The house is ours!

There is nothing short about short sales! We made an offer back in April/May and we closed mid-October. What a process!

My husband and I are now busy working on the house. The yard is huge and has a lot of bushes and trees that need trimming. It also needs new paint both inside and outside. We also want to rip off the carpet and replace it with laminate floors, and maybe do something about the popcorn ceiling. We will need to put insulation, sheet rock, and shelves in the garage.

We got the house for a good price, about $30k less than comparable houses in the area. We'll probably put in 15k more in repairs/paint/etc.

The plan is to move my business here and hold on to it until we can sell it and make a net profit of 100k. That's the plan anyway. I'm hoping it would only take 2-3 years.

You might think I'm overly optimistic given the current state of the economy but I really think it will happen. We live in a nice, quiet town and everybody seem to want to live here. There is very little inventory of houses for sale in our area. When a house goes up for sale, it generates multiple offers very quickly.

In my head, it's the classic supply-and-demand relationship. The demand for houses in our area is greater than the available houses for sale (supply). Therefore, the price of houses will only go up.  

I'm hoping our investment will pay off sooner than later. But, if not, I don't mind keeping the house at all. The mortgage on  this house is the same as our lease at the warehouse.

Buying a Short Sale Home

So, we are buying a short sale home. What is a short sale, you asked? Short sale means the owners owe more than the house is currently worth. The house we're buying sold for $350+ K back in 2005, now it's worth less than $200 K.

We are trying to buy this house to move my business here. My business started out in our dining room, and after a couple of years, it has grown enough to the point where I needed a warehouse. We found a warehouse not far from home for a great price but in the back of my mind, I know I'm building my landlord's equity.

My husband and I figured that we should just buy another house, use that for the business, and build our own equity. We did the math and our new mortgage will be just about my rent. It's also perfect timing since interest rates are at their all time low, there are short sale homes available, and my business is pretty low key and can operate out of a home. I mainly sell online so I don't need a store front.

We made an offer back in May and we waited patiently for the bank's approval (the bank that holds the mortgage of this house has to approve the sale for the price we offered.) The bank wants more than our offer and we said fine since what they're asking is comparable to the prices of recently sold homes in the area. Now, it's another waiting game for the official short sale approval to be issued and then we can proceed to escrow. Of course, the house has to pass inspection and all that good stuff, too.

It's not a done deal yet and a lot can go wrong from now to closing but the steps we've taken in buying a short sale home are:

1. Save up for a downpayment. We saved at least 20% for down payment plus 10% more for closing costs, and a little extra to show the bank our account won't be totally depleted after the purchase.

2. Get pre-approved for a loan. No real estate agent will take you seriously if you're not pre-approved.

3. Find a reputable real estate agent. Ours is the same agent we used when we bought our home.

4. Find a home within your budget. Just because you were pre-approved for 500K doesn't mean you need to buy a 500K home. Figure out how much mortgage you'll be comfortable paying each month and go with that.

5. Be patient. After you make an offer to purchase a home, prepare for a long wait. Banks are running slow and have huge back logs and it can take months before you and the seller get a short sale approval.

6. Know your market; know when and when not to counter. Your real estate agent can help you with this but be reasonable with your offer and counter offers. Each time you counter, it can delay the process even longer which is fine if you have the time.

In our case, we don't. We want to close by September which will give us time to clear out the warehouse before our lease is up. Besides, the bank's offer is pretty reasonable so we're accepting it with no counter offer. Also, we know that there's not much inventory of short sale homes left in our area. If we back out on this, I really don't think we'll find anything better or cheaper.

7. Find a reputable home inspector with attention to detail. This is where we are right now. The house we are buying is an older home so we know it won't be perfect. But, we want to know what we're getting into before we sign the dotted lines.

I'll update more as we move along the process and wish us luck!

Selling Online Lets Me Stay Home And Still Earn a Living

When my daughter was born, I fell completely in-love with her and was so protective I couldn’t imagine leaving her to anyone; not in daycare, not with a nanny, not even with family members. But, I still want to earn money. I wanted to help out my husband a bit and start a college fund for her.

WHY SELL ONLINE?

So, I brainstormed for a few weeks and decided selling online would be my best bet. It doesn't require a big capital outright or entails going back to school to study a trade (i.e. medical transcription, billing, etc).

It will also allow me to work whenever it’s convenient. I can pack the orders at night and answer emails when my daughter is sleeping. I couldn’t do that if say, I'm a work-at-home phone rep. If the baby cried while I’m on the phone with a customer, I’ll get fired right away.

