Fun Entrepreneur Question

VortecJeep said:
Buy land, build trails and camping area, charge a reasonable fee, become the hero of NC4x4.
Probably won't get rich, but think of all the smiles you will put on people's faces. :D
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I know this pops up every so often...but coincidentally I was thinking about it today. I have 100 acres that's just sitting that I haven't even hunted on in two years. 30% is wooded but could be cut for trails. 70% of it is flood plane anyway...perfect self mudding. Add a rock garden, maybe add some grandstands for some racing (have a tractor to dig the pits). Surrounds land owners have already said their land is up for grabs if I wanted. Im sure liability would be a bitch, but i wonder what profits (if even possible) would look like for a private off-road park.
 
Start a homewatch/keyholder service. I've thought thru this before...but didn't go far.

Lots of people commute into Raleigh from surrounding bedroom communities. Many -- as in around here -- have not been residents of the area for very long, and have few contacts (and many of their friends/neighbors work out of town). Home alarm goes off, they got nobody, and have to leave work and drive 30-60 minutes to check on things -- usually for a false alarm.

Be very careful and clear to call it a keyholder service, not an alarm response service. Cops get called by alarm company before you do, and you wait until they have arrived and checked the premises. You get in to re-arm/clear the alarm, temp repair any damages if actual break-in, etc.

Friend does this as a supplementary income. He is a repair/remodel/oddjob contractor, I think he has about 20 folks paying 25-30 a month. Nothing real official or advertised, just does for some of his clients and church folks, etc. Nice side income. I am on call list for 5 friends (no charge)....only every once in a long while have anything happen.

Money goes into advertising (say an ad on WRAL TV would cover 99% of the bedroom communities to Raleigh -- this after you establish franchises in surrounding towns). Insurance and bonding as needed. Some $ to set up franchise legalities...start off in one city/bedroom community, franchise to other towns/bedroom communities in the same market. Then set up in Charlotte...Wilmington...etc.

Say you got 200 clients in one area, paying 25 per month. Shouldn't be too hard to reach that number. That's 60k per year...grow from there. You will have to have a backup/fill-in so you get down-time and vacation. 90% of those clients would be 100% income -- no services/time provided during a year, other than a setup/review visit. Charge hourly if any temp repair, securing, etc is required, anything over an hour. Charge extra for over x number of false alarms a year.

Add in vacation services (like going to fetch in garbage cans, newspapers, house walk-arounds, etc). Here's a guy in Southern Pines (but, he seems to be geared more towards snowbirders/vacation homes)... Sandhills Home Watch Fees and Services | Sandhills Home Watch Pinehurst NC House Sitting

I'll PM you the address to send my commission check to...
 
^^^I would have gladly paid that for a service that had someone at your new dwelling for the TV guy or repairman. Always felt kinda awkward asking your new employer for a day off so you could get your tv hooked up or A/C fixed since nowhere will fix it if someone isn't there.
 
UTfball68 said:
I know this pops up every so often...but coincidentally I was thinking about it today. I have 100 acres that's just sitting that I haven't even hunted on in two years. 30% is wooded but could be cut for trails. 70% of it is flood plane anyway...perfect self mudding. Add a rock garden, maybe add some grandstands for some racing (have a tractor to dig the pits). Surrounds land owners have already said their land is up for grabs if I wanted. Im sure liability would be a bitch, but i wonder what profits (if even possible) would look like for a private off-road park.
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You will need every bit of the $100k for environmental permits and compliance.
 
I don't have any great back up skills or knowledge that I could immediately jump in with and start making money like running a grading service or something. I've never driven heavy equipment. I'm probably average at home maintenance stuff though, and think I could learn quickly what I don't know, and hire out the jobs that are beyond my capability. I think I would buy homes that need repair, fix them up, and resell them. 20% down on a $80k-$150k house. So $16-$30k out of the $100k for down payment, then depending on the house, $10-$30k for repairs and sell. Could maybe buy and fix up two houses at the same time with the $100k, but are also going to need money to live on once quiting the job after three months. Maybe turn the $100k into $120-$140k after doing the first two houses ($10k-$20k profit per house?). Repeat again, and start doing three houses, then four houses, etc at the same time as the money builds up and you can afford it. I'm guessing 1-4 months for repairs depending on condition of course, and then probably 2-3 months on the market before selling assuming it is priced correctly. One would have to put back some for taxes on the profit though since it would not be a residence for 2 yrs. I think that falls into short term capital gains like stocks, but not sure. Maybe try selling them FSBO with an MLS number or talk to a realtor and see if they will give you a lower rate if you use them for all of your houses. I've never done anything like that before, but I think it would be my best chance of survival in Ron's theoretical game.
 
