Wife’s Life of a Real Estate Investor
By Rachell Reed
So, your husband wants to be a real estate investor?…. well, I understand.
True Story…
My husband Jimmy Reed decided he needed a change. We were not yet married but had been together a long time…a long time! I knew him well enough that when he needed a change, he would get one. If one didn’t come his way He would make his own way. He’s a go-getter and he does not settle. Low and behold an infomercial… a Real estate infomercial… “Looks easy enough”. The most famous words ever spoken by anyone whoever thought about real estate investing.
It did look easy I thought “sure why not” we can do this! Well, I soon learned that I didn’t have the temperament to talk to people. Sometimes they can be quite nasty. If they yelled at me over an offer I would yell back. That’s just not good business no matter how ya look at it…
Jimmy jumped all in. Right up his alley so to speak. So his new part time career began. He went to a seminar. He was hooked!
It took a year for him to do his first deal. A whole year. Lesser men would’ve quit but not him. It took off from there. He started “buying” properties and flipping them. Back in the day flipping had nothing to do with rehabbing. It was contracting a property and selling it before you had to go to closing (buying it). So where does my life come into play in all of this??…
The busier he got the busier I got. He couldn’t do all of it on his own. I was working in retail clothing. Remember, those days shopping actually meant going out and trying clothes on not just ordering online and having your clothes delivered by FedEx…
I needed a change too at this time. I was tired of working that hard and seeing others benefit from all my hard work. So, Him needing help came at a good time for me.
So where did he need my help? Organization! I’m a bit obsessive about being organized. It makes life so much easier. It definitely makes business a lot easier, especially if you are self-employed. I didn’t like the interaction with the sellers but I am very good with paperwork and getting organized. Seeing what needs to be done and doing it.
These days I handle all of the paperwork. The computer work. The accounting. Dealing with all the monies. From rent to invoices to mortgages… and everything in between. What I do not handle are tenants because quite frankly tenants can be big babies and I gave up my babysitting job when I was a teenager!
Our business relationship works very well. We try not to step on each other toes but sometimes that does happen. We are very clear on whom does what and we try not to cross each other boundaries but it does happen ever so often. We gently remind the other that’s a no-no. Ok that’s not always true…sometimes there’s a lot of very loud talking and then we calm down and act like adults and work it out. Things are much easier that way. It’s been a lot of fun these 30 plus years. It’s a lot of hard work. It can be a lot of fun too. Real estate enabled us to do things we never would’ve been able to do. We’ve traveled and traveled and traveled some more… we’ve been able to help others and give back which is a whole lotta fun.
Real estate has been good to us. It will be good to you too as long as you understand it’s a part time job or even a full time career. It is not a get rich quick program but a real life hard working job that you need to work at to be successful. If you get to work with someone you love…even better.
Rachell Reed
Rachell Reed has been involved in many aspects of business, church ministry, design and motherhood.
She is a wife, mother of two, and is Self-employed with her husband Jimmy in their Real Estate companies which cover areas such as a Rental business, a Buy & Sell company, Real Estate Club, Real Estate Training Company, International real estate projects, and much more.
After 30 years of rehabbing Flips & Rentals, a lot of her creativity became more about taking old things and giving them new life, which birthed her refurbish & design company.
She has a love of all things outdoors… from hiking to scuba diving.
In her down time she likes to read and write. She also has a blog. Rachell has been involved in ministry for 20+ years, as a Speaker/Teacher and Leader of women’s ministries. She has written bible studies and encouragements.
Today you will find her working on her latest project, a book of daily devotionals. Her absolute passion is creating something beautiful from something ugly and that is why she loves sharing… “My Beautifully Messy Life”.
