http://ping.fm/u1bci The goal should be awareness of INTERconnectedness and community sustainability.

Adventures In Real Estate

Intro
Lured by the easy riches of passive income, I joined the throes of the get rich quick, not a scheme, mind you. And not to start off in a contentious manner, but I'm entirely enthused about sharing my passion: What I have done for the last 8 years. I saw the rise and fall- I was the rise and fall. I flipped some. I got a license and brokered over 50 deals. I got some rental properties. I managed other people's rentals. Rehabbing, collecting rent, all the joys of property ownership. The maintenance, the tenants, the infrastructure of utilities, Com Ed, Nicor, city water + garbage, sewer, taxes, insurance, mortgage. AH! Mortgages alone are a great field of interest. Which brings me to this point. I approached the market fresh our of school at 30 years old, therefore highly academetized. Translation: street virgin. I got street smarts. Finally.

condemnation (of a property cuz tenants dealing drugs)
foreclosure filed (but modifying mortgage, so it's not a final order)
judgment filed for defaulted note on a land speculation deal
utilities shut off (intro to off-grid living!)
got on food stamps
let my real estate brokers license expire
felony charges (not convicted- plea bargain to misdemeanor simple battery)
probation
restitution
property taxes sold (investor has not filed petition for sheriff's deed)
supervision (drivers license) but I knew better- no seat belt or insurance
defendant in civil lawsuit
bankruptcy

Success Story? Yes. What doesn't break you makes you stronger. Now I know that if you touch the fire, you burn your hand. Something you learn when your a kid. Well this is what I've learned in the first quarter of my career game. This story is true to the best of my memory and record. Any unfactual details may or may not have been intentional, except that it is maybe exaggerated for your benefit. That is why it's a story, not a memoir or autobiography. No, but its true, anyway. Lets start with day one...

Urban Homesteading

I love the idea of urban homesteading. I love how it challenges the notion of dependence on corporate utilities. Self fucking reliance...an experiment, an art project, a science project, a social demonstration of small acts of pioneering independence. If there is a code violation, I will take it to city hall and get green advocates to back me. I feel passionate about this sustainable living lifestyle. It represents everything I believe. But I am detached from the specifics and the how. My attitude and spirit will translate thru my actions and decisions I make day to day. It's about the love of union with nature, not some law about recycling. People don't change cuz of legislation necessarily, it starts from within, so we need to out-educate the advertisers. Its about mass media and propaganda, that's why the internet is opening the door more to these ideas. If you support this, live it. Integrity is being the change you want to see in the world. Not to put guilt on anybody. No. My goal is to liberate you to be free from the lies of profit-motivated earth-rapers. You do not need ComEd and Nicor, or fluorinated water, or shoes, or hearing aids.

Nature Is An Asset

Being off the grid gives the benefit of me learning about power + electricity. Also, I think about the rain more for harvesting, and the suns effect on heating the house. I am more in touch with nature so I am happier. I feel more self-sufficient and resourceful. I'm not dependent on being a consumer to big corporations. I am able to survive and thrive without having to slave in the machine for money to pay for 'convenient' power + water. I use natural resources or my own devices. I'm more direct with my survival. It's like chopping someone else's wood for money to buy mine. No, I will chop my own. It gives me pride. I feel more in control, more of a man. I'd rather spend 40 hours a week being self-sufficient and sustainable, than contributing to global warming doing some industrial job I have to drive to, and wait two weeks for a paycheck that is already taxed, and have to have a bank account to cash it. Not smart.

Silly Nicor

They turned off the gas because I did not call them after my tenant moved out. They sent letters to the address but they were not forwarded to my P.O. Box because it was addressed to 'current occupant'. Nicor advised me to go online and update so that gas goes into my name automatically if whatever account is at an address of a property I own is removed. Learning all the time in this industry... The thing that sucks about Nicor is their lack of consideration and accommodation. They have no competition, so customer service department is not incentivized to satisfy me. Hence, I have to wait five days for gas to get turned back on. So, I shut off water and hope pipes don't freeze. I took my cat to my studio. I totally want to go off-grid and be self-reliant. Why put my heating needs in the hands of someone who is not required by law to turn gas back on for up to 10 days? Tomorrow I am calling the Citizens Utility Board.

off-grid

I want to do an urban-camping type of experiment. I dabbled with it a little last winter when I chose not to incorporate the local utilities 'conveniences' (nicor and comed) into my dwelling (single family house). I learned how to store energy and invert the signal from DC to AC. I learned how to heat my space efficiently with portable propane heater. I learned to conserve my water. I learned to use the sun from southern exposure to heat house. This was exciting to be self-reliant and gave me a sense of independence and direct intimacy with my survival. Why work for the machine to pay for the machine when you can live off the land? I believe my next ventures in real estate will involve sustainability and urban homesteading projects. My mission is to liberate people from the power grid, or at least educate people on the alternatives to the more earth-friendly/ green tech. This includes organic gardening. The chemical/processed food industry benifits when local zoning prevents me from growing organic food on my land. But, back to the housing end of holistic living- the pioneers knew how to live with the land, but today we are fearfully ignorant (much to the benefit of energy suppliers). Furthermore, we are nearly considered criminal for being pre-industrial with regards to lifestyle of resource acquisition, allotment, and consumption. Can we even have a woodburner in our homes anymore? So, this is my experiment. I know this is common is Alaska, but I am in urban northern Illinois. Wish me luck.

Dean Graziosi

I have not bought a real estate book for a few years. I gave up on the industry when the subprime mortage market crashed and banks stopped lending. I was a broker and my investor clients stopped buying. My personal holdings went into forclosure and city condemned one of my houses. I got my CDL to be a truck driver, but fate would have it that I couldn't seem to get a job. So, I looked in the mirror and asked myself what skills do I have that I can make money now? I decided to follow the money and wait for the Universe to reveal my next step. Hence, this book. I'm going to flip contracts now instead of the properties themselves. So, Im gonna read it now and I will let you know what happens next.
Until then, I still need to manage my current inventory. Tomorrow I have an eviction hearing that should prove interesting. The tenant is disrespectful and 3 months behind in rent. I hope the judge awards me the fourth month too because of no 30-day notice from tenant. Then collect on the judgement by starting with a citation to discover assets. Cindy Schmidt has been a confidence booster on collecting back rent.