OK I’ll preface this with some background since 99% of you reading this don’t really know me… I’m painfully sarcastic.
Thi is the story of how me,  a regular Joe type guy, saved $425,000.00 in a single day.   There I was, shopping for properties.  I’d trained my team to know what I needed.  They’d been working hard to find it, and then the phone beeps.  It was an email from my favourite realtor.  The one who actually put an effort in, and literally did the homework I’d given him months prior.  He’d basically been working for free for 6 months because he saw the long term picture was me buying a dozen or more properties the next 5-10 years.

Now, I don’t think I’ve said this before but yeah, I’ve got a day job.  Reason?  Well, it’s a hell of a lot easier to qualify for mortgages with a day job so I’m completely fine with that.  There I am at my day job, working away and the phone bleeps.  It’s the realtor, and it’s a property listing email.  I click the link, page starts loading…. loading… loading…. nothing.  No service.  I think little of it and go back to my lunch, finish the day and head home after work.

Later that night, after I get home from refinishing some cabinets, I remember the email.  Sit down and open my email on the computer.  It’s a 4 plex.  And it’s cheap.  Cheap enough that from the 5 bad pictures the listing agent took I can tell I’m viewing it and if it’s remotely close to what I think I’m writing an offer on the spot.  I call my agent, or maybe I texted, it’s about 10 pm by this time.  He says “it’s conditionally sold” and I’m devastated.

No kidding, I have driven by this property about 10 times per week for the last 3 years and every time I said to myself “someday I’ll buy that” and it’s sold.  Why? Because I was chasing pennies.  I saved about $1,500 on cabinets by refinishing (and they turned out pretty decent!) the old boxes.  But because I have a day job I was racing to the property from work, working for 5 hours, heading home and doing my real estate work.  Had I not been chasing the little stuff, I would have landed the big one.  A property that sold for $425,000, that would have cash flowed nicely at $500,000 because I was working on cabinets.

I’ve always prided myself on “big picture” or “end game” thinking.  I’m not in this for now, I’m in this for long term.  I don’t partner with people who are short term thinkers.  Fixing cabinets, that’s not wrong necessarily.  Heck, it’s great cash flow management.

…. Technically, I saved $425,00 + the $1,500 on cabinets, right?!