Today is a big property anniverary for me -- 19 years!

[Wenda Kennedy JD]

Mom and I repossessed this mobile home park 19 years ago today. She had sold it during her divorce and carried the paper -- a terrible misstep.  The buyer had totally trashed the property and it was routinely loosing LOTS of money.  Since Mom's death 14 years ago, I've carried on with building the income and market value.  

Fast forward to today -- the income is 6 times where we started 19 years ago, and 5 times the cash flow of when Mom died.   The property is now a good cash cow.  That success wasn't instant.  A lot of the increases in market value and cash flow were earned through sweat equity and a lot of hands-on-work.

[Tyson Cross]

@Wenda Kennedy JD Congratulations! Yes, real estate investing is not always flashy, pretty or even at times tolerable! But you persevered and it paid off. And I'm sure it made you all the better for it. When's deal number 2 happening? :)

[Wenda Kennedy JD]

Thanks for your comments. Taking care of the rentals is back to "RE 101" for me.

I started my real estate career in 1976 in the Greater Los Angeles area.  I have done, been involved in, and/or brokered thousands of transactions over those 42 years.  Before I retired, I was a broker, residential/commercial RE appraiser, expert witness in State and Federal Court, and a professional RE investor. I was doing flips when we called them equity purchases.

Now, I'm just taking care of my rentals, businesses and I'm dabbling in buying and selling trust deeds as a side business. I like the TDs-- they're a lot less hassle; but the yield is less than my residential rental business.

 And, I am educating myself to try to start an e-business based upon my years in RE.  That e-stuff is a brave new world for me. Although I taught college level RE classes in the past, putting it into the new formats and medias is pretty challenging for me. It's hard to teach an old dog new tricks!