All Forum Posts by: Karen Coffelt

Hi Karen! It's great that you are motivated to better your situation and I wish you the best of luck going forward. Lots of great advice being thrown at you that's why this site is so amazing! I just want to say congrats on kicking Diabete's butt! I'm sure that wasn't easy just like this commitment to REI isn't going to be easy either. Keep using that same dedication you showed with the diabetes on REI and you WILL succeed, no matter how many obstacles you have to overcome :)

Now for a little advice...

like some others have already suggested, finding a side hustle is a great way to build some extra income. If you find a way to get paid doing something you already do for fun that is the best kind of side hustle to me ! You said you like photography so I did a quick google and found this article ( and there were many more) titled " Sell your photos online: 5 webites that pay $100 per image or more"

https://www.thepennyhoarder.com/make-money/side-gigs/sell-your-photos-online/

Check these out and maybe you can make some money off those amazing pictures you take!

Also, have you considered trying to find someone that has money but not enough time to invest, to partner up with on wholesaling ? For example, you find someone that is willing to pay for a direct mail marketing campaign and then you can use your hours of on-call time to return phone calls and set up appointments to view houses. How good are you on the phone? Do you think you would be good at meeting with Distressed sellers ? Just a thought, there are plenty of investors out there ( like myself ) that are dying to get into investing, and have discretionary funds, but not enough time. Or in my case just get moved around too much to get something going locally.

I hope this helps :)

David, thanks for the congrats and your helpful advice! I'll check out that link that you Googled, and do some Googling myself. I also have a book that I just recently bought called the Photographer's Market, that lists many different places where I could sell my photos, including who to contact, what they're looking for, what rights they buy, etc.

I'll be on the lookout for someone I could possibly partner up with. I'm good over the phone, although face-to-face I'm not sure how I would do, as I have zero experience with talking to distressed sellers. However, I was just distressed seller myself, so I know what it's like to be in their shoes. I have a friend who has money, but he's not interested in REI, especially since he attempted to partner up with someone in a real estate investment some years ago and got scammed. He ended up suing the guy and got his money back.

Anyhow, thanks, again!

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Originally posted by @Kimo Kalihi:

Hey Karen, I think you should focus on your money management from the sound of it. Someone else mentioned Dave Ramsey's financial Peace University. That's a good start or even just reading his book The Total Makeover and listening to his podcast. Also, the book Set For Life by Scott Trench is really good. He shows you how to cut a lot of expenses and live on less, comfortably while saving half your income or more to build up enough reserves to cover all your monthly expenses for a year or longer so you can go out and try a new career choice or start a business and still be able to pay your bills if it doesn't pay as much initially.

Thank you for your input, Kimo. I will definitely be focusing more on my money management right now than anything else. Yes, several other people have mentioned Dave Ramsey, in a couple others also mentions that book Set For Life. Sounds like something I really need to read! Thanks, again!

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Originally posted by @Liwen Gu:

Are you legally allowed to rent out a house in a mobile park community without you living in it? I was at a REIA meeting in Oregon a couple of weeks ago where they were talking about flipping mobile homes and it seemed like there are a lot of restrictions on renting them out.

That is something I don't know and will have to look into. I know the mobile home next door to me was recently purchased by one of the residents here in the park, and she is going to be renting it to winter visitors, so I'm assuming it's legal, but I don't know that for sure.

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I definitely see what you mean. Thanks for the ideas.

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Originally posted by @Liwen Gu:

Sounds like you've already done plenty of research on it. Good luck with the course if you decide to take it. Also, if you need any extra help with math, feel free to ask!

Thanks for the offer. Math has never been my strong point.

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I'll definitely keep that in mind. Thanks.

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Originally posted by @Leather Nix:

I personally wouldn't do the real estate license yet, because, financially, you have other things that seem more pressing. You can probably come up with other ways to make money that don't require the upfront expense of school...then, you have to take a test...then, you have to actually get some deals. Not to mention, you don't have a lot of time, unless you're going to quit your job to become a RE agent, which I'm not really sure you can do just yet. I'm not saying not to do it, but maybe wait until you can become a little more stable financially.

LOL! Again, I was thinking along those same lines. At first I was thinking, well, maybe I could show homes after hours at work and on weekends. Not sure if that would work. I really don't know how much time is involved. In any case, I don't have the money right now for that. It's just something I'm thinking about it this time, and it may be awhile before I could get into it. Thanks again for your input.

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Originally posted by @Leather Nix:

@Karen Coffelt Also, I would focus on making extra money within the time you have, not necessarily another job. An example: I used to do some freelance writing. That's something that could be done during your down time at work. Think about some of the skills you have and what you can do to create extra income. (Knit baby blankets and sell them online...whatever.) There are other income streams available that you could do instead of finding a different job. Just make the time at your current job more valuable.

It's interesting that you mention that, because I've been thinking along those same lines, myself. I'm very good at photography, and I've always wanted to get into the photography business in some way or another. I'm trying to find ways that I can market my photos, and I recently picked up a copy of the Photographer's Market that's updated every year, published by Writer's Digest. Being a writer yourself, you may be aware of it. If you want to check out my photography, I do have a Facebook page. The name of the page is Wolf Moon Photography.

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Originally posted by @Leather Nix:

@Karen Coffelt what about if you moved in with your friend but rented out your mobile home? That would provide a stream of income (assuming you can cash flow it)...and you would reduce your personal expenses by living with the friend. And still work on your credit, of course.

I have considered renting out my mobile home, but not sure if I can get enough for it to cover the lot rent and utilities. The utilities are included in the lot rent, and I'm not sure if I can separate them out for the tenant to pay. I'll have to find out about that. It's definitely something I'm going to look into. Thank you.

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Originally posted by @Liwen Gu:

Hey Karen, if you are interested in getting a real estate license, you might be able to take an online course that costs a lot less than classroom training. I'm not sure what the rules are in Arizona, but I'm going through an online course right now in Oregon for around $300. If I go to the community college here for in classroom training it would have been $700. You'd have to be very motivated to do the course yourself (I find the course material to be quite dry so I'm struggling with that myself) but I think it will work better with your schedule and it sounds like you have the determination to do it. It's a long term commitment though...I hear that a lot of agents just break even the first year but I'm sure you can be successful at it.

Thanks, Liwen. Arizona requires 90 hours of in class training. Not sure if I'll do it yet. There's a real estate school here that has all the classes needed I think for about $579. It includes extra help with math for people who need it, which I definitely do. Includes the 90 hours in class time, all textbooks and course materials.

Here's what it includes:

Everything you need to get your real estate license including extra math help and a contract course required by the Arizona Department of Real Estate.

INCLUDES:

State-required 90 hours of Principles & Practices
All textbooks & course materials
Basic Licensing Review Crammer™Real Estate Math Review
Career Expo
Introduction to Contract Writing Course

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All Forum Posts by: Karen Coffelt

Karen Coffelt has started 1 posts and replied 38 times.

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Everything you need to get your real estate license including extra math help and a contract course required by the Arizona Department of Real Estate.