Jeremy Washburn

Benjamin Franklin’s 13 Virtues based New Year’s Resolutions

I love a new year! I love to wipe the slate clean and start new. 2014 is now at the doorstep. What will 2014 hold? I decided to look to my old friend Benjamin Franklin, or rather Poor Richard, to see what he would do with a new year.

Be at War with your Vices, at Peace with your Neighbours, and let every New-Year find you a better Man.

As usual, succinct and direct. I need to be at war with my vices! That is certain. My biggest enemy is myself. I can do a better job of being at peace with my neighbors. And I certainly hope to find myself a better man.

Resolutions Based on Benjamin Franklin’s 13 Virtues

As I make resolutions, I like to have a foundation to base my new resolutions from. Then I decide where I want to go.

Foundation of Values
What are my goals, based on the foundation?

Not surprisingly, old Benjamin Franklin himself shares a fantastic foundation of 13 virtues that he based his life on. To start off 2014, I’d like to get back to basics and share Benjamin Franklin’s 13 Virtues that he made the foundation of his life. They are short, succinct, and insightful.

For me, I want 2014 is going to be The Year of Order. I wrote the book on family finances, Homes in Order, which deals almost exclusively with family finances. But there are so many other areas of my life that are screaming for order. My desk and my garage are just a couple. And I think that the solutions for my desk and my garage are probably the same principles that work in finance. Small strokes fell great oaks, diligence, endurance, and efficiency.

Can’t wait? Here’s a quick preview!

Order
Frugality
Cleanliness
Silence
Humility

I hope 2014 sees me conquer vices, embrace neighbors, and ultimately become a better man!

Poor Jeremy’s Tribute to Poor Richard, & Mr.s Franklin, Pelton, and Barnham

By Jeremy Washburn

I’ve never met Poor Richard from Poor Richard’s Almanac, but I feel somehow like I know him. Like we’re kindred spirits. I’ve been through the tough times, having sleepless nights worrying about where the next deal will come.

But I also feel like I know Poor Richard because Poor Richard knows a thing or two about what he’s talking about. In coming up with an image for my book, I’ve wanted it to reflect the contents and message of the book. To reflect what is in my mind. Accessible, but not fluff. Simple, but scholarly. Motivational, but not pushy.

I’ve been trying to imagine the cover of the book for over 5 years now! I’ve had everything from rocket ships to money to Einstein to houses to cartoons. But nothing worked. I even asked artists to help, but they couldn’t capture what was in my mind. It’s frustrating to have a good message, but not a package for it.

Then I discovered this image on Wikipedia under Poor Richard’s Almanack. The image is a United States public domain image having been published in 1887 by T. O. H. P. Burnham. The lithograph was engraved by Oliver Pelton. It is a tribute to Benjamin Franklin, and a tribute to Poor Richard’s Almanack. It was almost perfect for what I’ve had in my head.

But it wasn’t quite perfect. I had to modify Mr. Pelton’s beautiful work of art to fit my own needs. But I think it is absolutely appropriate because Poor Richard himself acknowledged that his writings were the “Wisdom of many Ages and Nations.” Benjamin Franklin is said to not have believed in copyrights as he felt that wisdom should benefit all.

So it is with Homes in Order: The (Brand-new, Old-fashioned) Way to Wealth. I have overtly borrowed, openly plagiarized, and tried to imitate as well as I can Poor Richard’s Way to Wealth. His values were good values.

But I haven’t just plagiarized. I have contributed my own significant content, and the message is 100% original. It is my research, my models, my voice.

I actually discovered the synergy with Benjamin Franklin late in the project. His voice and values meshed perfectly with my message. And so it was. I blended our messages of wealth and personal responsibility as well as I could.

And so I think it’s only appropriate that I borrow from Mr. Pelton and Burnham as their figure, too, was a tribute to Mr. Franklin.

Enjoy!

Homes in Order the Video

By Jeremy Washburn

http://youtu.be/Cw1DHjLKzWs

Homes in Order In Just 30 Seconds

If you had just 30 seconds to get your point across to the world, what would you say? Homes in Order is about saving money, and saving a lot of money. But it is also simple. If the typical homeowner were to prepay just $1 towards their mortgage, they’d save $5.

So, that’s the 30 second message. Pay off your mortgage. Get out of debt. Sacrifice now, and have later. Everybody would love to pay off their mortgage, but few people realize just how much money they could save by doing it. We have developed mortgage payoff calculators that will show you just how much you can save.

$1=$5. And even more, $2=$1,000. Paying off your mortgage is guaranteed investing. It’s compound investing. Check us out!

Making a castle out of your home, or functional obsolescence

By Jeremy Washburn

One of the fun parts of being a real estate agent is seeing new and different things in people’s homes. Yesterday evening, I saw this castle built in the basement of a home. I see play areas a lot, but this one was much more than just a play area. It looked very realistic, and when I tapped the stone with my fingers, I was surprised to see that it was real stone! Obviously a brick mason had built this.

The thing is, it took up a huge part of the basement, and it was very permanent. Barricaded in there. It was definitely the best castle I’ve ever seen built in a home basement. I could just imagine kids barricading themselves in when they’re supposed to be doing chores, then throwing water balloons or eggs out from the 2nd story at unsuspecting siblings or parents.

Then today, I visited some clients brand new home that they closed on just last week. It was the same exact stone on the outside of their home as was in the basement. What a coincidence.

So does something like this help sell a property? Obviously my clients bought this home just last week. But unfortunately, my other clients were turned off by the stone castle in the basement. There’s a place for everything. Stone on the outside of a home — great for most people. A stone castle in the basement — great for people who love castles in their basement and want it to be the centerpiece of conversation. My clients didn’t go for the castle in the basement, but who knows…. The next family might just love it!

One other interesting thing about this basement — you can see the fireplace in the background. It is a double sided fireplace, so the view can be enjoyed from two rooms. Unfortunately, one of the rooms is a bedroom, so all privacy for the bedroom (or for those watching TV in the other room) is compromised by the view through the fireplace, also framed in the same stone.

In real estate, this is termed “functional obsolescense,” or actually detracting from the value of a property because of difficulty in changing a feature.