WHERE TO SELL?

I have bought and sold stuff on eBay before so I’m familiar with the process. I wasn’t ready to open my own website yet at that point. I was just testing the waters and on eBay, it doesn’t cost much to list an item. If it doesn’t work, I wouldn’t be out too much money.

I would later discover other sites like Etsy, Artfire, Zibbet, and eCrater. I just read an article about selling on Amazon and I have yet to investigate and try them out. I still sell on eBay and my website is now bringing in decent amount of traffic, too.

WHAT TO SELL?

I could have started selling brand name bags, or electronics, or my husband’s comic books collection (gasp!) but I don’t know anything about them.  I felt I should stick to something I know already to up my chances of success. 

I’m a crafter. I have made my daughter’s hair accessories and bought most of my supplies to make them online. I have a fairly good knowledge of what clips, ribbons, appliqués, etc. go for on eBay. So, that's what I decided to sell online.

WHERE TO SOURCE YOUR PRODUCTS?

I started researching manufacturers. I figured, if I can get the product in bulk straight from the manufacturer then I can turn around and sell them in retail quantities for a profit. Alas, there’s not very many manufacturer’s left in the States. It seems like everything is made in China.

I had to order from importers as I wasn’t comfortable ordering from overseas just yet. Fortunately, these importers require very low minimum order amounts, usually $50-$100. So, again, very little investment is needed.

I have since outgrown my suppliers and I now import directly from China. A great resource when you’re ready for this is Alibaba.com.

When my first order came in from the importer, I listed them on eBay and just like that, I was in business for myself. Because I started with very little capital, my gross sales weren’t much in the beginning. I remember having a sales goal of $50 each day. Sometimes I hit the goal, sometimes I didn’t.

I would handwrite each and every customer’s name on the envelope, stick my packages in a plastic bag, and I take the baby with me to the post office to mail the orders out.

The baby is now 3 years old with a 1 year old sibling. My sales goal has increased to $1,000 each day. Some days I do really well, other days I don’t even get close. I now have two fancy printers for postages. The mail carrier picks up our packages. My business has even outgrown my house; I’m now renting a warehouse and hired a part-time help.

I still work from home when the kids are asleep or napping. I run around with them in the morning and after lunch, when they’re dog-tired from playing and ready for a nap, I drive to the warehouse. The kids have a playroom there and that’s where they nap.

Sometimes, we don’t even make it to the warehouse. I just give my helper the postages and packing slips and she does the rest. She’s really good and it also helps that we have security cameras I can watch from home :P 

  

Recycling a Pillowcase as a Nightgown

Reuse, Recycle, Repurpose. That seems to be the mantra of frugal people and I’m no different.  Combine that with a little bit of creativity and a dash of skill (sewing, painting, carpentry, etc) and you can really save some cash.  

After I gave my daughter a bath last night, I noticed the night gown I put on her didn’t look good anymore. It looked old and well, ratty. It’s not old, we got it as a gift last December and it’s made by Disney. But the material is cheap, it’s rough to the touch, and it’s piling real bad. Even the princesses on the front looked sad.

I made a mental note to get her new night gowns. I also wanted something that is lightweight and cotton so she can use it through the summer. Then I remember I have an old pillowcase in our “donate” pile. It’s pink and flowery; part of my bed linens back when I was still single. It’s old but the fabric is really nice and soft and probably the reason I held on to it for so long.  

So, I got busy and made my daughter a night gown. This is not a craft blog so I won’t bore you with the step by step. But it’s sooo easy. Jut cut, hem, insert ribbons as straps, and wear! The ribbon was in my craft box already but I could have used the fabric scraps, too. It took me less than less than an hour to make it. The kicker is I hand sew the entire thing. It was such a small job I figured it wasn’t worth taking my sewing machine out.  

Total cost of a new nightgown: $0.  

Now I see our “donate” pile in an entirely new light. It’s mostly my husband’s old knit t-shirts so they would be even better! Less sewing for me, I can just leave the edges raw as it will just roll up, and I could imagine they’ll be super comfy to sleep in.  

I supposed you could go the thrift stores for pillowcases but throw it in the wash first and use hot water just in case of lice and all that icky stuff.  Pillowcases are super cheap if you get them on clearance and they come in a variety of patterns and colors. Another good source would be those White Sales where all linens go on sale.   

Pillowcase dresses are very easy and quick to sew. The measurements are generous. I just eyeballed the length and the arm holes on mine. Also, they can be used for several years. They can be a dress and as the child gets older, it would look cute as a top.  

