All of the business points are very good. Let me throw something in about the product side ...namely houses.
I've had 5 new houses over the years. 4 of them I had to sell at a loss one sold at some profit. All of them were built for the "next owner" as they say. The current house is 3 years old and like new inside and out. It has premium options bonus room insulated garage with 220 outlets. corner lot, largerst lot inthe the developement...on and on. The exact same home goes for 20 k more than I listed for 2 mile away and I have to give it away at a loss in todays market. I'm not alone, everyone selling their house in the area has had the same thing happen. With 40 new developements in the local area the competition is fierce to say the least. You can go into the new house area without a dime in your pocket and work part time at Mac's and get in a brand new house. I don't know for how long but you can. This same house where I now live at is going for 40k more than I listed at and 100 miles away inthe big city add another 20k. You will have to really pick your houses to renovate and it might take a year to resell them.

sour grapes

bentwings

 

You will no longer be able to have 3000+ posts on DTR. Self employment is very time consuming. From the phone to bidding to solving problems,your the man that has to do it,all of it.You never get to punch out. And even when none of the above is going on, things will be going on in your head planning your next move. I love it and welcome the stress,but it takes some getting used to.Go for it and Best of luck to you.You will be sucessfull, just how much is up to you.

 

Lots of good advice here. Hoss if you are driven to do a good job and build quality homes, you will work more hours than you do now. But you can't beat being your own boss. One word of caution: Watch your expenses like a hawk. Before you start pay off all the bills you can. Keep all payments low until you know your cash flow situation. Best of luck.
Oh yeah don't asssume that a CPA from your church is the best one out there. Get a real shark. They will save you $$$$

 

Also think about setting up a business in your wife's name - this can get you preferential bidding for "minority-owned (female) business" and can get certain breaks that a WASP-owned business cannot.

Good luck and make sure you look before you leap - we got faith in ya'........

 

Well, the good thing about my location is that the housing market is pretty hard to beat. If I were to sell my house today I could most likely sell it for $25-30k more than I paid for it 5 years ago...maybe more. There is a lot of money in this area and there are lots of people that like to stroke their egos with big, expensive houses.

 

You will have to change your Handle again. Hoss-Da-Boss sounds good to me.


I have thought about it too, and dont have the nads to do it. Mainly because I like MY time, and when the wistle blows I could care less whats happening at work!

Good luck man.

 

 

Just my 2 cents on your second option regarding buying homes, fixing and selling them for profit. I too am self-employed (lots of hours ) as a mortgage broker, one thing I can tell you is aquiring financing for "rehab' homes can be a very tricky experience. You will generally deal w/ a private investor versus a mortgage company and pay somewhere in the neighborhood of 12% interest with 3 or 4 points upfront, expensive? you bet BUT, if you have a solid (realistic) plan laid out and a solid time line you will make yourself a strong profit and the investor charges will become a non-issue. I have a very good friend that has been doing this for 3+ years and does very well with it (works his tail off though), he really does his homework before buying a property ie: how long the average marketing time is after he fixes it and also he often talks about different Township's and their regulations for permits and such. On a personal note, I am personally happier now than ever before owning my own business but I will say I have a few more grey hairs....you either make it happen or not and forget about the word "vacation", even if you go your cell phone will haunt you
Good Luck on whatever you decide

 

Ain't that the truth.

 

Find a good civil that will work for a percentage.
I have a friend that operates the local water plant, they contract out to a civil for 10% ($1,000,000+ projects). You will need a civil to sign off out any building that you are selling.

 

Start with one business, get it going, to the point where it can basically run itself, then think about starting another... My dad started his auto repair business about 25 years ago, and its still going, and about 2 years ago, he started up a car rental franchise, and its going full steam. Now that its going full steam, he's back to working at the auto repair shop full time, and my brother and I run his car rental business. Both businesses are a big success, and we all make very decent money, but these two businesses didn't come without sacrifice.
Scott

 

Not for residential homes....at least not in Texas.

 

Hoss,

I've been rehabbing homes for a living for 20 years now. I'm 50 and I don't need to work now., but I still do cause I love the business. There is alot of good advice on this thread. Staying small is one of them. You can control your costs much better. I even bought a fixer upper house in College Station for my daughter to go to college and she & I fixed it up and made enough to in 4 years to almost pay for her education, $50K.
I buy 1-3 houses per month and turn them over or rent them out. The trick (as always) is buy low, sell high. I buy my properties at foreclosure auctions. Every county in the US has them. I look for a solid house that needs carpet, paint, counter tops, maybe kitchen cabnets. I sell them myself to lower the price to get more buyers.

PM if you have any other questions.

 

Different country, different market and different time, but I remember as a kid working part time for my father at $6.50 an hour evenings and weekends I made more on a spec house than he did. Find out what your competition is, one of the reasons I didn't pick up the family buisness was that everyone was a "contractor" at that time (in fact they were teaching courses in the local college on how to be your own contractor)

 

Geico, I got your PM. I'll be talking to you more about it later on if you don't mind. What you're doing is pretty much exactly what I had in mind for Company #2...which may turn into Company #1.