Down to one. My husband quit his job

[Kathy Henley]

It happened Friday. He walked away from his desk job. Our income properties have been giving us over $4,000/ mo income, after all expenses, since January. We knew we were close to our goal and wanted one more property before he quit. We found two more properties – can’t pass up an opportunity. One of which was purchased just to be furnished short-term rentals like AirBnb. He gave notice on Friday and left on Monday morning to drive/move from CA to St. Louis to work real estate, the place of our empire.

Besides the awkwardness of living apart, with a 35 year history of being married, I am trying to focus on the joy of achieving another goal. I will keep my paychecks coming in, for the time being, until the financials say we can do differently. We have 28 units, purchased over 3.5 years. We always looked for undermanaged properties in desirable neighborhoods. This next phase is to 1. improve what we have and 2. network for off-market deals.

Freedom day and we are celebrating.

[Kathy Henley]

First, a correction:  We have 26 units.

@Doug Woodville

Since we invest out of state, all but one property was purchased from the MLS listings. One can spot undermanaged properties by something in the description like, 'rents should be higher,' or 'rents haven't been raised for 5 years'. Some people tire from managing their tenants or they aren't good at it. Two were purchased from widows who were not prepared for property management. This meant that the building got good care for a number of years, but after the passing, deferred maintenance and not knowing how to deal with tenants made them go to pot. Another tip-off is a listing that is very vague or outright wrong in the details. Seller is not paying attention. I know our market and can spot miss-information; I get quite excited to see something called a studio and I can see a bedroom door in the photos!

Thanks Megan! @Megan Greathouse Do you attend the South City Investment Club?  We keep hearing about it and we may see you there.