OT - Closer To Selling Business

There are a lot of nerves showing themselves lately, though I'm able to laugh about it all. I can't predict how the future will go, and it is incredibly hard to be selling a business my dad and I have built. But... I have to hope that I'm making the responsible choice...

I hope it's wise to sell since we'd want to sell in the next five years anyways, and we have a good buyer now. I hope it's wise to sell while my dad is 60 years old, and let him slow down and take better care of himself now. I hope dad can live more, have more happy moments... even if money is much tighter.

I'm going to make it, it looks like. I'm finding myself psyched to study business at school, understand so much more, and hopefully in 3-4 years I am going to buy another business... one that is a bit more stable and easier on my health.

Best wishes for a smooth sale that causes you little stress. Will this allow your dad to retire or will he do something else for work?

Hey you guys, I'm sorry this post got lost in the forum to me for a week or so. Life's been busy!

Q: Thank you. You're right that money has it limits of value, in terms of what it takes to get it. I don't think it's been worth it to see my dad wear down so far, and have such arguments with him since he hasn't been able to manage working as much as we do and taking care of himself. I certainly think what we're trying to do has a chance of making us both healthier and happier.

Indycat: Thank you. My dad is hoping to work for the new buyer, but at a less involved pace for the next few years or so. Dad can choose to not work if he wants... but could really benefit from an at least part-time salary. My mom and him aren't wealthy, he'll just have some savings and I'm going to invest some of his money in rental properties that I'll manage for him.

TMP: Thanks! I'm doing all I can to make positive changes, and am hoping for the best. :)

We're inching closer to the possible close date of the sale. Everything is getting lined up, but the buyer has more things to set up than I think he anticipated given our industry, so there will still be some time to see how things go over the next 3-5 weeks or so.

I'm finding myself wanting another business already, but at the same time I am sensing a relief that I can now choose a less stressful life for my wife and I. Her and I should be able to live the life of our dreams (we're simple people), she can cut back to 4 day work weeks, I can choose something less taxing to do regularly after I'm done at school, and we'll be able to save money still beyond all of that. After eleven years of intense effort to build a business and life for myself I am seeing a possibility of being able to cut back and take more life in, and better care of myself. This looks appealing on many levels.

Hey Indy-

I have been too busy to manage the properties myself, so I have managers in place. My properties are in two different areas so I have a manager in each area that live nearby and have other properties they manage in a close range to it. They handle the accounts receivable, and deal with the tenants. When a repair is needed they call me and ask if I'd like to do it or if they should call someone to do it.

I mow one of the properties because it is nearby. A tenant mows the other since it's further away from me.

One of my managers is much better than the other in terms of saving me money on repairs. He's gone to trade school some, and has a lot of connections to affordable trades people as well. He has a HVAC guy that comes in and works at about 60% of a regular rate for any service calls after hours... that sort of thing.

If you have time I think managing themselves isn't a bad thing. One book I have "Landlording: A Handymanual for Scrupulous Landlords and Landladies Who Do It Themselves" by Leigh Robinson tells that the best way to do it is manage the property yourself so that you really take the best care of things. That book is gold as far as learning about things. But, I personally like having managers so that I can pursue other business activities and have a very passive income source.

I do handle the bookwork side of things for tax purposes. I enter everything into quickbooks (not a lot of work) so that I have my numbers up to date. The manager could probably do this too. One manager sends me a check for whatever is due to me after any expenses, so then I have a lot less to do bookwork wise. The other I have on a checking account with me and I just go online and see everything that was spent and enter it, and then take a bit of money every month from it after deposits come in.

Any other questions just ask.

Indy... I outsourced the management because: 1) I'd never done it before and didn't have time to learn it, 2) The tenants in the properties I bought were very happy with the managers I either kept or got, so it helped smooth things over when I was too busy to handle everything.

It's all doable, the main thing you need to do is to avoid bad tenants... and there are ways to do that. I had people tell me how bad it would be to rent to people, but honestly they really appreciate a good landlord and it seems to be win/win. I expect hassles from time to time, but it's worth it.

Management is roughly 10% of gross rents, btw... at least for around here.

Congrats, Thoreau on moving forward!

I think you should take some time off.

Right now Im on a train enjoying the scenery. Ive never taken a long ride on a train, but it is so fun. I was always too busy, wanting to get from one place to the other.

I will say it's obviously hard to resist the draw to busy yourself, as Im on here checking in :)

I hope you and your wife really enjoy this extended honeymoon period and all the new possibilities!