Buy and hold success and labor

[Scott Harper]

Members always discuss different avenues to real estate income.  Buy and hold can be fun but also daunting work. I had two weeks to get a sf house ready for new tenants. The old tenants did not leave it too bad but it was a rush to get it ready to keep my vacancy loss down. New tenants are moving in this weekend. My wife cleaned the bathrooms and mopped, my 80 year old mother helped rake the yard. My father patched drywall, my 14 year old daughter painted. I did all of the rest, hanging smoke alarms, trimming trees, pressure washing etc. I appreciate their hard work. When i was 14, i helped my dad with his first rental. I hope my daughter someday understands the lessons i am trying to show her. We still made it to church on Easter but we did spend three weekends preparing it for the new tenants.I hope and pray that all the effort is worth it as i pay down the mortgage. 

One Easter Sunday my wife and i cleaned another rental where the previous tenants had moved next door. They were out enjoying their pool as we cleaned their mess. 

For any newbies and dreamers out there, sometimes  to save money ,you have to put in the labor but hopefully you can make it fun and eventually grow wealthy.