December 6, 2011

Yesterday I told you a little bit about how I came to a place in my life where it seemed like a good idea to start a residential investment and remodeling company.  Before I get to the nuts and bolts of how I got started and what we stand for I should mention a couple of other things about myself.  First my husband and I renovated four houses before I jumped into this business and second, my professional background is in construction management.  I had almost 20 years’ experience doing commercial layouts, designs, and managing the construction projects for large companies.  So I had an in-depth knowledge of the construction process if not a lot of hands-on experience of working with the tools.

As I mentioned in a previous post we moved to Texas to a foreclosure we purchased site unseen over the internet.  It was so bad we needed to stay in hotels for 6 weeks until we had the place habitable enough to move in.  This is a loose definition by the way, I was still showering and cooking outside when we moved.  This relocation provided me with the time and the money to think about what I wanted to do next.  My husband suggested I get my real estate license as a way to learn the market and get a first look at any deals that hit the market.

I did just that, I spent about a year and a half in a local brokerage office learning the area and the ins and outs of the market.  I still hold a real estate license, and despite popular wisdom I still find my deals on the multiple listing service.

I had spent a lot of time thinking about what niche I wanted to fill.  I knew that I wanted to provide the opportunity for people in the lower and middle classes to be able to own their own home.  I wasn’t interested in the high end properties.  I wanted the run down properties in safe working class neighborhoods.  I wanted to provide quality materials and workmanship at an affordable price.  I was going to achieve this by purchasing properties at a modest price and keeping the cost of my remodels affordable by smart shopping, good planning, and affordable labor rates.  At least that was the plan.

Tune in tomorrow for a taste of what actually happened.