Hello everyone, so excited for you to listen
to this solo episode of Filthy Rich Cleaners.
Here is your advisory warning.
I do cuss a little bit.
I think I say the F-bomb once or twice.
Honestly, who's counting, right?
So if you got little ears,
maybe put those headphones in or save this one for later.
Enjoy.
This is Filthy Rich Cleaners, presented by ZenMaid,
the podcast where real cleaning business owners
share what works, so you can earn more, stress less,
and make your business filthy rich.
Hello, my friends.
Welcome or welcome back
to the Filthy Rich Cleaners podcast.
I am your host, Stephanie from Serene Clean.
And today I wanna talk about something
that I am very excited about,
something that was not on my bingo card
whatsoever for Serene Clean in 2026,
or really even in the near future.
It just wasn't even on my radar whatsoever.
And that is by the time that this episode goes live,
I'm recording it a week ahead,
Serene Clean bought a commercial building.
And I totally did not expect to do that this year.
And it was just a very quick kind of whirlwind process.
And I want to talk to you guys through that opportunity.
Not that I'm an MLM.
We don't do that here, okay?
We run real businesses.
Somebody just got offended by me saying that,
and that's fine.
I'm good with that.
So I wanna talk to you guys about how this came about,
the decision-making process
to move forward,
with it and why now and why I haven't done this
until seven and a half years into business.
That's right.
We have rented all of our office spaces
for seven and a half years.
We got our first office pretty early on.
Actually, it was just a little shoe box, very affordable.
I think it was like 350 or $400 a month.
So affordable.
Since that moment, I have been renting
and we now have three office spaces
in our three locations.
As you guys know, or maybe you don't,
maybe it's your first time here and you're like,
who the hell is this beautiful haired redhead
talking to me right now?
And hello, I own a cleaning business, Serene Clean.
It has three regional locations in Western Wisconsin.
I have between 28 and 30 staff members
depending on the day currently.
And I run it from Savannah, Georgia.
So here we are seven and a half years in
and for all intents and purposes,
we bought the building, right?
We close on Monday.
So let me walk you through
why we haven't done this until now.
And let me walk you through
why I thought this was a good idea
because historically I have been pretty leery
of buying any commercial space in Serene Clean.
And I also wanna talk to you guys about preparing to,
I should say, to be prepared for opportunities
that kind of get thrown at you.
And we're gonna talk a lot about
financial fiscal responsibility.
I know it's so sexy and you guys are probably like,
Stephanie, that's boring.
I don't wanna talk about that.
But this is how we are able to make decisions like this
when they fall into our lap.
So I wanna talk a little bit about
how I was able to do this at such short notice.
Okay, so let's rewind to two months ago.
I believe it was two months ago.
Maybe, yeah, two months ago,
I get a message from my managers.
And I'm down here in Savannah
living my life and they send me this.
And they're like, hey, look at this listing.
It just went online.
There's not even a sign out front yet.
What do you think?
And I was like, well, go look at it.
I'm not opposed.
I'm not opposed.
The price is really good.
The location is really good, all of that.
And so I was very much, I would say neutral about it.
And then my managers went and saw it.
They immediately start just,
spamming me about how amazing it is,
sending me the videos and like how they would lay it out
and all of these things, right?
And I was like, okay.
And we went through it.
And here we are a couple months later
and closing's about to happen.
All right, that's the episode guys.
I'll see you later.
Just kidding.
Okay, there is a lot more that goes into this.
But that's honestly kind of how it feels like the process.
Like I keep forgetting it's happening, honestly.
And that's why I haven't talked about it
in any episode in the past couple months,
because I didn't know it was happening
until like for sure, like this was happening.
We got the financing in place, all of that.
A lot of things have to be aligned
in order for it to actually go through.
And I don't want to speak publicly about it
until it was a sure thing.
And if you're seeing this episode,
it's because it went through, right?
Otherwise I'm pulling this thing.
So you guys wouldn't even know,
but it is going through as of right now.
So everything is lined up and organized.
When it comes to why we have rented, let's start there.
We rented, why have we resisted any opportunities
for buying buildings?
Because it is actually something that I looked at
probably four to five years ago.
I think I actually was looking at some commercial spaces
in Black River Falls and I was really into the idea, right?
Like I was actively searching for a commercial space.
And so why we did not make that decision then was one,
none of the spaces that we looked at really made sense.
It was like forcing,
a square peg into a round hole.