There’s a variety of patterns available online if you you’re feeling finicky and because I’m always entrepreneurial, just check out these ladies selling pillowcase dresses on  Etsy. Here’s a good work-at-home mom opportunity right here! J Make some that is the size of your daughter or niece and list it on Etsy. If it sells, that’s great! If not, well, your daughter just got a new dress or you have a frugal gift for your niece. Win-win! 

Anyway, I leave you with pictures of my daughter in her new nightgown. I used my cell phone so I apologize for the poor quality.  

Cutting Down Our Expenses Allowed Me To Stay Home

Before I became a work-at-home mom (WAHM), I was a stay-at-home mom (SAHM). Before that, I was a working girl. My husband and I had a dual income, no kids’ household. We travelled, ate out almost every night, and bought lots of toys. All that changed when we decided to have kids. I told my husband I want to stay home when we have a baby.  He agreed as long as we eliminate our credit card debts, pay off the auto loan, and have an emergency fund saved up.

 We managed to do all this in less than a year by carefully watching every penny that went out the door. And I mean really examine each.  and. every. purchase.  Before we paid for something, we asked ourselves, do we really need this? Can we use something else? Can we borrow or rent it? Can we make it? Can we make do without it?

 Here are some of the things I remember we did that helped us saved money:  

·         We looked at our insurance policies and found better rates for the same coverage.

·         We cooked instead of eating out. It’s easier to do if you create a weekly menu plan.

·         We homemade a lot of things: from bread to yogurt to laundry soap.

·         We built a garden and grew our own produce.

·         We became mindful of our energy use; I line dried our clothes, set the dishwasher on air dry, replaced bulbs with CFL as needed, and made sure all the doors and windows are not drafty.

·         We “staycationed” instead of going on cruises or travelling to far flung places.  

·         We stopped drinking Starbucks coffee and brewed coffee at home instead. French Vanilla coffee creamer is the bomb.

·         We downgraded our cable TV keeping only the channels we watch.

·         Movies? Nah. The popcorn and drinks alone will kill our budget. Besides, there are plenty of free codes online for Redbox. Plus, you can put your feet up at home not like in the movie theater.  

·         We cancelled our gym membership. It’s free to run on the street.

·         Cut off our landline. We use cell phones and we signed up for the most economical plan available. 

·         We borrowed books from the library instead of buying new ones.

·         We let go of the landscaper. My husband is able bodied and can definitely mow the lawn.

·         We cut coupons. I followed blogs like Money Saving Mom, joined forums such as A Full Cup, and Hot Coupon World. It’s awesome not to pay for shampoo, deodorants, and other toiletries.

I quit my job when I was 3 months pregnant. I couldn’t wait to clear my desk and drive off on my last day. Sure, I will miss all my work friends but I have a new job waiting for me. It will be both challenging and rewarding, and probably the most important job I will ever have. A job in which I will dedicate my entire life. I’m coming home to be a MOM.

My next post will be about being a SAHM and stumbling into a business that will eventually lead me to become a WAHM.

Have your cake and eat it too

I'm a work-at-home mom; I sell stuff online. It allows me to contribute to the family coffers while taking care of my children. Yes, I do run around with the kids in the morning. I take them to the parks, the bounce house, the library for story times, the play area at the mall, etc. After lunch, I put them down for a nap and that's my time to work. I work fast and furious because the moment one of them wakes up, that's the end of my work hour. On busy days, I wake up an hour or two earlier or stay up later after I put the kids in bed to catch up on work.

I love my life; I sometimes have to pinch myself to make sure I'm not just dreaming. I love taking care of my children. At any given time  (except when my oldest goes to a 2.5 hour preschool twice a week), my kids are always within hearing distance from me. I prepare all their meals, give them baths, change every diaper, kiss boo boos, play, read, and snuggle with them. They are my world.

I live a wonderful life. Well, that's how I feel most days anyway. Very rarely, I feel like there's not enough hours in a day, the post office is stupid for losing yet another package, I have bajillion emails from customers asking inane questions, and I'm in danger of getting lost in an avalanche of dirty laundry pile (I sooo need a housekeeper.)

I hope you join me in this blog as I attempt to document my life as a work-at-home mom. I'm not an expert by any means, just an ordinary mom making a living at home while taking care of my children.

If you're a WAHM wannabe and wondering if it's really possible to have your cake and eat it too, my answer is a resounding YES! It can be done. I'm doing it (mind you, I'm not special by any means) and if you want it bad enough, I bet you can do it too.