Adventures in Real Estate

I haven't posted much about my real estate adventures because Property One has not been the most profitable. I've made mistakes.

• Buying in a so-so neighborhood. Although it's nearly the best house on the block, though on the small side.
  
• Buying at the height of the market. Although I did end up negotiating, despite my agent, a 10% reduction from the list price.
  
• Mistakenly paying for new A/C, when it was covered in the Home Warranty.
  
• Setting rent a little two low.
  
• The cash flow is more negative than I anticipated.
  

But hey, here I am about to close on Property Two -- a duplex, no less. And I've partnered up with Fox.

It's no where near Property One. This is in Los Angeles proper. It's a fixer upper that the rehabber got halfway through and ran out of money. The bank took it back and has had quite a time unloading it. Because it is uninhabitable, there is quite a lot of red tape involved.

More details to follow after we close.

New Body for 2008

Here we go. I'm gonna get ripped in ... well ... first things first. I wanted to start out on the P90X. But I got some sensible advice that said I should work up to it. So .. I'm reading the Core Performance Essentials book.

Basically, it's:

1. Eat right.
2. Exercise intensely.
   

With that in mind...

• I'm eating six times a day, every three hours.
• I've taken my Before photo.
• I'm doing the exercises from the book, three times a week.
  

But I think I'm going to switch to the Body for Life program.

I Like the Parents, but Hate the Kid

Does the apple fall not far from the tree, or does it not? More tales from child care. There are several kids that I really do not like. They are mean-spirited, selfish and clique-ish. How does a four-year old get like that?

Some parents, I see, are like that, so I can understand, but these parents are really cool and I like them. So what happened to the kids? Where are they learning such behavior?

Are the parents really not that cool? But they are better at masking their dark sides?

Path to Kindergarten

Little E. will enter kindergarten in 2009, but we started to explore our options. We think she's gifted but will have to get her tested to be sure.

Private Catholic School
We had a tour and got application.
Pros

• Half the price has E's current pre-school.
• Nearby.
  

Cons

• Wife hated it. Too religious.
• Artwork displayed all looked the same.
• Principal not that welcoming.
• We have to "volunteer" our time.
• Classes that not small, for a private school.

Open Houses
We went to two public school open houses, and to the Kindergarten orientation to one.

After school care
Since kindergarten is only half day, we have to find after school care. The public school has one on campus, and we are waiting to put on names on the waiting list.

Our next step
We need to check out a couple more parochial schools and the gifted school.

More Late Night TV Viewing

More late night TV gems, as I sit up with little G. 11pm, 12am? I don't know.

But along with infomericials and Sports Center, I have to add ... Best Damn Hooters International Pageant. I couldn't tell if they were all Hooters employees or not, because, as usual I had the sound off.

Alas, I had to go just before the swimsuit competition.