It did not make sense.
Either they were way too big
or it was like I was having to force it, if you will,
especially considering where we were renting was just fine.
There was no true negatives to it.
I mean, obviously I could have used
a little bit more space.
That's why we eventually moved offices again
at the time that I was looking at this.
But for all intents and purposes,
we were very content with how much we were spending,
where we were and truly the low,
the risk of renting.
And so I liked the idea of buying
until I started to dig into it at that time.
And none of the places we were looking at
really made sense.
It felt very risky despite having the money
to do the down payment and all of that.
It just, it did not make sense
with what the things I was looking at.
And then once I started going through the divorce process,
I know I talk about this a lot, guys,
but it does affect the business decision
making in so many ways.
And so once that started,
there was absolutely no way that buying a business
or having any type of asset in that manner
would benefit me or the business
because all of a sudden now that is marital property.
And that is something that I would have to
potentially pay up to half of.
And that's where businesses get sunk
is when they have to liquidate assets
in order to pay either a partner off
or an ex-spouse, right?
So once I started getting divorced,
I was so glad that I had only been renting, right?
Because now there's no asset
that he could get his grubby little paws on.
No offense, I wish him well.
I truly do.
I know he's remarried.
I'm sure they had a beautiful, fabulous wedding
and his retirement is well-stocked because of me.
So you're welcome.
I'm not bitter, it's fine, it's fine.
It's all good.
There's more money to be made.
So all is well here.
But I'm so glad that I did
not buy a building and go through that process.
So after my divorce, it just was kind of off the table.
I was like, one, we were pretty cash poor
and I had just gotten like,
like doing that payout was not something
that I was immediately like,
cool, let's spend a bunch of money on a down payment
and insert a lot of risk that we could just avoid, right?
Because we had moved to a newer office,
a bigger office, I should say,
which is our current office in Black River Falls.
And it was good.
And the landlord at the time had been good
and he said he was going to be making
all of these improvements that needed to be made
because the building itself was kind of crummy
in a lot of ways,
but we were being told that these repairs
would be happening, right?
And so fast forward, we'd been there for a couple of years.
And so there's just really,
especially since I've moved to Savannah,
it just didn't feel like there was any sense of urgency
or true benefit to even considering this.
After 2024, we had a good year.
We had a good year, it was profitable,
but last year,
it was rough, guys.
You know, I've talked about this a ton on the show
that it was not a good year
and we did not end up being super profitable last year.
So then to invest in a property,
like not once did this thought enter my mind last year,
not once.
Like I was just, keep the lights on, Stephanie.
Like that is your focus.
We had our three offices,
which is a decent amount of rent.
And it just, I was not in the headspace
to make any type of decision like that.
And there was just a lot of things going on
in my personal life as well,
where I don't think I was of true, not sound mind,
but my decision-making abilities
were very augmented last year, I would say.
And even the beginning of this year
for a variety of reasons,
just things that, you know, mental health issues,
those types of things.
I wasn't crazy, I promise.
But like, I was really, really struggling
a lot of last year and this year.
So there was things that I'm really grateful
that I did not make decisions on
because it wouldn't have been made
in the way that I would want it to be made.
So not to be vague and also like, whatever.
But I just wanna say, like, I'm really grateful
that this opportunity did not come last year
because I wouldn't have taken it.
And I'm really glad, like, I feel 99% confident.
I never feel 100% confident, probably,
but 99% confident that this is the right move
at the right time.
And so we'll get into that more.
But anyway, just, it didn't make sense.
It didn't make sense in a financial sense or a risk sense
because the beautiful thing about renting
is it's somebody else's problem when the furnace goes out.
It's somebody else's problem when X, Y, Z happens
or the floors need to be redone or the toilet's not working
or the sink's clogged or whatever.
Like, that's not our fucking problem
because it's the landlord's problem.
And so that has worked out really swimmingly, honestly,
every time there's been an issue
because it's like, go to the landlord.
And we haven't had to necessarily pay for those things.
But of course, you're not building equity,
all of the benefits there.
But another thing I was really hesitant
and still made me a bit gun-shy to make this call this year,
I've worked through that with my mind,
but it was the resale potential of a commercial space
because in the small town that we're in,
commercial spaces sit for a long time when they're for sale.
And so when I thought about like,
is this a wise long-term financial,
is this thing going to actually go up in value?
Is it going to appreciate?
And so I had seen with my own eyes
how long commercial spaces would sit for sale.
