Wel lets counter balance our cynicism with some positives:
I GOT IT!
Payments are 391/mo for 10 years with $4100 down. 5% interest rate (roughly 6k over ten years for interest) ... which is still better than my house mortgage. The beauty of doing it this way is I believe there will be no closing costs or required appraisals that cost several thousand dollars that banks want. Anyhow, the die is cast... coming soon: Remodeling, decorating, grand opening. I do paperwork on Wednesday.
Stay tuned!!!!!
(Insert dancing banana smiley here.. !) I would if I knew how..
[This message has been edited by tbone42 (edited 06-16-2012).]
Go for it! The deal you negotiated with the building owner is probably better for you than bank financing anyway. Do keep a sharp eye on cash flow, though.
Suddenly working at the restaurant at 230 seems effortless. Gotta go to work usually means a lot of grumbling.. these must be those highs they talk about Manic Depressives getting. I am.. really.. really.. happy right now. This is the best news I have had since my wife said she would marry me.. and that was 8 years ago, so quite a dry spell.
Well, off to work, but I hope all of you have a fine evening.
[This message has been edited by tbone42 (edited 06-15-2012).]
I do hope you have had your attorney review the conditional purchase agreement. A lot can go wrong, and I never want to hear about you having the rug jerked out from under you.
Wel lets counter balance our cynicism with some positives:
I GOT IT!
Payments are 391/mo for 10 years with $4100 down. 5% interest rate (roughly 6k over ten years for interest) ... which is still better than my house mortgage. The beauty of doing it this way is I believe there will be no closing costs or required appraisals that cost several thousand dollars that banks want. Anyhow, the die is cast... coming soon: Remodeling, decorating, grand opening. I do paperwork on Wednesday.
Stay tuned!!!!!
(Insert dancing banana smiley here.. !) I would if I knew how..
Glad to hear things are going back in your direction!
Congrats, looks like you got in under the wire. Obamas wanting to make some drastic changes regarding small businesses. Apparently his policies havent killed enough off already.
fantastic news Ted!! Ummm No more time to play guitar now, I guess?
We are putting a music/cartooning lessons upstairs from the guy I play open mic with. We will be fairly steeped in music at any free moment.. and I plan on shortening my Wednesday hours to close half hour early so I can still go to open mic on Wednesdays. Yeah, I just got done playing a scant 5 minutes ago.. did about 20 songs. I just love to play, nothing will change.
Got the mortgage and deed paperwork copies today. They butchered my wife's first name so that will have to be changed. My attorneys are looking over the whole deal at the moment and also doing the title check. If it passes their sniffers, I sign on the dotted line. We are all hoping to have this done during the next week so I can get in there at the very beginning of July at the latest.
By my estimates, of my abilities and time involved.. it will take 3 weeks of busting my hump to remodel to suit my (and the health department's) needs. I have 2 divider walls to tear down, I have to tear up some of the carpet and put down commercial tile in 2 procedure rooms and bathroom, checkerboard pattern, of course.. Can't believe there is carpet in the restroom. WTF.
Anyhow, my next update should find me with my key in hand barring anything strange or catastrophic. Then this turns into a "Shop build Thread" to document the changes I make, horrible things I discover inevitably, and hopefully make it look like it does in my head. (Minus the naked women and kegs of beer.. that's just gonna be on Thursdays..)
Took my paperwork, offer, mortgage and deed agreements to my attorney and had her look them over and do the title search. The mortgage and deed appear to be normal and non controversial, but the title search did turn up a problem. The property had a mortgage taken out against it in the '80s and although it was paid off, the mortgage paperwork never cleared. (Or something to that effect, I am by no means an expert.) Anyhow, title search = GOOD IDEA.
So now I wait while their family and attorney go through the process of taking care of that before I can move on. So we are in a holding pattern, again.
Off to work now, may have some more on this later tonight.
Still waiting... man... I have a thousand ships ready to sail, so to speak, I am just waiting for the "ok" to do so. Tom Petty was right, the waiting IS the hardest part.
