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Closing was today…the house is now mine.
Funny thing. The Seller and I first met on November 20, 2006, which was one year, one month, and one day ago.
First of all, those of you joining me from Lea Woodward’s “Location Independent Blog” welcome! I hope you find this a good resource; fell free to browse past entries…
So…the bank has accepted my counter offer for the short sale. They are getting some money back for the house without initiating foreclosure, they are forgiving the loan, so the owner is relieved, and I am getting a nice house in a decent neighborhood - win-win-win.
The downside is that it is putting a damper on my plans for starting a virtual business. All my energy is now focused on due diligence and lining up a team to get the house in good condition to rent (this in addition to working my full time job!) My original exit strategy was to flip it, but that was before the sub-prime mess. As I mentioned earlier, there is still the possibility of getting a management team to handle the rental, but it is not worth it for just one house; I will need to get a few more rentals for this to be feasible.
Still, I am actively looking for ways to outsource as much as possible.
The longterm goal is to build multiple streams of income to get me out of my job and free up my time; this is just one step toward that goal.
If you get a chance, hop on over to Lifejotter.org. The site has been redesigned and looks really good (the content rocks too!).
OK…I have picked my phrase “Car Seat Ratings”, created a Tumblr blog carseatratings.tumblr.com, added some predictable but amusing (hopefully) content, inserted my affiliate links, inserted Google Analytics code and published it. I still need to post it to some Social Bookmarking sites; that will probably be done by tonight. Hopefully I will be ranked.
Oh…I forgot to mention that I am writing this post from work…on Sunday afternoon. I came in yesterday as well.
Such is my life.
A while back after I finished reading 4HWW, I posted a question on ask.metafilter.com asking if the lifestyle is feasible, and is anyone making it work. Here is the link.
First of all, I looked at my stats and sure enough there are people that are actually reading this blog. Please do me a favor an leave me a comment. I ask this because it’s easier for me to keep motivated when I know I have an audience (Thanks Josh).
Second, I apologize for the gap in postings. School has started in our county, and I have two daughters with active lives. I have also been working on a project (in my day-job) with a tight deadline. Still I have been keeping up with the 30 Day Challenge (ok…maybe a few days behind).
In the time since my last posting I have joined two affiliate programs to get my feet wet, Amazon, and Commission Junction. In fact, I have added an affiliate link below to the “The Four Hour Work Week” (ooops…did it again) mentioned in my first post. I don’t know how many of you out there reading this have been following the challenge so far, but one of the parts of the challenge is to find a popular keyword phrase that has little competition. I have found such a phrase and I am going to create an informational blog post on a Web 2.0 bloging host that has related links to Amazon merchandise. When I am finished I will post the link here along with my initial ranking (no, my link below doesn’t count).
I’m not going to go into details here (go to the 30 Day Challenge Site!) but the purpose of using the Wordtracker Ranking in conjunction with Google Trends is to come up with a killer phrase with little competition; then by using a trusted (by Google) blogging site to host an information blog, in a day (in some reported cases in hours) you get high Google rankings, like the coveted first page! People in the challenge have posted their remarkable results.
The reason for all this work is for me to understand affiliate marketing as a potential revenue stream. I don’t intend to rely solely on this, but I think it’s important to know. Eventually the Challenge will lead to finding and selling your own product, then marketing it using the techniques learned earlier on.
So basically, that’s where I’m at. My next deliverable is the content for my blog. As soon as the blog has been completed I will post the link.
I had originally intended to print my dreamline, and I will soon, but I found out about something that is pretty cool, and in which I am now participating, and about what I wanted to write.
There is something going on called the Thirty Day Challenge. The challenge is to make $10 online. Yeah, that seems petty, but it teaches you how to start your own Internet business, including important concepts like finding your niche, market research, and determining your product, all in easy to understand concepts illustrated by videos and podcasts. And, best of all it’s free. I am in catchup mode (It started on August 1st).
So I am going to augment my quest with this training, and see where it leads me.
There are two places on this planet that I call home. One is Atlanta, where I currently live, but the other is Mt. Desert Island, Maine. I got back a couple of days ago from a week of R&R there, to recharge my batteries. My parents retired up there after their children all moved away. We have been going up there since I was 10, camping in Acadia National Park. It is probably one of the most beautiful places in this country.
Unfortunately, it is becoming harder and harder for my parents to live there. They’re there all year round, and while the summer is fantastic, the winters can get brutal. Both of them are in their late 70’s. They tried to live in a warmer climate over one winter, but it didn’t work out. They are talking about moving down to Vermont, closer to my sister.
Now, why am I bringing all this up? It segues into one of the main reasons why I am doing all this. Having elderly parents that live so far away is one of my major worries. I want to spend more time with them, as well as be able to get to them in case of any emergency and stay with them until things settle down. Then there’s the issue of their house. My siblings and I want to keep it in the family. It would be nice to spend more time up there, and to have the extra money needed to maintain it. So time is becoming more and more of a precious commodity for me.
The other reason is that I am getting tired of the 9-5 grind. I have been in the workforce for 23 years. It has not been all bad, but I am ready for something new. A lot of people say that moving from the 9-5 lifestyle to the 4 hour (Ok, maybe a little more than 4 hours) lifestyle is going to be a challenge. In fact I posted a query about the feasibility of the lifestyle here. I am up for the challenge. I really think that a successful outcome is worth the effort.
In my next posting, I will put my “Dreamline” which is described in the “Definition” section of “The Four Hour Work Week”.
So…I have finished reading “The Four Hour Work Work Week” by Timothy Ferriss. The idea of mini-retirements, and muses really appeal to me; but the question I have is how easy is it to implement?
The basic idea of this blog is that it will serve as a chronicle of the steps I am taking to implement the Lifestyle Design principles set forth in the book. This also includes the the creation of a successful company that can be run from anywhere in the world (a “Muse”). I will write it all…the good, the bad, and the ugly. I will be as honest as possible about the challenges and the outcomes and the path between.
As I encounter useful resources and sites I will post them here and in the blogroll. I welcome any and all comments and suggestions. From time to time I’m sure I’m going to encounter issues that someone else reading this has probably dealt with.
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