And that scared me.
And I know that may seem bizarre to like think of it
and that like, well, you're not even buying it yet.
Why are you thinking of selling it?
Well, I think it's a smart thing to do.
You know, I'm sure we have some real estate listeners
who are either been realtors in the past or currently are
because those things go along really well,
cleaning and real estate.
And I'd love to hear your thoughts on that
if that's something that you see in your town,
but it's certainly something that we see,
especially post COVID.
I feel that commercial spaces is really hard to move
sometimes and justify the price, right?
And so renting felt very safe because it was really safe.
I think that this all makes sense why this is happening now
and this is the right time to do this.
So truly considering the business was,
I would say growing fast, but volatile,
and then it was divorcee time.
And then after divorcee time, we had a bad year,
which was last year.
And so now finally we're like in a place where things,
you know, profit has really settled in
at a reasonable amount.
I, you know, we're always looking of course to increase it,
but there is profit.
We're able to buff up the savings accounts.
The financial side of things was in a sound place.
Like I just described to you how it literally,
my managers out of the blue sent me a message
and they went and saw it the next day.
Like literally that's what it was like.
So it's not like I was even seeking this out
or anything like that.
So anyway, fast forward to the past, you know,
year in our current space.
And I'm not going to bad mouth anybody publicly,
but there were issues.
There were some issues that were not being resolved
in a timely manner in the space that we were in.
And it was really frustrating.
It was getting increasingly more frustrating.
And honestly, like we,
we need more space.
We do to do all the things that we want to do
to have the office space that we would like
to have the kids separated more
and have more space for them.
Because as many of you know,
we allow our employees if it is convenient for them
when necessary to have their kids at the office.
And my managers can bring their children too at any time.
So on any day, there is a high likelihood
that there is a child or multiple children in the office.
There's also almost always dogs in the office.
So like, it's just a very cool atmosphere
and more space would be great
so that the kids could separate.
Additionally, when we are training somebody new
and they're having their orientation,
currently like there is no separate space
for them to like sit and go through that.
They have to stay in the main office
and that's really distracting.
It's also hard for us if we're trying to have
like any type of meeting or conversation.
So does that happen often?
No, but it is something to consider of like,
it would be really great to have a fully private,
either for the tech to go in and to train and be separate
or vice versa, the managers to be able
to have those conversations, frankly,
even if techs are in the building.
That would be really nice.
More storage space too, just in general
for our tools and supplies.
Like we're a growing business guys.
More space would be nice.
But the spaces I had looked at previously
were like gargantuan, like airplane hangars, it felt like.
And it would have been insane, absolutely insane
to buy them, the couple that I had looked at.
Anywho, that's kind of the background
on why we haven't bought up until this point.
However, I wanna talk about being
in the right space financially
in order to make these kinds of decisions.
And I am going to get on my soapbox right now.
I promise it will be for a short time.
Guys, this is why we must bookkeep.
This is why we need to do things on the up and up
with the money in the business.
Please, if you are hearing this episode
and this is something you ever, ever, ever could consider,
even desiring, for you to be able to contemplate
making a commercial space purchase
or even any loans at all in the business,
whether that's vehicles or what have you,
we have to have our books in order.
We have to be able to have a paper trail
that is organized and showcases
that a bank should trust us
with a loan, okay?
Because getting commercial property loans
is, I would say, more challenging than personal.
I think so, at least.
For me to get a personal loan,
meaning this home loan, that's very challenging too.
It was very hard for me to get this home loan.
I actually got denied the first time
and then I just fucking forced it.
And I was like, no, look at this, this, this.
And it was just so, it was bullshit.
It was bullshit when they denied me at first.
I, again, I could go on a rant about it
of being self-employed and getting a mortgage.
Really, really hard, guys.
And so it's also hard to do it for your business.
Like, it's so hard.
And so that is somebody who has done the books correctly
from day fucking one saying it's still hard.
It is still hard.
That is somebody who has been on payroll for years,
meaning getting a paycheck, not just doing owner's draws.
And that was specifically so that one,
we could do our taxes.
We are an LLC, but we wanted to do them as an S-corp
because that is more tax advantaged,
according to my accountant.
And so in order to do that,
I would need to be getting paychecks.
And additionally, then it helps
when you are trying to get loans.
So all of that to be said, please, guys,
like I know you may be ashamed.