EDIT: I think I am starting to bug the snot out of the realty guy asking him "do we know anything yet?" all the time. I am just chomping at the bit to get in there and get going.
[This message has been edited by tbone42 (edited 06-28-2012).]
So, the day before Independence Day, you will begin the American dream.
Hmm.. yes in EARNEST I suppose you are right. More than a dream, I am trying to give back. I met with a man who owns the gallery across the street (he is a stained glass artist) and he is tickled pink that another art studio of ANY kind is opening in the historic district.
I told him all the different aspects of the business and he loved it. I like hearing from another local business owner (in this case, right across the street..) who is happy to see me setting up shop. We will be offering: Tattoos, Temporary Tattoos, Piercing, Fine Art Gallery and Artist Consignment sales, Music Lessons and Recording Studio. I want to set this up as a diverse conglomorate of artists in studio space available for rent (I know, the consummate businessman....)
I want to make this stretch of the historic district a sort of art/music central in town.
quote
Originally posted by Raydar:
[This message has been edited by tbone42 (edited 06-30-2012).]
We will be offering: Tattoos, Temporary Tattoos, Piercing, Fine Art Gallery and Artist Consignment sales, Music Lessons and Recording Studio. I want to set this up as a diverse conglomorate of artists in studio space available for rent (I know, the consummate businessman....)
I want to make this stretch of the historic district a sort of art/music central in town.
I share your entrepreneurial enthusiasm, but be cautious. Over 40 years as a business owner, the most difficult choices haven't been deciding what we're going to do, but rather deciding what we're not going to do. It's generally a good idea to remain narrowly focused until your core business is firmly established and on sound financial footing. Expanding the scope of your business can always come later.
I share your entrepreneurial enthusiasm, but be cautious. Over 40 years as a business owner, the most difficult choices haven't been deciding what we're going to do, but rather deciding what we're not going to do. It's generally a good idea to remain narrowly focused until your core business is firmly established and on sound financial footing. Expanding the scope of your business can always come later.
Well, the music lessons will start right away at no real cost or risk to myself or business. The art consignment will begin with my stuff and grow to include the art of others. I feel at least those 2 peripheral aspects of the business are high-reward and low risk.. but your advice is sound. Focusing on the main thing (tattooing) is first and foremost in my mind.
Yet another delay. Again with the old mortgage.. it breaks down like this: It was in the name of a woman who is now dead, so it has to be settled somehow through her estate and probate court.. maybe by Friday? Anyway, I won't be getting my hopes us for Friday, as I have the many times in the past already.
Yet another delay. Again with the old mortgage.. it breaks down like this: It was in the name of a woman who is now dead, so it has to be settled somehow through her estate and probate court.. maybe by Friday? Anyway, I won't be getting my hopes us for Friday, as I have the many times in the past already.
Is this the only building you are considering. Sounds like these folks don't have their ducks in a row. Due diligence is your friend, but don't leave all your egg in this basket. It gives them too much control. Start looking elsewhere. If they really want to move this property, give them a reason to hurry every chance they get. It isn't the only property. Good deals are everywhere right now. Plenty of desperate people wanting to move property.
Hang in there, the wait and expectation will only make the reward that much brighter.
So I need two 6 inch dragons, figure I can get them one at a time. One on my shoulder first then a second one on my arm following the first one. Probably be a couple of years before I can get back up to Ohio but when I do I will set some time aside to drop by and see you.
If you are getting them in color, Jake, plan on 2-3 hours per. Color is my specialty anyhow, I can do good black and graywash stuff but color is where I hang my professional credentials.
Still no news on the legal mumbo jumbo.. and the more days I spend cooking at the hotel the more time it takes me to recover. Sautee station was hovering around 120 degrees the other day, and it was COOL compared to the grill area. Man, I hope this happens soon before I get heat stroke in there. I felt so sick after Saturday night's shift, I could not eat for almost a day.
Is this the only building you are considering. Sounds like these folks don't have their ducks in a row. Due diligence is your friend, but don't leave all your egg in this basket. It gives them too much control. Start looking elsewhere. If they really want to move this property, give them a reason to hurry every chance they get. It isn't the only property. Good deals are everywhere right now. Plenty of desperate people wanting to move property.