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obullfish said:
Terrible idea! That means you would have to be in Florida. On the other hand move to the mountains and take care of their summer homes in the winter.
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RobMcBee said:
Or do the exact opposite, move to the mountains and watch over their summer homes during the winter. Maintain mow and make a presence known to keep all the meth heads out.... I had actually thought about doing this before we moved back to the flat lands.....
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Totally missed this before..... lol
 
drkelly said:
One would have to put back some for taxes on the profit though since it would not be a residence for 2 yrs. I think that falls into short term capital gains like stocks, but not sure. Maybe try selling them FSBO with an MLS number or talk to a realtor and see if they will give you a lower rate if you use them for all of your houses. I've never done anything like that before, but I think it would be my best chance of survival in Ron's theoretical game.
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If you roll over the $ to a new property, there are no capital gains taxes. It's called Like-Kind Exchange and is typically exempt from capital gains.
You have 180 days to buy another property with the profits from the sale of the first property. If you don't, then you will have to pay capital gains tax, generally. It really depends on how you set up the company and how you operate.
 
Loganwayne said:
My mom did this for some friends that have houses.... She quite doing it when she went in a house that was being robbed at the time

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Yeah not for the faint of heart for sure, but I'm sure the homeowner was grateful that they knew about it before they just showed up for a nice quiet weekend.....
 
RobMcBee said:
Yeah not for the faint of heart for sure, but I'm sure the homeowner was grateful that they knew about it before they just showed up for a nice quiet weekend.....
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Yeah it was a local kid he had broke into 5-6 houses stealing the liquor and anything else he could carry. If my mom wouldn't have spooked him the next house was lived in and he would have been shot most likely

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Loganwayne said:
Yeah it was a local kid he had broke into 5-6 houses stealing the liquor and anything else he could carry. If my mom wouldn't have spooked him the next house was lived in and he would have been shot most likely

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Too bad your mom spooked him. Fuck a thief. Let them all be killed.
 
VortecJeep said:
Buy land, build trails and camping area, charge a reasonable fee, become the hero of NC4x4.
Probably won't get rich, but think of all the smiles you will put on people's faces. :D
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@Tacoma747 :lol:
 
rockcity said:
You will need every bit of the $100k for environmental permits and compliance.
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Not true. You dont need any permits or have to comply with any governmental regulations if you spend about $20k on a competent attorney.
 
rockcity said:
If you roll over the $ to a new property, there are no capital gains taxes. It's called Like-Kind Exchange and is typically exempt from capital gains.
You have 180 days to buy another property with the profits from the sale of the first property. If you don't, then you will have to pay capital gains tax, generally. It really depends on how you set up the company and how you operate.
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1031 exchange.
Deferred basis.
 
Logical: Self Storage/Vehicle Storage with basic utilities (wash sink, electric) in select larger bays. Like was mentioned earlier, I have never seen a Garage+ or shop sized bay available at any time, especially in the greater Charlotte area. Waiting lists on all of them.

Fun: Invest in some of the property surrounding ClubMX in Chesterfield and partner with them to open a GNCC/HareScramble/EnduroX element to the training center.
 
Get hvac,plumbing or electrical license or hire someone with the license. get a 10k work van and put a tech. get $90 per hour and pay tech 20% per billable hour. let tech #1 buy van for tech #2. take care of your customers and make money.
 
CasterTroy said:
@Tacoma747 :lol:
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Sounds great except when someone tries to sue me because they flip their jeep over and get hurt! I have plenty of places that would be probably impossible hill-killer climbs.

Don't get me wrong, I'd love to charge a small fee on a once per month (or every other) basis but the risk is not worth the chance. I don't know how the Trevor that owns the devil's playground doesn't worry about someone getting hurt and suing him on one of the open rides. I also would not want people just showing up whenever they like or having uninvited guests.
 
Tacoma747 said:
Sounds great except when someone tries to sue me because they flip their jeep over and get hurt! I have plenty of places that would be probably impossible hill-killer climbs. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to charge a small fee on a once per month (or every other) basis but the risk is not worth the chance. I don't know how the Trevor that owns the devil's playground doesn't worry about someone getting hurt and suing him on one of the open rides. I also would not want people just showing up whenever they like or having uninvited guests.
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There are ways to be protected (waivers dont work). Gates really help with uninvited guests.
 
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