Biggest decision of life and I am looking for your opinion on what to do

[Chase Dunlavey]

Ok so I am 30 years old. I own my house in Los Angeles, free and clear thanks, to my family purchasing for me. I am thinking about selling it. I will net between $850,000-$950,000 depending on how big I want to go with the upgrades. Though I do not just want to go purchase another house as I only have a monthly income of $2500 to live off of, and don't have much cracking on the backend…..yet. I breed very rare English Bulldogs and just had my first litter, which should net me around $25k-$30k. So if this goes well with the bulldogs I will have a decent income in the near future. Actually the dogs are the reason this situation of me selling my house even came up. Neighbors started bitching about dogs, calling animal control, and now trying to make it as hard as they can on me to breed. Their frustration is a tad understandable, though nowhere near where it has escalated to. So anyway my plan from this point would be to rent a property in which I could breed dogs from, with 1 acre, no neighbors to complain. Say a $2000 a month house rental. Pay 2 years down, and have them deduct say %15 for doing so say -$21,000. Then I was thinking about buying a foreign investment property of two to rent out, thinking Thailand or Colombia, Panama. somewhere that is on the rise economically, and has plenty of room for growth in the tourist sector. Thinking of spending $100k-$150k per property. So say -$250,000. and from that point, other than to start flipping houses locally, which isn't s easy as some make it sound, I don't know really what to do with the remaining $675,000. I would appreciate if people with more experience, wisdom, and knowledge about finance and investing could please respond with ideas, and opinions that I should consider with this amount of money to invest.

[Elizabeth Colegrove]

 I noticed that you are still new, so I wanted to say Welcome! This is an amazing place, you will learn a lot if you are interested.

That being said, as a buy and hold landlord. A lot of things jumped out at me with your post. My first question is did you research any of this? because as a buy and hold investor. I want to tell you that I think alot of this is unreasonable expectations at best. I say this in the kindest way.

For simplicity I answered in black

Originally posted by @Chase Dunlavey:

Ok so I am 30 years old. I own my house in Los Angeles, free and clear thanks, to my family purchasing for me. 

What does your family think of you selling the house they paid for you to have a roof over your head? Understand the family implications to such decisions too

I am thinking about selling it. I will net between $850,000-$950,000 depending on how big I want to go with the upgrades. 

What was the house purchased for? Depending if you are married or single and what your beginning cost. You could very well have to pay capital gains on that house. So your profit margin could be significantly lower

Though I do not just want to go purchase another house as I only have a monthly income of $2500 to live off of, and don't have much cracking on the backend…..yet. I breed very rare English Bulldogs and just had my first litter, which should net me around $25k-$30k. So if this goes well with the bulldogs I will have a decent income in the near future. Actually the dogs are the reason this situation of me selling my house even came up. Neighbors started bitching about dogs, calling animal control, and now trying to make it as hard as they can on me to breed. Their frustration is a tad understandable, though nowhere near where it has escalated to. 

Why are the neighbors unhappy? If your neighbors now are unhappy why will one "acre" solve the problem?

So anyway my plan from this point would be to rent a property in which I could breed dogs from, with 1 acre, no neighbors to complain. Say a $2000 a month house rental. 

Where do you plan on renting a place for $2000 a month in LA area with an acre? That allows dogs?

Pay 2 years down, and have them deduct say %15 for doing so say -$21,000.

A few thoughts

• Personally as a landlord I don't want the money prepaid as many states their is a legal issue. It is a hassle and one also needs to look and see if there is any legal issues.The uniqueness of this will scare of some landlords. They want simple, and normal.
• Second you don't qualify for a $2,000 rental. I require 3x rent. So that would be income of $6,000. You have no prior history of breeding animals. For my tenants who are self-employed I require tax returns "proving" that their ability to pay. This might be overturned if its not a "hot" area and with number 1. But you will have to find a landlord "desperate" enough.
• You are BREEDING dogs in a rental! Many landlords will not allow pets, more won't allow a business being conducted out of a house. You are mixing both and adding TONS of puppies and all that goes into that, repeadily often in their house.
• There is no way someone is going to give you a 15% discount for all of the above. You are NOT a dream tenant. If you are lucky enough to find someone I would estimate you paying a premium.
• Be CAREFUL, there are so many red flags in your situation, as a landlord I wouldn't touch you with a ten foot pole! So if you do find someone, make sure you screen THEM! While there are fantastic landlords out there, there are many other that aren't. So I would estimate you have trouble finding a landlord that lives up to your expectations. 

Then I was thinking about buying a foreign investment property of two to rent out, thinking Thailand or Colombia, Panama. somewhere that is on the rise economically, and has plenty of room for growth in the tourist sector. Thinking of spending $100k-$150k per property. 

* Have you looked at these properties? While there are definitely possibilities there are TONS of flags and issues dealing with overseas properties. Have you spent alot of time overseas and understand what you are getting yourself into? Everything I have read tells me that to turn this into a profitable sector you will put alot of elbow grease making this work

So say -$250,000. and from that point, other than to start flipping houses locally, which isn't s easy as some make it sound,

*Have you flipped houses before? I know in my areas, there really insn't any margin left unless you have a great foot work established.

I don't know really what to do with the remaining $675,000. I would appreciate if people with more experience, wisdom, and knowledge about finance and investing could please respond with ideas, and opinions that I should consider with this amount of money to invest.

 If I didn't want to help, I wouldn't take time to write out a detail response. I respectfully request that you take a hard look at your plan. As a "always learning landlord" I truly do not see any of your plan setting yourself up for success. You have enough resources that you could really set yourself up well. The key is to be realistic.

Personally if I had that kind of money. I would buy myself a cheap needing work property with land as a personal. This would allow me to do my dog dream in piece with no worries about the owner.

Than I would invest the rest of the money in buy and hold rentals (grain of salt this is my area of expertise) that I could self manage. In the central valley I could turn $600,000 into 3 cash rentals making $1600 before expenses each or $4800 per month before taxes. You might be able to get a credit union a portfolio loan and leverage the property and only put 20-30% down.