Justin of Vizionkc » Uncategorized

Changes In My Blogging

justinu84 — Tue, 26 May 2009 02:08:26 +0000

I’ve been thinking for quite sometime now that I need to change to the way I do my blogging. For those of you who don’t know here is the blogging process I go thru pretty much every week.

Each week I take a trip out to to each of the properties Vizion is renovating. I found these trips to be very beneficial not only for contributing content to the website but also for checking and making sure that things Vizion wants done are actually getting done. While I’m out at each project I take a few pictures and mentally take note of all the major changes which have taken place since I was last at the property. On average Vizion has about 4 home renovation in process so as you can imaging this is a very time consuming process but somehow I find time to fit it into my schedule.

After I’ve been to each property I upload the picures to the computer and type a progress post like this. All in all each progress post takes about 15-20 minutes depending on how many pictures I decide to upload and how fast my internet/computer decides to work on that particular day.

I prefer to write and publish my blogs on my wordpress site Justin Of Vizionkc mainly because of the easy to use wordpress format then move copy and paste those blogs to ActiveRain and then finally copy and paste those posts to the Vizionkc site. This blog posting format has worked out very well for me but I can’t help but think that things need to change.

When I first started the Justin of Vizionkc blog its was supposed to be about me and my journey with Vizionkc. But as things continued it rapidly just became a duplicate of the vizionkc site. I’ve decided that this is no good. After all I have my own thoughts and many of them have nothing to do with Vizionkc. Its for that reason that I’ve decided to completely stop posting to Justin of Vizionkc.

For the few readers who still visit Justin of Vizionkc I will be starting a new blog and most likely gaining new readers. While the name of the new site has yet to be created it will most definetlly be on tumblr.

If this post seems really random for me don’t worry it is.

Yes I will still keep posting to and commenting in the rain.

Wordless Wednesday. Oprah Bought My Team Lunch Today.

justinu84 — Thu, 07 May 2009 02:47:39 +0000

I haven’t seen much discusson about it here on ActiveRain but last night and earlier today twitter was a buzz over whether or not Oprah had really purchased a KFC meal for everyone in the country. Well let me put the debate to rest. She did. The offer was real and my only regret is that I wasn’t able to post the truth earlier. All the meals on this table were free. Yes even the drinks. I never thought I would say this but thanks Oprah.

This is just one more reason to follow me on twitter. I test out all free meal offers that I hear about and the people in my twitter stream are always the first to know if the rumors are real.

816-372-7855 or justin@vizionkc.com

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I’m Thinking Tenats In The Auto Industry Are Risky Right Now.

justinu84 — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 00:40:41 +0000

With all the turbulence in the auto industry I’ve become increasingly weary of potential tenants who work for one of the big 3 car manufactures. Previously if I saw that someone worked at GM for instance I would actually feel a little comfort in knowing that their jobs were at least some what secure. But nowadays who knows. In the past month I’ve found out that 4 of our tenants have either lost their jobs completely or had their hours severely cut back. Two of thest tenats are currently looking for new jobs and have requested to be placed on payments plans. The other two are more than likely going to end up being evicted. That means more vacant houses and a higher turnover rate both of which are negatives we strive to avoid.

With the additional news that came out yesterday stating that GM will be cutting another 21,000 jobs and getting rid of the Pontiac brand I’m really not feeling any better about renting to a tenant who has anything to do with the auto industry. I generally feel the same way about tenants in the financial industry but I haven’t run into very many of those recently anyway.

Am I alone in this thinking? I can’t be. Sure I realize that I can’t publicly deny an other wise quality tenant from leasing one of our properties just because of where they work…or can I?

As an investment company our goal is to look out for the best interest of our investors. That means that we take reasonable risks and to be honest I think that renting to someone in the auto industry right now is much riskier than normal. What do you think?

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You Know What’s Not Cool? Messy Tenants. Speechless Sunday

justinu84 — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 00:23:51 +0000

I just got done with an eviction and had to share these pictures with you guys. The funny thing is that we pulled these appliances out of the house in fear that they would be stolen. Looking back on it I wish they had been stolen.