True that... it IS the only property in that area that will really work for what i need it for. I have my eyes on two rentals, and if they dont start making progress soon....
Anyhow, I am giving them until the 14th to get this taken care of, after that.. I start making threats to go elsewhere. I really want this building though.
True that... it IS the only property in that area that will really work for what i need it for. I have my eyes on two rentals, and if they dont start making progress soon....
Anyhow, I am giving them until the 14th to get this taken care of, after that.. I start making threats to go elsewhere. I really want this building though.
I don't know that I would threaten them Ted. I would probably mention, next time you talked, that you understand there are unforeseen circumstances. Rush if they'd like, but you've began looking into other properties. You mentioned this is the prime time, summer, to be operating this business. Due to their inability to keep their affairs in order you are missing out on potential revenue; not to mention subjecting yourself to poor work conditions at your other job. I am not big on sweating my ass off because of someone else's lack of planning and follow through. My offer would be rapidly declining in price. Didn't you mention the property has been sitting? You might think they are doing you a favor by financing, but in my experience people only finance something for 2 reasons: 1 they cannot unload it to property to anyone who can afford the property outright or get a proper loan. 2 they are in the business of making money financing to people who are reason 1. There may be the occasional help a friend out, but usually they aren't doing them in real favors, in my experience. I mean, if I know a buddy is strapped and needs something, my first thought isn't to finance it to them, it is to just give them the thing the need. This isn't to be confused with loaning someone money for a short time.
Sorry for the tangent Ted, but I don't think you should put yourself out on someone else's account. Rent the other location. If/when your business succeeds, buy their spot. You will likely have more money then and cash is a great bargaining chip.
------------------ If God takes life, he's an Indian giver.
Tuesday is the day (again) that we go in to sign supposedly. We will see, I am in talks with their attorney and realty agent and a "dry signing" may be in order.. put the down payment in an escrow account, nobody touches it until the title issue is settled. (It would all depend on how fast the probate court is m oving here.. if they have a long docket I have to wait my turn..) I am also in talks with my attorney, and if she thinks that sounds like a bad idea, then we make other plans for a different location or plan. I will know a lot more on this tomorrow.
Insurance is the other bear I am facing... major carriers are not touching my kind of business anymore, so its a specialty market coverage. I have been quoted pretty high thus far, and I am comparison shopping. Hope to have something in place by the time of signing, otherwise its ME thats dropping the ball.
[This message has been edited by tbone42 (edited 07-05-2012).]
Congratulations on becoming a business owner. I just hope that some people, like this one on the forum, don't get their way or many business will be forced to shut down. They just don't understand how important small businesses are to our economy. They just think of any business owner as something evil that needs to be punished.
quote
Decrease taxes for poor and middle class. Increase taxes on the "job creators" who do nothing but hoard their wealth anyways. How hard is that to understand? Welfare doesn't help, but making it so the dude who makes $2400/mo doesn't have to pay $400 of that in taxes does. Tax cuts for the wealthy doesn't get them to hire more people, and you're a complete idiot if you believe that. They're not "job creators" they're "job providers" who only provide people jobs because they have no choice, if they could automate everything and pocket all the profits you can bet they would. They only provide jobs to people until there's a better alternative (ie outsourcing).
And now we wait... wait on the court docket and a 98 year old man being brought in to sign off on the title documents after opening his now deceased wife's estate to do so. What a mess. My lawyer advised against doing a conditional signing of any kind and to just wait it out. She sounded very serious, so I will do as she says unless it gets dragged out much longer... I am glad that she showed me she gave a damn about this and was not going through the motions as some of my attorneys in the past have done.
Still, if it does get dragged out much longer I might just have to walk away and go back to my original plan to buy the mobile studio.. thats a lot less street traffic but more freedom, its just not as much earning potential in my opinion. In either case, I am a business owner, I just still have no idea what my base of operations is going to be for sure just yet.
[This message has been edited by tbone42 (edited 07-06-2012).]
