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January 27, 2021
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    SoOoOoOo...in today’s edition of wild & crazy ki SoOoOoOo...in today’s edition of wild & crazy kids, I just bought a GORGEOUS 5-acre lot in Joshua Tree to build a dreamy vacation rental!!!! (@jewelcrestcottage) 🌵🌵

I know what you’re thinking: Who builds a house from scratch (besides rich celebs like Kimye)? I thought the same thing too until I realized that, wait a minute, is this something I could do?

Hear me out.

If you've been following us for a while, you know that I love all things real estate and home decor. I always say that if I wasn’t a dietitian, I’d be a real estate agent or a general contractor. From the structure to the finishes, to the siding, to the lighting, I love everything about homes and am fascinated by the design and construction process. 

Okay, now back to Joshua Tree. After thinking more about building generational wealth as a black person starting from scratch, my goal at the start of 2020 was to do SOME sort of real estate investment. Then the pandemic happened, and I almost gave up. Food Heaven lost a ton of partnerships overnight and my private practice work slowed down. Flash forward to last October, when my friend sent me a video about a guy who built a tiny home vacation rental in the desert from the ground up. Call me crazy but that single video motivated TF out of me. After a ton of research, and ultimately realizing I could get a construction loan to make this happen, I figured maybe this was in the wild realm of possibility after all. I also want to acknowledge that there is a great amount of privilege to even be able to get a loan to do this process, especially during a pandemic when many people have lost their jobs. I debated about whether or not to share but figured that representation in the real estate and design space matters. 

This brings me to my next point.  Have you ever noticed that in almost every image you see promoting Joshua Tree you hardly ever see people of color? To me, this is most apparent in short-term rental listings. Many of the Airbnb listings feature stock images of visitors, and they almost always have the same look and one-dimensional profile. In fact, in almost 1000+ listings that I’ve looked through in this region, I’ve only seen CONT BELOW!!
    Let the renovations begin!! Been MIA because I rec Let the renovations begin!! Been MIA because I recently closed on my dream home @bohiosantiago in the Dominican Republic! Some context: I’m kind of an optimistic person, but 2020 was TERRIBLE. I decided after quarantining alone for most of the year that I really needed to be with my family because I was going through it and so flew to DR in the safest way possible. While I was there, shit went down in my personal life and I was in a really bad place. Weeks went by with zero sleep. Friends and prayer helped to lift me a bit. On one particular day, I felt it necessary to talk to my ancestors and so I went to the cemetery and asked for strength and perseverance. I felt way better afterwards, and later that day, I asked my parents if they’d be down to hop around the city to look at properties. No real intention to buy tbh, just a distraction. The next day we were scheduled to see 7 different places. 

This was one of the first properties I saw and as soon as I stepped in, I was like THIS IS MINE. My parents were like wtf LOL I was not financially or mentally prepared to invest in a property. The energy in this space was so special though, and it spoke to everything I would want in a home. I told the agent to call up the owner who lives in NY. We spoke, it got super emotional, and I made an offer on the spot. She said she would think about it, and the agent encouraged me to look at other listings because she knew the owner wasn’t budging. She took us to 8 other listings that day. Every place I saw reinforced why this initial place was perfect for me. My parents agreed and I told the agent we needed to figure out how to convince the owner hahaha we agreed to meet later that afternoon, and a few hours later she told me the owner accepted my offer and I signed an agreement to buy😭 This literally all happened within 10 hours and I truly felt like angels were walking me through it. 

Once I signed, I was like wait how am I gonna pay for this LOL that week, some money unexpectedly came in, and some other puzzle pieces lined up, and it all kinda worked out (don’t recommend this LOL) More 👇🏽
    Listed in order of how much patience you have LOL Listed in order of how much patience you have LOL these past few days have been packed with virtual & real life family gatherings, and I've noticed the weight/body talk stuff is intensified by 1000 with concerns about covid weight gain 🙄

I put together an article on @selfmagazine to help you navigate these next few days, and have tons of resources on there that are helpful year round. I added my go-to resources to share with people who are open to learning about a more inclusive approach to health, provide phrases to help you mentally prep, and more! 

Link in bio and stories.
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