Following my interview with Shawn, I felt I was moving forward! I was also going t o attend an event with Martin from meilypropertysolutions.ca on Sunday where I would finally meet with investors. Had a few phone calls for some interviews and applied for a few new jobs. Things where looking up. Well, sort of.
My first visit
I didn’t hear much from Shawn after our zoom interview. I had warned him that I would send him, text or emails if I didn’t hear form him, you know, enough to let him know I was very interested in working with him, but not enough to feel like harassments.
He replied my text 24hours later asking if I could show up at house that very moment. Happy to have heard from him, replied with a big capital YES, and I was there in 10 minutes.
I arrived before Shawn. It gave me a chance to look around the building. The roof had nothing to be done too. The siding and roof facial needed replacement. Nothing too dramatic.
On he’s arrival, we shook hands and didn’t hesitate in doing the walk-in right away.
Inside, there was absolutely nothing wrong with the structure on the main floor. I didn’t see nothing wrong with a few of the windows, I assumed he would leave them there as is. However he explained to me that he would replace them all since it would be to much of a difference between the old and new windows, it simply wouldn’t look good. He had a good point!
Everything we discuss was making sense. The only thing I didn’t agree with him was the hardwood floor. Yup real small hardwood flooring on all surface except the kitchen. He was gonna cover them up with laminated flooring.
What?! Why the heck for?
It’s all about the cost. I had to shake my head on this one. He said it would cost more to sand and refurnished the original floors than to purchase laminated flooring. Ok maybe so, but he would get much more for the house once he sold it.
According to From the forest Blog, written in 2020,
How much can hardwood flooring increase my home value
Hardwood floors are one of the best flooring options for homeowners looking to increase the resale value of their home, with hardwood typically yielding around a 75% return on investment.
As much as I disagree with Shawn, it is not my project, and I was not there to argue with him or change his mind.
We finished the tour by visiting the basement.
The house entrance was perfectly placed next to the basement stairs that allows building an in-law-suit and ad even more value to the house.
The basement was in pretty bad shape. The main water valve was leaking, he needed to bust the foundation floor reroute the plumbing. The house had been broken into where all he’s electrical wires had been cut and needed to be redone. The basement windows where not to code and needs to be bigger. All the walls needed to be reframed. The only good thing about the basement was the structure.
Overall, it was a pretty good flip for the price Shawn purchased it for. All the number I had learned from BlackCardU.com was adding up and worked very well.
I was happy to had made my first visit with him. I had finally made some personal connections.
Meeting investors – Event
Back in May, I had received an email invitation to an event that Martin was organizing. It was a for three day event full of visitation with a tour bus for out-of-towner investors. Being a local, I was not interested in the tour bus. I had only purchased for the diner and afternoon event, and that was exactly what I was waiting for to be able to meet investors face to face.
Most of these event happens in Ontario. Ontario’s too far and expensive for me to go to these kind of events. Once in a while they would happen in Halifax, but I would need to sleep over night, and still couldn’t’ afford them.
This one was here in MY home town. Yeaaaah!
The event was around the corner. I had once again pulled my best suit and brushed on some make-up. I was pumped and ready for a long awaited evening of socialization.
We arrived at the hotel to were the event was schedule to happen. On our arrival, I asked for the meeting room in question. The hostess looked at me confused, stating there were no reservation on that evening.
I then double check the event and my ticket. I was at the proper location and on time. Where were they?
I had Martin’s phone number and decided to give him a call, only to get he’s answering machine. I left a message stating I was at the location but I couldn’t find the group.
15 min later, I receive a text from him asking if I had not receive the cancellation email, to which, I had not. And had not been reimbursed my tickets either.
Upset and disappointed, I returned home.
I was so close to growing my network. I was so close to get that last piece of the puzzle.
There will be other events, eventually.
Moving forward
All these may seem like I’m not going forward, I am trying my best and I do feel like I am moving forward at some level.
I still can’t sit here and wait for things to happen. I still did some job searching. I got a phone call from Pepsico!
The job description online didn’t say much about the task or shift hours.
During my phone call, the lady at the end quickly explained the task and shift. The task wasn’t the issue, the shift was. Friday, Saturday and Sunday. 6am to 7pm. Eeww.
I would not be able to have a full day with my daughter unless I get her out of school or take time off. I didn’t proceed with interview and had decided to keep looking for another job.
Back to my 6 steps of looking for a job online, from my previous blog. ugh.
Sitting in my living room, I open my laptop and search the usual website for my next job application. Scrolling down the list I see the perfect job. Building Inspector with the city. My 20 years engineering skills was once again needed! I wouldn’t be stuck in the office all day!
I WANT THIS JOB!
As much as flipping house is what I want to do, I feel Shawn may not be 100% ready to hire me full time yet.
Being Building inspector, I would learn a lot about restrictions, and it would be a nice review to the National Building Code.
The ad application said to apply by sending a resume and a cover page by email, but there was no emails to be posted, only a full address and a phone number. There was also a closing deadline for applications.
I picked up the phone and dialed the number.
A lady by the name of Carole picked up. I’ve explained to her there was no email address on their ad. She was surprised to hear the email address did not appear on her ad. I figure not many have send their resume since no one seemed to had called her to inform her about the no email issue. She happily gave it to me by phone and I immediately send my work to her.
About a week after, I receive a phone call from her saying they had not forgotten me. In fact, they really really want to meet me, but there was only one problem. The chief inspector is out on vacation, is only back in another week.
She would call me when he gets back to set an in person interview.
Now I wait. Again.