My lawyer advised against doing a conditional signing of any kind and to just wait it out.
Wise advice! (Don't ask me how I know.) The sellers should be highly motivated to rectify the title deficiency right now. If you sign a conditional purchase agreement, however, it vastly diminishes that incentive.
[This message has been edited by Marvin McInnis (edited 07-08-2012).]
Just got off the horn with THEIR attorneys. I was tired of dealing with the real estate guy, who seemed to only have half a clue on what was going on and would not even update me with THAT.
It went through probate court on Thursday, and now its in the office of the county recorder. We should have all the cleared paperwork by Wednesday, and sign on Thurs/Fri as long as my attorney is satisfied with how it all looks.
Which means, i gotta get over to the bank and make a deposit so i have enough in one account for the downpayment!
I just crunched the numbers, I will need to make $850-900/month (Or roughly (10) 1 hour tattoos for an average..) to pay all the bills. I have done that in a day many, many times. The big hit I really did not like was insurance at $131/month. Ouch, but I was quoted a lot higher, too. 300 More covers my obligations to the house bills, but my wife can also cover me when things are tight. After all, we would not be attempting this if her financial situation was on the edge or anything. Not forgetting taxes, I will be setting up several bank accounts for purpose of not only sales tax but a fund for federal state and local taxes, so there are not as many surprises later. Calling my accountant the same day of closing.
That covers Mortgage, Insurance, Phones, Waste Disposal, Sewer, Electric, Gas, Alarm, Sterilization Monitoring, Certifications/Licensing, CAT, and an allotment for disposable supplies. It's a rough guess, really. It will probably be higher for a few months while I get things set up. I am going for the land speed record on getting the doors open, going to try to have remodeling done in 2 weeks and ready for inspection.
I am a little short for advertising ideas. I plan on doing the usual social media and website.. but i do not have much of a budget there for anything> i am trying to figure what is going to get me my best bang-for-buck besides the internet and word of mouth. I do play open mics around town and I make connections there, i was thinking of doing a "drawing night" at the pub/restaurant I work at where I would hang out but bring felt markers and just draw on temporary tattoos, you know, to get people interested and hand out cards. I am usually a shut-in type, but that kinda has to end here if i want this to work I gotta be a salesman as well as an artist.
[This message has been edited by tbone42 (edited 07-17-2012).]
I just crunched the numbers, I will need to make $850-900/month (Or roughly (10) 1 hour tattoos for an average..) to pay all the bills. I have done that in a day many, many times. The big hit I really did not like was insurance at $131/month. Ouch, but I was quoted a lot higher, too. 300 More covers my obligations to the house bills, but my wife can also cover me when things are tight. After all, we would not be attempting this if her financial situation was on the edge or anything. Not forgetting taxes, I will be setting up several bank accounts for purpose of not only sales tax but a fund for federal state and local taxes, so there are not as many surprises later. Calling my accountant the same day of closing.
That covers Mortgage, Insurance, Phones, Waste Disposal, Sewer, Electric, Gas, Alarm, Sterilization Monitoring, Certifications/Licensing, CAT, and an allotment for disposable supplies. It's a rough guess, really. It will probably be higher for a few months while I get things set up. I am going for the land speed record on getting the doors open, going to try to have remodeling done in 2 weeks and ready for inspection.
I am a little short for advertising ideas. I plan on doing the usual social media and website.. but i do not have much of a budget there for anything> i am trying to figure what is going to get me my best bang-for-buck besides the internet and word of mouth.
That place looks awesome... needs a little bit of "pop" like the other stores next to it, but it looks like it's in a "cute" location... not cute as in unmanly... but you know what I mean.
Just a thought... but any chance that you guys can actualy live in the place, like in the back or something... at least while things are getting started? I don't know your living situation, own / rent... don't want to sell, etc...
Originally posted by 82-T/A [At Work]: That place looks awesome... needs a little bit of "pop" like the other stores next to it, but it looks like it's in a "cute" location... not cute as in unmanly... but you know what I mean.
Just a thought... but any chance that you guys can actualy live in the place, like in the back or something... at least while things are getting started? I don't know your living situation, own / rent... don't want to sell, etc...