I know you may be totally confused
or whatever negative feeling you are having
about getting the books in order
and starting to run your business above board
and not doing it by cash,
not paying people in cash and under the table.
This is not me judging.
I'm not judging you whatsoever.
I know you got to do what you got to do,
but please think about your future self here.
Think about the vision that you have for the business.
And if it is any sort of level of success,
whatever that means to you,
that version of the business
is not going to be doing things under the table.
They are not going to be not paying their taxes
or having their books done.
If you can't do bookkeeping, hire a bookkeeper.
Shout out Dan at Best Damn Bookkeeping, okay?
This is me.
Not sponsored or affiliated in any way.
He is so knowledgeable.
I highly recommend you go listen to our episode.
We'll link it down below and reach out.
And if you don't use him, just a bookkeeper, right?
And getting an accountant and just vowing to yourself,
this is going to be,
2027 is the year that I am going to do everything above board.
And it might be painful
and you might have some lack of instant gratification
because all of a sudden we're paying our taxes
or your staff members are going to be pissed.
Some of them may leave.
They may leave, I say.
They might leave because they don't want to pay taxes, right?
You may be saying that you're running them
as independent contractors.
They're not, they might not be paying their taxes, guys.
All of this to say, please let this episode be the boost
that you need to get the shit together there
because there is no such thing
as a long-term legacy successful business
without having this shit in place.
Having an accountant, paying your taxes,
paying people,
above board, and doing the books, okay?
Making sure that that is organized.
And so when I've said that this is how it's been ran
since day one, that makes it a lot easier
than when a banker, a loan officer is like,
cool, send me this, this, this,
because that's exactly what happened, right?
I reached out to a couple lenders in our area.
We ended up going with the bank
that we've banked at since the beginning.
It's just a local bank, guys.
It literally has, I think,
what, two locations?
It's actually the bank that I have banked at
since I was six years old.
That's how old I was
when I opened that savings account there.
And it's wonderful.
And my manager's mom has worked there
for like 50 years, 50 plus, I think.
So that's crazy.
Yeah, I don't bank there personally anymore,
but we still bank there for the business.
And yeah, small towns, guys.
But I really wanted to get the mortgage there.
So what I did was I reached out to two lenders,
both local there,
and the other lender actually had the better rate.
And so then I reached out to ours like,
hey, I really want to work
with you guys.
Can you match this slightly lower rate?
And they were able to make that happen.
So that was really cool.
But anyways, what happens is, of course,
they're going to start asking
for lots and lots of paperwork and proof
that the business can actually afford this.
So they asked for three years,
I believe, of both the business taxes
and my personal taxes.
They asked for balance sheets.
They asked for P&Ls.
They asked for all sorts of things,
basically to prove that we can make good
and that this is not a risk on their end.
Like it's a low risk thing for them
to lend us the money
and we're actually going to be able to afford it.
So this is why you need to be in a place
where at the drop of a hat,
one day I wasn't doing this.
The next day I was considering this.
And in order to make that happen,
we need to have a loan.
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That was another thing that made me a bit nervous.
I would say one of my biggest points of anxiety
with this whole thing
is that we are now going to have a loan
and I have made it through the life of the business.
We did get the EIDL loan,
whatever that thing was,
they turned it into a grant, right?
So we never even had to pay that
that was just like eight grand of free money.
I think it was eight or 18.
I can't remember.
It was wonderful though to get that.
We actually do currently have a car loan
like for our current vehicle,
which we could pay off,
but the interest is so low.
I was like, I'd rather have that cashflow elsewhere.
So we had one small car loan for one of the work cars
and then that's it, like very, very minor.
So just, I'm very comfortable
with not having any liabilities in that form.
And so that makes me nervous.
It doesn't,
it doesn't mean that I shouldn't do it,
but it was like kind of my biggest,
like, is this the right choice?
And, and just running through everything.
But I do feel like it is a sound investment.
I think it's smart.
And we'll go into the details of the property shortly.
When it comes to just,
just being prepared to take these opportunities
and for us to also have enough
for a down payment sitting there,
we are doing a 20% down on this.
And because this building is,
wait till you hear the price guys,
you're going to fucking hate me
when I tell you the price of this,
because it's,
it is a deal.
It is such a good price.
It's a beautiful space,
but either way,
we still needed to have that business savings.
So shout out to Profit First.
Every single week,
I am putting into our business savings.
Every single week.
It's not a ton of money.
