House 3: End Of Week 3 Update

Wow.. I had to go back and check my blog entries, but it really has only been three weeks since Mark started working on the property. Feels like it's been four weeks to me.I stopped by the property unannounced today. Mark wasn't there, but it was lunchtime, so he may have been off eating. My first thought was not much had been done since the last time I was there, but closer inspection revealed that not to be true.All the doors have been replaced...

The Velocity Of Money

My wife and I spent most of Saturday and Sunday at a meeting of richdad.com forum members. We met at Rich Dad headquarters in Scottsdale and got to meet with Rich Dad staff, including Robert Kiyosaki, his wife Kim, Sharon Lecter, and others. (Is it just me or did anyone else think Robert looked like he's lost a lot of weight? His face seemed much thinner and I thought his coat and shirt were just hanging on him.)Saturday was spent with presentations...

House 3: Electrician And Update

I stopped by the property this morning to meet the electrician. There was a huge dumpster in the driveway and it was mostly empty. The handyman probably filled it once already with all the trash and furniture that was left in the house. The electrician worked there for about 2.5 hours fixing outlets and wiring issues. While he was working, I took a look around to see what the handyman has accomplished so far. Quite a lot, it turns out:The evap unit...

Final Propser Loan Won

The final loan bid I had outstanding, for $200 @ 20.75%, was accepted today. This means I now have all of my $500 loan amount invested across four loans. My average interest rate is 17.82%, or 17.32% after Prosper's fees.There must be some sort of strange rounding errors going on because my account shows Principal Loaned = $500, Principal Repaid, Interest & Fees Paid, and Service Fees all equal to $0.00, yet my total Loan Value is shown as $500.04.Anyway,...

Another Weed Issue & Electrician Scheduled

I got a call from the City Of Phoenix's Solid Waste Division regarding weeds in the alley behind House 3. Apparently, the city has been mailing notices to the house since the beginning of February (which is before I owned the place) about having too many weeds in the alley behind the house. The alley is where the trash cans are placed and where the trash trucks drive to collect the garbage. If the weeds are not taken care of by Monday, they will...

House 3: Rehab Questions From Handyman

I got an email from my handyman last night with a couple questions about how to handle some issues. The questions and my responses are below.The outlet by the kitchen counter has burned wires and the wire are too short to install a new GFCI outlet. New wires should be pulled. What would you like to do? Based on the other electrical issues you've found and mentioned below, I'll get an electrician out there to do this. Please mark which outlet this...

Three Loans Made Via Prosper.com

I've got three loans funded now through Prosper.com:$100 @ 8.85%$100 @ 15.00%$100 @ 23.75%The 8.85% loan was made to Gualberto. Don't default, Gualberto - I know where you blog! :-)I've got another bid out for a $200 loan. That listing won't end for another 10 days, so it could be a while before I find out if I got that one.All my loans are less than a week old, so there haven't been any payments yet. My average interest is 15.36%, after Prosper...

House 3: Rehab Under Way

I hadn't heard from my handyman Mark (not his real name) this week, so I gave him a call. I mailed off my check to him on Tuesday morning and was hoping to hear that he got it and would be getting started soon. Turns out he started yesterday! Sweet!He said he's got most of the trash inside the house removed and now he's working on the trash outside. He had one question. Apparently, under the pile of all the junk in the room with the fireplace, there...

Prosper.com Once More

I really hate to be negative about Propser.com. I really want it to succeed. I want to be able to report good things about it. It's getting hard.Let me preface what I am saying by noting Propser.com is still relatively new and should be expected to have some bugs to work out.On to my complaints.1. My transfer of funds from my checking account into Prosper was supposed to be completed today. Funds...

House 3: Estimate Clarification

I got a response to my fax to the handyman requesting some clarification of his estimate. He was checking into whether or not he could move the car legally (since I don't have title to the car). This is similar to a situation I ran into on my last rehab, so I was pretty sure there would be no problems removing it. Just to be sure, I called the Phoenix Police Department to check. (My last property was in Glendale and the city code might be different...

When Is Automated Not Automated? (Updated)

Last Friday, I submitted a transfer of funds from my bank account to my Prosper.com account and was informed it would take up to 5 business days for the transfer to be completed. Huh? The process is automated! In fact, Prosper uses the ACH system for transferring funds and ACH stands for Automated Clearing House. Last time I checked, computers didn't sleep or need time off, so why does this system only work during business days? Does anyone have...

House 3: Rehab Estimate Received - And It's A Shocker!

Last night, I got a fax from the handyman with the quote for all the work I wanted done on the property. I was in for a shock - the quote was for $23,700! I was thinking more along the lines of $15,000. True, this quote includes everything (dumpster rental for the trash, all materials, etc.), but still, it seems a bit high. Other items on the quote included the condition that the cost be paid one-third at the start, another third at 2/3 completion...

Prosper.Com Revisited

In a previous entry, I spoke about Prosper.com and the benefits and drawbacks of their service. Before going any further, I'd like to thank Prosper.com's CTO and co-founder, John Witchel, for leaving some comments here to address the concerns I raised.I decided to go ahead and try lending a small amount through Prosper.com - no more than $1,000. It has taken a while, but I have finally gotten approved to be a lender. I spoke a bit about this in the...