The upstairs has only electricity and needs a major overhaul.. the building is over 100 years old. We need to get a bathroom and kitchen up there and environmental controls before it can be lived in, and i believe I would need to get some kind of residential designation from the town to make it legal.
Its solid, it needs windows, paint, carpet and a ceiling repair inside upstairs, paint upstairs on the outside facade, a new design on the sign and i think I will be golden. I have to work with a committee for the way it is going to look eventually because it is in a historic district. Still, i know someone on it and he is giving me advice to make it succesful on the first application. I am hoping to take that rust red color on some wood all the way across to match the building to the right. The windows and display will stay, as well as the aluminum sheathing, but it will hopefully be painted brown.
I am a little short for advertising ideas. I plan on doing the usual social media and website.. but i do not have much of a budget there for anything> i am trying to figure what is going to get me my best bang-for-buck besides the internet and word of mouth. I do play open mics around town and I make connections there, i was thinking of doing a "drawing night" at the pub/restaurant I work at where I would hang out but bring felt markers and just draw on temporary tattoos, you know, to get people interested and hand out cards. I am usually a shut-in type, but that kinda has to end here if i want this to work I gotta be a salesman as well as an artist.
Good luck with the promotions. I understand the "shut-in" comment, at least from my own perspective.
Start with a Facebook page, if you haven't already. Should be easy.
I'm not into tattoos, but congratulations! I pray you have fantastic success!
Old buildings are very cool. But as I'm sure you are aware, you may end up having to jump through all sorts of hoops to get a Certificate of Occupancy, especially on a commercial property. Zoning and Code Enforcement love to go all kinds of nuts on old buildings when they change ownership, and you may find a whole new vocabulary in the process.
I'm not sure how it is there, but many states (and cities) have laws in place that allow only 'licensed' contractors to do certain work on commercial property - usually this is plumbing and electrical stuff ($$$). My father runs a business in New Jersey, nothing exotic, just a small 'self storage' facility. He wanted me to put radiant heat in the flooring, which I gladly did, but in the process of installing the required plumbing for the new furnace, he had to get a permit. I had already done almost all of the work, all to 'code', but the city started to get nasty when he mentioned that it wasn't a 'licensed plumber' that did the install. Ultimately, I told him to go back when someone else was there, and not mention it. The end result was that he paid a licensed plumber a few bucks to come by and 'sign off' that he had done the work, so that the permit would be approved.
Again, you seem to be pretty on-the-ball, so you probably already know this, but I figure I'd mention it anyway.
The building looks like it will be a fantastic location for a business. Based on the pictures, it looks to be a fairly decent area, with most of the other shops being maintained nicely, and not much in the way of 'trash' blowing around.
As to Obama's statement about business "...you didn't build that. Somebody else made that happen."
I think that you have proven him dead wrong! YOU have made this happen. YOU have put the leg work and effort to make this happen. It's success or failure depends on YOU, risking YOUR money, YOUR time, YOUR sweat. The Government, in this case, has been making you expend MUCH time in red-tape, jumping through hoops, and will make you jump through many more.
I wish you GREAT success, despite a nanny-state doing its best to put roadblocks in front of you. Small business owners are the very fabric of this nation, and again, I applaud you for being willing to risk much to live your dream.
quote
Originally posted by tbone42:
The upstairs has only electricity and needs a major overhaul.. the building is over 100 years old. We need to get a bathroom and kitchen up there and environmental controls before it can be lived in, and i believe I would need to get some kind of residential designation from the town to make it legal.
Its solid, it needs windows, paint, carpet and a ceiling repair inside upstairs, paint upstairs on the outside facade, a new design on the sign and i think I will be golden. I have to work with a committee for the way it is going to look eventually because it is in a historic district. Still, i know someone on it and he is giving me advice to make it succesful on the first application. I am hoping to take that rust red color on some wood all the way across to match the building to the right. The windows and display will stay, as well as the aluminum sheathing, but it will hopefully be painted brown.
No more time to play guitar now, I guess? 