I understand that cleaning a gas stove isn’t fun. Really I do. I have one. But you know what? I clean mine. Because if I don’t then one day its going to look like this.

And once it gets to this point its pretty hard to clean. In fact once its at this point I’m pretty sure the only option is to throw it away and buy a new one. Looks like the next tenant to live at this house is going to get a brand new range because I can’t just lease the place out with a range that looks like this.

Just in case you were wondering the fridge wasn’t in much better shape but I think we may be able to salvage it. Maybe.

Seriously. How do you put your food in there? Needless to say I was rather Speechless on this Sunday.

816-372-7855 or info@vizionkc.com

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Progress On 1010 W 70th Tr. (Project Brookside) Pt. 8

justinu84 — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 22:49:14 +0000

If you haven’t seen it yet I would recommend taking a look at our midweek progress post before checking out this one. Our renovation of 1010 W 70th Tr is truly in the finishing stages. Most of this week the painters have been hard at work and those new windows we’ve been wondering about have finally been installed.

As you can see the house is really starting to come together. This is shot of the front of the house after the new windows had been installed.

I really like the selection of paint colors that went into this house. Here is a shot of the living room. As you can see the lights have also been hung on the walls. These are the same sort of lights which are being installed in the basement. From what I understand a lot of painting will be getting done in this room over the weekend.

Here is a shot of the dining room. I really haven’t really taken many pictures of the dining room during the renovation but its often been viewable from some of my kitchen photos. This is a shot facing south east.

When I’m making these weekly progress post I try to focus on all the majors things that are going on with a renovation. More often than not the kitchen is where a lot of the renovation is taking place. Since I’ve already taken so many shots of the kitchen I figured I’d just take one more shot showing off some of the cool lighting in the kitchen.

The paint in the master bedroom is certainly unique.

This is shot of the master bathroom. Love the wall color and the tile going into the shower.

This Is Where We Started

What is Project Brookside?

More Info On 1010 W 70th Tr

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Wordless Wednesday I Wonder What The Neighbors Think.

justinu84 — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 02:10:44 +0000

Sure once the house is done its going to be one of the nicest houses on the block. But during the renovation you’ve really got to wonder what the neighbors are thinking. A large home renovation like this produces lots of trash. Sometimes I really do wonder what the neighbors think. On the plus side once the remodel is done and all the trash is removed another beutiful Vizion home will stand here for years to come.

816-372-7855 or info@vizionkc.com

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Progress On 1010 W 70t Tr. (Project Brookside) Pt. 6

justinu84 — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 18:56:32 +0000

A lot has happened on this renovation since last week. I’m really surprised at how quickly our crews are working to complete this renovation. If they continue at this pace we should have no problem wrapping up this remodel by our deadline of April 15th. Since so much has taken place on this renovation this progress post will be a little bit longer than usual. On the plus side that means lots more photos!

The new tile flooring has been installed in the kitchen and bathrooms. This is a shot of the half bath just off of the downstairs living room. I’m really impressed at how well this half bath came together. It’s hard to believe that just a few short weeks ago this room wasn’t even here.

This house has some of the coolest looking tile I’ve ever seen in a Vizion remodel. The pictures hardly do it justice here’s an upclose look of the half baths tile.

Perhaps the largest improvment over last weeks progress post has to be the kitchen. As you can see not only have the tile floors been installed but the cabinets are also in the process of being set. I’m a big fan of the darker cabinets we haven’t used cabinets like these since are renovation at 425 W. 70th which we completed several months ago.

The kitchen looks so amazing on this house that I had to take a couple shots from a few different angles. This shot is facing north east. That is the door that will lead to the garage.

This is a shot facing the southeast. In this photo you can also see the pantry which is very similar to the one we put in our renovation just a few blocks away at 444 Dartmouth.

This is my reference shot for the kitchen. It sure looks a lot different from when we started.

While I haven’t touched on it much in the previous progress post this house does have a basement which we are working on finishing. The basement has a second has a second fireplace and living area. Most of the homes in this neighborhood do not have finished basements which makes this home even more unique.