No, but I'm just continually adding,
no matter what we are adding to business savings,
we're adding the savings for taxes
so that the money is there when we need it.
And so, you know,
we have enough for this.
The down payment is not that big
because the loan itself
is not very big,
but that was just really is like,
oh shit, this can actually happen.
And I did think like if I had to,
I could lend the business
some money personally.
I'm not saying these things to brag.
And I really hope it doesn't come across that way.
But like, this is what I want
for every single one of you guys.
I want you to be able
to seriously consider things like this
and actually make it a reality
if that is what you want.
Because you have set yourself up
for financial success.
And I mean, the damn podcast
is named Filthy Rich Cleaners, guys.
The elephant in the room is like,
we're going to talk about money here.
And I think it's really important
that we have these conversations about money
and talk about what does this look like
when I am making big financial decisions
for the business?
Because it makes me nervous.
It does.
Because I could just as easily not do this
and we could rent
for the rest of the business life.
That could absolutely happen.
So it's like, okay, why now?
What's changed?
It really came down to the perfect storm
with this particular building
for this price in this location
at this time when we have the money,
the business is doing well.
You know, our lease was going to be done
in, you know, no matter what,
we were month to month,
but we had to give, it was so dumb.
We would have to give like six months notice.
So we have to buy out the lease
regardless for our rent.
We went back and forth,
but we came to a resolution.
So we,
we are going to be buying out a couple months
and kind of meeting in the middle
of what we both want.
Let's backtrack now to the building itself.
Let me tell you about this place.
My manager sent me it.
I look at the photos.
It's clearly an older building,
but the location is absolutely sickening.
It's less than five minutes
from our current office,
which our current office is a good location.
So let me talk about this location.
It is right off of the interstate.
It is a main road in Black River Falls,
which is not saying much
because it's a town of 5,000,
but one of the like two main roads.
And so tons of traffic in that manner.
The parking situation is absolutely wonderful.
That is still, I would argue,
not ideal in our current location
because we're in like,
what do you call them?
Like a strip mall kind of building
where there's like a bunch of different suites.
This is a standalone building
with its own big yard
where you can pull around.
There's like a pull through
so you can park and come around,
load up there.
Like many, many doors to go in.
So however we end up putting
the supplies and stuff for cleaners
when it is raining or shitty weather,
they will be able to not have to
haul shit in the rain.
They will be able to park really, really close
and that's going to be better for them.
Also, we'll be able to fit
a lot of vehicles there too.
And the yard, oh my gosh,
this yard for the dogs,
we already have plans for like
jungle gym, gazebo for my managers
if they want to eat lunch outside or work.
Work outside if it's really nice.
So like just spend more time outside.
I think that's going to be wonderful for them
and just be an enjoyable place.
We can put some picnic tables up.
So yeah, I like it just,
it's a dream come true.
I cannot believe this space.
And so externally, it is fabulous.
Great location.
And the driving and parking situation is fantastic.
So there are some certain non-negotiables
that I simply like,
it would be a no for me dog
if this building did not have
and really, really excellent parking is one of them
where it's very convenient for our teams to come in,
get their supplies,
get in and out like they need to.
So that was awesome.
The yard was definitely a bonus.
Like that was not a non-negotiable for me.
That was just like a holy shit.
This makes it even better.
So that is the exterior.
On to the interior.
So like I said, this is an older building
and it has been owned by a couple
who own an upholstery business.
And they have been in business
since the 70s.
And I ended up meeting this couple
because after the walkthrough,
we did an offer.
I'll talk about that.
And they accepted.
And then I was up in Wisconsin
for my best friend's wedding.
And that is when I took the opportunity.
I had already offered,
like I already was buying this building
and I hadn't even seen it yet.
What a flex, right?
Or also stupid potentially.
I don't know.
But I trust my managers.
Like I trust my managers.
I trust what they were saying.
We got an inspection.
Everything was good.
Like we did our due diligence
despite me not seeing it.
So I know that that sounds crazy,
but I trust those eyes.
They're the eyes that are running my business
like while I'm across the country.
So if I don't trust their judgment now years in,
what am I even doing here?
So anywho, I trust their judgment.
We got the inspection.
I went and saw it.
And I got to meet the couple who own the business.
And oh my gosh,
you could not find better people.
You could not find more kind people.
You could not find people who are so,
devoted to what they do
and to the building that they have had.
Oh, I have never seen a cleaner basement.
This place has a whole basement.
I've never seen a cleaner basement.
