real estate – Jenn Delle Fave

Weekending

jenndellefave / February 18, 2019 / Leave a comment

We had a busy week last week! Valentine’s Day brought little parties for both kids in schools, Joe working late and us attending a board meeting. I did make a delicious lasagna for dinner and even both kids gave it “all the thumbs up!”

As for celebrating? I stopped into the Dollar Tree and scooped up just a few little goodies for our babes. I knew they’d get a ton of candy at their V-Day parties, so I saw these adorable heart baskets, and filled them with a chocolate heart, a stuffed puppy, a little workbook and a balloon. They loved it! They even loved the workbooks; Brooke did hers right away and Bradley worked on his at lunch; he did a wonderful job tracing the words for each color!

Bradley did cry a little bit Friday morning saying his ear hurt, so my mom instinct kicked right in and I took him right into the Drs. Sure enough, he does have an ear infection. I’m grateful it’s nothing crazy like the flu, but I know ear aches are awful! Poor guy.

I am trying so hard carve out time to read our newest book club book. It’s a thriller and a page turner, but I can’t really read it at night–I don’t want nightmares!

Update: I actually was on page 77 Sunday night and decided to try and read a little…and well, I just stayed up until 1 am reading to finish it! If you love a page turning thriller, scoop this one right up!

Hubby and I did get out for our first date night of the year!! 2.16.19. We had not gone out since the weekend before Christmas, as he was so sick and life got crazy. We had a delicious dinner at Good Luck and hit up our favorite spot, The Revelry for a few drinks. We are old and were home by 11:30, but it was so nice to get dolled up, out of the house and having actual adult conversations!

Sunday brought some time for Brooke & Joe to spend together. Since she’s gone to full day Kinder, she doesn’t get to see Joe that much and we could tell they needed some QT. She insisted that I took her and Bailey’s photo.

That left Mr. Bubs and I to cuddle on the couch. I hope he never gets to the point where he doesn’t want to snuggle!

He is all boy. If he’s not dressed up as a superhero, running, crashing, shooting, jumping, then he’s tinkering with his trucks, cars and guys.

While Bradley played, I sat with the laptop and caught up on some blogs; I felt called to sit and write. I have abandoned this little space here for some time, but I know that it always waits for me to return. If you’re reading this, hello! Welcome if you are new, thank you for returning if you’ve been around for a bit. Hubby swooped home to gift me with a Matcha Latté and it was divine.

I also worked on some advertising for our social media pages. I’m on the fence about joining Rachel Hollis’ business coaching. I really love her and I think I would learn so much!!

Recently a new BK went in around the corner from us. The kids have been dying to check it out as they have literally watched it form from the ground up! I think they just love the crowns.

The rest of the day was relaxing, as you’re supposed to work 6 days and rest one.

Thoughts as a Work at Home Mom

jenndellefave / January 31, 2019 / Leave a comment

Snow day (or rather, “Cold Day”) number 2 with the littles today!! Honestly, I am as giddy as ever when I see my babies will be home safe with me. Being a former teacher, I have never outgrown the love a good day off from school. I also have the pleasure (and stress) as being a work at home mom.

There I said it. Whew. I think for so long I have been battling with this idea that I don’t really work…and in reality? I really do a lot of work! Simply staying home filled my days with more than enough to do. The laundry, dishes, cooking, cleaning, tidying, tending to, it’s endless, am I right? No matter if you stay home or work outside of the home, being a mom is hard work but someone’s gotta do it, and no one better than you mama.

I think I’ve struggled a little bit with coming to terms with working because I don’t exactly get a paycheck, nor do I get dressed up daily and go clock in somewhere. It’s not the conventional way I used to ‘work’ when I was teaching full time and so I know that internally I had some things to overcome.

Sure I’ve done my fair share of side hustles. I loved getting healthy with Advocare and with that, helping a lot of friends and family find a better way to live their lives as well. Why did I stop? Well, honestly some of the products just didn’t work for me the way that they once used to, or how I would have liked them to. I still believe it’s a great company and I take daily supplements but my heart was not into devoting all the time and effort into that business.

As Bradley began crawling around, I saw the new up and coming jewelry KEEP and got super excited with that! I also felt that pull of needing to be a part of something. I reached out and did a ton of online parties, made some new friends and really had fun. Which lead me to my next little venture with Stella & Dot.

Stella & Dot had been around for awhile and while I truly love love love their accessories, what I didn’t enjoy were doing in person trunk shows. Sure you can still have a great business online, but at the same time as I was rocking with this biz, my husband and I changed the way we were running our real estate company.

Two years ago in March we decided to switch our business model from renting single family homes, to Rent to Own Homes. This has totally changed the game for us, but as with any business, it continues to grow and evolve. We now have ten properties and a lot of book-keeping, marketing, advertising, taking calls, paper work, collecting money from all tenants…the list goes on.