This is a shot of the mater bedroom facing the new closet. Even with the expansion of the master bathroom and construction of a new closet this room is still pretty large.

Here is another shot of the mater bedroom facing the opposite direction (North).

This house is really starting to take shape. I can’t wait to see what it will look like next week.

This Is Where We Started

What is Project Brookside?

More Info On 1010 W 70th Tr

816-372-7855 or info@vizionkc.com

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Progress On 4408 Grandview Pt. 3 (Project Brookside)

justinu84 — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 22:04:19 +0000

I stopped by our renovation of 4408 Grandview after a few showing at 9808 E. 76th Tr in Raytown, MO. I’m pretty excited to have another large house like that on the market.

Most of the new windows have already been installed in this house. I’m still trying to think of the best way for us to landscape this house. We don’t get many houses with circle drives like this one.

Lots of progress has been made on this house in the basement. The room you see in this picture will become the 5th bedroom.

On the opposite side of the basement will be the full bathroom. It looks like a good portion of the electic work has been completed down here. The shower basin has also been installed.

This is where the basement kitchen will be at. As you can see the tear out has been completed on this side of the basement.

I noticed a few weeks ago that there was a basketball goal in the backyard of this house. I’m highly recomending that we keep this basketball goal. Granted anyone can put up a basketball goal but in a house like this it could be a really good plus.

This Is Where We Started

More Information On 4408 Grandview

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Vizion Makes Headlines…Again

justinu84 — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 21:05:17 +0000

Vizion has once again been interviewed by a local Kansas City newspaper. This time writer Kurt Kloeblen of The Wednesday Sun also known as @kcklo63 on twitter conducted the interview. Kurt found out about Vizion through Twitter where both he and I @justinu84 are quite active.

In the roller coaster ride that is real estate, Vizion is enduring the ups and downs of the market.
Vizion, the Kansas City-based real estate investment company that specializes in rehabilitating houses and either selling them or offering them for lease option or rent, is expanding in a market that has scared many companies away.
“We just want to keep on expanding right now,” Aaron Thomas, CEO, said.

You Can Read The Full Article Here.

816-372-7855 or info@vizionkc.com

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Just Passed The 100k Points Mark

justinu84 — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 02:18:04 +0000

Well it happened. My first blog post was on July 30th 2008. Back then I never thought that I would be blogging for this long enough to get this many points. In fact I remember seeing Chris Lengquist and thinking that it would take years for me to get as many points as he had.

At some point on my path to 100k I honestly stopped caring about the points. For me posting on this blog and commenting on other people blogs just became part of my routine. Sort of like making videos for our company youtube channel and connecting with people on twitter. It’s all just part of what I do now.

I guess the big question is if all this blogging stuff really works. In a nutshell yes. Thanks to our various online marketing efforts I’ve sold a few houses and leased countless rental properties. Perhaps the biggest surprise for me was realizing that people other than AR members read these blogs. Infact two of the buyers clients I’m currently working with found me through my blogging efforts here on AR. I expect that this number will increase as more buyers turn to the internet for their real estate needs.

In addition to the customer connections I’ve made here. I’m also equally thrilled with all the interesting. knowledgeable and surprisingly friendly individuals I’ve connected with here on AR. Initially I was going to make a list of all the bloggers who have inspired me to keep on blogging on AR. While I was making this list I realized that me leaving someone off of this list was inevitable. So here’s the 5 bloggers I check out daily.

Sandy Shores – I love the post she does on investing. It’s interesting to see how other investors do things in a different part of the country. Plus she has a cool name.

Greg Nino — This guy says so many thing that I’m thinking. Plus he’s smart as a wip.

Robert Swetz — Vegas Bob sure knows how to take a picture. Lots of thought provoking posts as well.

Maria Morton – A great Kansas City blogger. What can I say I love when local bloggers join AR.

Ben Edsall — Another local blogger. I share the featured member position with him in Kansas City. A major inspiration to keep blogging.

Honestly they’re are so many other bloggers I could list but this post has to end somewhere. Last but not least thanks to everyone who ever left a comment on one of my blogs.

200k points here I come!

816-372-7855 or info@vizionkc.com

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