Kevin "Flag" Robinson Doing a fractional right now

Are you ready to build your dream house? This might be the year. The price of building lots is low, interest rates are low, and the price of building materials has dropped substantially.

Fast forward to the point where you own a lot, have plans drawn up, and are ready to hire a contractor. There are general contractors and there are sub-contractors. A general is just that, a person who acts as a manager. The general will bring everything together for your build, and make sure that it gets done correctly. In some cases the general will actually do a portion of the work with their own crews or they may hire out sub-contractors. Either way the general will charge a steep fee for their services.

You can act as your own general in many states, but there is a lot to know. Reading blueprints can be a daunting task. Some banks want to see evidence that you have built a house before they will lend you any money. The county building department has a lot of hoops to jump through in order to get a permit. Setting up contracts with subs feels kind of like going to law school. Just getting set up can take months if you have no experience in the matter.

This is where a construction manager comes in. A CM, as they are called, can effectively manage all of the nuts and bolts for you, while making sure that the job gets done correctly. A CM will do license and insurance checks on possible subs, check their references, and find out what kind of work they do. A CM will help you fill out all of the contracts and forms that are involved. A CM will get you through all of the hoops that the banksputs in your way. And best of all, a construction manager will save you money.

A professional CM will let you know in advance how much his or her fees will cost you. You will save thousands.

You can act as your own general. With a CM by your side, your dream home will get built on time, on budget, and most of all, correctly.

At a meeting that I attended last night, the host used an icebreaker that I have never heard to help us introduce ourselves to one another. The results were quite interesting to me and also quite fascinating. I thought that I would give it a try on the old AR. Here goes:

Drawing from everything that you know, which US state population holds the same values as you?

Give it a shot. I will post my answer in a bit.

I think that I get it now. After months of wondering what Mr. Obama was intending when he kept speaking about change, I now understand what he was talking about.

I do not think that I have ever heard anyone, including President Obama define cleary what type of change he has in mind, or what type of change he will implement over the next 4 years (hopefully that is all we get to see of him), but I am beginning to see what may happen for all of us.

I am a firm believer in the power of positive thought. If you believe in something, it might happen. And even though our new President has done nothing that seems positive yet, just the thoughts by all of his supporters that he may create some change, although they do not know what kind, has brought about the possibility of change.

You see, I never carry cash in my pocket. I always use my debit card for all purchases. No cash ever touches my clothes. But, shocking as it was to me, when I put on my old jeans today...I found...money in them. That is right. Money, to the tune of 68 cents in my pants pocket. Change. Change from what I do not know, but change it was, and is. I have seen change. Now I get it.

Since I started using my capital to start buying short sales around the US, I have found that there is a huge difference in how markets are doing. When I tell agents that I am offering around 60% of BPO, I get responses ranging from "good luck" to that is too high. Some agents have informed me that even though their market has a huge number of homes on the MLS, the median price has climbed throughout the last year. In contrast, other agents have let me know that nothing is moving at any price. Their area has just dried up.

As we move farther into 2009, only time will tell how the different markets perform. I have been attempting to chart out the feedback that I get from agents. While my system is not scientific by any means, it is providing me with some data on which to base my own buying. The funny thing about what I have garnered so far is that I cannot decipher why some areas are doing well and others are getting killed. This is probably due to a lack of knowledge on my part.

How is your area in terms of number of listings, median price over one year, DOM, etc?

Homebuilder from Idaho turned investor? Thats right. For the next 6 months I am trying something new. I am going to let the other guys build all of those houses that consumers want built while I concentrate on ridding the market of some shorts.

I have cash. I have some basic know-how. I have bought a few already. Of the places that I have bought, I have been able to sell them almost immedately.

I do have some basic parameters. I am ready to go. Email me if you are as well.