, etc. I'd do it now but I'm working 2 jobs and do not have the time to be helpful to someone. 

If you read this much, thank you! It is mostly for me to start getting active on here again and have an update post to look back on and laugh at in a few years.