Today was a busy day. I had a dentist appointment at 8:30am (no cavities thank you very much), made five wholesale offers on REO properties, and I dropped off two candy machines at a new location. I did all this running around in 95 degree heat and in my little car with broken air conditioning. This new heatwave sucks, and I seriously considered getting the air fixed today even though its already September.

The new vending location wanted Peanut M&Ms and Skittles. So I headed to BJs since I needed to get groceries anyway. They had the big bags of Skittles, but not the Peanut M&Ms. I had to buy a box of the big tear&share packs. It was more than double the price of a bag, and it sucked to have to open all those little packets at the new location. And it didn’t even fill up the canister! I need to go to the other BJs tonight. I also need to get a Sam’s club membership in case that happens again. I updated my books for the vending business last night, and noted that I’ve spent almost $500 already. I’m only going to buy two more stands and candy, then that’s it for my out-of-pocket investment. Every future investment will be from revenues only. Once I grow this to the point where I profit $2,000, then I’ll stop reinvesting and just enjoy the profits.

I decided to be a little slick with the REO offers today. I included “and/or assigns” on the contract to see if the agents would say anything. Nothing so far, but I think the banks may catch it in their counter offer. Though I have a feeling that one of them may miss it and accept the contract with that language on it. If so, it’s over for them.

Before I forget, I’m about to evict the tenant from the sub2 property. She didn’t pay her August rent, and she has ignored my calls. I just sent her a “pay or quit” letter. I sent it via regular and certified mail w/return receipt. I’m sure she’ll call me with some excuse about how she was working, or sick, or away on vacation, or her friend’s pet rock died, or whatever. I don’t care, I need to get her out of there and get a new paying tenant quick. As a matter of fact, I’m going to start advertising it tonight. I can’t wait to get rid of her.

philadelphia real estate agent · real estate agency business · real estate wholesaling investing · sub2 investing · vending business

I decided to try another vending locator service, and I’m happy with the slightly better results. The last locator took more than two weeks, only answered my calls with emails, and didn’t even secure the locations. Two of the locations never returned my calls, and the others weren’t even clear on what was going on when I arrived. This new service got the locations pretty quickly. One location is all the way in south Philly (outside of the four zip codes I want to be in), but I took it anyway because it’s a printing shop and it looks like it will be good. The other three locations are close by so I’m happy about it. There was one location that had to be replaced though. It was a daycare center, and I knew the second I walked in that there was going to be a problem. The woman who approved the machine apparently wasn’t the decision maker. One ghetto dude, who didn’t appear to be the boss, but had a bid mouth, wanted to know how much “they” were going to make (it’s a charity machine). After it was explained that some of the proceeds were going to charity, he all of a sudden was concerned with liability for potential injuries. After I filled up the machine, they told me I had to take it out and come  back with a sandbag that will hold the base in place. Annoyed, I smiled and said ok and removed the machine, promising to come back tomorrow. A few hours later, I get a call from the woman who approved the machine saying that I can’t bring it back because she should’ve gotten another approval first. Oh well, sucks for you. Next!

So the service replaced that daycare with the location in south philly. I still have two more machines to deliver, and I need to check on my bar location. The machine at the bar was barely used the last time I saw it about two weeks ago. I’m going to check it again today (about a month after placemen). If it still looks barely used, I’m pulling it. I really want to get this business rolling already.

passive business income · vending business · vending locator service

Crazy update: Last Monday, right after I came back from lunch, my dayjob informed us that the Philadelphia office would be closing, and our last day of work would be August 31st. Yup, that means I’m getting laid off! HAPPY HAPPY JOY JOY! HAPPY HAPPY JOY JOY! (that’s from Ren & Stimpy, and if you don’t know what that is, you’re probably too young to be reading this blog anyway). So yeah, I’m super excited that I’m getting laid off. This gives me the opportunity I’ve been dreaming of for so long: work on getting my businesses to full-time status, while being able to collect an unemployment check. God willing, I will never go back to needing a job. I know the mistakes I made now, and I don’t plan on repeating them.

Good news: I got two new listings in the pipeline, both from my Facebook friends. Between FB and CL, there’s really no reason why someone can’t make money in real estate these days. I also found an investor-friendly title company that will do back-to-back closings for my shortsale flips. So that is a huge plus for my investing business. Yay!