This place has been meticulously maintained.
It is beautiful.
Everything is, it feels like fucking perfect
considering the age of the building.
It's absolutely wild how well maintained it was.
The space itself, it's gorgeous.
Just so much space.
There is a workshop that is where he did
all of like the woodworking for the furniture.
And then there's the big space
where she would do the actual upholstery.
There's like a back area.
Like this place is huge.
It feels huge.
Like even despite like,
considering how big this place feels,
the other places that I looked at several years ago
would have been stupid.
Just stupid, wasted space.
Whereas this, like it's fantastic.
Multiple bathrooms.
It just, it makes sense.
We can completely visualize.
How we are going to lay this thing out to make sense.
The where the washer and dryer is going to go,
which is going to be another thing.
If you are renting,
you have to have washer and dryer hookups
or you need to be across the street
from a laundromat, right?
Like that's literally how convenient it has to be
because it's such a big deal to have,
have a washer and dryer in your office space.
Otherwise it's just very challenging.
And obviously I have talked about using things
like storage containers and et cetera
for your office space.
And that can work.
If you do your office that way
or do your supply,
place that way.
Let me know in the comments
and how you guys handle the washing
and drying of like rags and mop heads and stuff.
There are creative solutions.
You can have, you know, pay a tech to do it.
You can pay all of your techs to do it.
You can do it and just be hauling it back and forth,
but truly the ideal.
And especially if you're going to buy
is going to be to have that in place.
And so of course you can always add laundry hookups.
They already exist in this space,
which is wonderful.
Additionally, it is across from a laundromat.
Like I'm telling you guys this,
like this is why I made this decision
because everything fell into place.
And again, we'll get to the price.
So it's literally across the street from the laundromat.
So if something happens with our washer and dryer,
we still have that option.
Not super convenient,
but more convenient than having to haul it somewhere else.
So that is fantastic.
The way my managers are going to be able to have more space
and not be like shoved together
and all of their desks together.
Right now, Crystal's the only one who has the private office.
I think that that will be good.
Of course, they don't want to be like too far
away from each other,
but just to be able to like think straight,
have conversations, have meetings
and not be all on top of each other
and on top of like just being constantly interrupted
as people are coming in and out.
So I think that that's going to be fantastic.
Storage for supply.
I mean, I could fit a warehouse of cleaning supplies
in here, so that's really exciting.
We're going to be able to have a big conference room,
which is really cool where the workshop is.
And get this, this lovely couple,
you know, they did not,
have to be doing any of the things that they are doing.
He is, he painted the workshop all white.
He's touching up paint around the outside.
Like he wants this place to be,
I just cannot believe how lucky we are.
Like these people are amazing.
I can't wait for us to have them back for coffee
when we get all moved in and that we told them,
you guys can stop by anytime.
And just, I think it makes them really happy
to hear about the business.
Like the girls told them
like the history of the business and how I opened it.
And I think they really like that
the building is going to a company
that's going to really respect it
and is in it for the long run, right?
And so it's crazy because the owner, the wife,
she talked about like owning a business back,
you know, in the 70s and 80s as a woman
and that people wouldn't even come to her
because she was a woman
and like all of this crazy sexism
and things that she went against.
And so I think it was like, she's a badass.
She's a total badass.
Which is really inspiring.
But then I think for her to be passing on
the building's legacy
to a completely female-owned and ran business
was probably, I'm just assuming here,
but that I hope makes her happy.
The husband is an absolute delight too.
And just, I mean,
just fixing every possible little thing that he can.
They have these gorgeous like climbing plants
that they're giving us.
Oh, they're giving us all of their lawn equipment
and maintenance equipment.
And he has all of the paint organized for touch-up
paint and the filters.
And like, I can't, it's fucking crazy.
I'm like, whose grandpa is this?
Can I adopt this man?
Because he's amazing.
It's just truly spectacular what they are doing for us
when they, I mean,
whatever the opposite of the bare minimum is,
is what is occurring with this building.
And I'm just blown away.
It's just shocking.
And that's what I mean of like, this is amazing.
So anyways, from a space location,
everything about it is fantastic.
We got our insurance policy back
because obviously we have to get insurance on it
for the mortgage to go through.
And we just got the price back this morning
and it's so good.
Oh my gosh, it's so affordable.
Yeah, I just, I'm so,
I'm so happy with how all that's coming together.
And so, yeah, let me get into the prices, guys.
