Frugal Staging & Design to Make You Money on Real Estate

Posted by M.S. on May 28, 2009

This morning I came across a very interesting article in the online edition of the New York Times called Design on a Shoestring.  I am always searching for articles about decorating to maximize both the comfort and value of my home and investment properties, so this one caught my eye.

The article was about a couple that had completely redone a one bedroom apartment near London and featured a wonderful photo gallery of their great ideas.  I was floored when I read they had spent over $10,300 — to re-do a 1,200-square-foot apartment!   HOW MUCH??

That’s alot to spend on a 1,200 square foot property!  I believe you can achieve the same results for much less money–and we have done it!

When we started buying investment properties 32 years ago, we realized very quickly that if we fixed up the interior and decorated it a bit–we could raise the rents and attract a better quality of tenant!

The amazing thing was- after we were finished living in this property–we were able to rent it FURNISHED for 2 years- and we received $200 more PER MONTH in rent than what we would have gotten for it unfurnished!

That’s almost $ 5,000 extra rent! What a great return on our investment!

Take a look at what elbow grease and almost ALL secondhand furniture and accessories created in this furnished townhome!  You can use these ideas for a rental property or to stage your home to sell in this tough economy!

The least expensive and most effective method we found to accomplish that effect was with paint! You can create a warm and inviting mood with a soft neutral (not white) paint color.

Here we painted the living room a soft tan color.

In one  bedroom, we used a greyish shade of green, which is also a soft neutral, to give us a fabulous warm romantic feel.

The fabulous custom made upholstered  window treatment hanging over the bed was purchased at a Salvation Army store for $10! It matched perfectly!

In another bedroom, we used the same soft tan color that looks marvelous with the elegant duvet cover we bought at TJ Maxx.  All the furniture, lamps, headboard, pictures etc in this room were purchased secondhand for practically NO money!

After our tenant of 2 years moved out, we decided to take everything out of the property and rent it unfurnished.

Because we have been so very blessed, we decided that rather than have a big sale and make some money–we gave away every single thing to a charity that donates to people that cannot even afford to buy their items at a Goodwill type store! 

They sent a large empty truck and we filled it to the brim!

How cool is that–to be able to share the wealth?  I still wonder who is sitting on those chairs now and sleeping in those beds!

Sweet Corn Helped Us Buy Our First Piece of Real Estate

Posted by M.S. on April 26, 2009

In 1977, after having just gotten married after graduating from college, we were DEAD BROKE– and we didn’t intend to stay that way for long!

We both have degrees in Business and learned that through hard word, perseverance and frugal living it is possible to save and invest to build wealth, especially when you start young.

Our quest to get rich began when we had a fateful conversation with a friend of ours named Pat.  In the course of visiting with Pat, he casually mentioned that he needed to drive over to his 4 investment properties and pick up the monthly rents!  Pat was the same age as us, 23, and he already owned 4 duplexes!  We were stunned!  How could this be??

Over the years, I learned something that that has served me well!  When I see someone accomplishing something I would like to do too, I ASK them directly– How Did You Do That??  So I asked Pat to explain how he accomplished this amazing feat!

Pat said– It was easy!  He told us he saved like crazy by setting a very strict budget based on the money he made at his job at an insurance agency and, because he wanted to accomplish his goals quickly, he supplemented his income by working at his family’s sweet corn business- so he could save more.

Pat’s family had financed all 5 children’s college educations through the selling of sweet corn at a farm stand on the side of the road in the summertime!  They all worked very hard and made lots of money that was split between each child!

Pat decided to defer his spending and build his wealth NOW by saving a large percentage of what he earned and use that money as a down payment on investment properties.  When he purchased a property, Pat would move into each duplex, so it was considered owner occupied and he only needed to put 10% down.  He then would repeat the process!

He’d save the money, move into the property, live there while he continued to save for the next property and buy another property and move into it!  Then, Pat rented the entire property he had just vacated.  He did that 4 times!

We said WE CAN DO THAT TOO! And we did it!

While aggressively saving money from our jobs,  we also took on piecemeal assembly work for my company that we did at home on the weekends so we could save even more!  We didn’t sell sweet corn, but we utilized the same concept.  Take on extra work and save all that extra income!

At the end of our first year, we bought our first piece of real estate!

We were on our way!