Bad news: The cash buyer that I thought I had for my shortsale flip has backed out. I kinda had the feeling when, even knowing that the property was being sold as is, he wanted me to provide a roof cert, heater cert, turn on all the utilities for “proper inspection”, “special cleaning” for the bathrooms,  and wanted a home warranty. Yeah right, not gonna happen. I crossed all that stuff out and sent the offer back to his agent, and it died today. I’m confident I’ll find a buyer soon. I will not be anxious

So that’s it for now. I have to get back to marketing from my new favorite toy (my netbook), so I can continue enjoying Food Network. I need ideas for my Girl’s Day at the Beach this weekend. Woohoo!

getting laid off · Notary business · philadelphia real estate investing · unemployment compensation · vending business

First I’ll start with the good news: two more of my Facebook friends want me to sell their homes. This is awesome, since it cost me NOTHING to get these new clients, and they are highly motivated to sell. My slogan (“When you need to sell, just call Raquel”), is starting to catch on. I only want people that NEED to sell, because those that just WANT to sell aren’t serious enough, and are harder to close. I also got another call from a senior center that wants vending machines. I think it’s the same person I’ve been playing phone tag with, so it should be good.

Bad news: I still haven’t found a buyer for my shortsale flip. I received an offer yesterday, but it’ from an FHA buyer. It’s  good offer, but I need to talk to the agent today to try to figure out a solution. I really need to get this closed like pronto.

Crazy news: I got an email from one of the conveyancer’s in my RE brokerage, saying that “due to a court order”, she and most of the other staff were being let go. This was a surprise to me, since, I was not aware of any legal action going on within the company. Reading that a court is ordering someone in my company to do something raises all the red flags. So I called her, and she says: Oh, didn’t you hear? The partnership is breaking up! (that was verbatim) WTF?!? Didn’t I hear? Like it’s community gossip or something. I’m getting a little nervous, and annoyed since I just received my business card order. When I told my best friend what happened, she said: that’s God pushing you to hurry up and get your broker license already. And she’s 100% right. I need to get off my ass already. Since I have a shiny new netbook I can take anywhere, I no longer have any excuse for not getting the online courses done. God help me.

real estate agent · real estate investing · ups and downs of entrepreneurship · vending business

I finally got the email I’ve been waiting for last night: the locator service sent me the address and contact information for two vending locations. Both locations are about 10 minutes from home which is awesome. I only have one machine, so I need to buy another one quick. I already searched Craigslist and found some that will be perfect, hopefully they’re still available. It’s so nice to have the luxury of demand exceeding supply, especially when I’m just starting out.

bulk candy vending · Philadelphia vending locations · vending business

Today I found two vending business forums (VENDiscuss and VendingChat) where I was able to learn a lot more about reliable bulk vending machines, product selection and more. When I first got the machine, I went to BJ’s and bought peanut M&Ms and Mike & Ike’s. However, it’s summer right now, and everyone seems to agree that these candies don’t do well in the summer because of melting and sticking problems. I also found out that gumballs are the most profitable product. So, I took the peanut M&Ms and Mike & Ike’s back to BJs, and got gumballs and Skittles instead. And it was all $8 cheaper. It would’ve been $16 cheaper, but I opened one bag of Mike & Ike’s that I couldn’t return.

I also received my charity vending stickers today. Now all I’m waiting for is the locator service and I’ll be good to go. Can’t wait!

bulk candy vending · passive income · vending business

Is a drop-shipping business really a form of passive income? I’m starting to think not. Here’s why: a passive income stream is supposed to require work to setup, then minimum ongoing maintenance to collect profits. A drop-shipping business requires constant inventory updates, order processing and shipment verification/confirmation. And if the drop-ship supplier runs out of the products you’ve already sold, that leads to refunds and headaches. In other words, a drop-shipping business is missing the “minimum ongoing maintenance” aspect of a passive income stream.

As I continue to setup the new vending business, I’m seeing the differences between it and my designer fragrance business. Now if I just promoted affiliate links, then the fragrance business would become passive. I’d only need to monitor my marketing efforts and click-thru rates. But designer fragrances are not a niche enough market. So after almost two years in business, I may have to retire SmellRealGood. Either that or find a niche in the fragrance business that hasn’t been exploited yet.

fragrance business · offline business · online business · passive income · vending business

The tenant finally has a new, working water heater. Hooray. The contractor was even did a temporary fix for the basement door, without me asking, which makes me happy. As long as he can respond to my calls timely, I will be using him for every repair I need. Turns out that he also is a landlord himself, so I’ll be milking him for lots of advice/tips, for sure.