What was once a small hustle, is turning into an empire. My husband still works beyond full time and I refuse to raise Bradley differently than Brooke, in the sense that I don’t want to put him into day care and not be with me. So? Somethings have to give. There is no ‘balance’ so I won’t pretend that I’ve found it nor do I believe one day I will magically feel all zen. But I do believe that as we grow, change and become better versions of ourselves each and every day, we have to say goodbye to old patterns, habits and move forward.

All of my experience in MLMs or Direct Sales, whatever you’d like to call them, not only brought me the BEST of friends—hi guys!!– but also a huge sense of confidence in sales. I now surround myself with other leaders, continue to read the best professional development books and know that when I have my down days, (and oh, do I ever!) It’s always important to pick myself up and keep going. I also learned a ton about social media, how to connect with folks and as always the number one reason why we are on this planet? To help one another.

So I suppose I share all of this because maybe you too feel a shift and want to change. Perhaps there’s something new you’d like to try but maybe feel like you shouldn’t. You are never too old and it’s never too late. I went to school for a very long time; received a Bachelor’s Degree and a Masters Degree. While these may just be pieces of paper to some people, to me I accomplished my goals, lived out some dreams and was able to teach some amazing and beautiful souls throughout my 8 years teaching English. The best part? I will forever have the knowledge I’ve gained, and if I decide to go back ever, I have a NYS certification.

As for now? I will be parting ways come March with my fun little side gig of Stella & Dot. It was sure fun while it lasted, but I feel that it is in my family’s best interest to focus on our family business and help grow what we have started to build. Since realized that time really is the biggest and most precious thing on earth, I really value where I spend it and whom I give it to.

I think I’ve been nervous to admit that I do in fact work, partially because I wanted to be a perfect stay at home mom, making all the meals from scratch or at least semi-homemade. Do all of the cooking, cleaning, organizing, shopping, etc…but if you are a successful person, you already know this: You cannot do it all. With 24 hours in the day, it’s imperative to figure out what needs to get done and what and when to let go of things. (Grocery pickup, I’m looking at you!!)

As far as 24 hours? I saw a quote that said, there’s 24 hours in a day. You deserve 1 hour to do whatever you want with it. Or something like that. Basically, it put me into tears because so often I find myself turning into ‘all work no play’ and then turning into a potato at 8pm and scrolling FB/Insta because I never gave myself one small morsel of the day to spark joy, inspire myself or heal.

I need to write more, so that’s back up at the top of my list. Working out. Spending quality time with the kids and Joe. Dating my husband. Re-establishing and even creating new friendships. Cooking. Building our real estate empire. Playing with our dogs. Being in nature (when it’s not a Polar Vortex!) Yoga. Meditating. Networking with other leaders/girl bosses. Giving back to our community. Reading. Walking. Being.

As I continue to lean into this year, 2019, the year of SIMPLIFYING, as long as this month seemed to be, I could not be more clear or driven on my purpose and reason on this earth. I pray that we are blessed with better health in the coming months and that by Summer time, all these seeds that have been planted, will bloom.

Introduction

jenndellefave / October 1, 2018 / 4 Comments

Hello!!

Photo: Summer vacation Folly Beach (I’m a Summer girl!)

If you are new here, I’m so happy you stopped by my little space here! I’d love to connect with you, so please leave a comment! If you’ve been following for awhile, welcome back. I’d love to hear from you too!! I started a blog back in 2011–(feel free to stalk me here, I totally don’t mind; I’d do it too!)

I am a 37 year old woman married to the love of my life. We have been together 10.5 years, married for 8 and have two kiddos (a 5 year old girl and a 3 year old boy). We also have two crazy dogs! I stay home and my husband works crazy hours. We have a very 1950’s style marriage and I couldn’t be happier. (I’m happiest in the home!)

It wasn’t always this way…back in 2011, I decided that teaching English 7-12 for 8 years was good enough, and I’d give it a go staying home as a housewife. Boy did that get a lot of looks and comments!

My husband Joe and I decided that he worked enough hours and if anything, it’d make more sense to stay home because my district looked as though there’d be cuts in a year or so anyway. I had driven about a 45 minute-one hour commute to and then another 45 -1 hour home each day. It was about 2 hours of my life daily and as much as I loved the students and the school, it was a lot.

How did I spend my time? Well, I certainly enjoyed it! It was a nice buffer for what was to come, I’ll tell ya that much! I perfected my cooking skills; think Food Network star worthy dinners 4-5x a week. Yeah, that kind of backfired once I had kids, haha! Hubby was like, um….and I was like, ya here’s another pasta dish! I feel like now that we’re into a groove, my oldest is in Kindergarten and I have one in preschool 2 days a week, for 2 hours each, I have my head on a little more straight.

That said, we also decided to change up our side hustle a bit. We had accumulated some rental properties, but decided to get into the Rent to Own business. It’s awesome!! It’s also a lot of work; don’t be fooled.