I have no problem sharing this
because it's a smoking hot deal.
It's like when you get like,
when people compliment you on like a piece of clothing
and you're like, thanks,
I got it for like $10 at a thrift store.
Like that's the feeling I have with this building.
Okay, it is incredible.
It was listed for $145,000.
And I,
I offered them 140 and they took it.
So that's crazy.
There was nobody else really interested in it.
I did not want to offer anything less that felt insulting.
And we also had not had, of course,
the appraisal happen or anything like that.
But I was like, okay, this feels really like appropriate.
Our realtor was like, this is a really good deal.
So I was like, well, let's go in just a little bit under
because I think as a rule, we should do that.
You know, unless there's a shit ton of offers
and you're having like a bidding war, right?
I would have absolutely paid the asking price,
especially once the bank appraisal came back.
But yeah, they accept
it and it just, it's gone so well.
Like every step of the way has gone so well
and it feels almost effortless.
And to me, when something feels like that,
it very much feels like I am on the right track.
This has happened many times in my life
where things like they just fall into place.
And it's because I believe that it's the right path to be on.
And obviously it doesn't mean that
when I have to struggle for something,
it is not the right path, obviously.
I've struggled a lot in a lot of different areas
for the right decision
and have had to work very hard for things.
But sometimes when it's just like this,
maybe it's not the right thing
you should be doing right now.
So just wanted to throw that out there.
I'm not particularly woo-woo,
but there is times like this and this opportunity
and this entire situation where I'm like,
what is like, this is, it's almost unreal
how it has fallen into place of like,
literally, let's see, when was,
a month and a half ago to now?
Like, yeah, 45 days.
That's when we, the closing period, I believe.
So yeah, literally less than two months
that this whole thing has just like, boom, boom, boom, boom.
And then just to go above and beyond
from the seller's perspective
and just to be such wonderful people
and everything to be in really good shape.
It's gonna need a roof in the next couple of years for sure.
But my best friend's family is a roofing family.
That's fine.
I've got plenty of connections there.
So everything else looked
fabulous.
It's been so well-maintained.
It's perfect.
We got the bank appraisal and it came back appraising
at like 185,000, I think.
So well, well, well over what the accepted offer was.
And that's fucking crazy.
So I know any of you listening who are in a city
are literally like this right now.
Like, fuck you, Stephanie.
Small towns, man, small towns.
So our mortgage is going to be like almost equal
to what we were paying in rent
and we're building out equity, right?
Which is nice, but
it's not always the way to think about it, right?
Because you're also like,
I was most concerned about the furnace.
I was like, and so when the inspector went and looked,
I was like, please, like, look at the,
there's two furnaces.
I was like, look at them.
And he's like, they've been beautifully maintained.
You'll get this much time out of it still,
like if all goes well.
And so everything that I was worried about of risk,
like that has been answered and mitigated.
And of course something could,
like the day after we close,
like the whole thing could fucking burn down, right?
Like that could happen.
But I can't think like that and be,
completely risk averse a hundred percent
because then why have a business, right?
But I feel like this has been
a very sound decision-making process.
The financing makes sense.
How much it's going to cost us makes sense.
There's everything, the utilities, all of it.
Like I think, you know, our internet's gonna be better
because we're actually gonna run the fiber internet
or whatever it's called.
And so my managers,
like the internet has been a huge issue
at our current office.
That has been one of the longstanding issues
is we cannot get good internet in there.
And I don't know if,
why that is.
I mean, I do know, but I've forgotten
because it's been just something we've dealt with
and nothing we do has been able to make it fast.
And so when your whole business runs
like on the internet being quickly,
being quick and your phone systems and everything,
it's really frustrating.
And that makes my managers way less efficient
when the internets are,
the internets, the internets are down.
So, or just really slow.
So I'm very excited.
We're gonna get that ran.
And so they'll have really good internet too.
And just all in all,
like everything about it feels right.
And otherwise I would have not made this decision.
So all of that to be said,
I am so glad that I have not done this till this point.
This is when it feels right, right?
The business is established.
We are really having a lot of steady months now.
A lot of, you know,
there's definitely hiccups here and there,
but I know from a financial perspective,
it is in a good place that we can afford this.
We're already paying that in rent.
And now we're gonna be building equity.
As for like resale,
hearing how it has valued
okay, that makes, that helps me feel better too.