After speaking to a good friend of mine, I’m going to give this landlording business a chance. It is passive income after all, and I don’t really want to give that up. I feel I have a good tenant, so as long as the property is decent, I should be okay. I think my rant yesterday was a result of momentary insanity caused by frustration. So let’s see.

On the vending business front, I’m in the process of signing up with a charity, and then I’m going to hire a locating service to place the machine so I don’t have to pay a commission every month. The service charges only $31 and they offer a money back guarantee with results within a week of ordering. They’ll even relocate for free if I get kicked out within 90 days for any reason.

On the perfume business front, I’m closing my Paypal account. They have instituted a new “policy” where they can hold your funds for whatever amount of time they please. The letter states that it is not because I did anything wrong, but because they want to implement a new policy to “protect” me. I received this information after receiving a new order for almost $100 from a new client through the iOffer.com store. So guess what? I told them, with a selection of choice words, that I don’t need to use their service anymore. So I instructed them to refund the transaction to the buyer and close my account. In the meantime, the buyer paid me via Google Checkout (with NO problems whatsoever, of course), and I’ll be processing the order today. It’s so nice to have a choice with payment processors.

passive income · Paypal sucks ass · perfume business · real estate rentals · vending business

Sooo, less than one month into being a landlord with a sub2 property, my gut feeling about not wanting to be a landlord has been confirmed. The tenant is great, but the property is already starting to get on my nerves. The water heater broke about two days after the tenant moved in, and I haven’t been able to get ANYONE to come fix it. I’ve called several contractors, who all reschedule or just don’t show. Even Roto-Rooter rescheduled, but at least I didn’t have to remind them to call me back. I’m not sure what upsets me more: that my tenant and her child haven’t had hot water for almost a week, or the fact that contractors are so freaking unreliable! Hopefully this water heater just needs to be fixed and not replaced. I also need to replace a rear basement door, as well as the front screen door, and have an electrician check why the ceiling fans aren’t working (since there were working last time I checked almost a month ag0). So yeah, landlording is not for me. I will continue with the shortsale of this property, and sell it with the tenant occupant in place. I think that at 35K property with a tenant paying $875/month will be an awesome deal. I should’ve just stuck to my gut and flipped this without getting into sub2. Oh well.

During my Memphis trip, I got the brilliant idea of starting a newsstand business at Greyhound bus stations. Well, they’ve shut me down. I contacted the person in charge, several times, and Greyhound just isn’t interested in having ANY vendors at their bus stations. So while it seemed promising, I’m not going to press the issue. Maybe they’ll change their minds in the future. In the meantime, I need to get crackin’ on other businesses, which leads me to…

I am finally starting a vending business! About two years ago, I’d read an ebook on how to startup a vending business, it had good information on pitfalls to watch out for, how to shop for machines,  etc. But I never followed up.  Then I started looking at starting an ATM business, but that requires way too much capital (more than what I have anyway), and there’s a safety issue with transporting large sums of cash by myself (a big NO-NO). Now that I’m serious about developing a passive income stream, I decided to get on the ball. I reread the book, and decided to start a bulk candy vending business. I found a NEW double-head candy machine on craigslist for $100, but I was able to talk to the seller down to $70. The machine still had the plastic wraps on it. This machine typically sells for about $200 brand new. He’d purchased it almost seven years ago to start a business himself, but never did. I tested the machine with quarters to make sure it worked, and loaded that baby into my car. Now I just need to buy candy at BJs and place it at a location. I made a post on Facebook asking my friends if they or anyone they knew wanted a machine at their place of business, and one of my real estate clients responded that her dad needs one in his detail shop. So I’ll call her today to make the arrangements. I want to have it placed by this weekend. Here’s the pic of the candy machine taken with my Blackberry:

I have two other shortsale deals that are progressing. The big one looks like it may close in the next month or so. The other one (a duplex), is just starting, and I hope to close on that by August.

I’m also going to change real estate brokerages again. This will (hopefully) be my last switch before I finally get my broker’s license. I’m taking one of my broker licensing courses online right now, with about seven classes to go. I’m sooo ready to be a broker already. There’s nothing like having total control over your money.

That’s all the updates I have for now.

passive income business · real estate investing · vending business