We have a total of 9 properties and some amazing tenant buyers we are able to help out. They are able to rent out one of our homes until they’re capable of getting a mortgage. All they really need is a down payment & to afford the monthly rent–it’s so awesome to help people like this!

I still try to cook breakfast, lunch and dinner daily for my family. It’s not easy, as my husband has Crohn’s, the kids are, well, kids and don’t eat Kale & spinach readily, imagine that!! My diet works best if it’s lean proteins, lots of veggies, some fruit & complex carbs. I enjoy food, do NOT get me wrong! I love burgers, tacos, steaks, grits, fries–and a good old mac and cheese! However, I’ve learned how my body best responds to food and I definitely plan on sharing that in some blogs. Stay tuned!

I am a Stella & Dot Stylist as a very part-time hustle. I just love the accessories and helping other women feel a little more confident and cute! It’s nice to connect and talk fashion with fabulous ladies.

I absolutely love to dance; it’s probably my favorite thing ever. I just love moving and grooving to the music. Luckily my hubby and kids love it too. In fact, that’s one of the biggest things I look forward to with the cooler months ahead: Dance parties!

I am not perfect, nor do I try to be. I make a ton of mistakes, learn as I go and try to enjoy every moment of this crazy ride called life. Blogging is a way for me to keep my memories alive, share in hopes of helping another, and cherish what I’ve been given.

You may find me all dolled up in red bottoms, rocking an LV, or I may be in days old hair, sweatshirt & walking our land in the country. We are really hoping to build this coming Spring and I am beyond excited.

As for religion, all I can say is that I am spiritual. I feel like that’s a whole post/topic in and of itself, but I’m on journey that is for sure! There’s so much ‘wrong vs right’ when it comes to “being a Christian” I honestly find it ridiculous and a bit hypocritical at times. I do love Gangster rap, I tend to swear from time to time & I love short dresses. According to some, I can’t love Jesus too, and if that’s true, then okay. (Yes, I love me some Rachel Hollis.)

I have put blogging on the back burner for many reasons/excuses, but here I am ready to rock and roll this October. Here’s to an awesome week!

Don’t be shy, say hi! I’d love to read and follow some new blogs.

Real Estate Investing: A Mini Rant

jenndellefave / August 9, 2018 / Leave a comment

I would like to say that as I get older, I have truly started to mature. I try to not let things get me all fired up as much as they used to. I try to think before I speak and not let my emotions cloud my voice.

The more we grow our real estate company, more people have started to come out of the wood work. Now, I get it. Rent-To-Own totally has a bad wrap in some cases. There are bad people who take advantage of others in difficult situations. I’ve heard horror story, after horror story, of money taken, houses sold out from under tenants etc.

Well, I’m here to say that our business is nothing like that. If you know me (or my husband) you know our hearts. You know we would help anyone in need and go above and beyond to take care of others. Unfortunately, in this field we really have to state our intentions and prove ourselves, over and over and over again. It’s okay, we totally get it and understand.

Recently we had a “Team Leader” of a local real estate agency write us. She was concerned that one of her member’s clients were truly excited about our program and that we would be taking advantage of them. My husband responded to the message and upon reflection, I can’t help but be disgusted by her tone.

“I sell high end properties. I don’t need to be paid for a client finding their dream home at this level.”

Yes, those are her words exactly. As if anyone below a $500,000 home isn’t worth her time? Money? I’m not sure, but either way that kind of character is appalling. I completely understand reaching out, checking in to see what kind of business we run etc, but to use words like that? I’m sorry but I was raised to treat every human, just that: a human. I don’t care what you do for a living, but when you start acting like you’re better than others, that is where I have a problem.

Interestingly enough, upon a quick Google search, it wasn’t but 5 years prior this same woman was in fact selling homes in the price ranges that we deal with.

So here’s the thing, every person’s dream home is completely different. We tend to buy nice homes in nice areas, but are they $200,00+ homes? No. However, we do our best to ensure that our houses have character, charm, even a cozy factor. A nice backyard, perhaps a garage. A fenced in yard. Good schools. Safe environments. We create visions for families to move from the inner city or apartment buildings, to their very own homes.

While it almost could sound too good to be true, we really are here to help people. Isn’t that what God put us on this earth to do? At the same time, yes, we are a business not a non-for profit but I can assure you that my hands get dirty, and that mine and my husband’s blood, sweat, and tears go into these homes. The stress, the frustration, the money aspect, it’s a lot to juggle! Not to mention we do it all while he works 50+ hours, battling Crohn’s disease, and I am home raising a 3 year old and 5 year old, taking care of two dogs all with zero help from family, only paid help from sitters.

So no, maybe our homes aren’t worth a million dollars, but we are certainly making dreams come true. From the bottom of my heart, I know what we are doing is changing lives. As my mom put it, we are making magic.

I’d love to ask this lady if she can say that she feels the same?