Of course, you know, eventually when I,
if there was a reason to sell,
like it would be,
I'd be selling the whole business
and the building would come with it, right?
So that would be the thought process there.
It would be very unusual for me to sell the building
and not sell the business,
but that is not even on,
again, not on the radar
and like really not on the radar for,
I mean, hopefully like decades or till I die, I suppose.
So that's just not something I need to worry about.
So I think that this is a really great long-term home
for Serene Clean.
And we're not going to be looking at buying buildings
for the other locations.
Like those are, cause nobody works out of those.
Those are truly just storage places
and somehow a way to show up on the Google map.
So like whatever is convenient for our cleaners
to get in and out and get their shit and go,
like that's what that is for us.
So I am not loyal to those locations.
I don't, I like, we don't care about those
in the manner of like,
it doesn't matter what it even looks like on the inside
or anything like that.
Obviously we want it clean and nice for our staff members,
but like customers aren't going in those buildings
where this is like,
this is going to be a little beautiful gem
more so than our current one is.
And I think we'll feel better about like investing in things
cause we're not renting, right?
And like, cool, if we want to do this
or change this thing, right?
Like it's going to be good.
So what I will say,
I do want to hammer up Serene Clean's savings a lot more
and have an actual emergency fund.
So we have never had what I would consider
a robust emergency fund for Serene
Clean because it hasn't felt like,
well, we don't have any assets.
And like, if we're not bringing in money,
that means that people aren't working.
So our biggest cost, which is payroll is going to go down.
So it just hasn't felt like super necessary
to have a bunch of cash tied up in an emergency fund.
Now it does.
And so I definitely am going to dedicate
to like getting the savings percentage up more,
meaning like move up our profit first method
where we're putting a certain percentage
every week into savings.
I'm going to bump that up until like we hit
where I feel comfortable,
which is going to be several months of savings,
at least to cover like the mortgage and things like that.
I want a big old juicy emergency fund now.
Like that changes how I feel.
That's exactly what I did when I had this house is like,
cool, like I have a juicy emergency fund
in case something goes wrong or I need to repair things
because that's what happens when you buy a place, right?
So anyways, I know that many of you may be listening
and be like,
that's great for you, Stephanie.
Like that could never be me, blah, blah, blah.
And it's like, I understand that we all have absolutely,
like there's a lot of privilege that I am speaking from.
I just want to be honest and share what's going on guys.
And I get it.
Like things are not fair, right?
Like things are not always fair.
Things are actually never fair.
That's not, I think something that we can aspire to.
However, what I do want to say is by me being honest,
transparent with like how all of these things came to be,
I hope to allow you to learn and get the tools
in order to make what you are aspiring for
more close to reality, right?
And to lay out what that looks like.
Because yes, you have challenges most likely
that I have never faced, right?
And I have challenges that you haven't faced.
And there's a lot of things that have gone really right
for me in a lot of ways.
So I do want to give that caveat of, again,
this episode is not about bragging.
It's just, it's a big deal.
And I like to share the wins
just like I like to share the losses with you guys.
So anywho, if you've listened all the way through,
please leave a little building emoji down below
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would love to see you in the ZenMaid Mastermind.
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That is where owners of all backgrounds
and experience levels come together
and we ask questions, we answer questions,
share wonderful wins and losses.
Just, yeah, it's a great place to be.
So I'd love to see you join.
We actually have the link down below
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oh my gosh, this is really helpful and practical.
And that is where you can respond and ask me questions.
If you want me to cover something,
we just got a really good question
actually sent to the newsletter
or sent to customer support
that I'm gonna probably do a full episode on
talking about being a woman business owner.
And when your partner maybe is not
aligned with that
and what that looks like as your success grows.
And I need to think a lot about it actually
before I make that episode
because I wanna give a really thoughtful response.
And I think I have a lot to talk about on that topic.
So all of that being said,
we are getting your questions, guys.
The best way to ask your question
is going to be to respond to the newsletter.
And we literally have a list that I can pull from
to make episodes off of.
So please go and subscribe to that.
I'm just so happy to have you guys all here.
I'm excited about this new chapter of Serene Clean.
And to see how it goes.
And I can't wait for us to get in there,
get things decorated how we want and organized.
It's just really exciting.
Let me know any questions you have down in the comments.
And I will see you in the next episode
of Filthy Rich Cleaners.
Bye, guys.
If you enjoyed this episode
of the Filthy Rich Cleaners podcast,
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Until next time, keep your work clean
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